Join the Community!

Are you interested in larger questions about how we live, how we relate to each other, and therefore, how we educate ourselves and our children? Do you agree that we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to ourselves, our relationships with others, nature, food systems, health and the need to rebuild a more sustainable education ecosystem?

If your answer is “yes”, you could become a Friend of Farm Hill

In addition, would you like to live on a farm and play, teach and learn with children? Are you ready to get your hands dirty on the journey to explore ideas like truly sustainable living, nature-centered learning, alternative education etc.?

If your answer is "Yes" again, you can join us as a Volunteer or Teacher

Additionally, do you have children whose growth you really care about? Do you want to act upon your insights from deep thinking about the questions about life, living and education?

Or, are you a neurodiverse family and want to explore the questions above in that context?

If so, you can join the community as a Member Family

Read the relevant sections below to know more.

Who are we?

Farm Hill is a neurodiverse community of children and adults, learning together in a close to nature setting. We are located on a farm near Shoolagiri in Tamil Nadu, about 65 kilometers (1.5 hours of travel) from Bangalore.

We believe that education should equip a person to meet life with intelligence and not stop with the mere acquisition of skills to make a living. We take inspiration from the ideas of the likes of J. Krishnamurti. We build our practices, informed by the various examples and experiences from a variety of communities. We wish to live in harmony with ourselves, the society around us and nature. We are engaged in exploring these various dimensions of our being.

Friends of Farm Hill

This is a community of people who resonate with our ideas, want to keep in touch with us to know more about what we are doing and also support us in various ways.

We share regular updates with the Friends of Farm Hill via WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, blog updates on the website and email newsletters. Friends of Farm Hill are also welcome to come spend time on the campus, to know the place and people better and generally to catch up.

How to join

Please write to us via contact page. Choose "Friends of Farm Hill" as the subject, please provide us your name, email and WhatsApp number. A short note about yourself and your interest in Farm Hill would be much appreciated.

Volunteers and Teachers

Volunteers and Teachers are part of the core team that primarily runs the day-to-day activities at Farm Hill. The core activities at Farm Hill include academic work, farming and kitchen. In our teaching-learning spaces, academic or otherwise, we follow a constructivist approach and use the guided discovery model. In the farm and the kitchen, we believe in being organic, local, resource conscious and sustainable.

We would prefer volunteers to stay with us for a minimum of three months, and teachers to join us without deadlines.

We are a semi-residential learning space. Students come to Farm Hill on Monday morning, and leave Friday afternoon. If you are a volunteer or a teacher, you can do the same or you can also choose to stay on the farm all the time.

What do we offer?

1. An opportunity to live on a farm and explore deeper questions about life and education
2. Freedom to do what you want, respectful work culture, happy workplace
3. Company of like-minded people who may be able to help you along
4. Stay at the farm and food, travel to and from Bangalore as mentioned above
5. Money as per your needs

What will you do?

1. Work and learn along with children and other adults – on the farm and in the kitchen
2. Design and prepare educational activities and experiences for the children as needed
3. Accompany children on field trips, treks and outdoor activities
4. Engage with the larger community

What are we looking for?

1. Deep and abiding interest in the questions and ideas above – alternative education, nature centric learning, farming, food, neurodiversity, life, education etc.
2. Enthusiasm and willingness to do the physical and mental work necessary to engage in these questions and ideas, while living on a farm
3. Ability to work with other people in a community setting, where living spaces, kitchen, and life in general is a shared affair

How to join

Write to us using the contact page. Choose "Volunteer or Teacher" as the subject, please provide us your name, email and WhatsApp number. Please also include a a short note about yourself and your interest in Farm Hill.

Member Families

Member Families are the reason for the existence of Farm Hill. Parents and children, along with volunteers and teachers, are the core of this learning community.

Farm Hill is the right community for you, if as a family, you realise that mainstream education is not for you. You are not looking for an alternative, better way of learning the same things taught in schools. You are not driven by a desire for your children to become "achievers" at any cost. You are willing to fundamentally rethink the nature and objectives of education, the kind of human beings it should produce and the kind of society we assume to live in.

You are not worried about certificates, exams and marks. You are willing to let your children be themselves, recognise them as independent emotional and cognitive beings, support them in their struggles, and let them grow comfortable in their own skins.

You realise that along with your children, you also need to rethink about and relearn a variety of notions and assumptions about the nature of life, the society, the individual, relationships and other important aspects of life. You are willing to commit the necessary time and effort needed to educate yourself.

In addition to the above, if you are a neurodiverse family, at least one adult member of the family should be willing to be present on the campus as needed, to work and learn with the neurodiverse student.

What you should know

We are not a recognised school yet. Our older children appear for NIOS exams to complete their 10th Grade. We also support students to appear for IGCSE exams.

We are a small school, in fact we are more like a community of about 15 families that live and learn together. The total number of children in 2023 is about 22.

We run a rigorous academic program. However, we believe it is equally important for children and adults to learn in the farm, in the kitchen and in the arts and crafts spaces. Our learning time is nearly equally divided between these various learning spaces.

As a neurodiverse community, we are open to children who are on the Autism spectrum. Our expertise in working with Autism comes from our experience of running Sambhavam Center for Autism since 2013. We expect all the members of the community to be sensitive to neurodiversity and learn to live with neurodiverse populations.

How to join

Write to us using the contact page. Choose "Member Family" as the subject, please provide us your name, email and WhatsApp number. Please also include a short note about yourself, your family and your interest in Farm Hill.

Please note that we are currently open to students in the age ranges of 3-7 years (in day school or accompanied by a parent), 7-9 years, and 10-14 years.