Week 1
How many worlds are in this room?
Jakob von Uexküll
Animals, senses, and whether any of us live in the same world.
Envelope No. 1: a square of blue acetate.
Syntropise Kids · for members’ children
Philosophy, before anyone tells you it’s difficult.
A six-week philosophy club for the children of Syntropise members.
Ages 11 to 15. Six evenings. Four places. One box of envelopes.
Why a club
Children already ask philosophical questions.
- What makes me me?
- How do I know what somebody else feels?
- Why should I do what everyone else does?
- Can something change and still be the same thing?
We give those questions somewhere to go.
How a session goes
Nobody starts with “Today we’re learning Sartre.”
- Something strange happensAn object, a story, a puzzle that won’t sit still.
- We argue about itProperly. Changing your mind counts as winning.
- A thinker turns upSomebody got there a few hundred years earlier.
- They make it strangerNever simpler. That’s the fun of it.
- Everyone leaves with a questionAnd takes it home to dinner.
Try one
One child. Four places.
Which one is the real them?
Turn the cards over. Then argue.
“A French philosopher called Jean-Paul Sartre had a rather interesting answer to this…”
Now it’s not a lesson. It’s a discovery.The six weeks
Six thinkers. Some very strange questions.
The aim isn’t to remember what philosophers said. It’s to find out why they couldn’t stop thinking about the question. Hover over a card, or tap it.
Week 2
Where exactly are you?
David Hume
Memory, the self, and whether there’s a permanent you underneath it all.
Envelope No. 2: a small mirror.
Week 3
Can anyone know what you feel?
Ludwig Wittgenstein
The beetle in the box: private feelings, shared words.
Envelope No. 3: a matchbox, taped shut.
Week 4
How much of you is a role?
Jean-Paul Sartre
Freedom, excuses, and “that’s just who I am.”
Envelope No. 4: a blank name badge.
Week 5
When does trying make things worse?
Lao Tzu
Water, control, and why an empty cup is useful.
Envelope No. 5: a paper cup, folded flat.
Week 6
Would you live it all again?
Friedrich Nietzsche
What would make a life worth wanting twice?
Envelope No. 6: a tiny sand timer.
No worksheets, no exams, and nobody’s being prepared for the boardroom.
We do philosophy because there are extraordinary things to think about, and young people are extremely good at thinking about them. They argue, change their minds, get stuck and start again.
Good.
How it works
Small, regular, and a little bit strange.
- Six evenings
- An hour eachOnline, in the evening
- Four places
- Everyone speaksA conversation, not a class
- Freddie
- Leads every sessionOur associate, a registered psychologist
- One box
- Six envelopesOpening early is frowned upon
Who leads it
Meet Freddie.
Dr Freddie Turner is our associate and leads every session, so it’s the same face each week. She has a doctorate, is a Registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council, and is an accredited sport psychologist with the British Psychological Society.
- Doctorate
- HCPC registered
- BPS accredited
- Enhanced DBS
You’ll meet her on a short call before week one.
Safeguarding
Small, supervised, and never recorded.
Philosophy needs a room where it’s safe to say a half-formed thought out loud. This is how we keep it that way.
- Never recorded. No video, no audio, no screenshots. What’s said in the room stays in the room.
- Qualified, checked, and introduced. Freddie is a Registered Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC and holds an enhanced DBS check. You’ll meet her on a short call before week one.
- Through you, always. The joining link comes to you, not your child. No private messages, no social media, no contact outside the sessions.
- Never one-to-one. If only one child can make a session, we move it rather than run it with one child and one adult.
- A shared room. We ask that children join from a shared space at home, not a bedroom, with a grown-up somewhere in the house.
- Someone to talk to. We have a named safeguarding lead and a written policy you can read before you sign up. If anything worries you, or us, we’ll talk straight away.
For grown-ups
Philosophy at the kitchen table.
Syntropise isn’t a leadership programme. It’s a place where philosophy becomes part of life, and for members with children, part of family life too. The box arrives addressed to them. Dinner gets more interesting.
Syntropise Kids comes with membership: one place per household each year, subject to cohort availability.
Information for grown-ups
- Who
- The children of Syntropise members, aged 11 to 15.
- Cost
- Included in membership.
- Homework
- None.
- Correct answers
- Suspicious.
- Parents
- Admitted for the final fifteen minutes.
- Envelopes
- Opened early? We will know.
The frog is still not to be fed.
Questions
What parents ask.
Syntropise Kids · ten cards
None. If they’ve ever asked “but why?” five times in a row, they’re ready.
Something strange turns up. They argue about it. A thinker arrives and makes it stranger. Everyone leaves with a question.
An hour, online, in the early evening.
No. With four in the room there’s space to speak without being made to. Listening hard counts, and the quiet ones often say the thing everyone remembers.
Freddie, our associate, every week, so it’s the same face each time. She’s a registered practitioner psychologist with a doctorate and an enhanced DBS check, and you’ll meet her on a short call before week one.
Children ask big questions anyway. We take them gently, nobody has to share anything personal, and if something lands heavily we’ll let you know.
All six questions are on this page, so you can see what’s coming.
A laptop or tablet with a camera, headphones if the house is busy, and a shared room to sit in. The box arrives in the post before week one.
Each session stands on its own, and that week’s envelope still works at home. Tell us and we’ll send the week’s question.
Three other members’ children, grouped close in age where we can, so an eleven-year-old isn’t up against a fifteen-year-old.
Membership includes one place per household each year, so siblings take turns. If a cohort has a spare place, we’ll offer it.
Not for the whole hour. Children talk differently with a parent in the room. You’re welcome for the last fifteen minutes, when they’ll try to explain the week’s question to you. Good luck.
Know someone who belongs here?
Syntropise Kids is open to the children of Syntropise members.
Private viewings by appointment
Ring for a curator.
Tell us what’s on your mind. The first conversation costs nothing, and you don’t need to prepare a thing.
Or write to hello@syntropise.com