Gîte de la Tuilerie, children's gîte

Two bedrooms inside the house can accommodate up to 6 children. In summer, children can choose to sleep in one of the two bedrooms or outside, in a trapper or Inuit tent, close to the counselor's tent.

Meals are shared. They are mostly organic, local and seasonal, with a vegetarian tendency.

Our project is in line with the more generalAccueil Paysan project for children's overnight stays: approved childcare facilities are places for living, experimenting, discovering and meeting oneself and others. This type of welcome is part of a desire to pass on and work with, with a view to education and learning.

In the case of the Tuilerie children's gîte, the house is located two km from the village of Montrottier, in the Monts du Lyonnais. The first floor is reserved for children, with a playroom, two bedrooms for a total of 6 children, a third bedroom for the activity leader, and sanitary facilities. Outside, a large, sheltered but unenclosed room serves as an activity room and dining area in summer. A small adjoining campsite lets you sleep in Inuit or trapper tents, or under the stars.

The educational project of the Gîte de la Tuilerie is in line with the trend towards environmental education. The aim of each stay is to enable the group of children to become aware of the richness and fragility of the environment around them, to discover at their own level the beginnings of solutions to environmental problems, and to put into practice eco-citizen gestures.

To achieve this, we focus on three main areas:

1) Sharing in the daily life of a family striving to put into practice the notions of respect for the environment :

• Food: untreated vegetables from the family garden are preferred, and if not, seasonal and local vegetables. The rest of the food is mostly organic and vegetarian. The rest of the food will be mostly organic and vegetarian, although a balanced diet will be ensured by a qualified dietician.
• Accommodation: the old farmhouse has been renovated using natural, healthy materials. The outdoor play area also features a large proportion of natural materials (adobe and cordwood hut, tepee with bamboo poles to support climbing plants, etc.). The grounds are bordered by hedgerows and a stream.
• Energy: domestic hot water is supplied by a solar collector, and electricity by photovoltaic panels.
• Water: rainwater harvesting, the use of totally biodegradable hygiene and cleaning products, phytodepuration sanitation and outdoor dry toilets demonstrate our constant concern to avoid wasting and polluting water.
• Waste: this is kept to a minimum by banning over-packaging, favouring home-made and reusable packaging and careful sorting. Fermentable waste is fed to the farmyard animals.

In this way, the living environment in which the children will evolve during their stay will encourage exchanges and promote the implementation of more "eco-citizen" behaviors.

2) Focus on a different environmental theme each week.

It could be directly linked to ecology, such as renewable energies, waste, water, eco-construction, small garden creatures... It could also be indirect, such as the theme of the Indians and their way of life that respects the earth and its animals, or a manual activity using natural materials: pottery using clay from the garden, wickerwork using rattan or wicker harvested on site...

This theme is announced in the program. At least one activity time is devoted to it each day, enabling the subject to be explored in greater depth.

3) Learning to listen to and respect oneself and others, so as to be able to listen to and respect nature.

• Respecting each individual's pace of life: stays are programmed by age group to better meet specific needs. Within each stay, we discuss with the group the times of getting up, going to bed, activities and free time, with possible modulation for each child (staggered getting up until the time set by the group, certain optional activities, etc.).
• Respect for differences: integration of children with physical, mental or social disabilities, with particular attention paid to their well-being and that of the other children. Here too, time will be set aside if necessary to talk about difficulties and to work together to find rules of conduct for better living together.
• Numerous cooperative games (board games, parachute, etc.) are available.
• Learning to make collective decisions, where listening to everyone's wishes and needs will enable us to draw up the program for the stay, based on the theme established in advance, but also on a list of varied activities. Particular attention will be paid to minority requests, so that these too can be taken into account.
• Management of group life with collectively-decided rules, then regulation meetings during the stay if necessary, where listening and win-win conflict resolution will again be emphasized. Finally, a debriefing session is scheduled at the end of the stay, where everyone can express what they liked or disliked and what they learned, without judging the other.
• There is also the possibility of discovering the gîte during the "open house" which is scheduled two or three times a year. This reassures parents and children alike, and makes it easier for them to plan their stay.