The U School Lexicon

What is the Lexicon?   |   Training opportunities   |   Purchase the book   |    About the trainers

 

 

What is the U School Lexicon?

The U School Lexicon is a guide to speaking truthfully and usefully with children and other humans. It contains a spoken and signed vocabulary which keeps our daily conversations with children firmly anchored in the U School’s ideals and the Ubuntu Communities Approach to Early Childhood Education (UCA-ECE). The Lexicon helps all people understand how they can be powerful problem-solvers, helps children and grown-ups communicate with less friction, and supports social-emotional development and executive function. It is the glue that holds together the Skillful Togetherness Curriculum (SkT)!

Why does the Lexicon incorporate sign language?

Because it is extraordinarily useful:


Early childhood and school-age educators can receive 6 hours of professional development on MiRegistry!


Training Opportunities

The U School Lexicon course is divided into three sections that unpacks strategies for how and why to implement the concepts from the Lexicon book, offers opportunity for reflection and application of knowledge, and provides concrete activity ideas and curriculum content to use with the children in your care.

Course information:

Pricing:

$130 (includes a copy of the book)

Package discount (entire Skillful Togetherness Curriculum) – 15%
Group discount (10+ staff) – 15%
Group discount (20+ staff) – 20%

Contact ryan@ubuntucommunities.com for package and group discounts.

Sign up for the asynchronous course now:

 

EDUCATORS U SCHOOL FAMILIES EVERYONE ELSE


Early childhood and school-age educators can receive 6 hours of professional development on MiRegistry!


Interested in purchasing Lexicon materials?

Visit our Shopify store to purchase the book as well as additional curriculum materials like posters and playing cards.

VISIT THE STORE


About the trainers

Ryan Brown

Ryan has more than 25 years of experience in the field of education, with 20+ years of that being in leadership and management roles. Starting off as a first grade basketball coach, Ryan has built his career as an innovative and well-respected early childhood and school-age educator. His  passion for working with children, teachers, and families combined with his engaging stories of past experience translate into powerful, inspiring, and informative guidance for others.

After earning a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education Administration and Leadership from the University of Michigan—Dearborn, Ryan cofounded the U School in Ann Arbor, MI where he has served as the Executive Director for 8 years. He is also the cofounder and Managing Partner of Ubuntu Communities, continuing to serve as Lead Trainer to offer training and consulting opportunities to early childhood organizations and educators around the world.

Charlie Sutherland

Charlie is the Lead Teacher of a 3- and 4-year-old classroom at the U School and has been an educator of various ages since 2002. Charlie is also our resident mindfulness coach, certified in the Unified Mindfulness system developed by Shinzen Young. Charlie has helped people apply mindfulness to manage work- and family-related stress, process chronic pain, engage with greater compassion, overcome mental and behavioral habits, enhance athletic performance, and much more. In 2020, Charlie authored The U School Lexicon in collaboration with Ryan, a groundbreaking guide to truthful and useful communication, empathy building, and executive function development in educational and home settings. Charlie’s work specializes in helping families and teachers cultivate and apply mindfulness skills to their interactions with children, creating harmonious relationships and nurturing social-emotional growth.


© 2020 Ubuntu Communities, LLC

Contact
For rates, questions or general dialogue regarding any of our Training or Consultation services please contact:

Ryan Brown
ryan@ubuntucommunities.com
For Media & Content rates, questions or general business inquiries please contact:

Jackson Perry
jackson@ubuntucommunities.com
We'd love to hear from you!