A multi-age experience as old as our school
Each morning, during our week-long Mini-Society, mixed-age groups of Youngs, Middles, Olds, and Elders travel to various “work sites” at school. These centres engage students in different working roles: manufacturing, gardening, the Mini-Society snack shop, service work, and daily news reportage. We rotate so that each group experiences a different facet of our simulated society with each rotation.
Our littlest students, “the Littles” take on classroom-based roles and responsibilities.
This year our MS9s will be away for the week, but MS7 and 8 students will take on a simulation activity called “Get a Life”. They also support their younger schoolmates by serving as Mini-Society bankers, with multiple pop-up branches through the school following each rotation. MS students process and record deposits and withdrawals, calculate interest earned, and close out accounts in preparation for Market Day. (Read on for more about Mini-Society money.)
Mini-Society Money
No matter the student’s role in our mini-society, they are paid for their labour. Our mini-society has its own currency, named and developed (annually!) by our students. This year, students will be paid in Wibbly Wobblies (suggested by the Littles, and selected by a series of whole-school, “closed-eye” votes). Wibbly Wobblies can be used to purchase the daily news and/or a snack from the crew working in the snack workshop. Personal earnings can also be directed to charity, or deposited in the Mini-Society Bank where interest is earned at a very generous rate. On Friday, students withdraw their principle and interest, to use at our market.
Market Day
To wind up the week, students hold a market, in which all transactions are conducted in Mini-Society currency. All students can be shoppers, and students from Middles and up have the option to be vendors. They may apply for vendor licenses, and offer goods or services.
Volunteers and staff members shepherd small groups of Littles and Youngs through our busy market and help them pay for their purchases. MS students participate fully, as shoppers and/or vendors, and do a great job of enthusiastically encouraging younger vendors, possibly because they have strong positive memories of their own Mini-Society shops.
Student Vendors
Vendors’ license applications require interested students to explain their idea, think through logistics, and get their parent’s signed approval. Student vendors sell labour/services or products constructed/prepared at home. Classroom teachers can provide good advice to students about the businesses they want to run, and help them understand any restrictions or limits in advance of Market Day. Parents are encouraged to direct their child to their own teacher for guidance, if needed, and are asked to resist the urge to over-invest their time, energy, and money in their child’s market stall. Their shop should be a reflection of their own efforts, and very limited expense.
Parents and Mini-Society
Mini-Society typically provokes interesting observations and questions from students. We bookend each rotation with a workers’ meeting, which allows students to prepare for the rotation and debrief after.
Our goal is that children take the lead in their level of participation in the retail aspects of Mini-Society. Some of our students are quite happy to be customers and others have strong entrepreneurial inclinations. Market Day is fun no matter what role we choose.
Depending on a child’s age and development, a parent may find themselves responding to questions about any of the following (and more):
wages, bosses, co-workers, sick pay, decision-making, unions, interest, saving vs. spending, cash money, banks, fairness, bonus pay, wholesale pricing, retail, copyright, licensing, permits, regulation, and (even) speeding tickets.
Staff are well-versed in fielding student questions (logistical, philosophical, or otherwise), and parents should feel free to lob questions back to us as needed. We love Mini-Society and value the opportunity to explore these concepts in an atmosphere of fun and discovery.
