Last week, we celebrated the third edition of the Children’s Business Fair, a beautiful project that we’ve embraced and brought to life since 2023. We began our very first fair with 20 ventures, most of them led by children from Tinkuy. From the start, it drew in many curious visitors, family and friends who were moved and amazed by a fair entirely run by children.
Why I Created the Comunidad Mapache: And why it might just change the way you experience parenting
Earlier this year, drawing from my experience walking alongside Tinkuy parents since 2018, I created the Ruta Mapache, a framework to guide and support families through the parenting journey. It brings together powerful questions, practical tools, and insights from many valuable sources to strengthen the five essential roles we have identified parents will step into throughout their child’s development: Guardian, Mentor, Challenger, Ally, and Legacy.
But Why Did You Do That? Making Space to Understand Each Other
This session we are focusing on giving us a pause, to wonder, and to try to understand what’s going on behind someone’s actions. Little by little, I've noticed how curiosity can become a useful tool. Not a tool to fix or solve immediately, but one that opens space to understand the other person. Instead of moving directly to consequences (like giving warnings or charging Hero Coins) some Pumas are beginning to try another step: asking why. This is risky because emotions tend to flare up in these conversations, and it can be uncomfortable. But at the end it feels better, more connected.
Trust, Flow, and Let Go
Rivers That Meet…to Play
Explorers’ adventure, Episode 1: Communication
Communication in Explorer is made up of words, phrases, sounds, and gestures. All of this condenses into conversations that, from the outside, are fun to listen to but difficult to understand. You can’t always tell what they’re referring to and what they want to talk about—but clarity is not the main goal of these exchanges. So, what do we adults who accompany them do?
Learning Updates: Growth Mindset in Practice
On our visit to Guatemala, I learned about a tool they used, called the “Learning Update” (LU). It is an account by each Puma every Friday, to their guide, parent and partners, of how their week went. We launched the tool in Tinkuy in the last week of our first session. In Ascend, this means sharing their goals and how many of them they had met, two words to describe their week, one lesson learned and one thing that helped them. What I thought would be a simple reporting tool quickly proved to be a concise, authentic narrative of challenges, breakthroughs, and self-discovery.
What If I Don’t Understand? How Pumas Dive into English
Starting something new always comes with a mix of excitement, curiosity… and that flutter in your stomach stirred up by uncertainty. This year, the Discovery tribe took on a challenge as bold as it was difficult: to live their Studio experience entirely in English. Full immersion—like jumping into a pool without checking the water temperature.
Justice and Cinderella
One of the hallmark moments at Acton Academy is the Socratic Discussion—dialogues that foster deep reflection on a particular topic. After setting some guidelines (ROEs), the discussion begins.
This time, we explored with the Spark Pumas the themes of justice and Cinderella. Here’s a glimpse into our reflection:
Guatemala, from a guide's perspective
The Odyssey (by Homer): A Pitch and a Review
When I was little I loved Greek mythology, and my favorite stories were about the Trojan War and Ulysses. I loved them, and now I wanted to read La Odisea for my Libro Profundo. I did not choose The Odyssey because Greek is more similar to Spanish and I wanted to read sparkling and new words that I could maybe not read in English.
Hiking a Volcano: A Journey of Growth
Building a tribe from the ground up
Every new year brings new faces, and with them, the opportunity to reinvent the Discovery tribe. To accompany this process, the first Quest of the year, "Build the Tribe", is designed to equip the Pumas with challenges, tools, and discussions that help them build their tribe. Here they face fundamental questions: What tribe do we want to build? How do I want to feel here?
¿Cuál es tu superpoder?
Explorer: El Regreso
En los inicios de Tinkuy, el studio Explorer recibía Pumas de 3 a 5 años. Luego de la pandemia, y con la fusión de Spark y Discovery, Explorer pasó a convertirse en el nuevo studio Spark (3 a 6 años). Esto, porque teníamos la ilusión de más adelante abrir un studio Explorer para Pumas más pequeños aún.
Un Nuevo Camino
En la última reunión del año con los Mapaches líderes de nuestra comunidad, les pedí que me ayudaran a pensar cómo comunicar lo que significa la experiencia Tinkuy para los Pumas y familias que se comprometen con su propio crecimiento y con la construcción de una comunidad learner-driven. Quisiera cerrar el año compartiendo esta historia, co-creada con ellos. ¡Felices Fiestas!
Gratitude
El Arte de Guiar: Sembrando caminos
Mi primer año en Tinkuy ha culminado y, al reflexionar sobre este tiempo, me doy cuenta de que ha sido un viaje de aprendizaje compartido. Mientras la Tribu enfrentaba desafíos y victorias, yo también lo hacía. Al mirar atrás, no puedo evitar cuestionarme: ¿Qué significa ser Guía en Tinkuy? ¿Qué se necesita para asumir este rol? Cada vez que pienso en estas preguntas, encuentro respuestas nuevas y distintas. Hoy quiero compartir mi intento por responderlas.
¿Cuál es tu mayor pregunta sin respuesta?
¿Cuál es tu mayor pregunta sin respuesta? ¿Qué es eso de lo que quieres saber más? ¿Cuál es tu mayor curiosidad? A medida que crecemos, me atrevería a decir que no nos hacemos tantas preguntas sin respuesta y, sumado a las nuevas tecnologías que nos acompañan, cuestionarse sin saber la respuesta se vuelve incluso algo “pasado de moda”.
Prepararse para la ruta
Cada día hay nuevos retos, son nuestros “Quests” de paternidad/maternidad. El punto es cómo nos equipamos para cuando pasen situaciones como la descrita. O más complejas. En mi experiencia, he identificado tres “armas” que hacen toda la diferencia en cómo vivimos esta ruta y, sobre todo, cómo afrontamos los momentos duros cuando sentimos estar en el fondo de la cueva.