A small village for families who want to live, learn & raise their children in community.

a homeschooling community in Madagascar

Discover the Project Let's Talk

6,000^m²

Acquired land

5,000^m²

Adjacent opportunity

Future cottages on shared land

5 – 10

Families maximum

The Project

What if home education didn't mean doing everything alone?

Since becoming parents, we knew our priority was to raise happy children who love learning, nature and caring for others. We chose home education because it gives us the freedom to shape our family life around those values, follow our children's curiosity and make learning part of everyday life. Living in Madagascar has given us even more freedom to do so, as well as many rich, real-life opportunities. Over the years, we have come to deeply value this way of life — and to imagine how much richer it could be if shared with other families, with children growing up side by side.

And with that came a dream: a dream of a small village where our children can grow up with more freedom, more nature and more community around them. To make that dream come true, we acquired land in Ambohimanga, in the green highlands just outside Antananarivo (the capital of Madagascar), and we are looking for like-minded families to build this community with us.

Our Five Pillars

The values our village is built around.

Community

Kids running between houses. Shared meals. Someone to hand your baby to. Neighbours who show up.

Home Education

Our children learn together, with their families as first teachers and the land as first classroom.

Self-Reliance

We grow food, keep animals, learn practical skills. A healthy independence from systems we don't control.

Ecology

We build small, harvest rainwater, use solar, plant native trees, compost. Permaculture guides the shared farming.

Continuity

A place to put down roots, raise our children, and leave something better than we found it.

Who We Are

A simple family with a big dream

We are a family of six living in the highlands near Antananarivo, raising and home educating our four boys in Madagascar.

Thomas

From Denmark · Father · Entrepreneur

Thomas is from Denmark and has lived in Madagascar for many years. He is the founder of Madagascar Invest and works with international clients interested in building, investing and settling in Madagascar. He loves the outdoors, camping and adventure, and brings a practical, steady and reliable approach to family life and to the projects we take on.

Coralie

From Madagascar · Mother · Home Educator

Coralie is a home-educating mother and former preschool teacher with more than ten years of experience working with children and in education. She loves creating meaningful experiences for children, bringing people together and finding simple, creative ways to make family life richer. Caring, imaginative and community-minded, she is especially passionate about childhood, learning and creating spaces where families can feel at home.

Our Children

ages 9, 6, 4 and 1

Our four boys are a big part of what shapes the way we live and the choices we make as a family. We keep their names and personal lives private, but they are very much part of this adventure with us.

Where We Are

A tropical island, a historic capital, and a green hill above the city.

Madagascar is one of the last places in the world where you can still give a child a slow, outdoor, low-pressure childhood.

The Country

Madagascar

Madagascar is a place of extraordinary natural variety — rainforests, dry forests, mountains, highlands, rivers, waterfalls, dramatic rock formations and thousands of kilometres of coastline. Its landscapes can change completely within a few hours of travel, and much of the island still feels open, raw and deeply connected to nature. Its wildlife is equally remarkable, with an extraordinary number of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.

Malagasy life is deeply social, warm and welcoming. Hospitality comes naturally, children are included in everyday life, and community living is part of the culture. There is even a word for it: Fihavanana — the idea of kinship, mutual support, friendship and responsibility toward one another.

Children here grow up exposed to real life. They see how food is grown and sold, how families work together, how communities function, how people build, trade, create and solve problems. Life happens around them rather than behind closed doors.

~587,000^km²

Size of the country

~20°C

Yearly average

~280

Days of sun

A red-earth road through the Malagasy countryside

Panther chameleon — The panther chameleon

The Capital

Antananarivo

Antananarivo — "the City of a Thousand" — is located in Madagascar's central highlands; the place is surrounded by rolling hills, rice fields and traditional villages. It is the country's cultural, educational and economic centre, giving families access to shops, healthcare, restaurants, sports, activities and an international community, while still keeping daily life closely connected to the surrounding countryside.

The highland climate is mild, green and comfortable, with warm days, cool evenings and distinct seasons making outdoor life possible throughout much of the year.

Antananarivo with jacaranda blossoms — The Rova above jacarandas

A bustling Antananarivo market — A weekly market in Tana

Antananarivo from above — The city across its hills

The Hill

Ambohimanga

Ambohimanga — "the Blue Hill" in Malagasy — is one of the most important historic places of the Merina kingdom. Its royal compound, the Rova of Ambohimanga, sits on the hilltop and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Madagascar's most important cultural landmarks.

The surrounding area is peaceful and rural, with rice terraces, traditional villages, pine and eucalyptus forests and green highland scenery. Yet we are only around 45 minutes from central Antananarivo, with access to shops, healthcare, restaurants, sports and family activities. Ivato International Airport is also around 25 minutes away, making travel in and out of Madagascar easier.

For children, it means growing up close to nature, local communities, farming, markets and Malagasy traditions — while still having the practical advantages of the capital within reach.

UNESCO

World heritage site

45 min

To Antananarivo

25 min

To Ivato airport

A traditional Malagasy building near Ambohimanga

Why Madagascar

There are several benefits to living and homeschooling in Madagascar.

Beautiful and unique natural environments
Rich culture and history
Welcoming of foreigners
Low cost of living
No educational reporting requirements
Affordable home & house staff available
Plenty of business and investment opportunities

Village Life

Life done together.

Picture children growing up together — moving between homes, playing outdoors, learning from each other and from the adults around them.

Homeschooling does not have to happen in isolation. Families can teach together when it makes sense, share subjects, projects and activities, and let learning happen naturally through everyday life.

The community homeschool space gives families a place to gather, learn and concentrate shared resources — books, materials, equipment and tools that would be difficult for every household to maintain alone.

Families can also use the workshop to teach something they know well, whether that is science, woodworking, art, music, gardening, languages or practical skills. Children gain more teachers, more experiences and more chances to discover what interests them.

Younger children learn by watching the older ones, while older children naturally begin to help, guide and take responsibility. Parents also have people to rely on — someone to share a meal with, solve a problem with, or simply hand your baby to for a moment so you can catch your breath.

We want nature to be part of daily life, not something reserved for weekends. A community garden, a few animals, outdoor projects and plenty of space to explore can all become part of how children play, learn and contribute.

The aim is to create a life that feels comfortable, safe and grounded, while still respecting each family's independence. Every family has its own home and private plot, but shared spaces and shared rhythms make it easier for genuine community to grow.

Children running and jumping on a grassy hill

What the village will hold

Private family homes

Every family has their own house — one of the rental cottages on the community lot, or one you build yourself on a plot on the adjacent land.

A well & shared water

A proper community well and rainwater harvesting.

A garden to grow together

A shared community garden brings nature into everyday life — a place to grow, learn and work with our hands, with a few animals joining the village once we are more settled.

A learning space & small library

One dedicated room, one growing bookshelf, materials passed hand to hand.

A playground for the kids

Wide-open space to run, climb, hide, get muddy and share hours of fun with other children.

A campground for guests

Room to pitch a tent when visiting families want to try before committing.

Outdoor gathering spaces

A firepit, long tables under trees, a shaded corner — for meals and celebrations.

Solar power, shared

Power, water, fencing, security — handled together so no one battles alone.

“Community” is the whole point — but so is being able to shut your own door and have a quiet evening as a family. What we share, we share by choice.

Ways To Join

There is more than one way to put down roots here.

Some families want to spend meaningful seasons in Madagascar — help build the community, have a place to return to, without making a lifelong commitment. Others are already looking for somewhere to put down permanent roots, and create a home to pass on to their children. We want the village to make room for both.

Flexible Roots

Help build a home. Have a place in the village for years to come.

come and go with the seasons

A founding contribution helps us build one of the small independent homes on our family land. In return, your contribution is converted into a defined period of prepaid use of the home — years of coming and going, of long stays and short ones, of a place that already knows your children's names.

Approximate construction cost per family

€10,000 – €20,000

We handle the entire build for you — sourcing materials, hiring local craftspeople, managing the site. Families don't lift a hammer or manage a single contractor.

Best suited to families who…

want to help build the village from the beginning
imagine spending months, or several years, here
don't necessarily want to buy property or commit for life

Permanent Roots

Create a home of your own, beside the community.

something to pass on

Families looking for a more permanent future can participate in acquiring the adjacent land and establish their own home there. This offers greater long-term autonomy and, where legally possible, ownership that can be passed to the next generation.

Approximate land acquisition cost

€5,000

This is for the land only — a 1,000 m² plot inside the community, yours to build on. Construction of your own home is a separate cost, entirely your own to design, budget and manage.

Best suited to families who…

see Madagascar as a possible long-term home
want more autonomy over their house and land
want to build something lasting for their family

The Journey

How joining actually looks.

No application form and no waiting list. We just want to get to know you.

Come and visit.

Walk the land. Meet our family. See the hill, the road, the pines. Watch the children play. Have dinner with us. A village is a face-to-face decision.

We write the charter together.

If we're aligned, the founding families draft the community charter together — a short, plain-language agreement about how we live here. Everyone signs. Everyone has a voice.

III

Move in, at your own pace.

Some families arrive for a season. Some plan to stay for years. However you're putting down roots, the village grows as the families grow into it.

Say Hello

If any of this feels like home, we would love to hear from you.

Tell us a bit about your family. Where you are now, how old your children are, what kind of life you're trying to build for them.

We will reply personally.