Stoic Sprout

For schools

Gentle philosophy for the classroom.

Stoic Sprout's stories come from real philosophers. That makes them a natural fit for the classroom, and for the kind of thinking Philosophy for Children is built around.

A small group of children sitting in a circle with their teacher, talking together

The idea

A short story, then a real question.

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a well-known classroom approach, developed by Matthew Lipman in the 1970s. A class takes a genuine question and thinks it through together, with the teacher guiding rather than answering. Stoic Sprout gives them somewhere to start. Each story comes from a real philosopher, Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius or Cicero, and ends on a question the class can pick up. Was that fair? What was in his control? What would you have done?

Where it fits

The thinking your curriculum already asks for.

In the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0, Ethical Capability is one of four core capabilities, with its own content and achievement standards. It has two strands: Understanding Ethical Concepts and Perspectives, and Decision-making and Actions. Both cover the ground these stories already walk over, from fairness and consequences to how a person decides to act. The same thinking runs through the Australian Curriculum's Ethical Understanding and Critical and Creative Thinking capabilities. A story about the archer who controls his aim but not the wind is one way in.

To be clear about what it is: Stoic Sprout is a stimulus that supports this thinking. It isn't a certified or endorsed curriculum product, and we don't claim it lifts academic results. What it gives you is an honest, well-sourced way in. More on Philosophy for Children →

Coming for the 2027 school year

A classroom edition is on the way.

The stories are here now. We're building a teacher-facing edition to go with them, ready for the 2027 school year. It will include:

  • Story stimulus mapped by capability and year level. Each tale tied to Victoria's Ethical Capability and the matching thinking in the national curriculum, Foundation to Year 6.
  • A discussion guide for every story. The opening question, some follow-ups, and where the conversation tends to go.
  • A simple alignment map. Which story supports which capability, so it drops into your planning.
  • Whole-class by design. One screen, no student logins, no accounts to manage.
  • The same calm. Ad-free and unhurried, with nothing built to keep a child hooked.

The exact shape will change as we build it with teachers. That's rather the point.

Privacy for whole-class use

Built to hold as little as possible.

Today's app has no student accounts. A child's name, recordings, journal entries and listening history stay on the device. None of it reaches our servers, and the app runs no ads and no third-party analytics. We plan to keep those same limits in the classroom edition: whole-class use, no student logins, and no child profiles held by us. That leaves a school with far less to assess, though it doesn't remove your own review obligations.