This is part two of a series called “A Journey of Self-Directed Education” written from a student’s perspective. Each post will discuss a different aspect of Self-Directed Education and how it can improve a child’s life. Click here to see the full series! “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” […] The post What Are You Going to Do with All This Freedom? first appeared on The Open School ..read more

I have been enrolled at The Open School for almost two years. Throughout my time here I’ve been in deep reflection about the incomparable differences between a self-directed school and a traditional one. I often think about the privilege I have to be in an environment where there is mutual respect and my basic needs […] The post A Journey of Self-Directed Education first appeared on The Open School ..read more

We caught a great moment on campus last week. One of our students, Charlotte, was playing a game where she asked a staff member, Aaron, math questions and then checked the answer using a calculator. Through play, Charlotte was connecting the dots between concepts while experiencing what it felt like to be the questioner who […] The post A Story About Math and Self-Direction first appeared on The Open School ..read more

It’s easy enough to find flaws in the conventional classroom. A teacher lecturing to a group of twenty or thirty students, each at a different level of understanding, is not a great model for learning. And signing kids up for a bunch of subjects they have no interest in is just going to be a […] The post Why Sudbury Schools Don’t Offer Classes first appeared on The Open School ..read more

It’s natural as parents to want our kids to have a better life than we had. We think that with the right parenting recipe, we can steer our children toward greatness. This is the basic idea behind education as well. Even parents who opt out of the conventional educational model—with its set curriculum and testing—usually […] The post Are You Expecting Too Much? first appeared on The Open School ..read more

This is part of a series on how children learn in Self-Directed Education. It attempts to answer the question: How can children learn without teachers, classes, or homework? Go here to see an overview of the series so far. During their journey through childhood, children encounter many things which they have to figure out in […] The post They Teach Themselves Math first appeared on The Open School ..read more

This is part of a series on how children learn in Self-Directed Education. It attempts to answer the question: How can children learn without teachers, classes, or homework? Go here to see an overview of the series so far. If we started enrolling all of our 1-year-olds in English classes, within a couple of generations […] The post When Should Kids Learn to Read? first appeared on The Open School ..read more

This is part of a series on how children learn in Self-Directed Education. It attempts to answer the question: How can children learn without teachers, classes, or homework? Go here to see an overview of the series so far. Madison couldn’t read. She was seven years old, enrolled in a school that doesn’t have classes […] The post They Teach Themselves to Read first appeared on The Open School ..read more

This is part of a series on how children learn in Self-Directed Education. It attempts to answer the question: How can children learn without teachers, classes, or homework? Go here to see an overview of the series so far. How can we be sure that kids will learn everything they need to know? This is […] The post Control Is a Myth first appeared on The Open School ..read more

This is part of a series on how children learn in Self-Directed Education. It attempts to answer the question: How can children learn without teachers, classes, or homework? Go here to see an overview of the series so far. Last time I explained what education is by dividing it into six categories: Basic skills People […] The post 7 Principles of Self-Directed Education first appeared on The Open School ..read more