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Nature principle

The compelling reasons kids need nature were explained factually and forcefully by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In fact, that book inspired major new efforts to reconnect kids with nature including Children & Nature Network, National Wildlife Federation’s Green Hour, and No Child Left Inside. Louv [...]

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How to listen and how to be heard

Do you really want a dead cat on your desk?” When a teacher took a parent’s phone call at the end of another busy school day, she was taken aback by the question. She couldn’t figure out why a first grader in her class came home telling his mother that their recently deceased family pet [...]

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Fun theory

I’m not aware of any official Fun Theory in the field of learning. But fun shimmers under the surface of motivation and focus like a very big fish. And the fish named Fun shouldn’t be ignored. I lifted the term Fun Theory from a Volkswagen campaign. Their videos have spread across the Internet. One shows [...]

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Accepting challenges, embracing mistakes

Interesting problems and exciting risks are life’s calisthenics. They stretch us in directions we need to grow. Children are particularly oriented this way. They think up huge questions and search for the answers. They face fears. They puzzle over inconsistencies in what is said and done around them. They relentlessly challenge themselves to achieve social, [...]

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Empowering children’s interests without excessive interference

Alexa began creating a village when she was seven years old. She liked to build tiny houses out of sticks and leaves in the backyard, something she particularly enjoyed doing when her friends came over. Together they made up stories about the tiny people who would move in. Alexa was frustrated when wind and rain [...]

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How the 10,000 hour rule benefits us

If you haven’t heard about the 10,000 Hour Rule, you’re probably busy doing what people do. Living life on your own terms. Malcolm Gladwell identified this 10,000 hour maxim in his book, Outliers. The rule has to do with attaining Big Time Success. Based on Anders Ericsson’s analysis of people who reached the top of [...]

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My brain said ‘no’

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it is generally unnecessary to hold to a rigid schedule. In other [...]

Nature principle

The compelling reasons kids need nature were explained factually and forcefully by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods: [...]

Educating children in a violent world

I was recently asked to write a column for a national education magazine. When the editor told me the theme [...]

Caring education and meaningful democracy

Is it possible to have caring education or a meaningful democracy in a culture that is fundamentally competitive, materialistic, and [...]

Taking risks and breaking rules

Albert Einstein once said that it is a miracle curiosity survives formal education. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t. When my husband [...]

The peaceful school

“You must be so patient.” If I have heard that once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. I must be [...]

Education for a green society

There is a strong connection between the business world and the modern institution of schooling. Historians of education have explained [...]

How to listen and how to be heard

Do you really want a dead cat on your desk?” When a teacher took a parent’s phone call at the [...]

The lifelong journey

It was a cloudy day in April, 2004. It was cloudy in my mind. And storm clouds were brewing over [...]

Toward participatory democracy

As I pursued research for my book on the 1960s-era free school movement, I came across numerous references to the [...]

A history lesson and survival guide for young people during the decline of America

If you’re an American teen or young adult, you’re a pioneer. You may not think of yourself as a pioneer, [...]

Empowering children’s interests without excessive interference

Alexa began creating a village when she was seven years old. She liked to build tiny houses out of sticks [...]

Choosing my kids over public education

My husband Phil and I were both educated in the public school system. He came from a very impoverished family [...]

Reflecting on spirituality in education

Early in my career, I attempted to define the place of spirituality in holistic education: A basic premise of holistic [...]

How the 10,000 hour rule benefits us

If you haven’t heard about the 10,000 Hour Rule, you’re probably busy doing what people do. Living life on your [...]

Parents and the new paradigm

When our philosophy necessitates a change in the way we view the world, we call it a paradigm shift. Our [...]

A dent in the sofa

Pouring a cup of instant coffee, looking over the kitchen counter into my living room, I suddenly saw it. On [...]

Finding the work-life balance is all about trust

I’ve been hearing about companies that don’t limit time off for their employees. They are expected to simply get their [...]