Registration for the Fall Start an Educational Alternative Course is Now Open!
As we have all noticed, educational alternatives have become crucial in the wake of the pandemic. Not only that, but it looks like the Education revolution, AERO’s mission, has just happened. With two billion people around the world now realizing that they are not forced to go to their assigned school, anything is possible! Also, many parents, sitting with their children, have discovered that listening to the classroom teacher drone on is deadly boring! And many have also discovered their their children are natural learners and quite creative and entrepreneurial.
That’s why this year’s Start Your Own Alternative course may be the most important one we have ever had. There has never been a greater need to offer real learner-centered educational alternatives in our communities and online.
As usual, the course is limited to 25 registrants. We will take them step by step through the process they need to start their own alternative. We will use a dedicated course website which has videos, articles, books to download, audio interviews, etc. They key is that the course is interactive. As people post their visions and reactions to the course resources, all members can post their responses to all. We will also be joined again by long-time Albany Free School staff member and director Chris Mercogliano, as well as North Star co-founder Ken Danford and several other resource people.
When we reach 25 registrants, registration is closed for the year. You can join this week at a 20% discount or become a sustainer and save 40%. The course used to be named “School Starters,” but we realized that many people wanted to start other kinds of alternatives in their communities such as homeschool resource centers, often called micro-schools, mini-schools or even pandemic pods.
Here is a link where you can read more, see a map of some of the over 100 of the alternatives that AERO has helped to start. You still have the option of graduate credit from Antioch University New England.
Register HERE
Become a $50 sustainer HERE
Other Ways to Register for the Start an Educational Alternative Course
As you read Sunday (and below), the Start an Alternative Course is now open for registration. Here is a way you can save even more, by monthly $50 sustainer payments. Last year most registrants did that. We know things are still tight for many people in this COVID age.
You can register as a $50 sustainer here. Just select $50 from the drop down menu. Contact us directly if you need a special arrangement)
Feedback From Previous Course Attendees
- Every post I make in this course I say something about how grateful I am to be taking this course. I am going to say it again and keep saying it because the information in this course is just amazing.
- I very much enjoyed connecting with progressive education folks from all over the world. It was inspiring. Learning about other people’s cultures and struggles within those cultures was enlightening. I also enjoyed going through all the information that you and Jerry have collected over the years. I learned about many different schools and their many different journeys. Great stuff
- Things are going great! I just had my third monthly informational meet and 15 people showed up…..It’s great to know that there are all these people out there working toward similar goals!
- The highlight of the course for me has been connecting with you and Jerry, as well as others from around the world, however mostly yourself and Jerry… to learn more about what you have both created and how you have gone about it… and the feedback you have both given to me. It’s given me great peace of mind that we ARE on the right track with the project and has helped me to project into the future to see what it is we yet need to do… we have a pathway, and a solid direction forward.
- One big lesson for me in the course has been to trust my intuition even more… to allow myself to be guided by what feels right in terms of steps, rather than still seeking a formula to building community and the project.
- I loved being able to share ideas with so many others, especially those in other countries. I particularly like the section on building community and a few of the discussions that took off and got more in depth. I also loved that we started by thinking about “non-negotiables.”
- I feel the highlight of the course was getting clear on my vision and listening to others experience about their process. It was wonderful to learn about all the school owners that have come before me and realize that I am not alone in this process. I also learned more fun ideas for fundraising. Now I have greater insight into what areas of my project require more realistic attention.
- I really enjoyed the School Starters Course and feel like I gained a lot of valuable information. It was a good opportunity to see the path others have laid on the route to starting new and innovative programs. I especially enjoyed the first few topics as we were focusing on the reasons that people have chosen to start alternatives. It was reassuring, as someone who has already started a small program, to hear that a constantly evolving program is the norm for an alternative learning environment. I started my program two years ago and here in the infancy of the program have always felt like I was trudging this road on my own. I signed up for this course not so much to gain direction for what I need to do but I think to gain reassurance that I was not the only one out here seeing the need for change. I learned that there is support out there for when you have questions and that was really important to me. I really enjoyed the reading materials provided and gained such valuable insight into the value of democratic education.
