Jun 26 2016

Highly Recommended: Alternative Education Conference in Portland, Oregon

After five years, the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) is finally bringing their annual conference back to the US West Cost at Portland, Oregon, August 3-7, 2016. Sign up right away if interested. There is not much time left. As one who attended the conference the last time it came to Portland, I can attest […]

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May 03 2016

Free Online Children’s Health Summit This Week

Category: Alternative Education,HealthAdmin @ 11:34 am

The “Children’s Health Summit” webinar is going on this week, once again hosted by Carla Atherton, a functional nutrition coach specializing in children and families. It started yesterday and continues through Saturday, May 7, 2016. Each day’s presentations can be watched for free for 24 hours. You may also purchase the entire set of interviews […]

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Jun 06 2015

Too Much Thought? Here’s What to Do:

Category: Alternative Education,Learning,Self-Directed LearningAdmin @ 12:09 pm

Go to school for 13 or more years. I don’t mean just any school, but most schools. Most of the political and ideological interests struggling for control of American education share some basic assumptions about the meaning and purpose of schooling in modern society. They assume that schools exist to transmit a certain body of […]


May 06 2015

What if Students Designed Their Own Education?

Category: Alternative EducationAdmin @ 3:50 pm

Over the years since I graduated from a public high school (long before the Common Core), students have become burdened with an ever-increasing workload in “academic” courses. There are fewer hours left to pursue one’s own interests, if those interests do not happen to fit what the classes require. In mathematics, which I tutor at […]


Apr 05 2015

Saved from Standardized Testing? How?

Category: Alternative Education,LearningAdmin @ 10:30 pm

While testing has its place, the standardized testing imposed upon public schools has many problems. The tests were designed to give an overall picture of how groups of students compared to other groups in other times and places. They were not designed to assess an individual’s mastery of taught subject matter (especially since there is […]

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Mar 04 2015

Schooling and Interest

When students study what interests them, their work develops a natural, invigorating flow. They engage creatively with their topic, ask their own questions and pursue answers to their own satisfaction. They remember what matters. When someone else chooses their work, students may not find much of personal relevance. The learning becomes a chore, the students’ […]

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Mar 01 2015

Conference on Alternative and Child-Centered Education

Category: Alternative EducationAdmin @ 6:28 pm

The Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) is the best resource I know for learning about alternatives in education. Their conference in Portland, Oregon, which I attended a few years ago, was fantastic. I heartily recommend this year’s conference, which will be near New York City from May 20 to 24, 2015. Presentations will include a […]

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Nov 02 2014

Agile Learning

Category: Alternative EducationAdmin @ 1:05 pm

“Agile software development” has been in the tech world since before the term was settled upon in 2001. As a former (and now very part-time) software developer, I have some understanding of the issues. For people involved in education that is truly centered on children (as I am), applying “agile” to “learning” makes sense. In […]


Oct 07 2014

Homeschooling Movie: Class Dismissed

Category: Alternative Education,HomeschoolAdmin @ 9:19 am

Next week, Class Dismissed is starting its private-screening tour. The complete schedule and tickets are on the movie’s website, here. For October 2014: Oct. 15 – Los Angeles, CA. Oct. 20 – San Francisco, CA. Oct. 22 – Oakland, CA. Oct. 26 – Portland, OR. Oct. 28 – Monroe, WA. Oct. 29 – Seattle, WA. […]


Oct 03 2014

SF Bay Area Educational Options Expo 10/4 Saturday!

Category: Alternative Education,LearningAdmin @ 6:25 am

Find out what educational alternative options exist around the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, October 4, 2014. Did you know that a democratic school where children make their own educational decisions, modeled after the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, is in Concord, California? And that it started 17 years ago? It’s the Diablo Valley […]


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