Matters of Justice
This year I thought I’d do something really wholesome for Christmas so I went to the garden store and bought a relatively inexpensive potted pine tree to use as our Christmas tree, thinking I would plant it in the garden after the holiday. It was a type of pine I wasn’t familiar with, but I […]
Life is hard, so is The Open School
Your child’s education at The Open School is a long game. It is not a panacea. There will be challenges. Boredom, frustration, and conflict will arise. This is good; this is actually what we want. Even though it might seem counter-intuitive at first, embracing these aspects of life is what makes children grow up into mature, self-directed, […]
Summer Campout 2016
Our school is still quite new, but one of the traditions we are starting is a summer camping trip with as many students and staff as possible. This time together creates bonds and community in a unique way. This summer wevisited Carpinteria State Beach, and enjoyed the time spent in nature, on the beach, and […]
How I got here
The below article was written by Mark Keogh and originally posted on Wicklow Sudbury School blog. It is posted here with their permission. I am a father of two boys. I have been happy enough that my kids have been happy enough going through a pleasant primary school. The two boys haven’t had a lot of […]
Math
This was originally published by the Hudson Valley Sudbury School and was authored by staff member Shelley Friedman. I’ve worked at Sudbury for five years now and this fifth year is my nerdy dream-come-true. As a Sudbury staff member, we follow the students’ lead and engage in the activities they choose to pursue. Sometimes our personal […]
My own self learning – a parent’s perspective
While advocating for her daughter’s educational freedom, one of our parents discovered something about herself. The post below is written by that parent, Faith, who is also an amazing supporter of our school. All of the art pieces below were created by Faith during her own self-training as an artist. I am a huge advocate […]
Fear and Desire at the Ice Skating Rink
By Ben Page Last week, The Open School visited an ice skating rink in Anaheim. For most of the students, this would be their first time lacing up a pair of ice skates. For me, it had been almost twenty years. Needless to say, we were all a mixture of nerves and excitement. Observing this episode unfold before […]
An Ecological Perspective on Respecting Children
In modernity, we like to think we know what a beautiful garden looks like, that we might come in and “fix” the land to be more like our conception of natural beauty. Usually, this idea of beauty is based off of someone else’s garden, someone’s garden we wish was our own. And we worry about […]
What is your curriculum?
Ben Page Some people might look around the Open School and ask, “What is the curriculum?” The Latin roots of the word curriculum translate as ‘the course of a race’ and if this is our working definition, then surely we have no curriculum. We do not view human development and education as a race, nor […]
A Tail of Polarities
This week has been incredible in so many ways. Ben and I have had hours of discussion and debriefing, and one of our observations (brought to light by the Tao of Leadership) is the ebb and flow of polarities at The Open School. Noise and quiet; movement and stillness; conflict and harmony. But the one […]
