More Schools Like Ours

 People always ask me how a school like ours can possibly work. I try to explain that it is working, for many other schools across the country. Although I am the founder of Someday School, I didn't invent the philosophies or methods. I have read about them, researched them, observed in schools, and emailed with directors and staff members of schools. The concensus is that the children who go to Agile Learning Centers, Sudbury Schools, and "free schools" are happy children. They are taught from an early age that they can pursue the things that fascinate them, that they can try new things, they can ask questions, and they can have a say in the things that happen around them. They are never forced to sit down for a lesson, or graded on their performance in comparison to their peers. As they get older, they are successful in the "real world," because they've learned how to think for themselves, rather than to just give authority figures what is expected of them.

I want to list some schools across the country that are similar to Someday School. The first one is Albany Free School in Albany, NY. I first heard about Albany Free School many years ago, when I read the book Teaching the Restless, by Chris Mercogliano. You could say that Albany Free School is the original inspiration for Someday School!

Tallgrass Sudbury School in Riverside, IL. I lived in Chicago when I first read about Albany Free School. I actually emailed the director, and he referred me to Tallgrass Sudbury School. It had a different name back then, I believe. I was able to go visit the school, observe, and sit in on one of their democratic meetings.

Village Free School in Portland, OR. I have emailed with the staff members at this school, gone to their open-houses, and gone to a presentation by them at a conference about self-directed learning.

Free To Learn, Roseville, CA. This school is a little different because it is specifically for homeschoolers and unschoolers, and only meets a few days per week. I have included it here because it is an example of an Agile Learning Center, and I met and corresponded with the director while working on starting Someday School.

Rock Tree Sky, Ojai, CA. An older, successful Agile Learning Center that also hosts conference calls and trainings for directors of similar schools.

Heartwood ALC, Clarkston, GA. Although Someday School isn't strictly an Agile Learning Center, we use tools inspired by this model. Heartwood is an example of a school that follows the model more closely than we do.

Alpine Valley School, Wheat Ridge, CO. An older and very successful Sudbury model school with a lot of information on their website.

It would take me all day and all night, and even longer, to list every single school across the USA that uses a model similar to ours and has similar philosophies. The point is, schools like this do work. When you choose Someday School for your child, you are not doing something outrageous that no parent has done before. We may be new to Vancouver, but we are not new to the USA, or even to Washington. Want to learn how we can help your child? Email us at somedayschool@gmail.com!

Climbing the Wall of Awful

I was recently listening to the Being Unnormal Podcast. It is a podcast where a different type of "unnormal" is highlighted in each episode, to help people learn about various issues and situations, and to allow people to see the world through someone else's eyes. If you haven't listened to it before, you should check it out. Anyways, I listened to the ADHD episode, in which ADHD coach Brendan Mahan, of ADHD Essentials, talks with the podcast creator.

One of the things he talks about in the episode is the "Wall of Awful." While you may not have heard this term before, many people, especially those with ADHD, are likely to relate to it. The Wall of Awful is an emotional wall that is built little by little, every time you fail at something. Here is an example some adults may have experienced. You decide you are going to join a gym and start exercising. But each day, you procrastinate and don't go. Then, you feel guilty and defeated because you haven't gone to the gym yet. Because you feel so awful about it, you don't feel like you will go the next day or the next day. You continue not going to the gym. Soon going to the gym feels like a huge hurdle that you will never manage to get over.

Children and adults feel like this a lot of the time. Often, instead of failing at something because they procrastinated, they fail at something because they didn't have the executive functioning skills to accomplish it. So their feeling of awfulness becomes very personal to them. Others may contribute to this feeling of despair by telling the child or adult that they are just lazy or stubborn, or by punishing them for it.

(Brendan Mehan mentions something he sometimes does when he talks to groups about ADHD. He has asthma, and sometimes needs to use his inhaler. When he does, he apologizes to the group for being too lazy and unmotivated to breathe. This always makes everyone laugh, because of course his asthma is not a result of his being lazy or unmotivated. Yet, that is how many people view those with ADHD.)

Everyone can climb their Wall of Awful. But it is not a matter of just standing up and doing it. Getting started can be the hardest part. Demanding that the person get started right now, getting angry at them, or beginning to take away privileges when a child does not begin in a timely manner, is likely to have the opposite result and cause the person to be more stuck than ever at the bottom of the wall.  Often, what we need is a boost to get started.

Mehan explains how he sometimes helps his children to get over their Walls of Awful homework assignments. He agrees to do one part of the homework assignment for them. He does not do the learning part for them, but he may do some of the work for them. If the child is supposed to write spelling sentences, he might have them dictate the sentence and the spelling while he writes it for them. This gets the child over the Wall of Awful. They build up their confidence by seeing that they can climb that Wall of Awful... they can come up with spelling sentences, and they can figure out how to spell the words.

After a few times of writing the sentences that the child dictates, the parent might agree to write all of the sentence dictated by the child, except for the actual spelling word. So the child climbs the Wall of Awful again, this time with a little less help, and learns how to do it.

Eventually, the parent may agree to help with every other sentence. And soon, the child is scampering over their Wall of Awful on their own.

Some parents and teachers are very reluctant to help children with their work. They feel that the child should be doing all of the work on their own, or that the child may be manipulating the adult in order to get out of doing work that they are capable of doing. It is important for parents and teachers to see that they are supporting a child and helping them to gain the strength and skills to get over their Wall of Awful on their own.

What is your Wall of Awful? What help do you need in order to get over it?

Awesome Potion Making Activity

At Someday School, we want children to learn naturally, out of curiosity rather than because we tell them that they must learn. However, sometimes there is not much to learn if you are just hanging around a school playing with the same toys every day. So, we create opportunities for learning to occur naturally.

This week, I wanted to create an opportunity for children to do something sciency that also went along with our Halloween mood. In other schools and child care situations I've worked in, I've often done science experiments involving vinegar and baking soda. Usually, the experiment was more of a demonstration, as I would tell the children what we were going to do, and guide them to make predictions about what would happen. I wanted to use the same idea, but have it be more of a child-led activity. So I came up with this potion making activity.

I gathered a bunch of pourable, kid-safe materials I had around the house. Because children love to use all of stuff, I used pop bottles to give them a limited amount of each material so they wouldn't clean me out of house and home. I wanted to be sure to include a few things that would create some sort of reaction or interesting thing to observe. For example, when mixed with baking soda, lemon juice will fizz. (So will vinegar, of course, but I didn't have any left!) Xanthan gum powder, when mixed with a liquid, will cause the liquid to become thick and jelly-like. Baby powder, when having a liquid poured on it, will not immediately get wet, but will stay dry for a while. Oil will create a layer beneath the water instead of mixing with it. (If you have other suggestions, please let me know so I can use them for next time!)

I gave the kids jars, but had them keep the jars inside a plastic tub to contain any spills. This made an otherwise very messy activity a breeze to clean up!

I told them they were free to mix any of the materials however they liked to create their potion. From then on, I didn't really do any "teaching" at all. I was there providing maximum support with minimal interference, by opening bottle caps for them and making exclamations like, "Wow! Look at that!"

It is important to note that children who often seem to have short attention spans for activities will become fully engaged when it is something that interests and appeals to them. The little girl in these photos is a very active kid who loves running, jumping, rolling, somersaulting, spinning, and playing a lot of impromptu hide and seek. But when given this learning opportunity, she stayed completely engaged for a whole hour, and would have continued to be engaged with it if it hadn't been time for her to leave. 

Some people will ask, "But are they actually learning anything?" 

Definitely! A lot of science is based on how materials will react with each other. But children, especially young ones, are concrete thinkers. They learn best when they can see, touch, and do. I could have pulled out a science book before or after the activity and explained to the children why the materials reacted in certain ways to each other. But they are four. Trying to teach a lesson beforehand, or giving them specific instructions for what to do, might have actually limited their learning and engagement. 

So for now, they scooped, poured, and stirred, in this potion making activity otherwise known as a Someday School science lesson! 

Pumpkin Bowling: A Fun Way To Practice Counting, Adding and Subtracting

I've posted before about the differences between playbased preschool programs and academic preschool programs. In our very first issue of the Someday School newsletter, I explained that a completely playbased preschool program would not do any direct teaching of academics at all. We are a little different, because we do introduce some academics, but we do them in fun ways that feel like play.

Pumpkin Bowling is a prime example of this. I made bowling pins by filling empty pop bottles with rice. I bought a small pumpkin to use as a ball. A pumpkin, by the way, does not make an ideal ball, because it is not really round. It is, however, fun to roll. If we had used a ball, a little bit of the novelty would have been lost. Plus, since this was right before Halloween, it fit with the season. We can continue pumpkin bowling for a while, because it also fits with autumn and Thanksgiving. Eventually, though, our pumpkin will probably go bad. But anyways...

What I DID do was set up the bowling pins in the traditional ten-pin arrangement at the end of our hallway, and set the little pumpkin on the floor near by.

What I did NOT do was say something like, "Okay, children, today we are going to do pumpkin bowling. Everyone line up. Here's how we play." In fact, I didn't say a single word about the pumpkin bowling game. I just left it there for the children to discover on their own when they headed down the hall. They instinctively knew what to do and started playing. They used "rock paper scissors" to decide who would go first. 

Once they had started playing, then I could casually introduce questions like, "Wow, how many did you knock over?" This prompted the children to count their pins each time. They chose to play by taking an infinite number of turns, and counting pins after each turn, until they had knocked every pin over. They eventually discovered that, once all of the pins were down, they did not even have to count them because there would always be ten. 

Mmmm... learning..... 

After a while I would ask, "And how many are still standing?" I would make comments like, "So, four down, and six up!" 

What I will probably do in the future, but didn't do today because I didn't think of it in time, was incorporate our magnetic ten frame to "keep score." We could use the magnets to represent bowling pins that were knocked down. Or you could use the blue ones to represent "up" pins and the green ones to represent "down" pins. This would continue to help children learn the concept of different numbers adding up to ten. There will be different numbers of "up" pins and "down" pins, but they will all add up to ten. 

For kids who are starting to learn about subtraction, you could count all of the pins before knocking them down, then count the ones that fall and the ones that are left over, commenting, "So, ten, minus four down, equals six up?" 

Some teachers in Agile Learning Centers or playbased preschools would not make any of this commentary, choosing instead to let the kids discover all of it. With preschoolers especially, though, I like to do some modeling, in a casual and playful way. I do not make them count the pins or lecture them on addition facts... and if they spin off with a different way to play, I let it happen. 

This is such a fun and simple game to put together, and a really great way to learn some math concepts! What other math games do you like that keep kids happy and engaged? 

Why We Say "Yes" A Lot

One thing people sometimes notice about me, when observing me as I work with children, is that I tend to say "yes" a lot. When I worked in public schools, this was sometimes perceived as being too permissive or lenient. I often found myself in situations like the following.

Other Staff Member: "Jaxon, put those Unifix cubes away! Those are not toys!"

Jaxon: "Miss Nicki said I could play with them on my break!"

Other Staff Member: (Gives me an inredulous look.)

Me: "It's okay. They are fun to build with."

Other Staff Member: "No, we are putting them away now."

I often wondered why the answer had to be "no" so frequently. It almost seemed as if "no" was the default answer, when a child asked to do anything that wasn't a direction given by an adult.

"Can I show the class my new toy during Morning Meeting?" No. "Can I get a drink?" No. "Can I do my math work in the Calm Down corner?" No. "Can I go to the nurse?" No. "Can I take my jacket off?" No.

In a classroom with 20 to 30 kids, teachers may feel the need to say "No" a lot in order to maintain control. A lot of what happens in the traditional classroom is about crowd control. But by saying "no" too frequently, we can really limit a child's life and learning experiences.

When a child asks me something, I don't always say "yes." As an adult, it is still my job to be the responsible one. If something seems very dangerous, if it goes against an already existing rule that someone else has made, if it would disrespect someone else, or if it would damage something in a way that couldn't easily be fixed, I will say "no." However, I do leave room for the child to negotiate or come up with another idea.

For example, a preschooler asked if we could bring the floor scooter downstairs to play with. We were recently told that we cannot bring children downstairs because it is too disruptive to people working in the office, so I said "No," and reminded her why. She then asked if she could use the scooter upstairs. I said "Yes," because there was no reason not to.

Sometimes children do not explicitly ask permission to do something, but just start doing it. This can include using materials in a way that you did not intend them to be used for the activity. Here's another example. A child loves to paint, and she also loves to be the one to pour the paint from the large bottles into the muffin tin compartments. Worried that we were wasting a lot of paint this way, I bought some small refillable bottles that are meant for bringing shampoo and other hygiene products on airplanes. My idea was that I would fill the small bottles with paint, and then the children could pour the paint into the muffin tin. If I refilled the bottles only once a day, I could somewhat limit the amount of paint we went through. (Because most of the paint in the muffin tin doesn't actually end up being used!) However, as I started to fill up the small bottles. the child asked if she could help. I said, "Yes," because, why not? She then had the idea of putting more than one color of paint together in one bottle. Well, that wasn't exactly what I had intended them for, but would it damage anything? No. So I said, "Yes." She enjoyed experimenting with mixing colors, creating an interesting layered look inside the bottles. She was very careful not to spill, and if she had spilled, the washable paint could have easily been cleaned up.

Saying "yes" gives children more opportunities to explore. Sometimes children may experience a consequence they could learn from. If it is 60 degrees outside, and a child asks if they can take their jacket off, you can say "no" because they don't want them to be cold, or you can say "yes." They may experience the consequence of being cold, and they may decide to put their jacket back on. On the other hand, of it is 2 degrees out, it may be dangerous for a child to take off their jacket and expose their skin to the cold. This would be a good time to say "no," and a good time to explain what frostbite is!

Other examples...
"Can I jump off this rock?" (Yes. They might skin a knee, but luckily, Bandaids exist.)
"Can I stick this fork in the electric socket?" (No. and here is why it is dangerous.)
"Can I mix up the playdoh colors?" (Yes... this drives some people crazy, because it is so satisfying to look at all of the beautiful, bright playdoh colors, and somewhat traumatizing to see them all turn brown. A compromise would be to have a set for mixing and a set for keeping separated. Or make your own playdoh... this way, you can always make more!)
"Can I play with this object that doesn't belong to us?" (No... but when we see the person it belongs to, we can ask them.)
"Can I play in the mud?" (Yes... soap exists!)
"Can I draw on the wall?" (No... because that would damage the wall in a way that wouldn't be easy to fix.)

Saying "yes" doesn't mean you are giving up control or being too lenient. You are simply opening up more opportunities and learning experiences for children. Plus, then when you do have to say "no" to the important things, like playing with matches or jumping off the roof, kids will be more likely to respect and accept your decision.

If you live near Camas or Washougal and are looking for a school where the teachers will say "yes," contact Someday School for more info!

Do All Kids Need Scientifically Based Curriculum?

Here is a story.
There's a guy with asthma. Doctors at his local hospital recently took part in a course about a new, intensive treatment for asthma, and they decide to start using it on all of their patients with asthma. So, every day, for five hours a day, the guy goes to the hospital and undergoes a treatment that is time consuming and uncomfortable. He can't really do other daily activities, because his whole day is planned around getting this treatment. The doctors tell the man and his wife that 60% of people who undergo this treatment are eventually able to climb mountains and run marathons without asthma symptoms.
The man says, "But I don't want to run marathons or climb mountains. I just want to go through a leisurely hike through the woods with my wife. I want to walk through museums and go to farmer's markets. Or just stay home and play Yahtzee. Just give me an inhaler, and let me live my life."
The doctors reply, "You must be able to run marathons and climb mountains. Everyone needs to be able to run marathons and climb mountains."
So the man continues getting the treatment every day, until eventually he grows old and dies.

That is sort of a silly story! But I love metaphors! This story is a metaphor for scientifically based reading and math curriculums, which are often used for children with learning disabilities or children who are struggling in school.

One year when I was a teacher, I had four 3rd and 4th grade boys on my caseload. Three of them had the ability to read, a few years below grade level, but their behavioral issues kept them from participating in class. The other boy had no behavioral issues, but had a severe reading disability and struggled even with three-letter words. I decided to start reading funny novels with them. I started with "Sideways Stories From Wayside School," which is a silly book full of nonsense stories about a weird school. I remembered how much my brother and I loved that book. I started reading it aloud to them. Each day we'd read a chapter or two. In order to comply with school requirements, I added a vocabulary lesson at the beginning of each chapter, and a few comprehension questions at the end. But really, I didn't need to do that. The boys were fully engaged in the stories. They naturally made connections, and made predictions, and discussed the stories, without me having to prompt them. We got through a large part of the school year with me reading these stories. The boys in my group had very few behavioral issues while we were reading.

With two of these boys who ended up being in my class full time for a while, I started reading a graphic novel. I had several copies of it, so I suggested that we each be a character as we read. They loved it. They made silly voices when they read, and participated fully, and acted like model students.

What I was trying to do here was get them to enjoy literature, to the point where they would seek it out on their own. The goal was to keep them wanting more. If I got them to see that reading could be fun, and playful, they would be more likely to practice reading on their own. Even the boy with almost no ability to read would possibly look for ways to access literature, such as by listening to audio books.

An administrator who observed me told me to stop reading these books. She advised me to use a "fast-paced, scientifically based curriculum" with them instead. These curriculum materials all go something like this.

Teacher: "This is A. Touch A. This is A. Touch A. This is S. Touch S. This is S. Touch S. Touch A. Touch S. Good! This is T. Touch T. This is T. Touch T. Touch A. Touch S. Good!"

Eventually kids may be able to physically read. But will they read? They may read enough to survive, enough to struggle through a menu in a restaurant or the directions for how to set up their wifi connection. Will they ever pick up a book? Will they ever read for joy, or to learn?  Probably not.

Scientifically based curriculums are proven to be successful for many children. But that success is measured by their ability to get higher scores on standardized tests. Scientifically based curriculums don't follow a student into adulthood to measure their quality of life. They don't measure whether a student found subjects they were passionate about, or whether they loved visiting the library, or whether they used books to find out more when they were diagnosed with an illness, or whether they grew up and read books to their own children every day. They only measure test scores.

Another thing people may not realize is that success in reading in a traditional school setting is often based on how quickly a student can read. Struggling students are expected to read as many words as they can in one minute, with the goal being that they will eventually be able to read whatever number of words is expected of a student in their grade level. This is measured by having the student do a "cold read," or read aloud a grade level passage that they have never seen before. A teacher listens, marking any words the student reads incorrectly, and stopping them after one minute. The teacher then charts how many total words the student read, and their percentage of accuracy. To improve, the student is often told to read the same passage aloud over and over again. A child who reads slowly and carefully, or a child who can read in their head but mispronounces the words aloud, is considered unsuccessful. This makes me wonder... is the speed of reading important? I know many very intelligent people who read thick, intellectual books. It takes them forever. But they read the books, and think carefully about what they read. They do not read aloud as quickly as they can and keep track of how many words they read.

So, back to the guy with asthma. Does everyone need to be able to climb a mountain or run a marathon? Should a person only be considered successful if they are able to do everything at the exact same level, and speed, as their peers? Can life be lived fully by meandering through forests and museums, instead of racing through?

At Someday School, we think so. What do you think?

When School Is Traumatizing For Kids

Lately, while trying to reach out to families that I think might be interested in Someday School, I've heard some disturbing stories. The stories were all very similar. Yet they happened at different times, in different schools, to different kids. I believe this story is more common than we think.

The stories all go something like this. A child was enrolled in a public school. The child had some sort of special need, such as ADHD, autism, or anxiety, although for some children it was not yet diagnosed at the time. The child began having behavior challenges at school. The child became upset. The child threw something, or hit someone, or had some sort of unsafe behavior. Staff members physically restrained the child, and/or shut her into an isolation room. This happened many times, to the point where the child started to become afraid to go to school. Just walking into school became a trigger for the child, because she would be anticipating having a terrible day. Eventually, their parents decided to homeschool them.

In the stories that I heard, some of the children were even diagnosed with PTSD later. Some could not even drive past their former school building, or any school at all, without becoming very anxious and upset.

It is a hard situation, and one that is actually hard for me to blog about, because I've been a teacher in a school.

When the child is already throwing things and hitting people, the situation has become a crisis and there are not many choices that staff members have. They can have the other children and staff members go sit in another room, while the upset child continues throwing objects and trying to hit other people, or even hurting themselves. They can physically restrain the child in one place. Or they can physically restrain the child and then transport him to an isolation room. It is a horrible situation for everyone involved... the other children who witness the first child becoming upset, and who also have to stop their classroom activities until the classroom is safe, the staff members who have to figure out very quickly what to do to keep everyone safe, and especially the child who is in the middle of it all.

When I'm thinking about this situation, I'm thinking about the specific children that I have known in the schools where I have worked. Here are a few of the things I've been reflecting on.

Children do not want to be out of control in school. It is a scary feeling for them. Often, after a child has calmed down, they feel very sad and guilty about anyone they have hurt and anything they have broken. If you think about a hypothetical situation situation in which  you would be screaming, hitting people, and throwing things, imagine how you would be feeling at the time. Angry? Scared? Frustrated? Attacked? Whatever feelings you'd be having would have to be very intense in order for you to be screaming, breaking things, and trying to hurt others or yourself. Now imagine those intense feelings happening to a child.

A lot of times, teachers and staff members trigger those feelings in a child by backing them into a proverbial corner. A very common example is when the child doesn't want to do a task. In the staff member's mind, the child must do the task. Every student in the classroom must do the task! People cannot just opt out of the task! If this student does not do the task, then all of the children will want to opt out of the tasks they don't want to do, and then what? So they attempt to make the child do the task, by making their voice louder and more stern, and issuing consequences. Do the worksheet or you will lose recess. Do the worksheet or you will not be allowed to participate in the classroom party. Do the worksheet or else. In schools where ABA-type behavior management is used, staff members may even attempt to physically force the student to do the task. The child's feelings are becoming more and more intense. Remember, this is a child who probably already has difficulty controlling their impulses and emotions. They're starting to feel backed into the corner. So what do they do? They scream! They knock over a desk! They push the teacher! They run from the room!

What if the teacher had been able to give the child... ideally, all of the children... options for what task they could do? Or if they could have given the child an option for when they would do it? Unfortunately, most public schools are not set up in a way that this would easily be possible. Even if a teacher was willing to do it, many times the administrators frown upon it. I once spoke with a teacher who had a child that dealt with high anxiety. The teacher came up with a solution. She put an empty desk behind the child's seat. When he started to feel anxious during class, he was allowed to turn his seat around to face the empty desk. It helped him feel less closed in. He could put his head down if he needed to. The administrator reprimanded the teacher for not holding the child to the same "expectations" as the others. Giving that child this little bit of extra space made it possible for him to stay in his classroom and regulate his emotions. But the administrator insisted that he should be facing front, and sitting up straight, at all times.

I spoke to another teacher who described a child with autism who liked to draw all the time. He would draw during class. He would listen to the teacher, and if he was asked to do something he would stop drawing long enough to do what he was asked to do. When he wasn't engaged in something else, he was drawing. The student's IEP team made a goal that he would refrain from drawing 90% of the time. The teacher disagreed with the goal, because she saw that drawing helped the child focus and participate. When he was told he could not draw, the child became upset. But the "expectation" for the school was that being "on task" would look the same for all children: hands folded, eyes on the teacher, desktop clear except for what the teacher has told them to have out.

Often, school staff members think, "But the children must do what they are told to do. After all, everyone has to follow rules. I have to go to work, and I follow rules at work." This is true, to a point. Lots of rules are there for a reason. For example, stop signs. If people opt not to obey stop signs, they will eventually crash into each other. People could die. The stop sign rule is very necessary. Now, think about your job. Did someone come to your house, put you in a bus, and drive you to a random job that you did not choose? Did they march you into a building and tell you that you must do what you are told to do, for the entire day? Hopefully not. You had some choice of what you wanted to spend your days doing. Even if you hate your job, you have some control over it. You can tell yourself that you are doing this in order to earn money. You can tell yourself that, if it gets too terrible, you will quit. You can even decide to take a mental health day once in a while. Children do not have these options.

And so, they scream. They throw things. They push people. They try to escape. They get restrained. They get put into isolation rooms. Some of them even develop PTSD.

What about the isolation rooms? While some schools are trying to avoid these rooms, and instead evacuate the rest of the children from the classroom, isolation rooms still exist. Usually they are about the size of a walk-in closet. They have gym mats on the floor and sometimes the walls. They usually have one-way mirrors as windows, so that the child cannot see out. While the idea is that the child will be kept in this room until she is calm enough to not hurt herself or others, often the child doesn't understand this. Being in the room can make the child's feelings even more intense. Plus, the fact that they were most likely physically forced into the room by staff members, usually including their teacher, can destroy the trust the child has for the staff. Now, every day, he must come to a place where people who are larger than him, and who are not his parents, might physically restrain him and lock him in a room.

A common alternative, evacuating the other students and keeping the child in the classroom, usually with at least one staff member, sounds okay but doen't often work out in reality. The typical classroom is filled with materials that a very angry child could use to hurt himself or someone else. It is also filled with learning materials that a very angry child could destroy. I have watched while children have ripped up most of the books on my bookshelf... books I paid for out of my pocket. It was not a good experience. It usually ends with the child eventually calming down, but then becoming reescalated when he is faced with the overwhelming task of trying to clean up the mess he just made.

In the schools where I worked, there was a lot of pressure to "not let them win." We, as adults, had to "win" by making the children comply. If you told a child to pick up his pencil, you'd better be ready to do whatever it takes, remove any privileges you needed to, or send your other students out of the room, to get this kid to pick up the pencil. And at the end... after the other students are sent out, the kid has destroyed the room, the parents have been called, etc... you're still supposed to say, "Now, you need to pick up this pencil."

To me, a lot of the problem is because schools are set up similar to businesses, where the idea is to spend the least amount of money possible in order to get the desired results. What is the maximum number of students we can put in each classroom where the teacher is still able to get some teaching done? What is the fewest number of paraprofessionals we can put in the special education room? How can we make this one single school social worker stretch out enough to serve all of these students who desperately need help? What is the shortest amount of recess we can get away with giving kids, in order to get the most academic instruction in, so that we can raise our test results? It is about numbers, it is about dollars, and we could make it all work so beautifully if it weren't for these darn square children who don't fit into our round holes. And when some children fall apart, we blame everything on them.

If someone was to ask me what schools can do to avoid traumatizing children, here is what I would say.

1. Give them choices so that they do not feel backed into a corner. Do not make every task a control battle that the teacher must win in order to save face and be respected. Will the classroom structure crumble around you if every child does not complete every worksheet? If your administrator requires you to make sure every child participates in every lesson (pretty much the norm in public schools), then give them options for how they will show their understanding of the lesson. They could do a task on the iPad or computer, do a learning center, demonstrate solving a problem on the whiteboard, or just choose which worksheet to complete. If the child refuses to do anything, what would happen if you just waited until later, talked to them privately, and gave them the option at that point to show you their understanding of the lesson? Is the goal for the child to learn the concept, or is the goal for them to produce a completely filled out worksheet?

2. Give them the space they need. If a child needs to draw, or turn around and face the empty desk behind them, or get up and pace, in order to get through their day, isn't that something we can allow them?

3. Instead of isolation rooms, what if there was a calming room? I am imagining a different sort of padded room... with gym mats, but large enough so that the child could use them to do somersaults on if she wanted to. Maybe those large foam Gymboree blocks for the child to tumble around on. Maybe a tent where the child could hide if she wanted to. A room that would have the clear purpose of helping the child calm down, instead of feeling like a punishment or consequence. A room that the child could ask to go to when they were feeling overwhelmed. Many people may say, "But then the child will want to be in there every day, all day." My suspicion is that the child may want to be there for several hours a day when he first discovers it... but most children who are not in a moment of crisis will get bored in there after a while. They will want to move onto another activity. What if the child went into this room with an adult, and after the child started to calm down the adult could talk with them and help them process things and make a plan? Some children really might need to go to this room several times a day. But would that be the worst thing in the world?

4. If you absolutely have to physically restrain a child because they are doing something very dangerous... trying to jump out the window, maybe, or slamming their head into a wall... then do it for as short a time as possible. Do it calmly, and quietly, and in the least restrictive way possible. That might mean leaving their arms and legs free and just holding them around their torso until another staff member removes a dangerous object. (Depending on what crisis intervention method you've been trained in... some do have restraint positions where you can leave one or both of their arms free.) Never speak angrily or even overly firmly to them while you are restraining them. Never use restraint as a threat. It is not a punishment. They do not necessarily have to be completely calm for you to release them. It is very hard to calm yourself down when someone is restraining you, and demanding that they calm themselves down in order to be let go can make them even more upset.

5. I once went to a workshop by an autism specialist who said something I would never forget. She said, just leaving their homes and showing up at school takes a tremendous amount of effort and emotion for some kids. For that, they should be guaranteed that at least one great thing will happen no matter what. Don't turn every single thing they enjoy into a reward that must be earned through compliance. If playing with the Legos is their favorite thing, build a few Lego breaks into their schedule and do not mess with that. If the entire class has been looking forward to a worm observation activity on Friday, do not take that away. This is a heartbreaking thought, but as children with special needs such as ADHD, autism and anxiety get older, they will be statistically more likely to have suicidal feelings than their peers. Part of our job should be to give them as many moments of joy as we can. School should not be a place that is unbearable for children. They should know that, no matter what, someone at school will be happy to see them, and there will be some awesome things to look forward to.

Someday School in Washougal can be a great solution. Because we are a small school, we can be more flexible than other schools. We can truly individualize each student's educational experience. We give them control over their own learning, while teaching them to deal with conflicts and treat others with respect. Contact us to find out more.

Why Choose Play-Based Preschool?

If you are looking for a preschool program for your child... perhaps a preschool in Washougal,WA, or a preschool in Camas, WA... you may wonder whether you should choose an academic-based or play-based program. It may be tempting to choose an academic-based program, as the very words "academic-based" suggest that it will prepare your child for elementary school. 

There was a time when it was a very common thing to say that a preschooler's brain was like a bowl of Jell-o. It was soft, and pliable, and parents and teachers needed to "put in" as much information and skills as they could before the Jell-o "set." So, academic-based preschool programs became popular. 

In an academic-based preschool, the priority is to teach academic skills. Teachers create lesson plans based on getting children to recognize letters, numbers and colors, teaching them to read and do math, practice handwriting, and more. They spend a lot of time sitting down working on worksheets. There may be art projects involved, but art projects tend to be closed-ended. In other words, if the teacher tells them they are to paint an apple tree, they had better paint an apple tree with a brown trunk, green leaves, and red apples, just as the teacher instructs them. 

Part of the reason academic-based preschools came about was to help children from low-income families, or children whose parents did not have much education, to become school-ready by the time they turned five. 

However, research later showed that children who went to academic-based preschools did not do better, in the long run, than children who did not attend this type of preschool, or who did not attend preschool at all. The children may have initially done better in kindergarten, but later on in elementary school the results evened out. 

In fact, while the children's academic advantages had evened out by the end of first grade, they struggled in other areas more than their peers. They lost motivation to learn, and exhibited more behavioral problems. 

In a play-based preschool program, children spend lots of time doing activities of their own choices. For example, a child who loves to paint will begin to naturally learn about colors and shapes. When children choose to play a board game, they learn about taking turns, playing fairly, and dealing with disappointment, as well as academic skills like counting the correct number of spaces to move. 

At Someday School, we do mix in some academic skills. But these skills are introduced through thematic units, games, and kinesthetic activities. Some of the playful activities children recently participated in at Someday School included using tweezers to remove small objects from slime and then counting them, riding on scooters to find alphabet letters, singing songs to learn alphabet sounds, and using magnets to build their names. 

Another large part of Someday School's program involves introducing children to situations, and then allowing children to ask questions and make discoveries. When children ask, "Why did this happen?" or "What will happen if I do this?" they are learning for the sake of learning. We want them to be motivated to find things out for themselves. 

If you are looking for a play-based preschool in Washougal or a preschool near Camas, contact Someday School to find out more! 

3 Models of Schools For ADHD

Traditional classrooms can be very difficult for children with ADHD to navigate. In the traditional classroom, children are expected to stay seated and be quiet, except for when given permission by a teacher to move around or speak. Children who are enthusiastic about a subject may get in trouble for blurting out questions and answers, rather than raising their hand and waiting calmly to be called on. On the other hand, children who are bored with a subject or activity will daydream or get out of their seat, attempding to keep their minds and bodies stimulated. Those with ADHD often learn best when they are moving, so a child who is thinking hard may get up and pace around... a big "behavior concern" in a traditional classroom. This is why kids with ADHD often get labeled as having behavioral challenges, and may spend a lot of time being redirected or scolded in the classroom.

Parents may find themselves looking for an ADHD school for their child. However, there are not many schools geared specifically towards kids with ADHD. Another option is to look for ADHD-friendly models of schools. Families looking for an ADHD school near Vancouver, WA can turn to our school, Someday School. For families living in other areas, here are some ideas for ADHD-friendly schools.

Montessori Schools -  Like Someday School, Montessori schools focus on child-led learning and hands-on experience. Classrooms usually consist of children of various ages. They use a system known as "freedom within limits," in which the teachers set out activity options for children to choose from. While a child at Someday School may choose an option provided by the teachers or come up with their own activities, kids in a Montessori School generally do something provided by the teacher. For children with ADHD, choosing to work on something that interests them strongly makes it more likely that they will be able to focus and stay engaged. Most Montessori Schools are for children ages 6 and under.

Waldorf Schools - Waldorf Schools put a lot of emphasis on art, music, gardening, and foreign languages. Children learn to write before they learn how to read, by exploring the structure of letters of the alphabet. Lessons are teacher-led, and children spend two to three hours a day on each academic block. When a child is very active or has trouble paying attention, a Waldorf teacher may handle it by leading them to a calming activity. Children who deal well with firm structure, calmness, and a steady rhythm of the day may benefit from a Waldorf school.

Reggio-Emilia Schools - There are many similarities between Reggio-Emilia Schools and Someday School. Reggio-Emilia Schools are project based. If a child is interested in a topic, the teacher will engage him and other interested children in a project to learn more about it. The idea is for children to learn to find answers for themselves, rather than just learning to remember answers and recite them back to the teacher. The environment is thought of as another teacher, and a lot of emphasis is put on teaching children to respect each other and their belongings.

When choosing a school for your child with ADHD, the most important thing is to think about your individual child and how he or she learns. Someday School is perfect for children with strong interests who love learning about new things using their own ideas. For those who live outside of the Vancouver, WA, area, a Montessori School or Reggio-Emilia School may be a great match. Children who do well in very calm and rigid environments may do best with a Waldorf School. Of course, every city and state has its own independent schools that may operate within their own philosophies, so parents should spend some time doing research to find the best ADHD school.

Parents looking for a gread ADHD school near Vancouver, WA, should contact Someday School to find out more! 

Is Your Program Academically Rigorous?

Today a parent who had been asking about Someday School told me that she would not be sending her child there, one of the reasons being that our website didn't mention anything about being academically rigorous.

That one stumped me for a minute.

First of all, I hate the word "rigorous." It is a newer buzzword in the education world, that showed up along with common core. I had an idea of what it meant, but I feel like people use it a lot in different ways. So I decided to look it up.

Some of the definitions of "rigorous" I found included. "extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate," and  "strictly applied or adhered to."

When I looked up "rigorous curriculum," I found, a hodgepodge of definitions. Some people feel that rigorous means a complete curriculum with assessments and expected outcomes. Others just think that it means the students will be working very hard. Some feel that rigorous assignments require students to think critically, creatively, and flexibly. Some say a rigorous assignment is one that requires students to think deeply and explain their thoughts, instead of just spitting out memorized answers. Some say a rigorous environment is one that is stimulating, engaging, and supportive. Some say that it means the work should be challenging.

Then there is the term "rigorous standards," which tends to mean that all students are held to the same high standards, regardless of their background or abilities.

So... are we academically rigorous? Jeez, I don't know!

We are not strict. We are flexible, willing to work with each child's individual abilities, interests and needs. So that would mean we are not rigorous.

We don't really have a curriculum at all... we offer classes, but each student is free to create their own curriculum as they go alone. Not rigorous.

We hope that, when allowed to study things that interest and excite them, the children will be more engaged and work harder. Maybe we are rigorous after all!

Will the children think critically, creatively, and flexibly? We certainly encourage them to, by focusing on independence and problem solving. Rigorous.

We will expect them to find their own ways to share what they learn and teach others, requiring them to think deeply and explain their thoughts. Rigorous.

Is our environment stimulating, engaging, and supportive? We will strive for it.

Will the work be challenging? We'll encourage the children to challenge themselves, setting their own goals and taking pride in their accomplishments.

Will we hold all students to the same standards? Well, no. We can't. They are not all the same people. We will teach them, and guide them, and we will watch with interest as they individually bloom. We absolutely do not have the same expecations for each one of them. One might become an astronout. One may become a police officer. One may  become an author, or an artist. We don't know. Our job is not to get them all to the point where we believe they should be, but to get them to reach as high as they can.

So, are we rigorous? I still don't know. What do you think?

More AERO Conference Reflections: Literacy

One of the workshops I went to at the AERO Conference was about literacy in self-directed learning settings, and how and when to intervene when you suspect a child may have dyslexia. The person leading the workshop was a reading specialist who works at Village Free School in Portland. Some of the things she said would probably set traditional school reading specialists' hair on end! But it was extremely interesting and helpful to me.

The first thing she discussed was the fact that, in traditional schools, children are expected to begin reading in kindergarten. If they have not at least gotten a strong start at reading by the time they finish kindergarten, they are often considered to be "at risk." That often means that they will have participate in multiple special reading programs during and after school. They may work 1:1 with a reading specialist, go to a small group for reading instruction, and go to a tutoring group after school... all because they aren't learning to read at the expected pace. 

Is it vital that children learn to read at a very young age? Many people believe that. After all, we always hear that a young child's brain is like a sponge, and we know that early childhood is often the best time for children to learn a second language. However, when looking at all of human evolution, reading is a pretty new process. While most children are hardwired to learn how to crawl, walk, and meet other milestones, reading is not that kind of skill. Learning to read is more similar to learning how to use a cellphone than learning how to walk. It is something our society created, not something that we are biologically programmed for. 

So why all the emphasis on learning to read in kindergarten and first grade? There are several reasons. 

• Traditional classroom teachers often work with children in small groups, and the children who are not in the group have to be able to work independently at something. If they can read, they can independently do worksheets and read instructions. 
• Children need to be able to read in order to participate in standardized tests. 
• Standardized curriculums emphasize the need for children at certain ages to read at certain levels. 

All this pressure is put on children to learn to read. Children are naturally intrinsically motivated to learn. But when they are pressured to learn to read, they lose that intrinsic motivation. It is no longer about learning to read because reading is exciting or interested, but because they want to earn the approval of the teacher or their parents, or they want to earn a prize from the classroom treasure box. 

In the best cases, children do learn to read for one reason or another. They may even enjoy reading. Often, that isn't the case. A child who does not quickly pick up on reading may start to feel ashamed about not being at the same level as her peers. She  may have no interest in reading, or see no purpose in it. Often, standardized reading curriculum materials are very dry, and children, especially those with attention challenges, get bored quickly. If they do have a learning disability, they may grow to associate reading with anxiety and embarassment. A child who hates reading, even if they do learn how, is at a disadvantage. He is denied all sorts of information, experiences, and ideas. 

In a self-directed learning situation, such as homeschooling or a school like Someday School, children begin learning how to read when they are ready for it. If they are interested in reading and excited about it, they will often learn very quickly. The role of an adult is to read aloud to the child, and to model reading themselves. They should also initiate conversations about reading, and what doors it can open. 

In the case that a child does have dyslexia, special reading programs such as Orton-Gillingham can have a place in self-directed learning. What makes it different from in a traditional school is that the child has to be a willing and invested participant. Self-directed learning does not mean the child always has to teach himself. It just means the child has to be the one to make the decision to learn. 

A child with dyslexia should be helped to own it, instead of being ashamed of it. Adults should help them realize that their brain works differently, and that they can learn how to make it work at its best. One interesting fact we learned is that 35% of enterpreneurs have dyslexia.

Something else to keep in mind is that reading is the act of absorbing information from a text... somehow. There are three types of reading. The first one is eye reading, which is what you are most likely doing right now to absorb the information on this text. The second one is ear reading, which you may be doing if you have a text-to-speech app, and which you may do if you ever listen to books on Audible. The third is finger reading, or Braille, which I doubt you are doing because I don't think technology has made it possible for computer screens to translate text to braille. Each one of these methods is equally valid. Being able to eye read is particularly helpful in our society because so much information is exclusively available for eye readers. Billboards, street signs, the labels of products in the grocery store, and instruction sheets on products are all designed for eye readers. However, if someone is able to absorb information through ear or finger reading, it should never be considered cheating or taking a short cut. 

To sum it up, at Someday School we will do everything we can to show children the benefits and joys of reading, and we will support them in learning to read when they are ready... but we will never force them to learn to read. 

Reflections From the AERO Conference... Day 1

Today was the first day of the Alternative Education Resource Organization conference, which, luckily for me, happens to be in Portland this year... and also lucky for me, the parents of a little student I worked with last year paid for me to go to! I've already gotten a lot of ideas and inspiration from the first day. I thought I would keep track of my reflections in this blog so that I might be able to hear what others think.

AERO is about different alternatives in education, including democratic schools, microschools, free schools, unschooling, etc. It is definitely a niche that Someday School fits into. Today we got to hear from some local alternative models of schools around Portland.

One of them was Village Free School, a school that is similar in many ways to what I envision for Someday School. The other was Village Home (no connection to Village Free School) which operates similarly to a community college by offering various classes, but is geared towards homeschooling students ages 3 to 18.

Here are some of the things I was particularly inspired by today.

Village Free School's Rules
Take care of myself and others.
Take care of our space and things.
Respect the freedom of others.

This is a variation of the early childhood education class rules I was taught to use back in the day, which were, Keep ourselves safe, keep others safe, and keep our things safe. The idea behind those rules was that if you make very specific rules, there is always a way to get around it, whereas if your rules are broad, they cover many situations.

With Village Free School's rules, children are taught to be mindful of taking care of themselves and others. This includes things like making sure they eat when they are hungry, thinking about what they need when they are feeling upset, and being kind to others.

Respecting the freedom of others is about not letting your freedom interfere with others' freedoms. This also is about dealing with conflicts. For example, if one student is whistling, and another is bothered by the sound, there is a conflict that needs to be worked out. Simply telling the whistling student to knock it off would take away her freedom to express herself musically, and telling the other student to just deal with it would take away his freedom to have peace and quiet. So instead, the two of them need to work it out. Sometimes they may need the assistance of an adult to help them come to an agreement. However, they both get to learn a lesson in dealing with conflict, rather than just being told what to do. If one or both people have been hurt in the conflict, the adult mediating might ask each of them, "What do you need?" and give them a chance to restore the relationship.
Teach the children that saying, "Stop," and "Stop, seriously," are ways of telling the other person that they really want something stopped.

All School Meetings
Every child and staff member at Village Free School has a chance to propose rules and ideas, and vote on them. When voting, they vote once, and then the people with the minority vote get a chance to explain why they voted the way they did. Then, they vote one more time, and that is the final vote. At All School Meetings, they also talk about what is coming up, and any problems that have arisen. Children can learn to run All School Meetings.

Theories And Ideas

• Children have an inherent interest in learning, and an inherent ability to manage their needs and their time. 
• Children will learn what they are ready for. 
• They will encounter a concept (such as multiplication) when it feels real and necessary to them. For instance, when they need it in order to play a game that they want to play, or to solve a problem. 
• Never be a barrier to what kids are ready for. 
• Classes and activities should be based on interest, rather than on age level. One 7-year-old may be ready for algebra, while another 7-year-old has not quite learned to count. 
• Don't adhere strictly to any one model of education or activity. Take a little from everything if it works. 
• Adults can engage children by asking, "What are you doing?" with real interest. 
• Don't provide constant supervision. Children need to learn how to manage their time without an adult a few feet away. 
• Create an environment that is about relationships, growing, and feeling safe. 
• Put more focus on people and community, rather than on having the perfect space. 
• Show Up And Be Real!

Family Conferences
Are held three times a year.
Are a chance for staff members, parents, and children to share their observations.
"Here's what I'm seeing."

Enrollment
Children get a five week conditional enrollment, during which time parents can change their minds. After that, families are asked to sign a contract saying they will stay enrolled for the rest of the school year.

Village Home Ideas
I didn't glean quite as much from them, because they are more of a place where children come and take classes but do not stay the whole day. There was also a lot of focus on teenagers. But I did get some ideas such as these.

Behavior problems are not frequent, but when they do happen, they may be because the child is in an environment or class that he is not developmentally ready for. Meeting them at their developmental level can eliminate the behavior.

When children do have continuous behavioral problems, they may be asked to enter into a behavior agreement. The child has to be the one to come up with a written plan about what they have to do, and how they will do it.

Classes have supportive and involved teachers who inspire children to find new interests.
They encourage authentic interaction among students. There are no set expectations for what students must accomplish in order to pass or be successful in the class. The focus is on helping children learn. There is no yardstick where children are compared to each other. There is no rule saying that a child of a certain age must be able to do these things and not these things.

Homework with agency - If homework is assigned, kids can say what kind of feedback they want. They may want written or verbal feedback or help with the assignment, or they may just want a witness for their work.

I took all of these notes with my colorful glitter gel pens in my green composition notebook, which is quickly filling up with ideas and knowledge. Tomorrow will be a day of mostly "mini-talks" by people who direct alternative models of schools, and also some workshops with acronyms that I have no idea what they are. Tomorrow evening, if I have any energy left at the end of the day, I'll let you know how it went!

Can Kindergartners Really Do This?

One of the most important concepts of Someday School is that it puts learning into the hands of the children. We will teach them to set their own learning goals and monitor their own progress.

A child who comes into Someday School on a Monday morning will be expected to have an idea of what they want to do that week. Do they want to learn to read? Do they want to build a fort? Do they want to find out the names of every single dinosaur that ever walked the planet? The child will not only know what they want to do, but have an idea of the steps they need to take to get there, the tools they need, and the people who can help them. They may come up with mini-goals throughout the week, and they may do lots of spontaneous activities or participate in organized activities that have nothing to do with their goal, but they will also be practicing self-directed learning.

Some people may be dubious when they read this. They may think, "Realistically, can a kindergartner do this?"

My answer is, yes... with guidance.

Think of it as Little League. My six-year-old nephew has been playing Little League baseball since he was four.  At age four, Freddy was playing the exact same game as a professional baseball player in the Major League. Of course, the rules were modified for these tiny people who hadn't even been alive for half a decade. That first year, they used a T to bat. Now, the coach pitches to the batters.  During the first few years of Little League, instruction is taking place during the games. Coaches are at all of the bases to provide encouragement and guidance to the players. I'm not sure that they even keep score, because winning or losing are not important at this stage... they are all learning.

As the children get older and advance to higher levels of Little League, they take over more and more aspects of the game. Children begin to pitch to each other. Coaches don't stand at every base anymore. They pay more attention to the score. They discover their favorite positions to play.

Eventually some of them may join travel teams, school teams, college teams, and maybe even minor and major league teams. Yet, even in the Major Leagues, they will continue to have coaches who help them improve their game!

So. Will a five-year-old come to Someday School in September knowing how to set their own goals and direct their own learning? No, no more than a five-year-old who has never played baseball can hit a ball without a T on their first day of  Little League. But with guidance, they can learn, and eventually it will become habitual to them.

Every Friday, children will take home a page that looks like this:

Their parents will be asked to help them fill out the sheet. We'll suggest that they start with one goal per week. The reading, math and social categories are to prompt them to think about academic and social goals, but really, the sky is the limit! On Monday, when they come to school, staff members will help them transfer their goal to a Kanban board. Staff members will also check in with children each day to see if they've accomplished steps of their goal and if they need additional help. On Friday afternoons, the school will come together as a group, and each child will have the chance to share what they learned or accomplished that week.

Some children may think of goals that will take longer than a week to finish. Others may be able to whip out their goals within a day. Each of them, however, will get to feel the pride that comes with working on their own projects... not something an adult instructed them to do, but something that is important to them.

Will learning be taking place? Absolutely! Children at Someday School will learn far more than just the basics. They will learn the joy of learning itself, for its own sake, not because "it is time to do math," but because the world is filled with amazing things to see, do and find out.