What students do when they don't have to do anything!  

Testimonials

What ISC Parents Say
What ISC Students Say
Quotes from Sudbury graduates

Articles

ISC Newsletters
Sudbury Strengths
I Want to Fly
My Kid Needs Structure
Mileposts
Symptoms of Interest
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Boy Who Loves School
Ten Thousand Stories
Seven Kinds of Smart
The Animal School
Outcomes
Preparing Children for Life

The Boy Who Loves School
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who hated school. Every morning, he said, "Mom, I can’t go to school today. I have a headache, I’m tired, and my stomach hurts." Well, of course, the mother made her son go to school if he wasn’t really sick because she thought she knew what was best for him.

For three years the boy complained about going to school. And the teachers insisted he had trouble "focusing" and "staying on task." The mother would have believed them (they were Teachers, after all), except she had seen the boy focus for hours on drawing incredibly detailed pictures and building Lego stuff and absorbing books about old WWII period airplanes.

The boy must have picked up on his teachers’ doubts about him because he did start to believe them. Now he was also saying "I can’t" and "I’m too dumb to understand." The mother’s heart broke.

The third year, it all came to a head. The school authority figures all insisted the boy must have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The mother had her doubts. He certainly wasn’t a hyper child. He had an excellent memory. He was obviously able to focus on things that interested him. But They said he had it, so the mother took him to get tested by a psychiatrist. He didn’t have it.

So the mother and the boy met with Them, and They did try to fix him: one-on-one reading sessions (yanking him out of class wouldn’t scar him, They said); staying in at recess to work on projects (one short recess a day was sufficient, They said); bringing home a daily diary of what he had done (the mother-son trust wouldn’t be undermined, They said).

They tried and tried and tried to fix the boy. But he wasn’t broken. So all their fixes didn’t do any good.

The mother had a lot of friends who had gone to private school and they all had loved it. So she talked with the boy and they decided private school would be a good thing to try. If he hated it, he could always go back to public school. The mother called lots of schools and talked to lots of people. One place sounded very intriguing. She went to visit.

It was a late-winter/early-spring day-one of those days when you finally say "Whew, winter is done, let’s spend the day outside." At the school there were kids running around outside, in and out the back door at will. "Whoa," thought the mother, "this is pretty wild." Inside, it was like being welcomed into a home. There were lots of different people doing lots of different things, and they all seemed so content.

The mother and the admissions clerk sat outside in the sun and discussed the school. At first, the mother had some doubts. If children here do what they want, when they want, what if they never want to learn? Of course, the mother was still pretty much in the gotta-learn-on-the-school-board’s-schedule frame of mind. But it seemed like such a healthy place-unlike the sterile rigidity of the boy’s current school.

So the mother told the boy he could go visit for a week, and if he liked it, he could go there the following year. The mother concentrated on learning about this kind of school.

The boy’s visiting week was an eye-opener. He looked forward to visiting, even though there were a lot of rules to learn. At the end of the week, the boy had decided that yes, he did want to go there next year.

After the boy (and his mother, too) were accepted by the school, they had a summer of fun, but always in the back of the mother’s mind was "Did I do the right thing?" But more than that was a growing excitement that Great Things were to come.
The boy did go to the school, and the most remarkable thing happened. He started looking forward to going to school! Every day was a new adventure. He wasn’t immersed in books and homework. He spent all day, every day, outside in the sun and rain and snow. It was such a healthy time for him! It was as if he knew he needed this to stretch and grow and molt the clinging shadow of The Old Way.

He learned so much about socialization, and the democratic process, and thinking things through, and understanding the results of actions, and how to lead, and how to follow.
Now the boy has a much better feel for what he is ready to learn. The last day of school was just a few weeks ago, and already he has plans for next fall: classes to take, books to read and games to play.

The boy is happy again, and the mother’s heart is whole again, and they are eternally grateful that they have been invited into this Circle of friends.

by Diane Cicak
Printed with Seth’s permission


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These two articles are printed with permission from The Circle School

I Want to Fly

Shaun Slade was 12 years old when he said "I want to fly." Over the next few weeks, he and the Source Clerk talked and brainstormed and decided that a good place to start would be to somehow place Shaun around airplanes and pilots. Sounds like an airport, they thought, so they called one up on the phone and asked if Shaun could be an intern there, working without pay, doing whatever he could do to be useful. No, said the airport. That won't fly.

So Shaun and the Source Clerk tried another airport -- this time a small, privately owned airstrip. Sure, said the owner, let's talk about it. And what is this Circle School, anyway?

Shaun went to the airport once a week, that first year, and Matt and Andy went, too. Shaun remembers that he swept the floor a lot, and he sorted nuts and bolts, and he tightened screws one day for six hours straight. Sounds mundane? Maybe so, but the floors he swept were underneath airplanes, and the screws that he tightened were on a reconstructed World War II fighter plane. Didn't seem mundane to Shaun. He loved it.

Matt and Andy stopped going, after that school year, but Shaun continued when school started again. He helped assemble an aluminum wing for a Percivil Provost airplane. He learned sheet metal working, machining, welding, woodworking, painting, airplane fabric covering, and on and on. Occasionally on weekends -- Bingo! -- the owner took Shaun flying.

The second summer, Shaun worked at the airport, for pay, and the next year, at age 14, he started flying. At 15, he began formal lessons, which he paid for entirely out of his wages. At 16, he was part of a team that won a "Golden Wrench Award" in a national competition among antique airplane restorers.

After Shaun left The Circle School he went to work at the airport full-time and he took some community college classes. At 18 years old he got his student license, and at 19 -- ta-da! -- Shaun was a licensed airplane pilot. For his last year at the airport, he was manager of a corporate division.

The story doesn't end there. Shaun is now attending the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Florida, where he will earn a four-year college degree and a commercial pilot's license. By this summer he hopes to have his instrument certificate. In the fall, he expects to be working on his multi-engine rating, and then he'll become a Certified Flight Instructor. Who knows what will come next? For Shaun, the sky's the limit.

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Ten Thousand Stories
Shaun's story is fun to tell and inspiring to hear. But what if his interest had ended after a month? Or after that first year? What if he had never taken lessons and never gotten his pilot's license? What if he had later pursued microbiology instead of aviation? Would Shaun's airport internship then have been a failure? And what about Andy and Matt? Was the enterprise just a waste of time for them?

For every story like Shaun's - a passionate interest, pursued as far as the chase can go - there are ten thousand stories of interests developed less deeply and then apparently dropped, or developed just as deeply but without the drama or outward visibility of aviation.

Those ten thousand untold stories weave the fabric of life at The Circle School. There's the girl who dissected a cow eyeball and found that she didn't like it. There's the boy who played with a guitar for a couple of months, never to become a rock star. There's the child who wandered in and helped build the new workbench in the art room, exploring an interest in screwdrivers for a few minutes.

And then there's Matt, who tagged along with Shaun. Turns out that Matt learned about tool-and-die work during that internship and enjoyed it. Would you believe that today he's a professional tool and die maker? He's not, but you found it believable, didn't you? The point is that it doesn't matter. No matter what Matt is doing today, he experienced genuine interest, developed it to his own satisfaction, detected that he was through with that interest for the time being, and redirected his attention to other pursuits, having been expanded by his knowledge of tool and die making. It was an experience of self-direction, concentration, acquisition of knowledge about technology - and about himself.

Every interest pursued-for a moment or a lifetime, regardless of the subject, is an educational success. Of course, in today's world, unlike even a few decades ago, virtually any interest, passionately pursued, can provide not only personal satisfaction but also career possibilities.

So the moral of Shaun's delightful story is not that kids should pursue their interests because it might lead to a career or even a lifelong interest. The moral is that the joy is in the pursuit - at every step - and the education is manifold: expanded knowledge and personal boundaries, learning about resources and how to learn, and love of the chase.

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Printed with permission from Lisa Lyons-Fairhaven School

"My Kid Needs Structure"
Larry is twelve and forgets to feed the dog. Alicia is fifteen and would lose her head if it weren’t attached. Michelle is seven and never ever picks up her toys. Jim is sixteen and won’t do his homework. What is wrong with these kids?

What we’re told is wrong with them is that they can’t structure things for themselves. "My son/daughter could never come to a school like yours because he/she needs structure."

We certainly see our share of students who come to our school forgetting and neglecting and not doing and not organizing.

Most of these students are, to put it politely, under-motivated. Larry could perfectly well remember to feed the dog, or get to school in time for a Judicial Committee meeting; he just doesn’t see why he should. Let someone else do it if they care so much. Alicia could organize her time and stop losing things if she cared, but right now she’s concerned with the more important things-like Relationships. Michelle is capable of picking up her messes, but she enjoys the battles. These kids don’t need structure so much as they need a reason to be structured that makes sense to them.

Here, and at other Sudbury schools, people are expected to clean up their own messes so that others can use and enjoy the same space.

People get written up for contempt because respect for the judicial process represents respect for others, especially the others who sit around waiting for someone to show up. And people who lose things sometimes annoy others, and that can mess up Relationships.

But what about Jim who never does his homework? How will he ever learn to do it in a school that doesn’t require any?

Of the many kids who have come to us bright and bored, most seldom did homework because it was repetitive and seemed pointless. Why go home and use your precious time doing more of what you felt was not worth doing in school?

These students need motivation more than structure. At Sudbury schools, the motivation comes from within. With younger kids it pours out like water from a sprinkler on a summer day. With older kids, it’s often more like water from a rusty old faucet-emerging with creaks and groans and sometimes a considerable wait until the passion and enthusiasm run freely again.

Some kids come to us angry. Screwing up in school has become a badge of honor. They excel at refusing to comply. They don’t need structure, they need to care-a change of heart that requires freedom and time and the trust of others that they can, in fact, turn themselves around.

But for the most part, what we see are bright, funny, interesting kids who need to create their own structure, a structure that, because it comes from within, will be able to withstand the buffets and storms of a long and interesting life.

**************************

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Printed with permission from The Circle School

Seven Kinds of Smart
In 1983 Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner challenged the common conception of what makes a person intelligent. Our culture and schools, said Gardner, generally focus on two kinds of intelligence: verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical. But these tell only part of the story of human ability to process information and interact with the world.

Gardner proposes that there are at least seven kinds of intelligence that are based in mind-brain structures. We each harbor all seven to varying degrees, and all seven cut across cultural and educational boundaries. The seven intelligences, and some typical skills and activities, are as follows:

Verbal-linguistic: reading, writing, telling stories.
Logical-mathematical: patterns, arithmetic, strategy games, experiments, classifications.
Bodily-kinesthetic: athletics, dancing, making things, sewing, crafts.
Spatial: mazes, jigsaw puzzles, sculpture, drawing, Legos, images, pictures, star navigation.
Musical: singing, sounds, drumming, listening, sound-awareness and sensitivity.
Interpersonal: communicating, empathy, understanding others’ moods and motives.
Intrapersonal: introspection, poetry, expressive painting, self-understanding.

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An excerpt from
Mileposts
Printed with permission from Johanna Bodnyk

In eighth grade I left the Circle School out of curiosity about bells, homework, cafeterias and the possibility of friendship in classrooms the size of my entire school. I think that after eleven years in a small, sheltered school, I left partly out of a deep yearning to be a "normal" teenager. I was worried about fitting in, and I was worried that I wouldn’t do well in class, that never having gotten grades before, I’d get bad ones.

I did fine. At New Cumberland Middle School, where I went for eighth grade, and then at Cedar Cliff High School, where I attended my freshman and half of my sophomore year, I excelled academically. At our eighth grade graduation assembly, I got awards from my math and science teachers for being the best student in the class.

In ninth grade I was called into the guidance office and told that I had received the highest PSAT score in the two-high-school West Shore School District. I was ranked 3rd in my class with a 97.2 GPA brought down only by unavoidable B’s in gym class.

In tenth grade, I got a little bored. The only thing I liked about school were the "ahhs" that I occasionally got in class. This is how I describe those moments when the teacher is talking, and suddenly a connection is made in my head, and I understand. It’s kind of like the moment when I know a poem will work.

I know that for a while I enjoyed public school simply because it was a novelty, something I had never done before. I liked taking tests and filling in the little circles. I liked getting good grades. I liked doing what the teachers told me to do, and doing it well. Making other people happy made me happy, at first. After two and a half years, however, I got tired of it and realized that I spent a lot more time on that busywork than I did on the "ahhs".

Remembering the freedom of The Circle School, I felt stagnant and stuck. I had A’s in every subject, but no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

I decided to go back to The Circle School. In complete contrast with public school, no one told me what to do at The Circle School. Left to my own devices, I didn’t know what to do, or more importantly, why I should want to do anything. I stopped living simply to get an A in class, or to make a project look nice. Without these artificial goals, I didn’t know what I was living for, and I was forced to examine it. This process has taught me a lot about my life, and myself.

My intellectual development has been diverse and unique. At public school I truly enjoyed the pure academics, when I could tune the rest out. And yet The Circle School has made me who I am, and I would not exchange that experience for all the A+’s in the world.

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The Animal School
Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a "new world". They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He also developed a "Charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, and also run, climb and fly a little, had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dog stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

Author unknown

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Delighted Parents:
On changes parents have noticed that they attribute to their child being at ISC...

"Greg (age 11) really enjoys life now-and he didn’t before! Life holds more interest and meaning. He’s less angry-much less!- and more positive. He’s much more aware, curious, cooperative and mature." (Patrice Robson)

"Amanda (16) has demonstrated virtually a complete change of attitudes, all in a positive way since she began attending ISC." (Harvey Garrison)

"Bretton (13) is a calmer, happier young man." (Enid Dufresne)

"Kassie (5) has started to learn what is important to her and she is learning boundaries." (Enid Dufresne)

"Dylan (15) is not so defensive when spoken to. Major attitude change for the better. The real Dylan is showing more often. It’s great!" (Charlene Mohr)

"Logan’s (13) confidence level has gone up considerably. He is breaking out of his shell. He stands up for himself."
(Charlene Mohr)

"Nathen (13) is more self-empowered, not coming from ego. He doesn’t need to be the centre of attention or feel he has to compete to be accepted. He is also more involved in social activities and sports." (Carollyne Robertson)

On stress levels...

"We handle situations differently because Bretton handles himself differently; he is owning his behavior and he is so much calmer." (Enid Dufresne)

"Stress has almost disappeared in our household. Last year, conflict, anger, frustration and ‘locked horns’ were almost a daily occurrence." (Patrice Robson)

On getting their child to school...

"Every morning for 7 years was a battle. Now Bretton is always the first in the van in the morning. He even comes to school when he doesn’t need to*." (Enid Dufresne) (* This means he has met his 25 hour/week attendance requirement.)

"Greg loves going to school-he’d rather be at school than anywhere else. He insists on going 5 days each week and likes to start as early in the day as possible and to stay until 5:00. He learned how to use ETS (3 buses, one hour one way trip) so he could go to school on days when we were unable to drive him. Vacations are no longer a treat!" (Patrice Robson)

On the change in family dynamics...

"Kris (13) is less of a little brother and more his own person." (Layla Iselin)

"We have a closer family; there’s more listening and understanding. We can talk without the fireworks." (Charlene Mohr)

"As a family, we get along much better, talk to each other more and do things together much more often. What a change!" (Harvey Garrison)

On feeling safe...

Every respondent said their child feels safe at ISC.

On the child feeling s/he is treated fairly and with respect...

Every respondent said their child feels s/he is treated fairly and with respect.

"The JC is an excellent means of establishing and maintaining respect and understanding among all." (George Bengston)

On age mixing...

"Greg appears more confident and congenial with the students of various ages." (George Bengston)

"Bretton has always had friends from all ages-younger and older-so this is a great complement to who he is naturally." (Enid Dufresne)

"It has taught Dylan to be more tolerant of younger children." (Charlene Mohr)

On parents’ greatest joys around having their child at ISC...

"My greatest joy around having Amanda at ISC is the surprising maturity, respect and thoughtfulness she displays outside the school, especially at home. She is a beautiful flower that finally has a chance to grow as she was meant to." (Harvey Garrison)

"Kris loves his days at ISC and feels quite fulfilled." (Layla Iselin)

"We are deeply, deeply grateful for Greg’s happiness and joy in life. His self-esteem has dramatically improved and we’re confident he’s on his way to creating a fulfilling life for himself." (Patrice Robson)

"Every day is such a pleasure driving the kids to school and knowing there is not a moment of stress about going to school." (Enid Dufresne)

"A parent’s dream for their children is to see them happy, confident and thoughtful of others, and that’s what I see happening." (Charlene Mohr)

"Allowing Nathen to open himself up to his greatest potential, have more freedom and learn what to do with it. Other joys are not being concerned with the stress of performing academically and the openness, sharing, friendship and socialization. Nathen has stated that this is the best thing I could ever have done for him." (Carollyne Robertson)

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What the Students Say:
How being at ISC has been beneficial...

"It’s boosted my self-esteem and helped me to make new friends. I’ve discovered myself and I’ve learned to seize the day rather than shrink from it." Kennedy, 13

"There is so little stress in my life now. I’ve been so much happier being free and I’ve been much more open to learning." Amanda, 16

"ISC has allowed me to find out that I am ambitious enough to figure out what I am interested in learning. Plus the staff are fun to hang out with!" Rebecca, 15

"I have fun with my friends so much!" Sam, 8

"I have been able to learn things that I would never learn in a normal school and I started doing things I never thought I would like. I also have been happier and I have made lots of friends." Nathen, 13

"When I went to normal school, I was always stressed and depended on my older brother to help me find my way home. Now, since I’m at ISC, I’m hardly ever stressed and I’m way more self-sufficient." Kris, 13

"At my other school, I had homework and tests. I was always being pushed to do something I didn’t want to do. At ISC, I am very happy because I don’t have to do anything, and I am never forced to do something. It makes my life so happy. I also see myself as more responsible now." Greg, 11

"It’s taught me to have patience with younger children. Also, I have learned about other lifestyles and information like other people’s life philosophies, alternative healing and things of that nature." Dylan, 15

Advantages to being at ISC...

"You can never be late! That was a big thing for me, and there’s no reason to skip school because almost anything you could do when you skip, you can do at school! And you’re never treated like ‘just a kid’; you’re an equal no matter how old you are. School is fun!" Amanda, 16

"You can learn at your own pace, there are no classrooms, you learn what you are passionate about." Kennedy, 13

"You learn what you need to know and in a way that doesn’t stress you out." Kris, 13

"Finally, I can relax at school!" Alexander, 10

"The school is very peaceful and there are no bullies. You can learn anything you want anytime. If there is a problem, the JC will deal with it in a peaceful way. The students vote on things as well as on the staff members." Greg, 11

"The JC is so much better than the detentions or suspensions you get in regular school." Victor, 9

"There’s nobody telling you what to do. You feel really independent." Jessica, 13

"It is much easier to pursue your career at ISC. Also, at ISC, they don’t judge you by your past, the way you dress, your style of music or your group of friends. If I had gone back to regular school, I would probably have dropped out by now. I got to ISC in the nick of time." Dylan, 15

 

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What Sudbury graduates have said:

"Sudbury Valley, without question, was the best experience I have ever had."

"Sudbury Valley helped me to want to learn. I realized that I had choices and it made me want to educate myself. One year made all the difference."

"Sudbury Valley changed my attitude toward education. I became excited about learning again at SVS. I wouldn’t have gone to any school if it weren’t for SVS."

"I had this idea that school was this one thing, and then there was the real world. Sudbury Valley was making the real world part of my 9-5 experience."

"Kids vote for who they believe are the good staff people and they take it very seriously. Even six-year-olds."

Campus Meeting: "Feeling equal is so important... If somebody just throws a rule at you, it’s almost like a natural reaction to want to rebel against it. But if you have something to do with it, if you’re part of the decisions to make the rules, that whole democracy feeling, that situation is an advantage."

Judicial Committee: "At Sudbury Valley, when you did something bad, you were not taken into a private room and scolded. The whole school dealt with it... Although that is uncomfortable when you’re young that’s how it is in the real world: they don’t take somebody who breaks the law and privately scold them in a corner; they have a public trial."

"I really needed that six months of doing absolutely nothing. But I got very bored after getting it out of my system, and I started thinking of doing other things... That is what I think of as my re-initiation into education."

"I went through many different interests. At any given time, I could take my interest to its fullest and get deeply involved in it until I had totally exhausted it, and then go on to something else."

"The thesis defense is great... It makes people think, ‘Am I really ready to leave the school? Am I ready to give a thesis defense?’ I felt pretty good about myself for being able to do it."

"The staff had the kind of mindset that said, ‘What does this individual need? What is their style and how do I respond to that?’ And that was appropriate."

"For the first time I could talk to staff, whereas I never felt close to my teachers before. I became relaxed around adults."

"They took me because I talked, I showed that I wanted to be there and that I wasn't being forced to be there, that it was something I felt I had to do. I walked right in and talked to the Dean. I was really nervous about my interview; it was something I had never done before. He said, "What can I tell you about the University?" and that was an instant shock. I was kind of blank for a second, then I said, "Well, to tell you the honest truth, I've already made my decision to enter this school so I think I know as much as I possibly should know about being a student here. What I think you should know is about me and why I want to be here." And he moved around in his chair, looked back at me and said, "OK, go for it." And I went on and on and on and he said, "OK, why Criminal Justice?" And I told him about the Judicial Committee. I told him about the staff. I told him about everything. He said, "You know something? I'm going to call my office and I'm going to tell them." He told me right then and there, "You'll see your acceptance letter," and "I'll see you in the Fall." I said, "Thank you very much."

"SVS prepared me for independence, problem-solving and budgeting time for myself."

"I found myself academically more serious than most freshmen when I entered college. I had focus and could apply myself more easily."

"Sudbury Valley taught me the importance of commitment and persistence in working toward my goals."

"I believed that you would learn more if it was something you wanted to learn and do for yourself, rather than because you were told it was the thing to do."

"I would have a vision of wanting to be able to play certain pieces, and then I’d get to the point where I could play those pieces and I’d want to be able to play other pieces that were harder."

"Mobility and randomness together let you find the things you’re interested in. The minute you’re bored, you zip somewhere else and find something else you’re interested in, so that the whole day you’re doing stuff you’re excited about."

"In the corporations, I was part of determining how the equipment was to be used, and to do that, I had to learn how to use it."

"I was Elections Clerk... I also served on the Bookkeeping Committee. I worked on...paying bills, making deposits, posting in the ledger and all of that. I learned a tremendous amount."

"I was educated by means of experimentation and learning by doing. Some things, like working with a gram scale to make glazes taught me mathematics."

"Everybody’s curious and they want to see and find out what the next person’s doing, or learn about something they’ve heard about; or something has sparked their imagination and they go from there."

"Being a Sudbury Valley graduate meant there was no adjustment necessary to freedom and independence, either in college or in ‘real life’."

"I discovered in college that other students had a much harder time adjusting. I had initiative and discipline."

"At SVS everybody really tried a lot harder at whatever it was they were doing because it was something they wanted to do. So they really went all out."

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Symptoms of Interest

Interest is the internal compass that points us towards survival, growth, and self-actualization. When basic needs are satisfied, interest is aroused in higher knowledge and understanding of the world. How can we tell when a person is in the grip of serious interest? After decades of observing, Daniel Greenberg records the following symptoms:

Concentration: Intense, sustained focusing... not readily interrupted by distractions or noise. Often accompanied by irritability when attempts are made to intrude on the person’s attention.

Perseverance: Continued application of energy, without consideration for obstacles or difficulties... an element of stubbornness, bordering on obsessiveness, to carry through against all odds.

Timelessness: Obliviousness to the passage of time and the normal rhythms of life. Regular routines are ignored or postponed. Constraints due to the intrusion of time-related factors are greatly resented-for instance, having to terminate activity due to closing of school.

Tirelessness: Postponement of rest or sleep, often beyond the point of exhaustion. In children, intense continuous activity at a level that would destroy the ability of a normal adult to function- followed by sudden and total collapse.

Self-activation: Self-initiation of vigorous activity... strong driving force to carry through the project by one’s own efforts, to be the designer and implementer of the entire activity. There is no thought of waiting. To the extent that other people must be involved in the quest, their participation is viewed as a necessary evil.

Impatience: Lack of willingness to postpone involvement with the matter at hand. If possible, it is attended to now; if that cannot be, then as soon as possible. Other activities are barely tolerated, and are gotten out of the way with maximum dispatch. The aim is to get back to the activity and to get on with it.

Excerpted from "On Being Interested" by Daniel Greenberg, Sudbury Valley School Newsletter, March 1993.

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Outcomes

Question: "Is Sudbury Valley School doing a good job, as an educational institution, in preparing young people to go out into the world and lead successful lives?" Daniel Greenberg, a founder of SVS and a staff member there for three decades, offers the following generalization: "...by and large, SVS graduates are fine human beings who are well equipped to experience life to its fullest and cope with its uncertainties." He goes on to describe the following salient characteristics of the vast majority of SVS graduates:

- They are decent people. They are open, friendly, carefully trusting, relatively easygoing and honorable.

- They are good friends. They know the art of friendship with their peers and with people of all ages.

- They know how to get along with people. They know an important component of life is the ability to integrate into the social setting in which you find yourself.

- They love life. They are eager to experience everything. They do not live in a fog of fear. They are not afraid of feeling intensely.

- They have a strong sense of self. SVS graduates are not followers. They know how to remain whole in the face of the many pressures exerted upon them daily by the outside world.

- They have self-confidence. Most graduates feel that they have the inner strength and the ability to cope with whatever life throws their way, and to do whatever it takes to attain their goals at any particular phase of their lives.

- They are adaptable. SVS graduates do not fear instability and change. They expect to be doing different things at different times in their lives.

- They are acquainted with passion. The special ecstasy that only a person consumed by passion has known is something quite common to SVS students.

- They are bright. Most SVS graduates have possession and use of their innate brightness and are able to relate to the world in a highly intelligent manner on a regular basis.

- They are imaginative. They are generally quite creative and independent in their thinking. They feel comfortable exploring new and untried paths.

- They are empowered. They are keenly aware of their rights, their strengths, their ability to stand for what they believe.

- They are ethical. All of them have a highly developed moral sense, even those who don’t always act in a manner consistent with it.

- They are tolerant. SVSers are deeply respectful of other people and accepting of all the many differences that distinguish us from each other.

- They have a deep sense of justice. They are highly sensitive to social ills and to wrongs that are inflicted upon victims.

- They are intensely curious. They are alive to what goes on around them and are constantly exploring the nooks and crannies of their environment-physical, social and intellectual.

- They are life-long learners. SVS graduates enjoy learning for its own sake. They like to read, to study, to use whatever human or other resources are available in order to acquaint themselves with and master new domains that catch their interest.

- They are articulate. They are superb conversationalists. They are also excellent listeners.

- They are politically astute. SVS graduates understand how to use the existing political system in order to further their aims.

- They are physically fit. Most of them are comfortable with their bodies and are happy when they are physically active. They are aware of the difference between good food and junk food... aware, if not practicing...

Adapted from "Three Pieces on Common Concepts About Schooling" by Daniel Greenberg

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
Parents, Children, and Staff
By Hanna Greenberg

Usually I like to focus on the positive aspects of being at Sudbury Valley. I enjoy thinking about the many facets of life in our little community which is so rich with wondrous encounters and experiences. Every single student is like a whole world and in the course of time each one of them shows me something new that I never knew before. That is what keeps me wanting to work at SVS all these many years and why it is never boring to be there.

Of course, life is never perfect and neither is Sudbury Valley. Disagreements and misunderstandings often occur, as they would in any group of people who share space, time, resources and responsibilities. Students and staff alike have to learn to live with these problems and overcome the discomfort or anger they may feel from time to time. I am no exception, and I admit to having made my share of mistakes by doing or saying things that were hurtful to others. Sometimes I have been insensitive, neglectful or forgetful. I have done many things at SVS, and I have been seen by students at times when I was less than wise or intelligent. Usually they point out my inadequacies, and I can accept their laughter at my expense and even their anger because it is clear and above-board. They tell me to my face what bothers them and give me a chance to explain or apologize. Most of the time I am astounded by the kindness and tolerance the students exhibit, and it has taught me to be more understanding of others than I had been before coming to SVS.

Occasionally, I am angry or hurt by others' mistakes or insensitivities and then it falls on me to discuss the matter openly with the persons involved, to give them a chance to explain or apologize. By and large people at the school get along quite well because of this ability to air grievances and work things through face to face. In cases where communication between people is impossible they can choose to avoid and ignore each other.

Unfortunately, this mode of interpersonal interactions is thrown out of balance when it is interfered with by others who are important to the individuals in the school but who are not a part of the daily life of the school. What I am going to describe has happened every year since our inception in 1968 and, uncannily, is enacted as if according to a script that is always the same. I would find it bizarre and amusing but for the pain that it causes to all the participants in this drama, including myself.

This is how it unfolds. Students are led to understand by their parents directly or by subtle suggestion that it would be good for them to take some sort of class. The kids agree in principle but can't bring themselves to do it. What we see is kids who ask for a lesson and then behave in a manner that isn't congruent with wanting to take the lesson. Thus they forget their appointments or their homework. They may come to the lesson with an attitude of "tell me what I need to know so I can get this boring stuff done with as fast as possible and be free to do what I enjoy doing". Time and again we see bright kids learning very little and hating every minute of it. They often ask the staff for instruction just before they leave for the day or while the staff person is in the middle of another activity, which makes it clear that no lesson can be given. These modes of behavior are in marked contrast to the way they behave when they want us to help them do something they really want to do. Then they hound us with questions, wait for us to have time to attend to them, retain what we teach them and avidly do work on their own. They are purposeful and focused, and it is evident in their whole demeanor that nothing will stop them from pursuing their interest. The contrast with the behavior of the same students when there is an externally imposed push to take classes is remarkable.

When children are questioned by their parents about classes they really are not interested in taking but that they engage in to please their parents or allay their anxieties, they are in a quandary. How are they to explain their non-performance? They hem and haw, and under enough pressure they begin to project their own behavior on the staff. They say, almost with no variation, that Hanna, or Denise, or Danny, or Joan, or Mikel, or Mimsy, or Carol were too busy to help them, or didn't show up for class, or were too late to do it, or were uninterested in teaching. Sometimes we are accused of going shopping instead of attending to the students! At first when I heard these complaints, say about Joan or Mimsy, I thought to myself, "It's possible that it's true, but it is strange that they are both attributed the exact same behavior when I know them both to be so different. Mimsy is so well organized that it is unlikely she forgot an appointment, and Joan is usually in the Art room and easy to locate. When she goes shopping it is for art supplies with a student and all the other kids in the room know where she went." I wondered: could it be that the whole staff at SVS talks a good line but refuses to be attentive to the students’ needs? Could it be that all of us are identically forgetful, uninterested in attending to the students’ needs and dedicated to shopping during school hours? It didn't make sense.

It was only after numerous repeats of these accusations, leveled at all of us at one time or another, that the pattern began to show itself clearly. The formulaic nature of these criticisms belied their truth and revealed their origins. The students want to do what their parents think is good for them. However, they find this difficult to do at the school. They are too busy doing what they think is interesting and important. Only at the end of the day do they remember what they "ought" to have done. They need an explanation for their parents and for themselves that will not reflect badly on them, so they attribute their own forgetfulness, or lack of interest, or preoccupation, to the staff. The trouble is that what they say doesn't fit the characters of the particular staff involved. It does, however, fit the stereotypical reaction of kids to parental pressure to learn things that the parents think are important to learn but that the students don't.

Neither I nor other staff members hold a grudge against the kids. We know that both they and their parents are doing what they think is best and that we have to cope with these complaints as part of our job. But it does upset me that often the parents involved don't want to hear what we have to say on the matter. They usually are offended when we imply that the child lied to them because the child did not want to disappoint his or her parents. They also often don't agree with us that "suggesting" things to learn to their children constitutes pressuring their children and that it is not in harmony with the school's approach to education.

It looks to me that when things get to this stage, the children are better off in a different kind of school where there is a curriculum that the children are obliged to learn and where the teachers coerce them to learn it. I believe that it would be better for the family, and the children in particular, not to attend a school where they are daily put into a situation of conflict between following their own idea of what is important to learn and listening to their parents' advice. It causes the kids to be depressed, guilty and anxious and worse, insecure about their future.

Yes, SVS is an all or nothing approach to children. Parents either do or don't trust their children to acquire the skills needed to survive in America according to their own judgment. If the latter is the case, it would be better to transfer the children to one of the many humane and kind schools available that believe children need more help and guidance than we provide at SVS.

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Preparing Children for Life-by Nicolette Groeneveld

Most people coming out of the traditional school system have heard the all-too-common idea that today’s education system is "preparing children for life." Let’s reflect on that for a moment.

Firstly, if we are preparing children for life, and doing so between the ages of, say, five through 18, does that imply that life only begins at age 18? Joseph Chilton Pearce, a well-known author and public speaker, says, "The first thing I would say about any true educational system is that it is not founded on the notion that we are preparing a child for life... The idea that we’re going to train a child at seven to get a good job at age twenty-seven is a travesty of profound dimension."

What if we, adults, were forced to spend all our adult years in "adult school" in the name of "preparing us for our retirement"? How ridiculous would that be? We would say, "Hey, I’ll put some money in an RSP, but leave me alone! I’ve got a life to live NOW!" Yet, we force our children to sit in desks for 12 years and tell them, "Cheer up! It’s so you can have a good life later!"

We take children out of the present, focus them on the future and what do they learn? Is it possible that at some level, they learn to discount their childhood ­ that their childhood is not important, that it’s more or less just a necessary phase they go through? How many children have we heard say, "I can’t wait till I grow up!"

An even greater tragedy in "preparing children for life" is that the whole concept of the present moment is lost. Anyone who has read Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power Of Now knows true living happens only in the present moment.

In observing young children, we see that they are locked in the present moment. They don’t worry about tomorrow or next week; right now is all that matters. Along comes conditioning, magnified a thousand fold by schooling, and our once-present children spend the rest of their lives trying to re-master the moment-to-moment living that was once natural to them.

Secondly, if we are preparing children for life, does that mean children somehow have to be ‘gotten ready’ to live? Promoting this notion gives the message that children are not enough as they are but need to become something in order to be okay. The idea that children are born with all the natural instincts and drives they need to propel them towards functional adulthood is negated. Children are seen as incomplete beings who need to be "done to" and "done for" by outside forces rather than being trusted already to possess all the qualities they will need to become functional adults.

Anyone who interacts with children can tell you that, provided their original sense of being powerful is not damaged, children are highly functional just as they are! They are naturally capable problem-solvers, honest and skilled communicators and brilliant, creative thinkers. They are also highly self-motivated, adventurous and fully desirous of learning, challenging themselves and stretching into more of what they can be.

The school system doesn’t seem to believe this. It tells children they aren’t enough and had better acquire all the government’s prescribed knowledge and skills so they can "be something" when they grow up. Children are pressured to figure out as early as possible what that "something" will be. This creates "not good enough" feelings in children, and they begin to fear the future because if they don’t succeed at gaining whatever knowledge and skills are prescribed, and if they don’t figure out what they want to "be", they’ll be lost as adults and not be able to "live". School and learning thus become a matter of survival rather than a joyful means for discovering the world.
Joseph Chilton Pearce says that in a true educational system, "We don’t prepare for life, we equip children with the means to live fully at whatever stage they are in." This kind of education eliminates the emphasis on the future and allows children to live fully in every moment. Children maintain their natural ability to live in the "now", and they are free to enjoy themselves and their world exactly as they are.

Finally, if we are preparing children for life, does that mean that we, adults, who are doing the preparing, know absolutely what’s best for each child and know what each child needs to be successful in his/her adult life? That idea is, in my opinion, arrogant. Who are we to believe that we know what’s best for every child? And how is it that the government officials who prescribe the curriculum presume to know what each child will need in order to fulfill his/her life purpose?

Returning to my "adult school" example, if some government official were to decide what I need for my retirement, part of my curriculum might be to learn to play golf, drive a Motorhome and swallow medications. Ridiculous! That’s not a direction I see my life taking, not to mention that those are things I’m not at all interested in learning! Yet we prescribe a blanket curriculum for children, tell them it’s good for them and tell them that even if they’re not interested in X, X and X, they may be "some day" and besides, those subjects "will prepare them for their futures".

Many alternative educators, on the other hand, say, "Remove ‘imposed exposure’". The response: "But if we don’t show kids what’s out there, how will they know what they want to do with their lives?" Alright, I say, expose them to things, but if you want to be fair, unbiased and without any agenda of your own, expose your child to everything! Impossible, of course! So why not just trust that your child will naturally be drawn to the things that will serve his/her greatest learning? Adults are not the only ones who experience "coincidences"; a child, too, can walk through a library and have a particularly pertinent book fall off the shelf in front of him; a child, too, can go to a friend’s house and fall in love with the art form the mother "happens" to be busy with; a child, too, can impulsively turn on the television and be instantly fascinated by the subject under discussion.

But people are concerned that children won’t learn the many important and interesting things out there "in time". Define "in time"? Sure, it’s easier for a child to pick up a second language, but that doesn’t mean an adult driven by passion cannot become proficient in a new language. Sure, when you’re younger your chances of being a terrific gymnast are better, but that doesn’t mean an adult can’t enjoy gymnastics or find another activity that offers just as much pleasure and satisfaction.

Then comes the argument, "Well, my child has a natural talent for _____; if I don’t push her, she won’t reach her full potential!" This makes me think of a story about a child at an alternative school who had a talent for piano. When he came to the school, he was not at all interested in playing. Instead, he was fascinated with math and spent most of his time studying that. No one pushed piano on him, no one said, "Oh but you’re so good at it!" and eventually he picked up his piano playing again on his own. What could have happened had people pushed him? He would most likely have resented the people forcing him to play, he probably would have grown to dislike playing, and he would probably have abandoned the piano altogether. Or he would have played in the manner I’ve seen so many "talented" children play: without any feeling, as though just going through the motions.

Any child who is passionate about something (and whether highly talented in that area or not) never needs to be pushed. Passion is the driver and more often than not, parents have to slow a child down, remind her to eat, remind her of bedtime. Passion redirected or interfered with by an outside force quickly shuts down. As this happens, the child, too, begins to shut down. So, should it not be our job as adults to make sure children’s passion always remains strong and free?

Youth often complain that their parents have forgotten what it was like to be young. When it comes to schooling, I think that is especially true. We conformed and performed our way through school, we failed our way through school, we hated our way through school, we skipped most of school, we stressed ourselves on our way through school or we just tolerated school, and yet come the time to make the decisions for our children’s education, we go back to what we know didn’t work for us. Is it only because we don’t know any other way of educating? I’m afraid that’s no longer an excuse. Too much research has been done, too many books have been written, and too many alternatives have been tried and tested...

It’s no longer about "preparing children for life". We know better than that. It’s about having the courage to break the mold we were brought up in and offer our children a healthier, more "organic", more life-sustaining and joy-maintaining way to be as they grow up.

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Sudbury Strengths:

In today’s world, the most sought after people are leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, community-minded individuals, creative thinkers, and employees who have initiative, self-motivation, resourcefulness, a sense of justice and excellent interpersonal skills. Indigo Sudbury Campus fosters these qualities through its structure and educational philosophy. Below is an outline of the strengths of the Sudbury model.

• Students have the educational freedom to pursue their interests and innate abilities at their own pace.

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• Students learn to respect their own and others’ differences.

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• Students are free to choose what they do and, through logical consequences, are held accountable for the choices they make.

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• In an atmosphere of acceptance, respect and love, students are less susceptible to negative peer pressure.

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• Age-mixing encourages free socialization and acceptance, and students learn about their place in society; open interaction with adults on an equal basis promotes respect for rather than fear and distrust of adults; children learn to be comfortable relating to adults.

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• Students remain natural learners and creative thinkers; they learn more about who they are, find enjoyment in learning and retain an adventurous spirit.

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• Students choose activities that are meaningful to them and investigate and assimilate information that is relevant to their lives.

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• Boredom forces students to look within and find their true passions and interests. This leads to a feeling of success. Students become responsible.

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• Because students pursue their interests or challenge themselves to subjects of their own choosing, they gain confidence and feel successful because of their efforts.

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• Students learn from failure and do not fear it because their learning is celebrated as a process rather than as an outcome to be evaluated.

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• The absence of outside evaluation allows students to evaluate their progress naturally and find personal satisfaction in growth rather than in performance.

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• Students learn to be leaders and individuals who honor themselves.

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• Staff and students interact in an atmosphere of love and respect and allow all to learn from whatever experience they choose.

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• Self-image and self-esteem remain strong and healthy and are based in the reality of natural consequences.

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• Social conversation becomes a powerful learning tool and a means through which students develop their communication skills.

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• Students choose when to graduate and generally do so when they are ready; this means they have direction and focus that can no longer be achieved by continuing at the Campus.

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