Hi all my #internationalschools #PLN! I'm starting over with a new twitter account since I can't access the old! Hoping to reconnect with old friends and make new connections! As you know I share about #education #unschooling #selfdirectededucation #play #inquiry #parenting

A lot of discourse on the internet about #reading missing the voices of children along w/ the physical sensations some kids experience when learning to read- especially #neurodivergent kids. Does your reading intervention address the nervous system? #learningsupport

Did you know that unschoolers learn to read anywhere between the ages of 2yo-13yo? Sometimes I read stuff like this article where there’s fear of falling behind I can’t help but think.. falling behind what?! A system that’s made by us that we can literally change if we decide to?

Love this. And those times we do take it personally is information for us. A chance to look at our own unhealed wounds. Working with young people is always a chance for us to understand ourselves better and in turn understanding them better.

When we understand that school and education are 2 different things we can then pinpoint where schoolishness is getting in the way of education! #deschooling

The separation of education and real life - the idea that first you educate, then you live; always in that order and rarely with overlap - is one of the greatest tragedies of human potential. To learn is to be human. It was never meant to be a mere developmental phase.

An AI generated image created by those who want to share about the grueling events in Myanmar w/out subjecting others to trauma. What International School organizations are standing up to the junta? Any business done in Myanmar is supporting the junta. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

Exciting news 🎉 With the end of our SDE space season comes space to open *3 spots* for my thought partnership offering. Are you an intl school educator needing some extra support? Let’s connect 🩵 #educatorsupport

It's Children's Mental Health week 2024. The theme is Your Voice Matters. I’d like to highlight the many ways in which children express their voice. For they don’t always talk or communicate in the ways that we expect. They often express their voice through their behaviour. Sometimes loudly, chaotically, erratically, childishly. They might communicate with us by refusing to do something, or by being increasingly disruptive. Their voice is often inconvenient for adults, who would prefer it if they kept quiet. Children show us how they feel  and what they think all the time, but if adults don’t deem that to be appropriate then they are dismissed and sometimes punished for using their voice. This children's mental health week, let's not put the onus on children by telling them to use their words, let's put the onus on adults to really listen.

#trustkids #selfdirectededucation #socialcircus

A peek at our #unschooled celebration of learning. The kid curated, kid choreographed, & kid Mc’d Fire & LED show. The best part of the circus is the courage each kid finds to be themselves on and off stage. #socialcircus #selfdirectededucation

2 days until our unschooled celebration of learning and then we close for the season. First time since we opened that we’re taking such a long break! #unschooling #selfdirectedlearning

All of these 🔥

I use these cards/prompts with kids 3yo-13yo (and even adults!) We also use them as a family for family meetings and when I facilitate family conversations for others #collaborativedecisionmaking #classroommeetings #familymeetings

If you’re looking for a way to bring consent based, collaborative decision making into your classroom &/or a way to facilitate conflict so that everyone feels seen/heard & comfortable with the resolution get the cards here: teacherspayteachers.com/Prod…

Some #selfdirectedlearning sightings from yesterday. #unschooling #creativeexpression

Play is a need & a right of every child. To atone for stripping children of this right in their past designs of pedagogy, curricula, & learning environments, too many adults are now forcing activities on children in the guise of “play.” Play for adult outcomes is not true play.

The possibilities for self directed education is so unlimited with the internet. Your daily reminder that self directed doesn’t equal not supported #selfdirectededucation

I’m sometimes told that the high control behaviour strategies which are used in schools are necessary, because otherwise children won’t learn.  Some will say that the best way for children to learn is for their behaviour to be tightly controlled at all times – silent corridors, eyes following the teacher, strict routines, punishments for minor infractions like forgetting a pen. This leads to quiet calm classrooms with no distractions from learning.  Isn’t that better for everyone, they say?    The teachers talk uninterrupted, the children learn. This only makes sense if you see learning as a passive process for children. They submit, they listen, they remember, they repeat.  Learning from this perspective is essentially a process of information transfer from the teacher to the child – a highly controlled classroom makes that transfer more efficient, goes the logic. This is not the only way to see learning.  Children are active participants in learning, right from babyhood.  They ask questions, they test out their ideas. They explore and make discoveries. Their play mimics the world they see around them.  They are born to learn – but only when they are empowered to do so.  When we clip their wings by controlling every aspect of their behaviour, their capacity to learn is reduced.  For we’ve now made learning about listening and doing what you are told. These are rarely where children’s strengths lie. We have to look underneath.  For under the peace of that quiet classroom can be fear.  I know this because young people tell me. Fear of saying a word out of place. Fear of forgetting your homework.  Fear of asking your neighbour for help and being heard.   Fear that this time you’ll get it wrong and you’ll be shamed for it.  And being afraid is never a good way to learn. (illustration Eliza Fricker @_MissingTheMark)

In the first 30 minutes of the day Catan has started, some independent reading held by the couch, and a collaborative art project continues. And this is just in two small areas of space. Children will choose to learn, even when not forced. (Oh & playing Catan IS learning) #sde