Learning Without Labels

Equality equals better health and happiness

New research shows that equality, not other issues, equal the most health and happiness. This new research isn’t shocking news or anything. I’d wager that most people would agree that feeling like an equal does correlate with happier feelings. Still, it’s an interesting issue that should be made more public. British epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson has been researching [...]

Read the full post →

College not all it’s cracked up to be for high school graduates

In a previous post we looked at research about how public schools don’t prepare kids for college. However, it’s not just before college that’s the problem. After public school kids arrive at college there are some problems as well, beyond the remedial classes discussed in the last post. Three of every four students in one [...]

Read the full post →

High School Graduates Not Prepared for Work

In a previous post we looked at research about how public schools don’t prepare kids for college. Due to the fact that very few high school grads are college-ready, it makes sense that not all kids go to college. That’s fine, not all humans need college. However, most high school graduates also aren’t prepared for work. [...]

Read the full post →

Do Public Schools Prepare Youth for College?

Often people wonder if democratic school students will be college-ready. In fact, folks can get downright snotty about it, saying stuff like, “A school like that won’t prepare your son for college or a real life!” People are incorrect. Kids in alternative ed. programs go to college all the time, but that’s besides the point. What really [...]

Read the full post →

Does Democratic Education Prepare Youth for College?

A common argument I personally hear against my son Cedar’s democratic school is, “How will your son be college-ready without school?” And by school, I should point out that people mean public school. Since my son attends a democratic school, his ability to be college-ready is usually discounted. That’s actually fine with me. First of [...]

Read the full post →

Democratic School Benefit – Zero Arbitrary Homework

I remember homework. Barely. I didn’t do much of it when I was in elementary through high school. I thought it was boring and a waste of time. Plus, after sitting all day at school, the last thing I wanted to do was sit some more. I did all my college homework by the way, [...]

Read the full post →

What is deschooling and how long does it take?

If you’ve been looking into alternative education paths, you’ve likely run across the term “deschooling.” I’m not sure who officially coined this term, but I’d guess that the 1971 book Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich has much to do with this term’s popular use among unschoolers, homeschoolers and other alternate schools today. What the deschooling means: [...]

Read the full post →

Free School Benefit – Plenty of Free Play

A new study looking at 34 child care centers serving young children found that parents are instrumental in how much physical activity (or not) kids are getting. In all cases, no matter the setting (inner-city, suburban, Head Start, or Montessori) researchers found that kids are sitting sedentary for most of their day and that very [...]

Read the full post →

What really constitutes a failing school?

President Obama has been fairly outspoken about what he thinks of schools in America, noting at various speeches that “Four out of five schools will be labeled as failing.” Along those same lines, last year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Congress No Child Left Behind (NCLB) would end up labeling about 82% of all [...]

Read the full post →

How useful are standardized tests?

I’m not a fan of standardized testing. It’s not very useful and a great time waster in my opinion. Mostly though, it really bothers me that some people (some school staff and some parents) use these tests to make snap judgments about our kids abilities. Why not get to know a kid instead and allow [...]

Read the full post →

← Previous Entries

Categories