Democratic Education

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 →

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 →

Parents Encouraged to Participate in American Education Week

In case you missed it, it’s officially American Education Week, an event sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA) November 14-19. The event’s goal is to celebrate and observe, “Students’ hard work to learn, the professionalism and dedication of teachers, support staff and other educators and the parents and members of the community who help [...]

Read the full post →

Jerry Mintz Discusses Democratic Education – Radio Interview

On October 31, Jerry Mintz, founder of AERO was featured on Lon Woodbury’s Internet Talk Radio Show “Parent Choices for Struggling Teens.” Mintz discusses, “What is Democratic Education?” Mintz notes: “When a child realizes they have choice, activities like bullying usually disappear since there is nobody that is seen as ‘at the bottom’. This alternative education [...]

Read the full post →

What do public school students think of democratic education?

Turns out, many public school students don’t think democratic education is realistic or very beneficial. That’s contrary to research, which shows that democratic schools have many benefits for youth, but nevertheless, most public school students simply don’t seem to believe that democratic education could work. Which brings us to one of the biggest benefits of democratic [...]

Read the full post →

Democratic education principals may lead to better mental health among youth

A few years back, The Learner-Centered Principles Work Group of the American Psychological Association (APA) created a guide about school reform and redesign. Their goal was to create systematically researched and evolving learner-centered principles that would result in effective schooling and positive mental health and productivity of our nation`s children. While the guide was clearly [...]

Read the full post →

Some people think my son is a big fake

According to some people, my son Cedar isn’t real. Not quite yet anyway. When I tell people that I don’t send Cedar to a public school but instead to a democratic school, often, people flip out. I can take it though. After 10 years of unschooling and democratic school, I’m way used to getting comments [...]

Read the full post →

Is going to school your child’s high or low?

At my house, each night, near the end of dinner, my family plays High-Low. For those unfamiliar with this game, each family member says what the best and worst parts of their day were. About 99% of the time, my son, who attends Village Free School, a democratic school, says, “My high was school.” On [...]

Read the full post →

What is democratic education?

The Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA) defines democratic education as, “Learning that equips every human being to participate fully in a healthy democracy.” IDEA goes on to eloquently point out that: “A democracy is a system in which the people have power and are able to exercise it. Democratic education incorporates the principles of a healthy [...]

Read the full post →

Democratic Education

Categories