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conuly
First things first, there's one in Brooklyn. I feel so proud.
Basically, the idea of a democratic or free school is that students are treated like people. So students and staff have an equal voice in the running of the school, and (usually) students don't have to go to class (the idea is that they can take responsibility for their actions and will learn at their own pace. This seems to work).
Of course, this leads to the worry that your kid won't learn at such a school, they won't be interested in learning whatever it is you want them to learn. It happens. The FAQ for Sudbury has an example where a kid had graduated and really knew very little math, but he wanted to take the SATs. So he went to somebody for help and learned enough to do well on the SATs in six weeks, because he wanted to and could focus on it.
What really attracts me to this sort of school is that you don't treat a kid like a kid until they're 18 and then say "okay, now go out and be an adult and take responsibility for yourself". They're expected to take responsibility the whole time, it's not so sudden, they know how to do it.
I can't keep on talking about this, I have to go to class soon. Summerhill is another famous one, this is the link to their FAQ. Both the last two links have links to essays, go read.
Basically, the idea of a democratic or free school is that students are treated like people. So students and staff have an equal voice in the running of the school, and (usually) students don't have to go to class (the idea is that they can take responsibility for their actions and will learn at their own pace. This seems to work).
Of course, this leads to the worry that your kid won't learn at such a school, they won't be interested in learning whatever it is you want them to learn. It happens. The FAQ for Sudbury has an example where a kid had graduated and really knew very little math, but he wanted to take the SATs. So he went to somebody for help and learned enough to do well on the SATs in six weeks, because he wanted to and could focus on it.
What really attracts me to this sort of school is that you don't treat a kid like a kid until they're 18 and then say "okay, now go out and be an adult and take responsibility for yourself". They're expected to take responsibility the whole time, it's not so sudden, they know how to do it.
I can't keep on talking about this, I have to go to class soon. Summerhill is another famous one, this is the link to their FAQ. Both the last two links have links to essays, go read.
