Writing by:
Hanna Greenberg
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It’s already the first week of July and it is only now that I finally am rested enough to have a modicum of perspective about the hectic crazy busy last month of school.
The annual five day camping trip to Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod requires a… Read more ›
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All too often parents, educators, and even students ask us why we are so adamant about not offering any courses at SVS, and why we only teach in response to the students’ initiatives. They wonder why we don’t just offer a few “required” subjects and… Read more ›
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I myself am tired of my stories about SVS trips in general and of skiing trips in particular. But I just can’t help it!
The truth probably is that what I see happening on trips happens all the time at school, but it happens so privately that I… Read more ›
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This blog was originally published as an article in our journal, November 1, 1992.
We often enjoy annual trips to the White Mountains in October. One trip took place a bit after the glorious colors of Fall were at the height of their beauty. The… Read more ›
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For many years now a Halloween dance has taken place in the barn. Wearing a costume is optional but most people come wearing something funky, beautiful or amusing. The dances are totally organized by students, while staff serve as chaperones who are… Read more ›
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This blog was originally published as an article in our journal, May 1, 1994.
Somewhere I read this quote by Lotte Bailin:
"Instant availability without continuous presence is the best role a mother could play."
A lovely quote, I thought, and I let… Read more ›
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Strewing is one of the latest techniques used by educators and parents to lure children to learn things that the adults want them to learn at a time of the adult’s choosing. It has become especially popular among “unschooling” homeschoolers.… Read more ›
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“It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how,” said The Cat In the Hat. It seems to me that Dr. Seuss, who obviously understood children, nevertheless, like most adults, was blind to the ability of kids to extract pleasure out of any place or… Read more ›
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Every death is a loss to those who have to continue their lives without the one that passed. Nothing new or remarkable here except for me and Danny and SVS. That is because throughout the past fifty years Alan was the rock that kept us anchored. He… Read more ›
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In mid-August the school is in a chaotic state of renovations and deep and thorough cleaning. The furniture is piled up in the corridors, the musical instruments are strewn over the barn floor and lots of people are all over the place fixing… Read more ›
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As is well known, our rules require students to attend school at least five hours a day throughout the school year. In order to see to it that this rule is being observed, we have to keep an accurate log of each student’s attendance.
This presented… Read more ›
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Musicals and plays happen at all schools. It is always a big deal to produce them, what with numerous rehearsals to arrange, costumes and props to procure, and finding the talent in the student body to perform all the roles, big and small. What was… Read more ›
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Pulling off a one-person art exhibit, from creating to matting to hanging, takes a lot of different skills. Obviously, one has to have produced a body of work which they feel is good enough to show in public. Hannah had done just that. During her… Read more ›
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It isn’t often that young children talk about their struggles with ethical or psychological issues, but there is no doubt that as they grow and live in a community they grapple with such issues. Since they usually don’t have abstract conversations… Read more ›
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It was warm outside. It was raining a lot and of course lots of kids were thrilled. Oh what fun it is to stand outside and let the pouring rain drench you! The mother in me wants to tell them to go inside and put on dry clothes, but the child in me… Read more ›