Writing by:
Mimsy Sadofsky
Blog post |
We have a lot to muse about as we struggle to make ourselves comfortable in a world that seems to be mainly for people whose brains are more advanced than ours.
Who is we? Well, it is my generation, for sure. It is in no sense today's generation,… Read more ›
Blog post |
As they decide whether or not to send their children here, or as they fret about their children while they are enrolled here, there are a whole series of concerns parents talk about and worry about that are related to what looks like the random way… Read more ›
Blog post |
We often hear people talk about Sudbury schools as "unschooling schools". Besides the fact that the actual phrase, to me, does not even make sense, I think the people who use it overlook a lot of dissimilarities that are important keystones as to… Read more ›
Blog post |
I realized that one of the kids in school who had been here for many years was about to turn eleven. (How dare she get so old?) I said, “Oh, I wish you were still 7½ .” What I meant, of course, was that the years go by too fast, and we remember… Read more ›
Essay post |
Mimsy: This is a recording of an interview with Alli Harvey, who graduated in 2004, and we reproduced the actual recording here. She lives in Alaska, and comes to Massachusetts to visit her family here. At the time of this conversation,… Read more ›
Blog post |
I confess that I wasn't thinking about happiness in 1968, when my husband and I decided to send our children to the almost-open Sudbury Valley School. We had unfortunately noticed that public school seemed to cause our little son to feel… Read more ›
Blog post |
I am writing this on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Neue Schule Hamburg, to offer congratulations and a tiny bit of retrospection. I work at Sudbury Valley School, in the United States, and we are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year… Read more ›
Blog post |
This spring, there's been quite a lot of talk, once again, about a book called Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. Published in the ‘50's, it is a piece of fiction about what happens when a bunch of kids get stranded on an island, and it… Read more ›
Blog post |
I want to talk about something called “the zone of proximal development”, an idea developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky early in the 20th century. He felt that people learn best when either they are learning from somebody who knows a… Read more ›
Blog post |
The over-riding fear that parents express when they approach this model of education is that kids aren’t learning anything. Of course, when confronted, they will admit that kids do learn things all the time without the vaguest coercion, but it… Read more ›
Essay post |
I am writing this on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Neue Schule Hamburg, to offer congratulations and a tiny bit of retrospection. I work at Sudbury Valley School, in the United States, and we are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year… Read more ›
Blog post |
On the radio a couple of weeks ago, I heard a man talking about educational reform, and what they consider progress made with young children’s education in Illinois in recent years. He talked about a goal, which he called “agency”. The word… Read more ›
Blog post |
Lisa Dolliver, a professional ceramicist (and also a professional musician), has been teaching kids all things pottery for quite a few years here. She is an amazing inspiration and teacher. I always wish I could spend every minute she is in school… Read more ›
Blog post |
It was Valentine’s Day. There had been something afoot for quite a few days, and there were lots of valentines – simple but perfect (Cori and her friends at work) – made for people to write inside. Pink, white, lavender and red papers were… Read more ›
Blog post |
What do SVS students have in common? What are the distinguishing features of this vibrant collection of people whose energy strikes you the moment you encounter them? For a long time I have been trying to articulate the answers to these questions.… Read more ›