Writing by:
Silvia Beier
Essay post |
“Do what you wish.” Readers, at least those of my generation, might remember this motto from Michael Ende’s book The Neverending Story1. The student Bastian, hero of this romantically tortuous coming-of-age novel, finds the call to do what he wants… Read more ›
Blog post |
There was a Separation and Transition Workshop for parents at my son’s college orientation that I went to, and I don’t regret going, even though I thought I would.
Convinced that the last thing my SVS educated son needed on his first day of college… Read more ›
Blog post |
Through a series of coincidences involving shelving books at school, I recently found myself spending a weekend reading through Cynthia Voigt’s “young adult” cycle of books about the Tillerman family, starting with volume number two called Dicey’s… Read more ›
Blog post |
… all I can do is read a book to stay awake, And it rips my life away, But it’s a great escape … BLind MeLoN, “No Rain” (1992)
Recently, I did something very unhealthy. It started innocently enough with picking up a book a student had pointed out… Read more ›
Blog post |
Especially at the beginning of the school year, a new student, or somebody who has just not gotten around to it before, might ask about what’s the deal with the books at school. They might want to know if you can borrow them, and how that would work… Read more ›
Blog post |
From my teaching days, there is a particular moment I remember with special sadness:
It’s the moment in the semester when everything kind of closes up, and it happened without fail just a few weeks into the school year, coinciding directly with the… Read more ›
Essay post |
It’s another snow day. I’m shoveling our sidewalk, while my husband is working on a talk about visual presentations of work, and I’m thinking about what he’s doing, what I’m doing, about what “work” is, and about Sudbury Valley.
If you’d look at my… Read more ›
Blog post |
The following two scenes were unfolding recently on the different ends of one of the low red tables in the playroom, around lunchtime.
On the one end, close to me, Josie sat down with her tablet and a snack, joined in quick succession by Nell on one… Read more ›
Blog post |
“You know that moment when you are playing bass and it's like surfing?” Sadly, I don’t, but I sure wish I did, because judging from the glowing expression of the student I overheard saying this, it must be great.
The recent music show helped me… Read more ›
Blog post |
During February break, I took the opportunity to visit the Fairhaven School in Maryland, one of our sister schools. I am so glad I did! It brought key aspects of our work at Sudbury into sharp focus for me, and I returned to our school energized and… Read more ›
Blog post |
A school without students is not really a school.
While beautiful and quiet, SVS during the summer can be a bit melancholy, like an empty husk. Hot and humid days don’t make it much better. Yes, summer can be a good time to get things done, and it’s… Read more ›
Blog post |
I just remembered something, and very vividly.
When prospective students and their families describe their days, their schools, or their camp experiences, the word "activity" pops up frequently. They ask about what “activities” students are involved… Read more ›
Blog post |
Last year Fall arrived on our campus with almost shocking force, with the trees, in particular, drawing attention to themselves.
Though it was exhilarating to drive to school through showers of red and gold, it was also a bit sad,… Read more ›
Blog post |
The SVS library is making me so happy. I am much more of a reader than a collector of books, but libraries play a big role in my life. As a teenager, I skipped school a lot to go to the library to wander around the stacks. I was looking for… Read more ›