Blog

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 ›

We were talking about birthdays, Audrey, Ben, Christine and I. All three children had just turned six and their birthday parties were recalled with much joy. As a normally foolish adult I asked the kind of questions that kids consider really dumb.… Read more ›

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 ›

There is a stigma against people who are perceived to be “doing nothing". The greatest fear that most adults have, vis-a-vis children enrolled in Sudbury Valley, is that those children will do nothing. These fears arise from the failure to see… Read more ›

Mimsy took the following photograph at school recently: She gave the photo the title "Men at Work". At first sight, the title seems whimsical, though the photo itself is a perfect gem. I couldn’t stop thinking: is there more than whimsy to… Read more ›

Is the grand edifice of education built on a foundation of quicksand? Here is a list of the false beliefs at the core of prevailing educational practices: 1. “If you teach, they will learn”     If schools want a particular person to… Read more ›

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 ›

How can every person be above average? It sounds impossible, but it is a given in the community at Sudbury Valley. Living life with a measuring stick, watching to be certain that you are doing OK by others’ standards, and getting a thumbs up that… Read more ›

Take One by Daniel Greenberg If you happen to be sitting in the large front room called “the sewing room", you might notice that every day at 11:00 a.m., eight people walk into the adjacent book-lined “seminar room". What you are seeing… Read more ›

Hanna: People who hear about the school often say: so everybody will just work on what’s easy for them. And my answer to them is: “Well, what’s wrong with that?” However, my observation is that it’s not true, that a lot of the kids work on whatever… Read more ›

"Where do you work?" "At Sudbury Valley School." "What do you do?" "Nothing." Doing nothing at Sudbury Valley requires a great deal of energy and discipline, and many years of experience. I get better at it every year, and it amuses me to see how I… Read more ›

Everybody sees that the notion that kids have to go to a building--to a school--and have to be taught stuff in person by a teacher who talks at them, has been flushed down the toilet.

People often ask if there is a problem with bullying at Sudbury Valley School given that all these kids of all different ages are mixed together in a seemingly haphazard and unordered way. I tell them that bullying is quite rare; to which they… Read more ›

What is the justification for trying to guide children and tell them what they need to be successful adults? Does anyone have a right to interfere with their process of finding out who they are and what their purpose in life is?

This is a confession: It took me many, many years to learn how not to pounce and use what are called "teaching moments" at home with my own children and here at school. Like most people, I like to tell stories, to talk about things that I know and… Read more ›