Tagged:

Games

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October 2, 2019 was a very rainy day, just the kind of day to stay indoors and be cozy. Not so at SVS. At least half of the student body was outside, either disregarding the rain altogether, or carrying out their activities as if it wasn’t wet… Read more ›
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All through this past winter kids at school spent time outdoors when they could (usually), playing basketball, taking walks, climbing on the rocks, or using the swings and the slide. After the pond froze and was safe to walk on, many of them… 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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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 ›
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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 ›
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The first two weeks of this school year were blessed with superb weather. It was sunny and cool and the outdoors was full of students who were using the whole campus for their myriad of activities: conversing, reading, taking walks and so much more… Read more ›
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There aren’t any grades at Sudbury Valley School. No standardized tests. No portfolio reviews. No regular assessments. But that doesn’t mean that the kids haven’t devised their own ways to “measure their progress.” One of these ways is by mastering… Read more ›
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 I happen to love watching the NBA play, especially the finals, in which only the best of the best compete with each other. The skill, power and grace displayed in these games is amazing to me. The games at SVS are quite different, but oh so… Read more ›
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Aren’t they adorable, all those little munchkins, big munchkins, bigger than munchkins, playing in the snow? Isn’t it nice that the school has so many good sliding places? One can even slide right onto the middle of the pond—not usually an option,… Read more ›
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This year we had a three-week summer session at Sudbury Valley, open to those who were regular students during the school year. It is hard to explain how lovely it was. I don’t think there were more than 15 or 16 kids for any of the three weeks, and… Read more ›
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Maybe my memory is foggy but never do I remember the ice on our pond being as perfect as it was the week of January 6. On Tuesday, we were all, young and old, stuck inside as the “polar vortex” kept the wind chill dangerous. The next day was still… Read more ›
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Human beings love to name things. A name serves as a convenient shorthand, identifying something without going into a long description. Some names aren’t obviously connected to what they name: “My doll’s name is Joseph.” Some are: “This room is the… Read more ›
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Sometimes when I’m explaining SVS to people who aren’t familiar with it, they’ll ask me how kids will be prepared for the real world if they can do whatever they want all day. It’s not easy to explain in words -- or at least not without a lot of… Read more ›
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One day last Spring, as I was walking by the Red Couch room on my way to the school’s office, I noticed half a dozen young girls, most under the age of eight, playing happily. Actually, it would have been hard to miss this scene: the elements of the… Read more ›
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If you’ve never heard of Minecraft, I’m guessing you live under a rock. Or maybe just off the grid. Or more likely, you don’t spend much time around kids of any age. According to its maker, Mojang, Minecraft is “a game about breaking and placing… Read more ›