Learning

It’s funny how things happen at SVS. Conversation is always a huge part of how students and staff members spend their time. People of all ages are talking about interests, hobbies, and ideas. It flows without interruption. During one of these… Read more ›

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 ›

An Open Mic is a scary thing to organize. After all, the success of the endeavor depends not on who says they want to sing, or play a song, or dance, or do an act, beforehand, but who actually steps up and does it at the time it is happening. In a… Read more ›

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 ›

The school year has started with a bang! Students and staff are excited for activities and work to begin. The amount of fundraisers we recently had is a good indication of it! Now that it is the beginning of October, all of the corporations for the… Read more ›

I love chocolate and eat a piece after lunch and dinner. Pretty much religiously. In the beginning of the year, I used to pack a few pieces to last me the week. Well, Dillon, Elise and Sophie quickly realized I did. They are so charming and cute I… Read more ›

Today I was engrossed in contemplating how difficult it is to tell the “bad guys” from the “good guys”. I have had that trouble since I was a little girl watching cowboy movies. It wasn’t that I didn’t have some clue that Roy Rogers, or the Lone… Read more ›

It was one of those days that everyone was having so much fun, no one remembered to take many pictures. The day was wonderful from the very beginning to the very last second. A day in which the dilemma that was encountered was where to eat dinner.… Read more ›

During the last Open House, in October of 2015, there was a remarkable interaction. It didn't surprise me, but it greatly pleased me. Unfortunately, I don't think the guests who were with me had enough context for what they saw to appreciate it.… Read more ›

This week's post was originally published as an essay in the Sudbury Valley School Journal (November, 2007) I.  There are three activities everybody does regardless of culture: make music, decorate things, and talk. Talking, making music… Read more ›

People regularly ask me how Sudbury Valley is preparing my kids for adulthood, and what they’re learning there. Early on, I would try to explain some of the things I thought my sons were learning. I now respond by saying that none of us really knows… Read more ›

Last June, I attended the SVS Moving On Ceremony, which is when the community comes together to celebrate the students who are ending their Sudbury Valley education and continuing on to other endeavors. Many have gone through the process to obtain a… Read more ›

My purpose in writing is to help parents who are thinking about Sudbury Valley School. Those parents who are attracted to this model for their children need to provide them with the support that will make their SVS experience most effective. They do… Read more ›

This post was originally published in The Sudbury Valley School Journal, volume 30., number 4, March 2001. “When God began to create heaven and earth, the universe was chaos and disorder, and darkness enveloped the void.” (Genesis 1:1) One day I was… Read more ›

I had an interesting discussion with a five year old SVS student who was irked by something a seven year old from a traditional school had said to him, namely, that she knew more than he did because she was older and already half way through second… Read more ›