Parents

Children Are Like Locs by Anika Prather  The Living Water School, Alexandria, VA This has been the year for me personally, as a mom and as a school founder, to fully mentally and emotionally grasp that kids do not need our help to… Read more ›

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 ›

Reading for pleasure and knowledge has always been a meaningful part of my life. So when my three children started SVS at young ages I couldn’t help but wonder how they would learn to read without the direct instruction I had experienced as a child… Read more ›

Our son recently spent two weeks visiting his grandmother in Paris by himself. It was a wonderful adventure that allowed him to explore his independence and experience the world in a new way. He had an amazing time and came back with a lot of great… Read more ›

(Part 1 in The Living Water School School's “Transparency” Series)  It is late. I have just fed my dogs. Everyone is asleep and like most nights, I am the last one up and I’m usually thinking about the school. Tonight, I am thinking… Read more ›

  Cori, my oldest daughter and Kali, one of her close friends at SVS, are having a good-humored debate about which one of them reads more books. This debate has been going on so long now that for Christmas their friends bought them each a… Read more ›

This was published in our Janury 1998 Journal; a note from Jean and Rick Leif about what their daughter is up to now has been added. Quite a lot has been written about what it is like to be a student at Sudbury Valley School, but I would like to… Read more ›

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 ›

Children are born with one overriding drive. They seek to grow up and to gain mastery over their own lives. Any child who grows up in a wider culture that values freedom is naturally jealous of what s/he feels to be her/his right to pursue happiness… Read more ›

This week’s post comes from a presentation given by three SVS parents in November, 1998. How do you parent a child who is having a school experience totally different from your own? I can't really refer to William as a child anymore, now that he is… Read more ›

Like many American parents, when our boys were old enough for Kindergarten we excitedly waited with them at our neighborhood’s bus stop for the big, yellow school bus. We took plenty of pictures of them climbing into the bus, and pictures of them… Read more ›

I recently asked that question of a 17 year old SVS student with whom I am good friends.  I have trouble understanding the fact that several kids that I know very well who have one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent have made a conscious decision… Read more ›

I never thought that skiing would test my commitment to the Sudbury Model. But, it did. Every winter, the school offers two ski programs. Students who are eight or older can sign up to go to Wachusett Mountain once a week for six weeks. Every… Read more ›

One of the things I enjoy most about being an SVS parent is talking to prospective families at Open Houses. Not so long ago, our family was taking a tour, and I still remember the combination of hope and anxiety that filled me that afternoon. We… Read more ›