Captain's Log: October 2024

October 2, 2024

Two years ago today I arrived in Spokane by bus with two suitcases.

Today I celebrate two weeks since opening my dream school.

Having this dream — a place where kids are free to be kids, where they are free to grow up with their curiosity, creativity, and self-esteem still intact, a place where they learn the most important skill of all: problem solving — has propelled me through incredible difficulties.

Having a big dream helps.

Dream a big dream. Believe it's all possible.

And then get to work.

October 5, 2024

The Spokane Learning Co-op has now been open for two weeks and we’re already getting attention from the larger community!

On Thursday, I did an interview with Julieta Duvall. Like many families, she pulled her kids out of the public school system and began unschooling during the pandemic.

Unschooling turned out to be such a meaningful shift in her relationship with her children that she founded The Unschooling Lifestyle blog and podcast to inspire other people.

In our conversation, she was especially interested to learn more about the origins of our public schooling system… and about the realities of After School Restraint Collapse.

We expect the podcast episode to be released in about three weeks — stay tuned!

Right before my interview with Julieta, I received an email from KYRS Creative Mindset with Robert Sevilla inviting me to come on the air to talk about the Spokane Learning Co-op. We don’t have a date set yet, but it’s looking like it will be early December. One idea we’re talking about is having a few Co-op kids join us in the studio to talk about their experiences!

Even more important than these two interviews is the fact that I’m receiving inquiries from new parents almost every day. They tell me about the heartbreak their child is experiencing in school, and they tell me that they just want their child to be able to play and be a kid.

The other day, a parent told me she had been talking to one of our moms about the Spokane Learning Co-op, and she told me, “I haven’t felt this hopeful in a long time.” I am humbled to be able to be part of this story.

The stories we tell matter. It is because of your stories about your experiences at the Co-op that other like-minded parents find us. Each and every one of you are so important in helping to change the lives of the children in our community. You never know what kind of difference you will make when you share how Self-Directed Education has made a difference for your child.

As members of a Self-Directed Education community, we hold fast to the idea that real life learning happens when kids are free to do what interests them.

A really interesting twist occurs when we witness what happens when a bunch of kids are free to do what interests them, all in the same place and at the same time!

This unique ecosystem of freedom and community creates so many valuable opportunities for our kids to learn how to communicate, how to negotiate, and how to solve problems…

… and it’s not always easy, and not always successful on the first try!

But because it matters, they keep trying new ways of solving problems until they find something that works.

Once you enroll your child in the Co-op, pay attention to how your child’s approach to solving problems evolves.

You might even consider keeping a log of significant moments that you witness in your child as they discover new ways of working through new and sometimes uncomfortable situations.

I bet every single one of us wishes we had more opportunities to learn these critical life skills when we were their age!