Taller Colibri in Huayapam, Oaxaca is off and running in it's second year. I'll post some update soon as to what we're up to, but today this was brought to my attention by Suzanna Elkin, our teacher at Colibri.
Tomorrow, the Manhattan Free School is having an information session. I'm reproducing their notice here, and I am delighted with how they articulate their philosophy of education. Here's the notice:
You are invited to attend
The Manhattan Free School's Information Session
Friday, September 9
6-8pm
115 East 106th Street
between Lexington and Park Avenues
The Manhattan Free School is a non-public school for people
ages 5-19. Our school’s fundamental premise is based on the resolution
constructed and adopted at the 2005 International Democratic Education
Conference, which states:
In any educational setting, young people have the right:
to decide individually how, when, what, where, and
with whom they learn,
to have an equal share in the decision-making as to how their
organizations—in particular their schools—are run, and which rules and
sanctions, if any, are necessary.
We believe people are born curious
and because of this we can trust in their desire to learn and their
enormous capacity to make sense of the world on their own terms.
We believe children learn best by actively engaging with the natural
world through firsthand experience.
We believe that people learn best when they decide what they want to
learn, when they learn for their own reasons, and when they have
maximum control over the pace and the manner in which they learn.
We believe that children are innately good and that schools should fit
the child instead of the child fitting the school.
We believe that people of all ages learn responsibility when they
possess and can exercise the responsibility and liberty to govern
their own communities.
We believe children are naturally inclined toward wholeness
and happiness.
We believe democratic free schools restore childhood to children and
allow children to form healthy relationships with people of all ages.
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Wow, now that is a concise statement. Right on.
Steve Lafler
parent at Taller Colibri
