Don’t take our word for it.

Explore the research and thinking about the importance of freedom and choice in the educational process.

If a young person opts out of traditional school, they can go to college, find meaningful work, explore their dreams and have an independent, joyful life. Based on some of the research, graduates of self-directed education might even be better off.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

In one of the top five most watched TED talks of all time, Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we educate our children, championing a radical rethink of how our school systems cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

The Decline of Play

In this compelling talk, Dr. Peter Gray brings attention to the dramatic decline in children’s freedom to play over the past 60 years which has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness, suicide, and narcissism in children and adolescents. Based on his own and others' research, Dr. Gray documents why free play is essential for children's healthy social and emotional development.

Self-Directed Education Explained

Dr. Peter Gray, researcher, professor and self-directed education advocate, offers a primer on the basics of Self-Directed Education - from the Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE).

School is Optional

Ken Danford, of North Star and Liberated Learners, co-founded a self-directed center with the rallying cry “Stop going to school and start getting a life!” Check out the many comments from people sharing how North Star changed their lives.

Check out these articles about self-directed education, also known as “unschooling,” to learn more.

Our Personal Observations

We have been watching our own children on this path of self discovery and self learning for decades. Counting each year with each child separately gives us over 100 years of observation experience; Tristan has 24 years, Nicole has 33 years, and the other parents involved have similar if not more years of experience.

What we have witnessed is a desire to learn things of interest. A desire to move forward in life toward goals that are what they want. We have watched kids teach themselves to read, to do math, and to experiment in ways we never would have though of. We have watched innovation and inventions, we have watched emotional maturity develop, and we have supported interests along the way. We have watched the endless curiosity about the world change and morph with each year and we have been on the sidelines, cheering them on.

We watch all of the kids together create games and have conversations, teach each other new things and support one another through difficult times. They have learned to manage conflicts, to step up one someone is being unkind, and to enforce boundaries. Our personal observations on this journey have only given us further proof that kids are curious by nature and continuously learning all on their own. When we put aside arbitrary expectations and one size fits all education, what we find is actual learning; learning with intention, learning by curiosity, learning by exploration, learning as a side affect of living life.

These kids are our future and we are proud to see the things they are doing outside of the confinement of contemporary school models.