LiberatED Podcast Kerry McDonald
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- Education
Conversations with the innovators creating education options for parents and learners outside the conventional classroom.
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Unschooling at The Dandelion Project, where learner agency is key
Hannah Mackey and Lauren Umlauf are former teachers who cofounded The Dandelion Project, an unschooling community in Philadelphia that offers daytime programming for homeschoolers as well as after school programs and summer camps that emphasize self-directed education. They also do homeschooling evaluations for homeschoolers throughout Pennsylvania through an unschooling lens.
45 Years of Microschools in Philadelphia: Inside the Growing Movement of Child-Centered Schooling Alternatives (The 74)
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Blending neurodiversity & learner-driven education at Acton Academy Red Rock
Amy Novak is a former teacher who in 2021 launched Acton Academy Red Rock in southern Nevada. Acton Academy Red Rock is part of the fast-growing Acton Academy network of learner-driven microschools that was founded in 2009 and now includes more than 300 schools serving thousands of learners.
Amy's program is intentionally inclusive of neurodiverse learners and those with special learning needs including children with autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, and related diagnoses.
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Miami Sudbury School founder talks about self-directed education
Christen Parker-Yarnal is the cofounder of the Miami Sudbury School in Miami, Florida, a fully self-directed, democratic K-12 private school modeled after the flagship Sudbury Valley School that was founded in Massachusetts in 1968. Christen was a conventional school teacher for several years in St. Louis, then moved back to Miami where she grew up, unschooled her 3 children, and launched Miami Sudbury School in 2018.
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How one innovative school is helping to combat chronic absenteeism
Anna Graves is the founder of The Field Academy in Denver, Colorado, a traveling high school that this academic year is collaborating with the Aurora Public Schools, the Englewood Public Schools, Stead Charter School, and alternative schools within the Denver metro area to address chronic absenteeism and credit recovery in creative ways. High school students who are not showing up to school, and who have either been referred to the truancy court or are at risk of being referred, are picked up in The Field Academy van each day to learn throughout the community in an immersive, personalized environment.
"Confronting Chronic Absenteeism" (The 74) ***
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Removing Regulatory Barriers for Education Entrepreneurs
Libertas Institute education policy analyst, and former public school teacher turned homeschooling dad, Jon England joins me on the podcast today to talk about removing regulatory barriers for education entrepreneurs. Jon describes new zoning legislation in Utah passed earlier this year to make it easier for microschool founders to launch their programs.
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Off Da Beaten Path Learning: Dominique Paloma Bible on coaching others to take charge of their education
Dominique Paloma Bible was born in Brazil and raised in Brooklyn, eventually dropping out of high school. That experience led Dominique to discover the importance of personal agency and self-determination, as well as the possibility of alternative learning models outside of traditional schooling. Dominique earned a GED and enrolled at Goddard College. After collecting undergraduate and graduate degrees, Dominique launched Off Da Beaten Path Learning in 2020. It provides personalized guidance, encouragement, and mentorship for young people who are looking to take control of their education in creative, authentic ways, often outside of the traditional K-12 system.
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Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.