By Kerry McDonald The ubiquity and widespread acceptance of homeschooling as a valid educational option for American families can obscure the fact that homeschooling freedoms were hard-fought. Homeschooling didn’t become legally recognized in all U.S. states until the 1990s, with families who chose to teach their own children in earlier years often harassed and sometimes … [Read more...] about Celebrating a Milestone For Homeschooling Freedoms
Education
Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Across the US: A Case Study
By Kerry McDonald The rise of bottom-up education models Across the US, everyday education entrepreneurs are reimagining K-12 education in simple but profound ways. Some of these entrepreneurs are parents trying to solve an educational problem for their own families who decide to bring others along with them. Others are teachers who became fed up with one-size-fits-all … [Read more...] about Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Across the US: A Case Study
New Research Reveals The Breadth And Impact Of The Microschooling Movement
By Kerry McDonald Nestled at the end of a residential cul-de-sac in Hopewell, Virginia is Dream Tech Academy, a microschool founded by former public school teacher, Danette Buckley. Originally from Jamaica, Buckley moved to the U.S. as an adolescent and gravitated toward a career in education, with a passion for entrepreneurship. “This has been a dream for so long,” … [Read more...] about New Research Reveals The Breadth And Impact Of The Microschooling Movement
Two “Mompreneurs” Created a Forest School That Reaches Thousands
By Kerry McDonald It was a cool, muddy morning in March when I pulled into the empty parking lot of a sprawling forest and nature preserve about 40 miles outside of Fort Worth, Texas. Soon, cars began arriving, filled with exuberant children of all ages, and their parents, who were ready to spend a few hours together in the woods. Donned in rain boots and parkas, these … [Read more...] about Two “Mompreneurs” Created a Forest School That Reaches Thousands
How Entrepreneurs Are Expanding Education Options For Families in Texas
By Kerry McDonald In early 2020, Chrystal and Joshua Bernard decided that they would begin homeschooling their four young children at the start of the following school year. Their two oldest children were completing first grade and pre-kindergarten, respectively, at a traditional private school in the greater Fort Worth, Texas area, but the Bernards were drawn to … [Read more...] about How Entrepreneurs Are Expanding Education Options For Families in Texas
Microschools Are Proving to Be a Winning Option in Las Vegas
By Kerry McDonald Tears filled Maria Castaneda’s eyes as she recalled moving her son from a Las Vegas charter school to a microschool in 2020. She explained that in the charter school, her 7th grader was excelling academically but was growing increasingly withdrawn and angry. “I pulled him out because in that situation it brought out the worst of him, not the best of him,” … [Read more...] about Microschools Are Proving to Be a Winning Option in Las Vegas
Students Against Mandates — “Solutions Watch” with James Corbett
By The Corbett Report Leigh Vossen and Sheldon Munroe of Students Against Mandates join us today to discuss their organization, how and why it was formed, and how it is working to lift the mandates and restrictions on students across Canada and to make sure that those mandates are never imposed again. SHOW NOTES Students Against Mandates website Canadian university … [Read more...] about Students Against Mandates — “Solutions Watch” with James Corbett
5 Surprising Facts About Microschooling
By Kerry McDonald One of the most popular and fastest-growing educational trends today is microschooling. Microschools are intentionally small, mixed-age, K-12 learning communities with personalized curriculum approaches that are sprouting rapidly across the U.S. They harken back to the one-room schoolhouses of yesteryear and were gaining traction even before the education … [Read more...] about 5 Surprising Facts About Microschooling
How Microschool Networks Are Activating Education Entrepreneurs
By Kerry McDonald When Katelyn Shore opened the first Wildflower Montessori microschool in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2014, she hoped it would be the start of something big. The vision, introduced by Sep Kamvar at the MIT Media Lab, was to create an open-source network of intentionally small, storefront, neighborhood Montessori microschools that would offer the tools and … [Read more...] about How Microschool Networks Are Activating Education Entrepreneurs
Why Former School Teachers Are Earning More Money As Education Entrepreneurs
By Kerry McDonald When Emily Williams told her parents back in early 2020 that she was leaving her job as a certified public school teacher to launch a microschool, they thought she was crazy. Both longtime public school educators themselves, they couldn’t understand why Williams, who taught in Mississippi public schools for more than a decade, would want to give up a good … [Read more...] about Why Former School Teachers Are Earning More Money As Education Entrepreneurs
Will the Microschool Movement Last? Lessons from the 1960s “Free Schools”
By Kerry McDonald Over the past couple of years, there has been a surge in the number of microschools spreading across the country. These small, multi-age, co-learning communities with hired educators were gaining popularity before the educational upheaval of 2020, but they were still very much at the edge of the educational landscape. The disruption caused by the pandemic … [Read more...] about Will the Microschool Movement Last? Lessons from the 1960s “Free Schools”
Guatemala’s Enclave of Liberty
By G. Patrick Lynch Imagine a university that requires all of its students to take multiple courses on Austrian economics, basic price theory, and monetary policy. Now imagine that same university trains students across a wide range of disciplines including professional fields such as medicine, architecture, dentistry, film, and culinary arts, on top of the conventional … [Read more...] about Guatemala’s Enclave of Liberty