A different kind of school
We don’t want to waste kids’ time.
Our core principles are simple: we believe that instruction should be targeted to best serve each student, and that students should be bought in on learning to the greatest extent possible.
Targeted instruction means that we test each student’s abilities on entry, and move each student through core instruction as fast as they can master each concept (and no faster). Reading, writing, and mathematics assignments are individual to each student. If a student has mastered something, it’s time for them to move on. If they don’t have the context needed to understand a concept, it’s time to move back to where the student is struggling and build up stronger foundational knowledge.
For some students, this looks like skipping 50% of the exercises in a book and moving on to new material without wasting time with unnecessary review. For others, it looks like completing the same grade of material across two different curricula, because the student needs that much practice to develop true mastery over the skills. In both cases, a majority of students progress faster than than would be expected of them in a traditional school.
But why would students do all that work, especially if in some cases it means doing twice as much?
Student buy-in requires freedom on two levels. To achieve student buy-in on long-term goals and the project of learning, students and teachers set goals collaboratively for each quarter. The teacher sets certain parameters - students have to study reading, writing, math, science, and social studies, and they need to target an appropriate amount of improvement or learning. Within these bounds, however, students are free to decide what they want to accomplish, and free to discuss with the teacher what they think is important to learn and why. This helps ensure that the teacher and the student are working together on a goal that the student ultimately wants to accomplish.
To motivate students to actually move towards those goals on a day to day basis, we offer students various rewards for completing schoolwork, and the freedom to decide when and how they accomplish most of it. Students who complete a certain minimum amount of schoolwork are allowed to participate in “reward classes” (including watching educational television, playing board games together, and participating in teacher-led roleplaying games like Magical Kitties Save The Day). Almost all students find this extremely motivating, and almost always complete their schoolwork.
A focused student can often complete their required work in a fraction of the school day, leaving them free to play, read, draw, or earn bonus rewards by completing even more schoolwork in their most challenging subject. Most students do core work for about two or three hours a day (almost never in one sitting), and spend most of the rest of the day playing or reading for pleasure. Our soundproofed playroom and outdoor space ensure that kids can take breaks as needed without disturbing those who are still working.
Other students do struggle. If a student avoids all work - either in general, or in a specific subject - for several days, they must talk to the teacher about what sort of work they would be willing to try. After re-assessing, we’ll find a new way to attack the problem subject together. We see it as our responsibility to present the student with work that they are capable of accomplishing, and to show each student that they are capable of making progress. By allowing students to reject specific lessons, we keep ourselves honest. We force ourselves to continue looking until we find work that connects with the student and allows them to begin making steady progress, rather than blaming the child.
Do students really learn if they have the option to play instead? Every child is different, but for most of them, the answer is yes - if they believe they can. Students who can see themselves making progress are proud of that progress, and students who feel they are in the driver’s seat are eager to reach their destination. Because each student has learning goals aimed specifically at them, students don’t feel that their schoolwork is a waste of time. If they start to, it’s up to the teacher to talk to them about it and find better material.
How do you make all this work? Small class sizes, building rapport with students, and a lot of teamwork with parents. With between 4 and 10 kids, our educators have time to figure out where each kid is at, design lessons uniquely for them, and work with them one-on-one, which is how many kids learn best. While the initial process of finding work a child is motivated to do may be time-consuming, students who have hit their stride and found materials that work for them often need less individualized lesson planning for some time. We also continually communicate with parents about what each kid is studying and what challenges they’re facing, and many parents drop in to teach guest lessons each week.
But it’s affordable? Tuition for full-time students is $1500 a month, with need-based financial aid available which can reduce prices to as little as $400 a month. Our aim is to make targeted, personalized instruction available to our Oakland community..
All images are shared only with permission of both students and parents.
A day in the life
Since student activities depend a lot on what the kids are interested in, we try to keep rough notes on what the kids actually do. Here are some notes from a recent day:
All kids started the day with a math worksheet. K (age 4) practiced writing the number five, A (age 4) practiced adding and taking away one from a number, and V (age 6) practiced reading and writing large numbers. C (age 7) was given a multiplication worksheet, but she decided to read a book instead.
V requested a reading lesson after finishing his worksheet, and the younger kids ended up listening in to the story (Usborne’s Stories of Monsters). K requested help writing a sentence on the whiteboard. All of the kids had a short geography lesson about Canada.
During lunch, the teacher read aloud the beginning of What Is The Constitution?, a chapter book about the constitutional convention. K, A, and V finished lunch and left to go play, but C begged for more and listened for another half an hour, until it was time for recess.
The kids had an hour-long recess at a nearby park, and returned to the school a little early when half the class reported being hungry again. We finished reading the book while the kids had an afternoon snack, then answered followup questions about the right to freedom of the press, the right to assembly, and the idea of cruel and unusual punishment. C then tried, with difficulty, to read the constitution itself, while V asked for help figuring out how many points the children had to earn to meet all of their goals (a task that involved two-digit addition and subtraction).
In the afternoon, the kids had art class, making paintings and collages. C opted to play outside instead of painting, but later enjoyed making a collage.
K went home after art class. A spent the points she’d earned on watching several episodes of Numberblocks, while C and V worked on their Pathfinder character sheets, in an effort to get ready for a school tabletop rpg campaign. C ended up doing math after all, using addition, subtraction, and multiplication to keep track of her character’s carrying capacity, money, and inventory, while V took notes on his character abilities.