This blog will about me watching my 6 yo son's educational experience while attending the Circle School a democratic free school. Also bits and pieces about who he is growing up to be.
What is a democratic free school you ask?
Basically Odin is free to choose how he spends his day. If he wants to explore outside with his friends. Fine. If he wants to take part in art. Great. If he wants to play on the computer all day. Wonderful. He has only to follow the school's rules and do his chore daily. No home work no tests. He chooses what he wants to focus upon.
This is actually Odins second year. Want to talk about hard. Just letting go and letting Odin pick his own path has been one of the hardest choices I have ever made. I have been raised and conditioned that kids need to do XY and Z in XY and Z years in school. No they don't. Not all kids are wired the same. Some learn best by seeing others by doing. Not all kids mature at the same rate.
Why must be shove our kids into preconceived models of what they should be?
Let's face it public school can be hell. Those who are different or lack confidence are sheep being led to the slaughter. Once you get labeled you never lose that label. Geek, Jock, Druggie... Freak. Heck what you were in school tends to be what your kids are. The have nots are targeted by the haves due to the clothes they wear. I pity the child that has last years popular sneakers.
This blog will be a chronicle of Odin's experience translated by me. Well what he tells me of it anyway. Last year he was a timid child scared of getting hurt. He needed constant reassurance. He really hadn't had the chance to hang out with too many other kids due to him being home with me or my husband as a toddler and preschooler. At the end of the school year he was confidant. Mature. Odin knows who Odin is at 6. He cares about his friends feelings. Yet will stand up for himself. He doesn't care what others think about what he is wearing.
It has been hard for my husband and I. Most folks can't understand why we have chosen the school we have for Odin and in 2 years Kane. The locals call it the cult school. I call it a sanctuary. No two of the kids look a like. They are the most well adjusted group of young people I have ever met. No bullies in sight. Each kid has their own identity and is accepted for it.
