Your Name and Title: Kenneth Danford, Co-Founder and Executive Director of North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Massachusetts
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s):
People who want to support school-bound students and families to use homeschooling, including existing homeschoolers, veteran homeschoolers, and disillusioned teachers.
Short Session Description (one line):
Conversation about what kinds of support are necessary to make homeschooling a viable, inspiring, and sustainable option for any interested family.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
It’s one thing to appreciate the freedom of homeschooling-unschooling-self directed learning. It is another thing to make this approach possible for children, teens, and parents who feel stuck in school. Many of these families have working parents, single parents, and other obstacles to considering this approach. How can those of us who understand the power and flexibility of this approach make it available to any interested family? I’ve been working on this question for 18 years (!), and have supported hundreds of families to leave school. Now I am interested in helping disillusioned teachers leave school as well and start similar programs.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
Ken’s Tedx Talk, Amherst College, November 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq1rXdDWXrM
Replies
Kenneth, I greatly appreciate the lead question, "How can those of us who understand the power and flexibility of this approach make it available to any interested family?" This is a critical question, particularly for arguably our most disenfranchised, urban students; it is a question which crosses authentic alternative approaches from the Northstar approach to democratic Free Schools, Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Waldorf, et al. Keep up the gr8 work & I look forward to your talk!