| AQED Report from Montreal |
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AQED, Montreal
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As I mentioned in the last issue, I was brought up to Montreal this weekend to keynote the 15th anniversary of the AQED, the Quebec home education association.
I just got back to New York so I'm not going to go into detail today, because we need to get this newsletter out to you. The conference was great, and the presentation I gave on organic curriculum had some important results. I had never done it in this way before. It is something that all our schools and homeschoolers could find useful, so I'll go into more detail about it in one of the next issues.
Meanwhile, there were more than 350 registrants, not including large numbers of children. This is simply amazing, especially in a province that hasn't really made homeschooling legal! Much of this is attributable to the hard work of AERO representative Marike Reid-Gaudette, and her dedicated crew of homeschoolers. Marike will be attending AERO conference along with a big contingent from her group, Quebec and many from other parts of Canada.
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| Early Bird Deadline - NEW Package Offered |
There are additional savings if you want a group rate, need financial assistance, or would like to volunteer at the conference. Contact [email protected] to discuss these options and to arrange special group rates.
Just to remind you, here are some of the features of this year's conference:
- Keynotes by Summerhill's Zoe Neill Readhead, Free Range Kids author Lenore Skenazy, Jerry Mintz, and members of Brooklyn Free School.
- Sixty amazing workshops and presentations, many by people who have been keynoters at other conferences.
- Special school visits to Brooklyn Free School, Manhattan Free School and Pono.
- Limo pickup by Tesla.
- Special conference rates by Avis.
- Child care available.
- Musical performances.
- Special guests still to be announced!
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NEW Map of This Year's Attendees
Where are this year's attendees coming from so far?
Click the map below to find out. Let us know if you need to be added! Many dots stand for multiple people from the same location.
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| Featured Presenters at AERO Conference |
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Meet just a few of our featured presenters at our 25th anniversary conference. You'll notice that many of these names have previously keynoted the conference!
David MarshakDavid Marshak is the founding president of the SelfDesign Graduate Institute. He is the author of The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness (1997, reissued 2014) and Evolutionary Parenting (2014.) David has supported the learning of people from 4 to 84 in many diverse learning environments over the past 40 years.  Chris MercoglianoChris Mercogliano was teacher and director of Albany's Free School for over 30 years. He has written many respected books, such as Making It Up as We Go Along, How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work, and many others. Kenneth Danford, Catherine Gobron, Joel Hammon, Alison SnieckusFounders, directors and staff from two Liberated Learners centers, North Star and Princeton Learning Cooperative, will share how they started simple and immediate programs to support teens to pursue their own learning outside of school. Liberated Learners centers encourage children and teens to leave school and use homeschooling to design their own learning without the need for a school. We will explain the basics of creating a center (legal issues, outreach and marketing, first members), what happens at the centers and how teens lives are changed, and how Liberated Learners can support you to make school optional for a child.  Gina Riley & Peter GrayGina Riley, Ph.D. is an educational psychologist who teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Psychology, School Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education at Hunter College in Manhattan and Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Her master's thesis and doctoral dissertation both focused on measures of self-determination and intrinsic motivation in homeschoolers. Dr. Riley's current research interests include homeschooling and unschooling, intrinsic motivation in education, and the study of learning disabilities. She also holds several certificates in online education, distance learning, and educational technology.
Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston College, has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, animal behavior, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He is author of Psychology (Worth Publishers), a college textbook now in its 6th edition. Most of his recent research and writing has to do with the value of free, unsupervised play for children's healthy social, emotional, and intellectual development.
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Washington State Rejects Arne Duncan's threat to cancel its waiver from NCLB
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Washington State thoughtfully rejected Arne Duncan's threat to cancel its waiver from the absurd demands of No Child Left Behind. The decision to say no to federal demands and intimidation was bipartisan.
The Legislature refused to bend to Duncan's insistence that the state adopt test-based evaluation, which has consistently failed across the nation and has been declared inaccurate by the nation's leading scholarly organizations.
The Washington State legislature understands federalism. Secretary Duncan does not. He thinks he is charge of the nation's schools-every one f them. As someone who spent eight years running the Chicago public school system, one of the nation's lowest-performing, he should have earned humility. Unfortunately, he enjoys a sense of certainty that is astonishing, almost as astonishing as his indifference to research and evidence.
Read more here.
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We are a disparate group of people concerned about the future of alternative education. The best way for us to move forward in supporting alternative education is to know about the work of the people who have come before us. Not only does it save reinventing the wheel, it also gives you humility regarding what you are capable of doing and how unique your ideas really are.
I would like to encourage that the continuation of writing these narratives be part of the upcoming AREO conference. We all should be asked the questions the 35 visionaries were asked:
- What was your schooling like?
- When did you realize that there is a need for an alternative approach?
- What have you done since to help realize that vision
- What are you doing now?
If each of us answers these questions by either posting them on this listserve or bringing them to the conference we will have a vast resource that will extend the great work that Jerry and Carlo did with Turning Points.
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Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to [email protected].
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Thank you for your ongoing support. With your help, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!
Sincerely,
Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization
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The Ten Signs You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child
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Many parents don't realize that the education world has changed drastically since they were in school. Schools and class sizes used to be smaller, dropout rates lower, in-school violence almost unheard of, and teachers weren't terrified of showing affection to their students, or of discussing moral values. Of course, even then, school was far from perfect, but at least the teachers-and usually the principal-knew every student by name, something that is increasingly rare today.
Because our public school system has deteriorated considerably, many parents, teachers, and individuals have taken it upon themselves to create public and private alternatives to that system; and it is important for parents to know that they now have choices.
So how do you know that it's time to look for another educational approach for your child? Here are some of the signs:
1. Does your child say he or she hates school?
If so, something is probably wrong with the school. Children are natural learners, and when they're young, you can hardly stop them from learning. If your child says they hate school, listen to them.
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News, Resources, & Calendar
