We are appreciative of the feedback we received from last week's e news. For example, when we asked about potential sites for next year's AERO conference, one reader gave us a detailed idea about a potential site in Portland, OR. Earlier many participants in the AERO Conference  list serve  suggested numerous possibilities around the USA and even outside the country. We can go back to NY in late June if we want. But we are still searching for a site the meets our criteria:

1. The room and meal prices must be reasonable. 

2. It must be relatively easy to travel to. 

3. The facility cost must be very reasonable so we can keep registration costs low. 

In response to my editorial about learner-centered education versus personalized learning, Bertrand Stern from Germany sent a thoughtful response. Here's an excerpt:

"...So for me the question is very simple: Is there an attempt at manipulation, even under the cover of a pedagogical goal? Or will the subject,me, you, anybody, be respected in her/his ability and desire of discovering the world, nature, humans - what so ever? And for me it is very important to point out that, at least in German, I don't use the word "learn," because my experience shows how "schoolish" this word sounds; Instead, I prefer words like discovering, experimenting, practicing, and a lot of others which show no "schoolish" connotation. So for me, "learner-centered education" would be a contradiction..."

In response to our request about interest in videos of the keynotes and mini talks at the AERO conference, we only received two posts. So we will not rush to make them. We will put them together over time and let people know when they are available. Apparently the audio downloads were of more interest to our readers.

You can still order downloads of conference audio recordings. The information is here. 

The annual AERO Online School Starters Course begins tomorrow!

We're very excited about the people who have registered for the course so far. Since last week we've had new class members join from Slovenia, Arizona and Florida. Previously we have had new school starters join from such diverse places as California, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., New York City and Mexico City. Included is group that is determined to finally establish a democratic school in Los Angeles. We still have openings for this year. 

This Tuesday we had a live Internet radio call in show about How to Start Your School.  On the show we had two people from the AERO network who have started their own alternatives. One is Gleamer Sullivan who started Raw Learning in Staunton, VA. She now has over 60 students from K-12 in their homeschool resource center, Another was Nancy Tilton, who too the AERO Online School Starters Course. She then started the Mosaic School which is now ALC Mosaic. On the show Nancy talks about how she originally thought she was just to start a small program for two or three children, how it evolved into two schools in Charlotte, North, Carolina, then how it became part of the growing Agile Learning Center movement, and how she even found her husband in the process! Nancy said, "The AERO course was the start of my journey at Mosaic and I'll be forever grateful." Nancy will be a resource person for this year's course, along with several others who have started their schools and programs though AERO. 

You can now listen to the podcast of the new show here .

The AERO School Starters Course begins tomorrow, Monday, September 25th! We do a lot of things here at AERO but the School Starters course is easily one of the most valuable things we have to offer. AERO's mission is to make learner centered education available to children everywhere, and what more effective way is there to do that than by directly helping people to start learner centered schools from the ground up?

 

These schools change the lives of children everywhere, from Maine to California, Malaysia to England, and Australia to South Africa, people who have taken the School Starters Course have started revolutionary schools that empower students to take charge of their own education.

 

If you have ever felt called to start a school, whether it's a homeschool co-op for your child in a small community in rural America or a full blown democratic school in a big city like New York, this course will teach you all the skills you will need to have to start your own school.

The course is not in real time so you access it when you can and respond to resources and posts in each section as we open them up. It takes about 10 hours a week but it is totally up to each  participant. When you register we give you a code to get into the dedicated website 

 

If you want to get ready to start your new alternative, w e encourage you to join us now. 

 

People enrolling in this year's course will get the full attention of course leaders Chris Mercogliano and Jerry Mintz, as well as guest resource people and responses from peers in the course. Students in the course over the years have created at least 100 new alternatives.

 

So come join us as we change the world one child at a time!

Register now here

"This course has been spectacular- it really has opened many doors for me and made a *major* step in the right direction for me opening my school- both in what it has taught as well as in the people I have met." -Alex

Again this year you can get graduate credit from Antioch University  for the course. You can also pay for it in monthly installments. Just scroll down. Register for the course by clicking the image below. Make sure you use the coupon code if you listen to the podcast.   Reply to this e news if you have specific questions.

Nobody tracks their alumni into and through college like KIPP.

And that was strikingly clear the day I spent at  KIPP NYC College Prep, a school that's about half Hispanic, half black - and nearly all low-income.

Just a day at the school in New York City's South Bronx explains how KIPP has made such rapid gains in its college success rate: In a college prep class for juniors, KIPP alumni from two different colleges came to tell the highs and lows of college life. A college prep session for seniors had several  KIPP Through College counselors conducting role-playing sessions designed to guide the soon-to-be college students around danger areas. (Your friend steals a six-pack and jumps into a car with you to head to an off-campus party: What do you do?)

According to the  National Home Education Research Institute, more than 2 million American children are homeschooled. That's a huge increase from 1980 when only  about 10,000 families in the U.S. homeschooled their kids.

What was once an alternative practice is becoming mainstream. Contrary to what some people believe, homeschoolers aren't missing out. In fact, they may be exposed to a more comprehensive set of experiences and skills than children who attend traditional schools.

Homeschooled students tend to score up to 30 percent higher than traditionally educated students on standardized and achievement tests. They are also just as socially and emotionally intelligent as anyone else. Perhaps this is because they're learning things that aren't available in the average public school.

Self Design is one of AERO's regular advertisers. You can see them all at the right. Director David Marshak recently said, 

" The SelfDesign Graduate Institute advertises in AERO's online publications because we know that AERO members care deeply about learning founded in curiosity and enthusiasm. We offer graduate programs for adults who want to design their own learning and author their own lives-and we know that many folks who have these aspirations belong to AERO."

October 8, 4-5 PM PDT   

Josette Luvmour:  How Adults Grow Together with Children

Please register here.

October 15, 4-5 PM PDT   

David Marshak:  Evolutionary Parenting

In this webinar David will explore the concept of evolutionary parenting, in particular how the consciousness that parents bring to their parenting can enhance the evolution of consciousness in their children as their children grow through childhood and adolescence.

Please register here.

 

October 22, 4-5 PM PDT   

Michael Carberry:  Whole Life Learning

The Whole Life Learning Center is education outside the box. Now in its 7th year, the Center serves more than 100 families in Austin, Texas. Michael will describe the Center's model of Whole Life Learning.

Please register here.

October 29, 4-5 PM PDT   

Laurel Tien:  Illuminating Transformational Learning through a Transdisciplinary Methodology

How can a transdisciplinary world view illuminate a transformational approach to teaching and learning that acknowledges contemporary threads of transpersonal, integral, holistic, contemplative, spiritual and evolutionary approaches? 

Please register here.

November 12 , 4-5 PM PST   

Tracey Huguley:  Oppression and Integral Consciousness: One Way to Move Beyond Polarization and Towards that Which is Beautiful, True, and Good! 

How might we share intercultural spaces with one another as allies and utilize integral consciousness as a tool for evolving consciously in these spaces?

Please register here.

 

November 19, 4-5 PM PST   

Elaine Decker:  Making Sense with the Sense of Humour

Borrowing the joker's topsy-turvy perspective, we strengthen the funny bone, embrace the contraries themselves, strengthen the imagination, consider alternatives, look again and askance, and keep a humble and hopeful stance. We grow into this peculiar form of wisdom by locating and developing our natural capacities for flexibility, imagination, and courage.                                       

Please register here.