The New Schools

Matt Beaudreau Show Notes: Matt Beaudreau is the Founder of Acton Academy Placer Schools. He is also the co-founder at Apogee Strong Mentorship Program. He helps driven entrepreneurs open student-led campuses for real education and Freedom. Key Takeaways: 00:00:13 Favorite thing about working about young learners. 00:05:28:17 Examples where you said “No, I can’t do this. I don’t like it.” 00:13:32:21 If you’re a parent who is frustrated right now and cannot handle big changes right now but wants to do something different, what would be your advice? 00:21:12:19 Tell us about your new program. 00:28:31:12 What is your prediction of what will happen in K-12 with all the change happening in the world? 00:32:27:04 If you could create a metaphor for comparing conventional schooling with what we're doing in Acton? Quotes: The  kids will make you fired up. That’s your “why” and that’s your reason. I would tell parents, “Listen to that inner voice that’s telling you ‘I went to conventional school, I turned out fine.’” I don’t want “fine” for my kids, I want them to be able to create a magical world for themselves and to live this amazing story. We get stuck into making decisions and parenting based on: If it’s going to be too hard or not. And What do other people think? Social Links: Website | https://www.actonplacer.com/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-beaudreau-071a5b99 Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/mattbeaudreau Twitter | https://twitter.com/mattbeaudreau Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/mattbeaudreau

Show Notes: Joseph Connor is a startup founder, attorney, and teacher.  He is the co-founder of SchoolHouse, a micro school company. Joseph is a teacher and lawyer who loves helping great educators start schools.  Joseph founded SchoolHouse, an at home micro school company, and helped them scale to over 50 schools in 9 states. He started his career as a teacher and school leader at KIPP and Rocketship Education.  He has also worked as legal counsel for school organizations and companies, including Match Education, AltSchool, the Notre Dame Ace Academies and Primer.  He has a passion for helping great teachers broaden their reach. Key Takeaways: 00:04:18 What are some of the drivers for Families and Educators to do something different? 00:08:55 Struggle between public and private school. 00:18:37 What do you predict will happen with K-12 as the world changes? 00:24:28 What will be the most successful model of school? 00:28:44 What would you want to do next? 00:33:54 If you could offer a metaphor comparing conventional school with Schoolhouse..? Quotes: Parents want a school that reflects their family’s values and their community’s values. And when there’s none in that school, that’s I think when they start looking for alternatives like microshool, homeschooling. Unless public schools are able to adapt to some of the innovations, you’ll see a decline in the traditional public schools here in America as parents increasingly reach out to those different options. Social Links: LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-connor-b6a96a16 Twitter | https://twitter.com/josephjconnor and https://twitter.com/getschoolhouse Website | https://josephjconnor.com/ and https://www.getschoolhouse.com/

Catherine Fraise is the  Founder and President of 100 Roads, the Founder of Workspace Education, and WorkspaceSKY Teens. She has worked in education for 30 years. WorkspaceSKY Teens is a brand new destination for learning just for teens. Teens choose academics from anywhere, join an advisory and enjoy incredible social networking opportunities. 100 Roads is a research-based 501c3 organization supporting the development of co learning communities globally. Workspace is a 32,000 sq ft Maker and co-working space designed to help families implement education their way, in a vibrant learning community. Parents can teach, bring in teachers and experts, or choose from a database of tutors and teachers, online classes and curriculums as well as a smorgasbord of classes that appeal to all kinds of learners. Check out their website for more information: www.workspaceeducation.org Key Takeaways: 00: 01:43 Life Story 00:17:40 Drastic move from Connecticut to Montana 00:25:30 Can it take the place of regular school? 00:35:49 In-Person Experiences and Kids’ Personality 00:41:48 Social Life of Kids 00:44:28: Comparing Workspace Education and Workspace Sky Teens with Conventional School 00:57:09 Cath’s Personal Creativity Process Quotes: I went into education because I wanted to reform it and change it. What we should be really looking for is engagement. Gen Z is the loneliest generation... if you want to conquer loneliness, you just really need one great friend. Any parent can actually teach. It’s not about the academic pathway, it’s about who they are, what they care about, and how they fully and authentically express themselves in the world. You have to trust yourself as a parent. Social Links: Websites https://www.100roads.org www.workspaceeducation.org https://workspacesky.org/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-fraise-037361126/ Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/catherine.fraise.1

Show Notes: Victoria Ransom is the founder and CEO of world's first co-learning network that fully replaces regular school. Prisma is an educational startup providing its own live learning platform for 4th-8th graders (approx. age 9-14). It is Learner-centric, self-paced, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary, and hands-on. Beyond the reading write and arithmetic, learners also enjoy Clubs, service learning, family events, and more. Victoria is a homeschooling mother and lifelong entrepreneur. She was also the Founder & CEO of Wildfire, a social marketing software company, which she led to profitability in just one year and built to 400 employees. Wildfire was acquired by Google in 2012 for $450M. Victoria joined Google, leading Wildfire and later Google Express. Key Takeaways: 00:25 What is Prisma all about? 06:44 How are you able to bring the magic of in-person to online schooling? 13:55 Three examples of amazing hand-on projects. 18:46 What’s your prediction of where this is all going? 26:44 How are your kids? What school are you choosing for them? 28:02 Tell us about Synthesis. 31:03 How do you find Coaches? 34:31 If I’m a curious parent, how much is it and how many students? 38:02 What’s your prediction on what learners will do from 9th to 12th graders? 40:20 How are you making sure that your learners are getting enough exercise and physical movement and free play? 42:35 Where are you geographically? 45:10 What’s a metaphor to compare Prisma to Conventional School? Quotes: It’s about working together to solve real-world challenges, discussion, collaboration and sharing ideas. We literally design a custom schedule for each kid. Give kids, especially 4-8 graders, some amount of scaffolding and not “do whatever you want” because that’s overwhelming to many kids. Will this suit everybody? No. But could it suit a lot of people. You get to have a flexible model where you could still do your schooling no matter where you're living and you get to connect with and get to know kids from all over the United States and all over the world. This is about preparing kids to thrive in their adult lives and to contribute to the world. It's not to get good test scores. Work is changing so much and so now school has to change to meet that. We are looking for people that are really, really good at building relationships with kids, really good at giving rich feedback - because we don't have grades at Prisma. Social Links: Twitter- https://twitter.com/victoria_ransom LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriaransom Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/joinprisma/ Website- https://www.joinprisma.com

Tiersa McQueen is a full time working mother of four and a proud unschooler. She is a graduate of Howard University and works full-time in corporate retail as a Location Planner. She’s an advocate of Unschooling and Conscious Parenting. Check out Tiersa’s Twitter and YouTube Channel for great content and more insight on unschooling and self-directed education. Key Takeaways: 00:00:18 Evolution Into Unschooling 00:09:47 Advice to Parents 00:16:57 The mindset of respecting children 00:29:01 Raising independent and free children 00:32:42 Benefits and opportunities for people of color and Black Parents who do Unschooling. 00:38:28 Debunking the Myth: “I can never Homeschool because I am Not A Teacher” 00:43:27 Deepening relationships with children Quotes: “The unschooling philosophy was like learning by doing and having experiences.” “You have to figure out ways to live life and be in the world.” “Children understand why it would be necessary for them to know. And then they just do it on their own.” “Once children have the why, they learn so quickly.” “Children aren't as unreasonable as we think they are. They're more reasonable than we give them credit for.” “I didn't want to fall into the same trap that our boomer parents fell into, which was advising us for a future that didn't come, that didn't happen. A place that doesn't exist anymore.” “Children are going to evolve. I don't want to always focus on the future.” “Parents are the first teachers.” “Parenting is hard. You need people and there’s no way you’ll know everything.” Social Links: Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiersaj Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/mother_bae_i YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM9W1D9umDk05sMIO_gEFzw Books Mentioned: Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent by Iris Chen The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives by William Stixrud Podcast Mentioned: Fare of the Free Child Podcast

Chrisman Frank is the co-founder and CEO of Synthesis, an enrichment club that teaches complex problem-solving and decision-making for kids 7 to 14 through online team games. His co-founder Josh Dahn developed the Synthesis concept while running Ad Astra, a small lab school he built for Elon Musk on the SpaceX campus. Before Synthesis, Chrisman was engineer #1 at ClassDojo, a K-12 network that reaches ~30 million teachers, students, and families every month. Key Takeaways: 00:18 Why Children are the BEST 03:21 Elevator Pitch for Synthesis School 15:29 The Impact of Covid in Online Learning 20:13 Learning Through a Game Design 33:25 Synthesis and Jiu Jitsu Quotes: “Kids crave complexity.” “Complex problems don't have right or wrong answers.” “Continue innovating. Give kids these unbounded complex problems, let them practice solving that and you learn the kind of meta skill of solving problems.” “The motto at Synthesis is Embrace the Chaos.” “I don't think the world is going to change less for our kids, when they grow up. I think it's going to change faster. The future will belong to people who are most rapidly able to adapt to change.” Social Links: Website - https://chrismanfrank.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/chrismanfrank LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-frank-41b0743a/ Synthesis School: Website - https://www.synthesis.is/

Angela J. Hanscom is a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook—an award-winning developmental and nature-based program that has gained international popularity. She is the author of Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children. Hanscom is also a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and in 2019 won a Small Business of the year award for the State of New Hampshire. Key Takeaways: 00:29 What is Timbernook? 03:52 What tips do you have for people who don’t have forests nearby? 07:23 Benefits of Play 11:46 What would a School Schedule look like to get maximum play opportunity? 23:07 What can you do with a smaller urban setting? 24:47 Timbernook Training and Outdoor Classes. 32:36 Forest School versus Timbernook versus Anji Play 35:25 Iconic Timbernook Experience 37:41 Metaphor to describe Timbernook versus Conventional School Quotes: “The occupation of a child is play and outdoor play has been incredibly at risk in the past 30 years to the point that's affecting development in ways we never anticipated.” “I still think it's really important for kids to have outdoor play time, no matter what their environment looks like.” “I would say after the pandemic, this work has moved from important to critical.” “So I think for me, it's critical to development. Like it's affecting their senses and muscles and when we overly restrict their ability to play and move, that's when we're starting to see some issues. “ “The number one issue that we have to treat as therapists right now is balance. We're seeing more and more kids uncoordinated and becoming clumsy.” “It's ideal to find a place where you can create an outdoor classroom and leave things out there.” “Our mission is to get them playing in more advanced ways and to enrich that experience. “ Social Links: Website- www.timbernook.com Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/TimberNook.Camps LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hanscom-ab75147b/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/timbernook

Peter Gray is the author of Psychology, an introductory textbook now in its sixth edition, and, most recently, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. It discusses how to bring more play into kids’ lives, the catalyst that led him to explore play’s benefits, his theories on play as a primal mode of education, and advice to inspire play. His past research had to do with basic mammalian motivational mechanisms, and his present research has to do with children's play and its educative value. Key Takeaways: 00:42 The origin story of Dr. Gray’s Career 15:13 Free Play 20:39 Fear on letting kids to play outside 39:14 Founding the Alliance for Self-Directed Education 49:36 Montessori - Work VS Play 53:04 Online Play Quotes: “I've always felt like I wanted to do things that would help make the world better.” “With every 10 years, kids have less time to play than they did the previous 10 years.” “Unfortunately, we set the pattern and it spreads and it starts maybe upper-class and it seeps down to affect everybody. I used to be able to say that working class people, and even people in some poverty, that the kids had more freedom to play in the United States than wealthier kids did, but I don't think that's true anymore.” “The other that played a role in why children aren't outdoors playing is the fact that we developed a set of irrational fears about how dangerous it is outdoors.” “When children are playing on their own, they're making their own decisions about what to do. They're solving their own problems.” Social Links: Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life Book Blog: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn https://thegeniusofplay.org/genius/expert-advice/articles/the-evolutionary-importance-of-self-directed-play.aspx#.YJQq7GYzaEs

Lenore is the Founder of Free-Range Kids and President at Let Grow, the national nonprofit promoting childhood independence. After her newspaper column “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone” created a media firestorm, Lenore got the nickname “America’s Worst Mom.” She went on to write Free-Range Kids, the book-turned-movement. Second Edition coming in June! She has been profiled in The New Yorker, and lectured everywhere from DreamWorks to Microsoft to schools across America -- and let’s not forget the Bulgarian Happiness Festival. On TV, you may have seen her on The Today Show, The Daily Show or her own reality show, World’s Worst Mom (cancelled after one season, but suddenly available on YouTube!). She lives in New York with her husband and beloved computer. Her kids are gainfully employed. Key Takeaways: 20:18 Mad Magazine and World’s Worst Mom 25:00 Free-range Kids Blog 36:37 Exposure Therapy 38:52 Working with Dr. Peter Gray, Daniel Shuchman and Jon Haidt 53:02 The Free Range Parenting Bill 57:45 Advise to Scared Parents 01:01:21 Metaphor to compare Overprotection and Free-Range Parenting Quotes: “That's like my giant psychological insight that I wish everybody shared because it holds the possibility of changing everybody really fast, making everybody much more lighthearted, much more calm, much more confident kids, more mature and grateful and parents more free time. And all it requires is letting go.” “It's almost like a part of the game. What's the worst, the very worst thing that could happen?” “Punishment was restricting your freedom and to preserve your freedom, you persevered, you discovered your own resilience, you held it in, you hid the scars in every which way. And, I think that's what is missing from childhood that is hurting kids.” “Overprotection is not an unalloyed good. It's not like it keeps getting better, better, better, better, better. The more we protect, the more bumpers we put on everything.” “Rather than changing minds, change behavior.” “The Let Grow project is a revelation.” Social Links: Lenore Skenazy Twitter - https://twitter.com/FreeRangeKids LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenoreskenazy/ Let Grow https://letgrow.org Free Range Kids https://www.freerangekids.com/ I let my 9-year-old ride the subway alone. I got labeled the ‘world’s worst mom.’ Article

Jeff Sandefer lives a dual life as an entrepreneur and a Socratic Guide. As an entrepreneur, he founded his first company at age 16 and went on to found or co-found seven successful businesses. As a Socratic teacher at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students five times voted him the school’s Outstanding Teacher and Businessweek named him one of the top Entrepreneurship professors in America. Jeff went on to co-found the Acton School of Business, an MBA program perennially ranked by the Princeton Review among the best in the nation. In 2012 The Economist honored him as one of the top fifteen Business School professors in the world. Jeff is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he served for over twenty years on the school’s governing committees. He was a longtime director of the Philanthropy Roundtable and National Review magazine and one of the youngest members ever elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Sandefer has worked with entrepreneur-teachers to build a nationally acclaimed entrepreneurship program, winning numerous teaching honors in the process. But ask him about success, and he makes it clear that money and awards aren’t what matter. Key Takeaways: 00:09 What is your favorite thing about working with young learners? 00:47 What is Acton Academy? 02:23 Acton's Origin Story 07:15 How prescriptive is Acton in terms of methodology and rules? 08:38 What makes a successful Acton Academy affiliate? 16:02 What do Acton Learners do after graduation? 20:05 Acton and Montessori 36:05 Metaphor on comparing Conventional School with Acton Quotes: "We want them (young learners) to be game-makers in their own lives, and we hope that they find that hero's journey in life, that they find a calling that will change the world." "We are parents who wanted something better for our children." "You just can't imagine what young people can do. And adults often underestimate that." "It's whether our graduates need college at all. They can get into high-end colleges, but the question is, do they need to go?" "It's the growth mindset. Heroes never give up." Social Links: Website - https://www.acton.org/about/author/jeff-sandefer Acton Academy - https://www.launchactonacademy.com/about Courage to Grow by Laura Sandefer