Off-Trail Learning

Ken Danford is the Executive Director of North Star (northstarteens.org), author of the new book "Learning is Natural, School is Optional", and the first guest to ever appear on this podcast. In this episode we discuss the Liberated Learners network through which Ken helps other people start centers similar to his, his advice for starting a new center (hint: talk to everyone in town, and don’t rely on homeschoolers to fill the program), and how L.L. fits into the broader alternative education movement. We conclude by discussing where Ken is headed next and what he would do with a few million dollars. Learn more about Ken and his book at kennethdanford.com, and find his survey of North Star alumni at self-directed.org/tp/north-star-alumni/

What if there was a community college built just for homeschoolers? This may not exist yet, but Lori Walker has created the next best thing: Village Home Education Resource Center (villagehome.org). For 17 years Village Home has served young people (from pre-k through high school) in and around Portland, Oregon. Learners choose between a huge diversity of classes (costing roughly $110 each), hang out with each other between class (as can their parents and siblings), and best of all, there’s no homework and teachers only give you feedback when you specifically request it. Lori talks about how Village Home works, why she started it, and where it (and she) are headed next. Show your love for this podcast by making a monthly donation: patreon.com/blakeboles

What does it mean to “self-educate?” Are autodidacts made or born? Can one develop an intellect without formal higher education? In this special episode, Blake discusses these big questions (and many more) with Bill Deresiewicz (the author of Excellent Sheep) and guest facilitator Dev Carey. This event was recorded live in Portland, Oregon, on September 1, 2019, at the Wayfinding Academy. Learn more about Bill at billderesiewicz.com, Dev at highdesertcenter.org, and Wayfinding Academy at wayfindingacademy.org. (Note: My claim about the percentage of K-12 students in private schools in the US was wrong: it’s roughly 10%.)

Antonio Buehler was the first person in his family to finish high school or attend college. After completing an MBA at Stanford he went into investment banking and private equity before becoming deeply impressed by homeschooling and creating his own self-directed learning center in Austin, Texas, called Abrome (abrome.com). In this episode Antonio talks with Blake about what colleges—especially highly selective colleges—are looking for in their applicants, whether traditionally or non-traditionally educated. He explains how admissions “hooks” (such as legacy, athlete, and faculty-child status) influence admissions at elite colleges and how “intellectual vitality” can separate self-directed learners from the rest of the pack. We close by discussing the 2019 college bribery scandal and how families can document their work far ahead of admissions crunch-time.

Where is the alternative education movement headed, and how will we arrive there? In this special episode, Blake gives the closing keynote at the AERO (Alternative Education Resource Organization) conference in Portland, Oregon on June 29th, 2019. Themes of the talk include: embracing the growing variety of alternatives, tackling unsexy but important challenges like school finances, doing better research on self-directed learning, and the many ways to make the movement more inclusive.

What are "children's rights" and how do they overlap with the world of self-directed learning? Margie Sanderson, a 24-year-old board member of the National Youth Right Association (youthrights.org), talks with me about the different conceptions of children's rights (also called youth rights), the many ways of empowering young people to participate in society like adults, lowering the voting age, competency tests, letting students enroll and unenroll themselves in school, and the strange idea of forcing unschooling upon a child. If you have further questions, Margie invites you to email her directly: [email protected].

After a successful career as a venture capitalist, Ted Dintersmith (teddintersmith.com)dedicated himself to discovering highly innovative schools around the United States, leading him to produce the 2015 documentary, Most Likely to Succeed, and his 2018 book, What School Could Be. Ted and I discuss his movie, math education, college-for-all, grit, and whether public schools will ever really change.

If conventional high school isn't a good fit for your kid, what should you do -- push harder, or try something new? Is high school mandatory for college, career, and a successful transition to adulthood? In this special episode, recorded live at the CHN Family Expo conference in southern California on May 4th, 2019, Blake explains why "Yes, You Can Quit High School and Everything Will Turn Out Okay." Download the accompanying slides at https://blakeboles.com/yesyoucan.pdf, and find the video (the one mentioned half-way through the talk, about getting into college) at http://bit.ly/unschool2college. Enjoy!

Jerry Mintz founded the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) over 30 years ago and has since helped start over 50 learner-centered schools. In this special episode, Jerry and I interview each other about the state of alternative education in the world and what makes us hopeful that the movement is making progress. Explore the AERO website at www.educationrevolution.org and say hello to both me and Jerry at the 2019 AERO conference in Portland, Oregon, where I’m giving a keynote talk (June 26-30 / www.aeroconference.org).

What’s the sense and science behind giving kids more control over their lives? Why do they deserve autonomy? Ned Johnson answers these questions in his wonderful 2018 book, The Self-Driven Child (coauthored with Bill Stixrud). In the interview Ned discusses his life as a Washington D.C. test prep tutor, the deleterious effects of stress, why kids need a sense of control in their lives, shifting from “boss” to “consultant” as a parent, the science of self-motivation, and — crucially — the role that school plays in all this. In my opinion, Ned presents a powerful case for unschooling and self-directed learning. Don’t miss his final, touching story about supporting his own daughter’s break from school. Learn more about book and its authors at theselfdrivenchild.com, and read Blake’s summary and critique of the book at https://self-directed.org/tp/give-kids-control/