Possible High School Learning Options

Fusion Academy
Structured Collaboration with other kids: no (?)
Unstructed social opportunities with other kids: yes
Customizable Learning and appropriate intellectual challenge: yes, mostly 1-1 and individualized
Location:
Cost:

Carlemont Public High School
Structured Collaboration with other kids: yes
Unstructed social opportunities with other kids: yes
Customizable Learning and appropriate intellectual challenge: somewhat (ie AP)
Cost: $0
Location:
Other:
Here's their sample educational plan
Looks like music is mostly chamber and orchestral but there is a jazz ensemble

Semester in Ghana

d.tech school
Public, could apply but would have to enter at grade 9.  Could work through high school in three years.
Recent email with more info on applying

Semester or Year-long school in France

1 week summer service trip in Guadeloupe

3-week service learning trip to India (with Tibetan culture)

Care and community service in Nepal (2 weeks post 16th bd)

2-week August service trip to French-speakin Senegal (supposed to be 16)
$2395

Pioneer Nation - My evolving list of Ideas, Plans, Inspirations

Pioneer Nation is a two-day event and gathering of people who are entrepreneurs committed to living a life of freedom and independence.  

A Query at Pioneer Nation

It's two days of working together to improve our businesses and to focus on actions for the purpose of increasing income, impact and sustainability.

I'm capturing my ideas as the two days progresses here.  Many of these thoughts come from conversations I've had with the other participants.

Why I'm here: Even though I'm pretty much obsessed with dancing right now, I don't want to forget about my two other primary goals for this year.  In addition to 1) competing in a Ballroom Dance competition (which is about to happen at SFOpen in April), I've also committed to 2) converting my Rock Your Talk seminar into a video course version and 3) (finally) completing the first draft of my book, MetaLearning: Creating Lifelong Self-Directed Learners.  SO...I'm after:

-connecting with like-minded people and inspiration
-collecting ideas on marketing, productizing, pricing
-having time to work on stuff (since sometimes focus is hard to come by in my daily life)


Random and Specific Notes:

I loved Chris Brogan's opening talk and his emphasis on building more business sustainability through Service which completely matches my values and how I love to operate.

Other people I've loved connecting with:

I loved hearing the story of James Todd's 24 Hour Book project which resulted in the book Everyday Superheroes.  I am intrigued about the possibility of using a service like his evolving A Book One Day.  I think it could get me past the obstacle of writer's block I've been experiencing since my computer was stolen out of my hands a number of months ago.  Action Step: Get back to using the interview process for finishing book.  Consider an interview for each MetaLearning skill.

A conversation with Seth Haley got me thinking about the possibility of collaborating with a videographer to create a product "Rock Your Talk on Video" offer which would help others speak effectively on-camera and which would result in a set of video modules to communicate the story.  These modules could be used for marketing.  Action Step: Explore the possibility of collaboration (QS videographer?) and/or price out as a supplied service.

[Friday:  Of note is the fact that the day after writing the above I discovered by chance that James homeschools his three kids and Seth was homeschooled.  I should be surprised since this event explicitly attracts people who are thinking outside of the box.)

Jenna Bee:  Totally resonated with her focus on working through the body as a metaphor and practice and her commitment and love of community-building.  Action Step:  Connect Jenna with the Watson U people, especially Tessa Zimmerman.

Doug Neill:  Involved in the super interesting field of SketchNoting or Graphic Recording.  I first saw this process in action at an Institute for the Future session on Hacking the Future of Education and have been intrigued by the process ever since.  My conversation with Doug was interesting especially related to the idea of teaching the process of SketchNoting for learning.

Sukhneet Singh: Amazing and deep conversation about values-based living, changing thinking, personal bias, science and religion relationship, Sihk culture and so much more.  Looking forward to doing a podcast with Sukheet later today for his Art of Change Project.  Action Step: Reconnect!

Connected with interesting people who are into Disrupting Education.  Patrick Larsen (writes about entrepreneurship, learning and travel and is a fellow-Hapa), Caitlin Muir (who was also homeschooled and took self-directed learning to hack college), Marli Williams (who counsels first-generation college students and has great ideas for expanding her service as well as an awesome evolving talk about empowering students to reclaim agency), Seth Perler (who helps struggling students shine).

Thanks to Ross Lukeman who writes a blog called AlternativeHomeToday I will look for a skype recorder and finally take interviews to an online post-able format.  Here's an example interview he did with Brittany Yunker.  I have to compare the possible free programs to the one he suggested which is Call Recorder and $29.  He notes that 19:9 aspect ratio is best.  (Ross: thanks! And do go for that talk.  It was fun seeing it begin to evolve out of our conversation.)  If you have experience and thoughts on this please do share your opinion in the comments, pretty please.  Action Step: Decide on program and start interviews for book and for courses, which can also be something interviewees can use for their marketing.  

Will connect more with Azat Mardanov who is an entrepreneur, web and mobile developer, yoga + paleo enthusiast.  He's recently published a number of books including Express.Js Guide and knows a bunch about e-book publishing.  He's currently writing "How to Write a Book" and is building out some programs requiring presenting.  Action Step: Reconnect to give support for presenting and get insight on book launch and web support. 

Gary Hirsch's Yes Bot

Really enjoyed my conversation with Gary Hirsch of On Your Feet.  Gary co-wrote "Everything's An Offer" which completely speaks to my belief that acting and improv are super fun and experientially effective ways to better understand communication, work and LIFE.  Like so many folks here, these guys are out of the box.  Check out their alternative compensation offer of Wild Work.  Love it!   Gary's Yes Bot is pictured at right.

Resources:

Strikingly.com: Gorgeous mobile-friendly websites in minutes
Call Recorder:  Records audio and video calls directly to your mac.
Time Trade:  Online appointment scheduling for individuals and teams.
From Jonathan Meade's Launch Anything:

1. 40 Step Launch Checklist
2. Trailblazer Movie Trailer
3. Trailblazer Launch Blog and Sequence
4. Trailblazer Affiliate Resource Center

Ideas:

In order to sustainably and effectively serve more people:

1) create clearer and differentiated product versions and multiple packages; (Great ideas from Nathan Barry and looking forward to reading his book, Authority which was just gifted to us all).  Action Step: Read book and Work on Packaging

2) Determine your Minimum Viable Product (which could even be an email sign-up giveaway).  Action Step: Put Speaker tip on email sign-up.  

3) Lots of push to outsource work.  Action Step: Consider outsourcing page design for products.

Action Item: Move testimonials around.  Weave them through content.

Reach out to Willo re: possible tech support.

SHOW that it works.  (Before and after video).

[The evolving story here]

How about you?  If you're at Pioneer Nation, what are your takeaways and inspirations?  If not, in the spirit of Chris's message what steps are you taking to be of service to your community?

If you're here at Pioneer Nation please say hello through twitter as I'd love to hear your story.  Or if your dance card is filled stay in touch by joining my mailing list.

Program Ideas for 14-17 year old self-directed learners?

Earlier this year, I wrote a post called My Current High School Independent Learning Crisis because that's what happens occasionally when loving, highly-involved parents have kids .  We're even more susceptible when we've accepted 100% responsibility for not just the basic necessity offerings, but also the responsibility for our kids' entire set of life and educational needs.  We are simply going to freak out every once in a while! Or every few months!  That was April; this is November.

Seriously, I'm kind of joking and kind of not.  The teen/high school years are a time of so much change not only in said kid's body and mind but also in terms of ME and my relationship with him.  I am learning how to parent all over; navigating the treacherous seas of guidance, navigation and letting go (while wanting both to do so AND to hold on for dear life).  I'm never really sure how much is too much or too little of each at any given time.  It's an ongoing frenzied, emotional dance of sorts.

SO, today I woke up realizing that:

1) As far as we've gone from the norm of education, we could afford to amp it up a notch further.  It might be time to get rid of the remaining threads of school-at-home and step one step further outside of the box.

2) Metaphorically, he's about where I was in my second year of University.  I realized then that I was taking content based classes but didn't know what I wanted to say once I had the skills I was being taught.  That's when I left and probably why I never went back.  And that's why I'm preparing myself to "toss" him out into the right real world situation (if I can find the right one).  Toss, you say?  Isn't it his job to rebel/leave; isn't that the way he will define himself.  Yes, and "at some point".  Right now, I'm a scaffolder.  I see it as my job to understand (with his help wherever possible) what he needs and help him get there.  I haven't yet pushed him in the proverbial pool to learn to swim but if I though it was the right thing, I might.

3) I care more about him caring about something than I do about the content in his knowledge base or even (and this might be new for me) his skill-set.  The reality is that once he knows why he wants to write, do math, explore science, then it will be easy for him to apply.  The missing link at almost 15 is self-awareness, self-advocacy and love/passion.

SO, given that he's far younger than I was at this stage of development...and I because I do still have the responsibility of scaffolding support, I'm looking for possible opportunities to expose him to the following:

1) communities of young people who are coming together to change the world in some positive way (even if that means starting with themselves).  The bottom line here is intentionality.
2) programs which support that change and last between 1 and 6 months (ie. not a full-time-give-us-your-kid-til-college kind of program)
3) leaders and leadership skills training for 14-17 year olds (ish)

Here are some of the possibilities that come to mind off the top of my head.  Do you have personal experience with any of these or have other suggestions?

Outward Bound  is more than just an outdoor camp. It is more than a wilderness adventure. Outward Bound has been changing lives through challenge and discovery for more than 50 years by using the wilderness as a classroom to provide unparalleled opportunities for discovery, personal growth, self-reliance, teamwork and compassion.  (NOTE: OB has been around for ages. I have no personal or anecdotal insight.  Expensive?)

National Teen Leadership Program is committed to create positive environments that empower, inspire and educate all teens to discover and maximize their unique leadership potential and embrace the diversity and equal value of everyone.  The focus during the 3 day summer program (in Sacramento or Southern California) is on the positive and on channeling the energy and enthusiasm already inherent in our youth to help them acquire focus and a vision for their future. The program challenges and empowers today’s youth by providing them with the skills and motivation necessary to positively impact their own lives and the lives of those in their communities.

Anake Outdoor School features 9 months of in-depth training in nature awareness and wilderness survival skills.  Participants develop a deep and intimate relationship with the natural world grounded in a powerful, community-oriented philosophy of learning. Your year is informed by the legacy of indigenous cultures from around the world. Each experience is crafted around a cutting-edge understanding of our natural heritage as human beings.

Unschool Adventures with Blake Boles offers a month long writing retreat.  (NOTE: I have a young friend who just returned from this years retreat.  She said it was life-changing in terms of the friends she made.)

The Woolman Semester School (Nevada City, CA) is a progressive academic school for young people who want to make a difference in the world.  Students in their junior, senior, or gap year come for a "semester away" to take charge of their education and study the issues that matter most to them.  Woolman students earn transferable high school credits while taking an active role in their learning experience through community work, organic gardening and cooking, permaculture, art, wilderness exploration, service work, and by doing advocacy and activism work with real issues of peace, justice and sustainability in the world.

Conserve School (Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin) inspires young people, primarily high school juniors, to environmental stewardship through academics and engagement with the forests, lakes, and wildlife of Lowenwood.  Each Conserve School semester immerses students in environmental history, nature literature, and the science of conservation. Innovative hands-on courses capture students’ imaginations while making the most of Conserve School’s 1200-acre wilderness campus. The school’s strikingly beautiful Northwoods location sets the stage for an exceptional educational experience; at Conserve School, forests, lakes, and wildlife become students’ inspiration, their course materials, and their laboratory. At the same time, Conserve School’s program advances students’ skills in standard high school subjects.

Sea Education Association is an internationally recognized leader in undergraduate ocean education which also offers Seascape a 3-week summer high school level oceanography program. For 40 years and more than one million nautical miles, we have educated students about the world’s oceans through our fully accredited study abroad program, SEA Semester. SEA is based on Cape Cod in the oceanographic research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. (NOTE: The High School program sails from SF on the same tall ship a friend, Christa C. sailed in the Gyre, with shore studies on Catalina Island.)

The Experiment in International Living has been offering extraordinary immersive cross-cultural summer exchanges, fun and thought-provoking adventures, and experiential learning programs since 1932. Today, The Experiment offers three-, four-, and five-week summer programs for high school students in more than 20 countries around the world.

Summer Programs

SPARC is a how-to-be-awesome camp for extremely bright high school students, focussing on math, psychology, programming, statistics, and general personal effectiveness. CFAR (the parent organization, http://rationality.org/) normally charges $4k for 4 days of training, but SPARC is free for high-school-aged students, so it's a great opportunity for any interested young people. SPARC has typically only admitted folks scoring in the top 50 in the US on mathematics competitions, but is now open to admitting a more diverse group, provided the applicants are sufficiently awesome. 

Thanks for your ideas!  -Lisa

Addendum:

http://projectworldschool.com/

----

PS.  Please note that there are so many amazing opportunities for self-directed learners 18+ but that's another story.  Look for an upcoming piece highlighting:

Trailblazers

Watson University

Uncollege

The Millenial Train Project

The Thiel Fellowship

My current High School Independent Learning Crisis

Taking responsibility for my kids' education has been an incredibly exciting and empowering journey.  But, sometimes it's also terrifying.  Doubt seeps in every year or so when I find myself worrying about what I might be missing, and wondering if the kids are getting what they need and developing the life skills --the Meta-skills--I feel sure are critical for the future.

My husband and I, and now our kids, too, do Freedom really well!  We create many super compelling experiences in our world, we engage in many different thought communities, we take a travel-schooling trip for 2 or 3 months every year (we're currently in France, though not doing much blogging this time around), and we live engaged lives with lots of people around us.  We host couchsurfers and Airbnb guests from all over the world, we've had five au pairs who remain a part of our extended family and we collectively contribute to many different communities in our sweet intellectual bubble that is the bay area.  We have a shared principle of individualization, personal choice, collectivity and community.   

This last panic-round, I became intensely worried about my ability to provide structure, order, time management and discipline.  Now this is especially problematic and discombulating because I spend so much of my time advocating for the freedom available to learners in the coming years and knowing that we all need to learn how to be a learner and how to make projects happen.  I call the first meta-Learning, I call the second output Skills; De Bono calls it Operacy. I believe in self-directed learning and freedom but right now, at least, I was feeling sure my kids don't have any particular goals or desires as far as I can tell.  

When this happens I reach out to the 350+plus families who live nearby and who share in the journey with me.  These are other families who've taken the leap, left or avoided school altogether, and who are customizing learning for their kids.  I especially reach out to those who have older kids and who have gone before me.  There is certainly great usefulness is the encouragement which comes from other sympathetic people but each stage has it's own challenges.  So, while I feel able to advise and consult with those who are beginning the journey of learning outside of institutions, to support those with younger kids, the teenage and "high school"-ish years have thrown me for a bit of a loop.

Some of this could be Life With A Teenager and the development challenges that stage imposes to parents. Now mine is no slouch.  Capable and a super fast learner, he reads voraciously and quickly, he plays the piano, sings, performs in musical theater shows two or three times per year, practices fencing, takes college-level Coursera courses in classes like Model Thinking ("fun", "strong on life skills"), Game Theory ("deep", "packs a lot of content and nuance into a seemingly singular topic") and Machine Learning ("practical", "profound concepts patiently explained") and Functional Programming ("fast-paced", "high work load", "focused on programming skills").  He's also becoming quite conversational in French, is pretty good at math though he doesn't love it and, when he can get over his sometimes-extreme writer's block, is a very capable and humorous writer.  Recreation is memorizing the library of XKCD comics, watching Dr Who and reading some more (mostly science fiction).

During these homeschooling crisis moments, I usually think about sending him to school and in fact, that may be the answer.  Part of independent learning is the opportunity to change things up as needed.  What is right at one time may be wrong at another.  It could be that time in life when another caring adult can be a more effective mentor than can his parents.  Maybe boarding school is the answer so as to take the parental influence completely out of the picture.  Or maybe he should get a job.  Maybe I should ship him to Toronto, my hometown, so he can attend a great little private school with some friends.

Ok, so, now that I've had my two-day panic and have reached out to my friends and network and spent a lot of time online researching boarding schools, progressive schools, democratic schools, leadership organizations and wilderness programs, I feel there are many possible solutions.  

--

Possible Available Options for Continuing Customized Learning

Now that I've mostly come back to my senses, I realize that what we'll do for high school is what we've done for the past eight years.  We will collectively design a learning plan that considers learning needs (the charter's requirements and ours both, as well as what's needed to avoid closing doors), interests, learning style and ZPD (or Zone of Proximal Development ie. that which is appropriately leveled, not too easy or too hard but just right, and therefore, engaging).  

Concurrent College

Many of the young, bright independent learners begin taking college classes anywhere between 12 and 16 years old.  Early entrance (or concurrent enrollment) is a way for students to enroll in postsecondary education before completing high school.  It was suggested by a friend that this can be a great way to start building stronger organization skills and learning the higher ed ropes.  Here's a checklist for Foothill College.  There's a ton of great information for this path here.  

Leadership Programs

National Teen Leadership Program is committed to create positive environments that empower, inspire and educate all teens to discover and maximize their unique leadership potential and embrace the diversity and equal value of everyone.  The focus during the 3 day summer program (in Sacramento or Southern California) is on the positive and on channeling the energy and enthusiasm already inherent in our youth to help them acquire focus and a vision for their future. The program challenges and empowers today’s youth by providing them with the skills and motivation necessary to positively impact their own lives and the lives of those in their communities.

Landmark Forum For Teens is challenging and exciting. It's an interactive experience, more like coaching than teaching. A Landmark Forum leader leads teens through a series of discussions geared toward dealing with issues that are important to them.  The Landmark Forum for Teens is for 13- to 17-year-olds who participate with the permission of their parents.

Jim Wiltens is a Redwood City resident who offers a variety of leadership, writing and science programs which are interactive, practical and fun.   

Nature Studies

The Riekes Center exists for the enhancement of the individual student. Mission is to provide each student with the best possible opportunity to define and accomplish individual goals, build character and learn transferable life skills through Creative Arts, Athletic Fitness and Nature Awareness, in an environment of non-judgment and mutual respect.

Anake Outdoor School features 9 months of in-depth training in nature awareness and wilderness survival skills.  Participants develop a deep and intimate relationship with the natural world grounded in a powerful, community-oriented philosophy of learning. Your year is informed by the legacy of indigenous cultures from around the world. Each experience is crafted around a cutting-edge understanding of our natural heritage as human beings.

Unschool Adventures with Blake Boles offers a month long writing retreat 

Life Skills

Speech and Debate options:

Communication Academy also offers public speaking and debate.

Bay Area Speech and Debate Academy offers programs designed for individuals of all levels and experiences in Public Forum, LincolnDouglas, Congressional Debate, and Extemporaneous Speech. 

Bay Area Public Speaking conducts basic and advanced courses, certification in Public Speaking and Debates. The classes are held all over the Bay area for children in the age group of 8 - 14yrs.The goal of these classes is to improve confidence, public speaking, and communication skills of the kids keeping in mind kids get motivated if the class is FUN!

Consulting

Wes Beach
Barbara Bettle

Stay tuned...

A La Carte Classes and Learning

School for Independent Learners (Mountainview, CA) is a new kind of high school, an open invitation to learn your way. We create custom programs for students in grades 6 to 12 who seek intellectual freedom, flexible scheduling, and a chance to learn without the threat of failure. 

A La Carte Classes and Learning (Online)

My Social Justice Course is a UC-approved, college preparatory class explores both the ideas of social justice and the impact of social entrepreneurship.  Social justice is an enriching topic of study. But we think it also makes for great inspiration. When people start to organize and take action towards social justice, it’s called social entrepreneurship. 

The Big History Project takes students on a 13.7 billion year journey, from the Big Bang to modern day and ultimately the future. It is designed as a yearlong, interdisciplinary course targeting 9th and 10th graders. It weaves evidence and insights from many scientific and historical disciplines into a single, accessible historical narrative.  Big history links different areas of knowledge into one unified story. It’s a framework for learning about anything and everything. This unified story provides students with a deeper awareness of our past, hopefully better preparing them to help shape the future of our fragile planet.  Samples.

What we might not do this year but could do in the future

Just so the time was not altogether wasted I'm compiled the possibilities here for the next time, or for others who want a little more structure but not the traditional learning path.

Other Possibilities for independent learners

USA

The Woolman Semester School (Nevada City, CA) is a progressive academic school for young people who want to make a difference in the world.  Students in their junior, senior, or gap year come for a "semester away" to take charge of their education and study the issues that matter most to them.  Woolman students earn transferable high school credits while taking an active role in their learning experience through community work, organic gardening and cooking, permaculture, art, wilderness exploration, service work, and by doing advocacy and activism work with real issues of peace, justice and sustainability in the world.

Conserve School (Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin) inspires young people, primarily high school juniors, to environmental stewardship through academics and engagement with the forests, lakes, and wildlife of Lowenwood.  Each Conserve School semester immerses students in environmental history, nature literature, and the science of conservation. Innovative hands-on courses capture students’ imaginations while making the most of Conserve School’s 1200-acre wilderness campus. The school’s strikingly beautiful Northwoods location sets the stage for an exceptional educational experience; at Conserve School, forests, lakes, and wildlife become students’ inspiration, their course materials, and their laboratory. At the same time, Conserve School’s program advances students’ skills in standard high school subjects.

Sea Education Association is an internationally recognized leader in undergraduate ocean education which also offers high school level summer programs, a 3-week oceanography program. For 40 years and more than one million nautical miles, we have educated students about the world’s oceans through our fully accredited study abroad program, SEA Semester. SEA is based on Cape Cod in the oceanographic research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The High School program sails from SF on the same tall ship a friend, Christa C. sailed in the Gyre, with shore studies on Catalina Island. 

International

The Ecole d’Humanité is a progressive, international boarding school situated in the heart of the Swiss Alps. 150 Students and 50 teachers from some 25 different countries live together in a dynamic community that fosters the discovery and development of individual talents – academic, artistic, practical, athletic, and social – in an atmosphere that encourages self-determination, innovation, and tolerance.  Whether modeling projectile motion in a calculus based physics class or performing in the annual Shakespeare play, summiting a 4000 meter peak or hammering red hot iron on a giant anvil, Ecole students actively pursue their passions in a setting that is both challenging and liberating.

Distance High School Programs

Global Village School (Ojai, CA) offers a progressive, accredited, customizable K-12 homeschooling program via online and text-based curriculum, complete with individualized teacher services. Our high school homeschool diploma courses integrate peace, justice, and diversity studies with the core subjects. We are an international distance learning school; we welcome homeschooling students from around the globe.  Creative flexible approach, our emphasis on peace, justice, diversity and sustainability.  Here's a sample homeschool high school plan.

Other semester and service learning programs

Semester in Ghana

Semester or Year-long school in France

1 week summer service trip in Guadeloupe

3-week service learning trip to India (with Tibetan culture)

Care and community service in Nepal (2 weeks post 16th bd)

2-week August service trip to French-speakin Senegal (supposed to be 16)

$2395

Non-local Alternative or Progressive High Schools

Diablo Valley School (Concord) - Democratic/Sudbury School

Wilderness Awareness School is a national not-for-profit environmental education organization established in 1983 and based in Duvall, Washington. We are dedicated to caring for the earth and our children by fostering understanding and appreciation of nature, community and self.

High Mowing School is the first Waldorf high school to be founded in North America and the only one to offer a boarding program.  Here on Abbot Hill there is a rich educational and social community that, over the last nearly seven decades, has developed, changed and adjusted to meet the needs of the students, offering teenagers a unique combination of Waldorf education and community living. 

At Catalyst High School, the student is in control of key decisions such as building a logical and balanced schedule and for calling regarding an absence. Being in control is empowering, and genuinely builds self esteem.  Our team helps students develop positive attitudes and productive actions by cultivating constructive use of time, commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, and a positive identity. Catalyst High School is built on solid research that shows that teens who engage in these types of activities become happier, healthier, and more resistant, and become more successful adults. At Catalyst High School, the student assumes responsibility of his or her educational experience. This includes attendance, what to study, and when to take a class. The school schedule is not a 7:30-3:00 seven-period day, rather it is more like a college schedule, with free time built in.

Casco Bay High School for Expeditionary Learning (CBHS) is a small and rigorous public high school that reflects the increasing diversity of Portland, Maine.  Founded in 2005, CBHS is a school of choice for about 275 students.  At Casco Bay, we challenge and support our students to become college-ready through our 3Rs: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships.  The academic program includes Learning Expeditions, college prep, Character Building and an Ethic of Service, Portfolios, Adventure and Fitness, and Fieldwork.

The Graham School has a particular mission to urban students in Central Ohio preparing them for lifelong learning and informed citizenship through real-world experiences and rigorous academics. Fostering ownership and responsibility for their education prepares our students to be successful in college, the workplace, and other endeavors they undertake upon leaving Graham.

Summer Travel Programs and Camps:

Abbey Road’s study abroad summer programs continue to deliver excellence. Our mission is to provide quality academic summer programs that facilitate cross-cultural understanding, personal growth and academic enrichment. Abbey Road was created through a collaboration of the best young professionals and educators from top schools and esteemed institutions. Our curriculum developers and staff come from places such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, Cambridge, La Sorbonne, the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Parliament and the State Department  …..  just to name a few.

The Experiment in International Living has been offering extraordinary immersive cross-cultural summer exchanges, fun and thought-provoking adventures, and experiential learning programs since 1932. Today, The Experiment offers three-, four-, and five-week summer programs for high school students in more than 20 countries around the world.

Not Back to School Summer Camp

-Lisa

Acknowledgements:

Thank you so much to my friends and community members who contributed support and many of the specific suggestions on this list.  I'm grateful to Jennifer D, Shelly C, Felicia G, Elaine L, Krista C, Caryn C, Debbie S, Jon Z, Sharon B, Candace P, Suki W, Kirsten N, Marlow S, Anna C, Amy T, Min L, Andrew, Kris K and Kevin K. as well as those I may have missed.  

Just how many Homeschoolers are there?

It's very difficult to know for sure how many families homeschool.  

Why?  Some states, like California, while independent learning is easy to do there's no official way to count non-schoolers.  Other states don't require homeschoolers to register in any way and homeschoolers are often independent types who aren't inclined to volunteer that information. *


"There were an estimated 1,700,000 to 2,100,000 children (grades K-12) home educated during 2002-2003 in the United States. Homeschooling appears to still be the fastest-growing form of education." – Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.,Facts on Homeschoooling 

Home education has constantly grown over the last two decades. The growth rate is 7% to 15% per year, according to Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute (Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling).

How many high school (grades 9-12) students are being homeschooled?

An estimated 250,000 to 340,000 high school (grades 9-12) students homeschooled during the 2000-2001 conventional school year.  In 2007, the number of homeschooled students was about 1.5 million, an increase from 850,000 in 1999 and 1.1 million in 2003. The percentage of the school-age population that was homeschooled increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 2.9 percent in 2007. The increase in the percentage of homeschooled students from 1999 to 2007 represents a 74 percent relative increase over the 8-year period and a 36 percent relative increase since 2003 (National center)

Three percent of American students -- about 1.5 million children --  are homeschooled, according to the 2012 Statistical Abstract recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

A compilation of stats compiled by Masters In Education puts that number at over 2 million and identifies independent learning as the fastest growing from of education in the country with an annual growth rate of 7% per year.   

While public perception still imagines that religious reasons are the primary determining factor for choosing to homeschool, in fact 58% of people homeschool for reasons like concerns about social environment and negative socialization in schools (21%), dissatisfaction with the academic offerings in schools (17%), unique family situations (14%) and desire for a non-traditional approach to learning.  

Probably impacting the fast rise in homeschooling numbers is that it works.  The efficacy of homeschooling is increasingly known as more statistics continue to report that on average homeschoolers rank in the 87th percentile on standardized tests (not that I personally care about standardized tests, but some do).  

Independent Learners already know that homeschooling is a great choice on the basis of cost, freedom, academic efficacy and future opportunities.  Current statistics which underline these points and clear up the misconceptions is resulting in more people taking the risk to go independent and/or community-based for their family's learning needs and desires.  

Notes:

* In California the two options for homeschooling are a) registering as part of a public charter school which serves homeschoolers.  In this case, the students are officially registered as public school students or b) for families to sign a PSA or Private School Affidavit registering the family as a "private school".  In both case, students are registered as either public school or private school students.


Sources:

What the US Census Says about Homeschooled Families

National Center for Educational Statistics

Top Masters In Education

A to Z Home's Cool

HSLDA

Karl Bundy: Learn in Freedom

What Independent Learners Know

What Independent Learners* Know

1) If the cost of education gets too high people WILL opt out.
2) Those who do so are often extraordinarily committed to learning and willing to do crazy things to achieve it.
3) Institutions are not required for the pursuit of friends, mentors, teachers.
4) If they are able, parents are willing to spend money on direct to consumer learning.
5) Facilitated learning is often more effective than traditional teaching.
6) Individualized education is effective but really difficult to achieve in big groups.
7) Home-schooling is an unfortunate misnomer for many 21st century learners who have opted out of institutionalized education.
8) Love of learning is possible and preferred.
9) Learning often happens more effectively and joyfully in a free-range, self/family directed environment.
10) Standards are really not necessary.

My passion and motivation for writing this down isn't to convince people to remove their kids from school.  I think that's largely already an option many are aware of in spite of it still being largely misunderstood. My real
goal is to encourage educational reformers to recognize the homeschooling/custom-learning/independently educated population as a case-study in the disintermediation and de-institutionalization of education.  Freeing learning is important inside and outside of institutions.

*aka "Homeschoolers" but I'm becoming increasingly dissatisfied with that term. 

My Fave Life Hacking Tools and Apps

An ever-evolving list...

Education

Way too many to name but here are a few:

Coursera
A social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.

Udacity
Invent your future through free, interactive online classes.  Offers accessible, affordable, engaging classes that anyone can take, anytime. 

Degreed
The new degree for the new world.  Degreed is a free service that scores and validates your lifelong education from accredited and informal sources.  

Pathbrite
Collect, organize and share a lifetime of learning and achievement.

CodeAcademy
Learn to Code Interactively for Free

Ted 
Ideas Worth Spreading; Riveting Talks by Remarkable people, Free to the World

TedX
Created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” the TEDx program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. 

TedEd
Lessons Worth Sharing around Youtube Videos

Rosetta Stone online
I think Rosetta Stone is really an excellent language approach for supplementation of conversational french (we use online tutors).

Busuu
A language learning tutorial website available for free.

Babbel
Subscription based alternative to Rosetta Stone. 

Italki
italki brings you everything you need to become fluent in another language. Get speaking practice, find an online language teacher, get help on writing, ask questions, and make friends around the world.

Duolingo
So far Duolingo is the winner for me in the free language app space.  I love that it's gamified, social, community-support oriented.  Caveat: One does come across some funny phrases sometimes, such as "I like eating pepper" but perhaps that adds to the fun...  From their website, here's an explanation on how it can be free which I love for the savvy synergy:

"Here’s how it works: Somebody who needs a webpage translated uploads it to Duolingo. That document then gets presented to Duolingo students who can translate it in order to practice the language they are learning. When the document is fully translated, Duolingo returns it to the original content owner who, depending on the type of document they uploaded, pays for the translation."

LearningJar
An opportunity for lifelong learners everywhere to build skills and advance their careers by capturing and curating informal learning.

Teacherspayteachers
An open marketplace for educators where teachers buy, sell and share original teaching resources.


Hippocampus
Teaching with the power of digital media. Designed as part of Open Education Resources, a worldwide effort to improve access to quality education for everyone. 

Learner.org
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum

KnowIt

A place to create online portfolios to highlight and track what you know.

So many more and changing all the time.  

Effectiveness and Time Management

Reqall
I like this app a lot.  Freemium model.  Because I have the Pro version ($24.99 per year) it integrates with Google Calendar and Evernote and allows me to capture To Do items I remember while driving by voice recognition with "eye's-free" one touch.

Letter Me Later

Allows user to send emails schedule for a future date and time. Free.

Fancy Hands
This is a virtual assistant service that I'm so far enjoying.  It's good for tasks which can be delegated easily with a fast email but will save you time.  (eg. place order for catered food, arrange meetings, research etc).  Various levels of monthly fee.  (Full disclosure: if you use my link above, you get 50% off the first month and I believe I get a $5 credit.)

Lift
I've been a fan (and sometimes user) of 10 Daily Habits since I started my Coach training at CoachU in 2000.  I've used paper and more often spreadsheets but I just got turned onto this simple, effective and share-oriented app and am finding it a nice addition to the process.

Other Self-Tracking and Quantified Self

Cronometer

Web or computer app which allows for the tracking of food and evaluation by composition.  I'm currently using it to help me achieve a 6:3:1 fat:protein:carb food ratio.  I'm testing the hypothesis that a higher fat diet will result in weight loss.  My focus is on increasing fat which I believe will naturally lead to ease of reducing carb intake. 

Withings Body Scale

The app goes part and parcel with the hardware but this is one of the best ones due to the ease of tracking.  I love it!  I've previously been a hater of scales but this one softens the emotional impact.  I did a QS talk on how the Withings scale and app worked for me as a result.

Fitbit

Another hardware/app combo deal.  I only use this to track steps.  I aim for 10,000 per day with a bare minimum of 4K per day.

Zeo Sleep Manager

More hardware!  This one is the best I know for learning about sleep.  It has amazing accuracy and seems to be able to tell through EGG when you're awake.  Postscript: R.I.P. Zeo it was nice knowing you!

Runkeeper

Love this app for the times when I'm running or walking outdoors.  It let's me use a GPS to see where I've been.  It's also a nice place to track indoor activites (like my treadmill walking) and other activities.