Alternative Education Meeting Notes – 11/29/07
4:00 – Introductions
4:15 – Emily and Pam’s Trip to La Crosse Waldorf school
· 5 – 8 classroom
· Money – Tuition, Fundraiser, Friends group, Store
· Waldorf curriculum – Integrated, Nature…more detailed info. in binder
· Mandatory parent volunteer hours
4:35 – Paul’s School
· Created own curriculum
· Based on the understanding that PARENTS KNOW what their child needs
· Pre-K through 6th grade (but no actual grade levels were used)
· Curriculum
o created around Core subjects
o Reading taught through Whole Language
o Field Trips
o Mixture of self-direction and structured (though non-traditional) group instruction
· Teacher’s role is “Leading by Following”
o Teachers tune in to what the students naturally are interested in and are already curious about and learning, then give the students’ interests and learning a context and a focus
· Teachers were not credentialed. They were evaluated by the parents. (The teachers themselves wrote evaluation questions, which the parents answered openly and honestly.
· Having no system to follow gave them much needed Freedom to create what they needed
· Enrollment was under 30 students. Teacher/Student ratio = 1/8.
· Rented a house (which one family built in the country)
· Consensus-run school. Monthly parent meetings.
4:50 – Pleasant Valley
· Reasons the Pleasant Valley School eventually fell apart:
o Everyone had different ideas about what they wanted the school to be.
o They didn’t have a way to talk to the teachers about issues that came up.
4:55 – Charter School Possibility
· One possible Charter school left in Iowa
· Need school board approval and 50% of public school staff approval
· Must take state mandated tests
5:00 – Discussion about Montessori
· Current Montessori school considering extending program to 6-9 year olds
· Possibility of working together with Montessori Board
· Multi-age classroom
· Learning center – individual rate
· Whole Child
· More group work at older ages
· Discussion about current Montessori school’s strengths and weaknesses.
Time? – Fundraising for our group
· Must get non-profit status or use other groups’
· Clothes Auction
· T-Shirts
· Grandparents
· Bazaars
Upcoming Dates
· Monday, Dec. 10 – 6:30 – Montessori Board Meeting
· Monday, Dec. 17 – 4:00 – Next Alternative Education meeting
· January 19 – 10:00-2:00? – Waldorf Conference (La Crosse)
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1 comment:
So, we have a decision to make. Choose a model (Waldorf or Montessori) or create our own model?
I believe that creating our own from scratch would tie up a lot of creative energy "reinventing the wheel", but I also see the value in creating a model that truly reflects the desires of the families in our community.
Here's a suggestion that may prevent the need for either side to compromise. In Viroqua, I saw flyers advertising "Waldorf-inspired" daycares. So, I was able to identify the general philosophy of the daycare provider, but I was also well-aware that they wanted to maintain the autonomy to create their own program.
Perhaps our school could do this as well. It would provide a framework for parents/educators/public to proceed from and also allow for local autonomy of the program. Rather than reinventing the wheel, we could choose/modify the existing models to fit our community.
Our school could be One River Academy: A Waldorf-Inspired Learning Environment (Okay, it's late and my creative energy is drained)
Just an idea. Blog what you think!
Alicia
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