Colonial Acton |  Lions in our Elementary Studio will imagine that Acton Academy is a British colony. They must pay taxes to King George and are subject to royal proclamations and taxes imposed by the King (via his Royal Governor played by a guide). To end Colonial Acton, Lions must draft a Declaration of Independence and roll a die to determine the consequences.

Putting themselves in the shoes of frustrated British colonists being ruled by King George gives Lions an opportunity to:

• Feel the resentment and frustration of having to obey a distant and seemingly unfair ruler who knows little about their way of life;
• Understand the need to compromise and join together as one in order to have any hope for winning a war against a larger power; and 
• Weigh the possible outcomes of two choices and make a decision with real-life consequences.​
  
  

(This is the same experiment that Laura wrote about in Courage to Grow!)

--- A note to parents: Heroes may feel a lot of emotions when this is introduced, as freedoms they normally have at Acton are temporarily taken away by the tyrant King George. Thanks in advance for your support and encouragement through this journey!
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Edison's Lab | This session the Adventure Studio heroes will get their first glimpse at how we tackle subjects like Science at Acton Academy. This will be the first in a three part physics-focused cycle of Quests for this year.

For this quest Heroes will take on the role of innovators in the footsteps of Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park lab. They will be working in teams to solve challenges dealing with energy and electricity by devising simple machines and systems and creating patents. This Quest will challenge them to be curious and innovative, to work effectively as a team, and to master the basic principles of energy, work and electricity through hands on experimentation.
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Servant Leadership | The first half of the year will see the Spark Studio spending an entire session on a focus area as they step into the flow of Acton and prepare to launch into more complicated Quests later in the year. Last session the studio focused on "building the tribe" and "defining emotions".

Each week this session the Spark heroes will explore a different aspect of servant leadership through their launches and projects.​

​Week 1: Random Acts of Kindness
Week 2: Paying it Forward
Week 3: Volunteering
Week 4: Thankfulness/Gratitude
Week 5: Thanksgiving/Exhibition Prep

Writer's Workshop: Poetry
Civilization: Middle Ages
Creativity Time: Improv Workshop

World Traveler Quest | During this session Lions explore the world through travel. Asking hard questions like: Do we look to the past, present, future, or distant lands for direction? Why travel? With who? Should it be a tight or loose schedule? Cheap or luxurious?

Along the way Lions will be planning a life changing trip to a city they would love to visit, complete with travel itineraries, budgets, trip preparations and useful travel tools. Lions will also create a Bucket List of places they want to see in the world (and in Nebraska), as well as learning to create a complete itinerary; a trip budget and a Google Earth Tour for a relative who can’t make the trip they planned!
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Writer's Workshop: A Speech in the Shoes of a Historical Figure 
Civilization: Middle Ages
Creativity Time: Improv Workshop

​Dear Acton Lincoln Families,

We are building a school that's redefining education. Traditionally education has focused on standardized test scores and memorizing facts. (Control, regurgitation, oversight.) At Acton Academy Lincoln, it’s about deep learning and bringing a love of learning (true mastery) back to the forefront. But more importantly, it’s about raising the next generation of leaders that will move us closer, not further, from the founding ideals of America. It’s about raising human beings to be personally responsible, respect individual liberty, value freedom of religion, and exude patriotic reverence for country.

This defines the spirit of the private school my wife (Heidi) and I have started to build here in Lincoln, Nebraska. We will be a school for anyone, but I know full well we won’t be for everyone.

​Heidi and I first came across the Acton model a little over a year ago. Acton is a decade-old micro-school concept that puts the child in the driver’s seat of their education and focuses on building strong human beings. We opened our doors last fall in the middle of a pandemic when other schools around the country were closing theirs. Why? See that opening paragraph again. I believe we need strong young leaders now more than ever.

Before Acton, we were simply two parents seeking an education option that would help us raise happy, healthy children who wouldn’t be placed in a box or sat at a desk to passively take in the information being presented to them for the next 12 years. We wanted them to be the driving force behind their learning and to discover the world for themselves.

We wanted them to be personally responsible for the decisions they made and the consequences of those decisions.

We wanted children who would think critically about the world around them, question authority when it needed to be questioned, and respect it when appropriate. 

We also desired our children to know what they believed and how to defend said beliefs, know what they stood for, and ultimately know why they were put on this earth.

We wanted them to do all this while loving everyone who stood in opposition to their beliefs and understood why it is vitally important that we have the freedom to believe and worship in our own way in our country. 

Speaking of country, we were seeking an educational option that taught them to love their country and know its true history. The perfect implementation of the American ideals may have proven to be beyond our grasp so far, and that’s okay; because each generation has the chance to change that. Each leader elected, each vote cast, has the ability to move closer to that founding vision.

When we discovered Acton, we realized this was our chance to build the very school we had worked so hard to find, one that baked all the things we desired for our children right into its DNA. 

As we set out to build this school, we knew it had to be an independent, exempt school. We wanted the freedom to build something more powerful and freer than the confines of state-mandated curriculum, standardized testing, and bureaucracy. Why? See the opening paragraph again...

As a small, private micro-school, we operate as a small business. We make business decisions that are in the best interest of our customers: the children first, and the paying parents second. We are not here to teach your children to hate their country, their race, their religion, or their gender. In fact, we aren’t here to push an agenda, unless you consider the first paragraph an agenda, and then we are here to push the hell out of that agenda. Why? Because critical thinking leads to good decisions, good decisions lead to the right habits, the right habits forge character, and character determines destiny.

Acton Academy Lincoln exists to empower character-filled human beings for life. Our graduates will be the leaders our country needs to help America finally live up to her ideals, allowing Freedom of Religion and Individual Liberties to live on for future generations, and have personal responsibility return to the home, the workforce, and society as a whole.

Be Blessed,

We are excited to announce our Montessori-based Spark Studio was named one of the 9 best Lincoln Preschools by Expertise.com!

Experise.com scored 58 preschools in Lincoln, NE on more than 25 variables across five categories, and analyzed the results to hand-pick the list of the best Lincoln preschools, with Acton Academy Lincoln topping that list.

When we first started homeschooling, the kids and I loved it. It felt like I was learning much of what they were learning for the first time (Like most of you, I feel that my schooling taught me to take tests, but not actually understand the material). The kids loved being home in their element, learning at their own pace, exploring, playing, being kids. It felt good and it felt right for our family at that time. 

Fast forward a few years, I found myself not as involved and being pulled in the direction of my passions as my business grew. We were making it work, but I was not longer matching my kids LOVE for learning. We could tell as parents that they were not as happy as they could be. There was a lot of pushing and pulling amongst us as a whole family. We had pretty much stopped going out to learn, out of frustration on my end, as well as theirs. Simply put, I knew I was failing them and we were not happy. 

When I first heard of this new private school in Lincoln, Nebraska called Acton, it sounded like a perfect fit for our family. We knew we could never return to a traditional school setting as we had empowered our kids to love learning and take charge of their path, rather than follow "the normal path," which did not fit our values. When Acton popped up and it felt like perfect timing. Then I saw the price. It was simply not in our budget. And would my oldest really like it? He had gone through a traditional school and had been scarred by the experience. He was hard to please and I wasn’t sure he would enjoy the school. Although I knew, deep down it was exactly what he needed. 

I signed up to get the newsletters, but we were far from ready to apply. It was just not a possibility in our minds at that time... ​

The emails and enrollment updates kept coming and each time I dreamt of this new life for our family. I dreamt of the kids having guides that have a passion for kids. Guides that are inspired to create activities special for the kids. Guides that inspire my kids to learn and be excited to grow. A group of kids to play with and interact with daily. Older kids to inspire and help the kids grow. While we were already unschooling, our oldest was missing the guidance of older children to inspire him to learn. And he was finally ready to take that big leap in learning, but I wasn’t giving him what he needed to take the jump. I also dreamt of my days where I could grow as a person and be inspired for myself. The kids deserved a happier mom, I deserved to be a happier person. 

I wanted the kids to go to Acton for themselves, as well as for me. But each month, it just seemed impossible for our budget, we just couldn’t take the plunge. That didn’t stop me from stalking the website, checking the enrollment numbers, would they still have room??? 

We had been working on our money mindset and had come across baby stepping as a tool to use. It can sometimes be hard to take a giant leap, but babystepping can help one become confident in their faith allowing more money to flow to them. This gave us the idea that we could ease our way into Acton. One child could start, we could adjust the budget and easily have one child attend! Then Zach emailed me out of the blue, asking if I had questions. From there, it all fell into place. Our budget adjusted well to one child so we enrolled our second child the following month. Our last leap of faith will be our third attending in the fall. 

So we’re in! Now will my 10 year old son (Trip) like it? It has been an adjustment for him, but it has been a wonderful experience for him as well. He’s an adventurous boy who loves to explore the outdoors. I was allowing him to do this for the majority of his days. His biggest adjustment has been to buckle down and face his resistance to those things that don’t come naturally to him (reading and writing). I knew he was ready to do the hard work and I knew he would have uncomfortable feelings. But after the first couple of weeks, he was hooked (thank you open gym time, friends and Civilization learning). He loves learning and he loves having guides give him opportunities to learn. He also loves being able to ask questions, which the traditional schools were not allowing him. 

After the first few weeks, we started noticing significant changes in his attitude. He is simply happier. He loves the different activities, the fun and engaging way of learning, the freedom and the interesting conversations. He’s inspired to learn those things that don’t come naturally and he’s excited to learn more. Before Acton, he was grumpy often, fought us on everything and never content. Now he’s fun to be around, he’s always smiling, he’s been cooking supper with us and contributes in our conversations. He’s a better team player when it comes to family items. He’s happy again!  

Our second child (Fiona), 7, was needing social time and friends. We’ve noticed her confidence the most since she’s started at Acton. She’s typically shy and tends to sit back and observe. Acton has allowed her to feel more comfortable with herself. Due to the small class size, she contributes in class, speaking in front of the entire group and confidently excites learning. She is proud to have friends and loves having duties to carry out and contribute. She loves sharing what she has learned at school that day during our supper meal. It makes our hearts happy to see her proudly share her knowledge. She has also started to play more with other kids when we’re in a group setting. She’s becoming more outgoing, which is so much fun to see!
 
From the parent perspective, I’ve never been more excited about a learning opportunity for my children. Acton continues to surprise me in wonderful ways. From the fun activities they get to do during the day, to the awesome experience of getting up in front of a group of people to present their projects each session, to the Forest Fridays (free play is SO important). We know they are learning in a way that excites and fulfills them. Emotional intelligence is a big value in our home and other schools did not practice a healthy environment to allow emotional intelligence to grow and evolve. Acton is a place where I not only feel confident in their guidance of emotions, but they also allow us to grow at home. The kids will bring home tidbits of how they solved a disagreement at school and it leaves me thinking we should set that up at home. They are giving the kids the language and the tools to bring up topics of discussion at home. The end of session exhibitions left me leaving with pride and confidence. The tools and lessons they are giving the children are life long lessons that will make them better leaders, parents, peers and members of a society. It’s a wonderful opportunity and the kids are thriving. 

​I was a straight A student all through grade school.
I received a 4.0 by my high school graduation. 
I was successful in my classes, even the hard ones. 
My goal was college.

Yet. 

Once I got there, I was fairly lost. 
I changed my major 5 different times. 
I spent a lot of time wandering, without much direction.

My intellect proved successful for most of my life, but college needed more than that. 

I needed to listen to my heart and follow it - something I was never taught.
I needed to find my calling. 
_____

Everyone’s education’s stories are different. 

But I wonder, how many of us graduate high school with no awareness of our calling? How many of us enter college without knowing our diverse gifts and talents, understanding what brings us deep joy, and realizing (or even creating!) an avenue to contribute and be a light? 

​What if education focused more on each child’s uniqueness, each child’s heart, and not just the intellect? 

Would there be more fulfillment? 
Would there be more joy?
Would there be more positive change, in small and big ways?

Acton Academy Lincoln doesn’t just focus on head knowledge.
We focus on the heart as well - the light within.
  
We focus on helping your child find a calling that will change the world.
That’s our mission.

​Prior to Covid-19, Alex was a great traditional student, excelling in the public school setting.  He didn’t require supervision on his homework, nor did I ever hear from the school about any issues.
 
When schools were forced to close after spring break in 2020, he and I worked together to navigate online learning.  It was very challenging and confusing, as it was new to everyone and there was no standard… just multiple teachers trying to figure out how to upload and grade lessons, and Alex and I trying to find and complete them. 
 
Summer break couldn’t come soon enough. 
 
He physically went back to school in August, however after a few short weeks his allergies kicked in and we were (understandably) given the option of getting him tested for Covid-19 or quarantining for 2 weeks every time he had allergy symptoms (since they are identical to Covid-19).  This didn’t seem to be a viable option, so we elected to move back to Online Learning 100% of the time.
 
Zooming throughout the day seemed like a great idea, in a perfect world he’d be engaged online, be taught the lesson and do his homework.  In reality, he found it hard to focus sitting on Zoom from 8am-3pm, there were technical difficulties and he didn’t feel like he could ask questions of the teacher.  He was getting none of his homework done during the day, so we would spend evenings and weekends working to “catch up”.  This turned out to be a blessing and a curse. 
 
Without this experience I never would have known what he was studying and working on.  Being so involved in his homework made me realize that very little of what he was doing in traditional school would serve him in the future.  I was so convinced of this I found myself “helping” (doing) homework alongside him just to get through it faster in the evenings – he’d work on one thing, I’d work on another. 

In late January I simply broke.  After spending months in this mode, I couldn’t take it anymore and neither could Alex.  We were exhausted and desperate to have a life back, we were convinced there was a better way.  I started looking for solutions online, and naturally the internet answered… a sponsored ad for Acton Academy Lincoln.  I read everything available about Acton, I watched every video about Acton.  I looked for anything I could find about Zach and Heidi.  I sent an email and I scheduled a tour.  Frankly, Alex and I were convinced before we ever walked in the door. 
 
My biggest reservation in switching to Acton was making sure Alex would be prepared for college when the time comes.  This concern was alleviated while reading the required book, “Courage to Grow" (request a FREE copy) and during a short conversation with Zach on our tour (schedule a tour today!).
​
First, Acton students typically fare better than peers in testing;
Second, the goal is to be ready for life:

• Critical thinking (Socratic discussion) is how they begin their day at Acton
• He will be permitted to move through subjects at his own pace – if he has a great understanding of material he is allowed to move on, if he struggles with a subject he can continue to work on it until he “gets it” instead of being dragged along regardless
• He will have had 15 internships prior to graduation

 
I’ve seen Alex excited and engaged since moving to Acton.  He no longer has anxiety related to school and homework, he simply enjoys learning again.  It’s fun to pick him up every day and hear about what he worked on and what he’s proud of.  He also really enjoys the time they have during the day to move and be active. ​

Developing self-awareness from having tried a number of things and the self-confidence from actually having pulled through doing hard things that mattered! 

This means at time that life can be messy at Acton, it can be messy in the studio, it can be hard on parents and guides to see the learners struggling through real issues. We always encourage our parents to sit back and give issues room to breath and for the heroes to work through these issues themselves. That said, we aren't asking parents to be passive, they can still be an active participant in their child's Acton journey, it just looks different at Acton than it might in a traditional school setting.

No doubt, as a parent at Acton Academy, you have embarked on a hero’s journey (whether you are ready for it or not!). Below are answers, testimony and tips we’ve gathered from Acton Academy parents from all over the world to equip and inspire you on your Hero’s Journey as a parent:

Our promise is to equip and inspire your child to find a calling that will change the world.  Struggles and difficulties are part of the journey.  

Instead of focusing on short term happiness, Acton Academy focuses on long term satisfaction and fulfillment. Overcoming short term challenges is often a part of that journey.

As parents, we’ve found our heroes grow most when we comfort them and listen empathically, but do not try to solve the problem ourselves or allow blame to be cast on others.  “I hear you. That must be so hard.  I trust you to find a way to solve this on your own and can’t wait to hear how you did it” seem to be the most powerful words we can use as parents.

If your goal is to have a child who is happy all the time, Acton Academy may not be the right place for you.

​More important than measurements on a hero’s journey are the questions a parent asks a child every day. Here are a list of powerful questions we can ask our young heroes to prepare them with the character to embark on a hero’s journey:

Questions that seek understanding:
"What's the best thing that happened today?" 
"What's the most challenging  thing that happened today?"
"What did you discuss at launch this morning?"
"Did you learn anything new about yourself or your calling today?"
Asking "Why?" Listening, then asking again. Variation: "Why do you think...?"
What did you fail at today? 

Questions that discover and reinforce heroic character:
What did you do that was hard today?
What did you do that was kind today?
What did you do that was [character trait] today?
What did someone do to you that was [character trait] today?

Questions that follow up on challenges or goals: 
"What goals did you set today?"
"Did you submit that town hall request today?" 
"Did you ask [name] to go the the peace table today?" 
"Did you ask someone for a hero buck today?" 
"Did someone ask you for a hero buck today?" 
Likely a lot of opportunity to follow up with encouragement, trust, and relatable personal stories with these questions.

​I came across a great analogy the other day comparing the “witching hour” we, as parents, all know and love - to the second half of February. The long, exhausting time period you just wish would hurry by. We’re definitely there. I find myself checking my weather app an unhealthy number of times, as if checking it will hurry these frigid temps along.

We rounded out the month of January with 25 hours outdoors, about 5 hours less than I would have liked. I see that number and it looks so small and yet I KNOW that many of those hours required some real effort, time and tears to make it out the door. So, we’ll take them.

As I scroll my LinkedIn Account and read daily news articles on education innovation, I can't help but think... Man we have one of the best schools in the world right here in Lincoln, Nebraska! 

In an attempt to understand where each of our prospective families is coming from, I make a point of asking our all our families who tour our school in southwest Lincoln, "what is one thing you wish you would have had the chance to learn in school?" I also posted this on my social media accounts recently and despite the wide variety of answers, without exception I find myself answering the same way... We do that here at our private school. 
​
Seeing what other thinkers are wishing for in education like what Trevor Soponis, PhD posted recently, “We need new models of learning. … it’s about empowering students to not move at the speed of the teacher or their classmates. Or even study the same thing,” has prompted me to realize what we have here at Infinity School.
I’m seeing big dreams for interdisciplinary programs, high schools that don’t make teenagers start at 8am, and hopes to see the programs not revolve around a curriculum that is painfully outdated. Guess what, we’re already doing all of that here!

Reading all of these posts on LinkedIn and wishes for change in education, I’ve really been thinking about what “education innovation” means. To me, innovation is a process of questioning, reinventing, and trying. It is asking big questions that we might not like the answers to in our pursuit of removing old ways of thinking to make room for new ways of growth.

Education Innovation questions are ones like these:

1. Are report cards still (or were they ever) a useful tool for measuring progress? If not, what is better?
2. How can we hand power and ownership of learning over to those doing the learning?
3. What kinds of learning activities are truly useful and impactful?
4. How can emotional intelligence, empathy, and open mindset thinking be incorporated into every day?
5. Is having a teacher as “expert” standing in front of a (often large) group of children/ teenagers the best way to learn? Do you like learning like that?
6. What is school for?

I also believe that innovation in education is about creating systems and processes that make it possible for the program to essentially run itself. And putting the ability to change these systems in the hands of those they most affect — the learners.

Over the past five years I have watched the handful of brave six to eight-year-olds who walked through our doors on the day we opened from thinking inside the public school box to people who can project manage, lead others even when a few of those others are difficult and not contributing, ask incredible questions, and do tough things. And they are happy.

This handful of learners five years ago has grown to almost forty children and youth doing school differently.
​
When we ask them what they like the most about this program, we usually hear two things: I love the freedom to be myself and learn how I learn, and all the adults are really nice here. We don’t hear about how innovative we are or about the myriad of things we have done to make this program one of the leading systems in education. These Eagles simply know that they matter and that their love of learning continues to grow. Maybe that’s truly what education innovation is about.

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Andrea
Co-founder & Director of Acton Academy Infinity
Originally blog published on Infinity School Blog