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2/23/2023

Session 5 Quest Preview

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Session 5 Learning Design​

We are excited to announce our Quests and other focus areas for each of our four mixed-age studios for the upcoming session. This is our second of three science themed sessions, where learners have the opportunity to explore various scientific topics in a very hands on way. You can read more about our learning design here.
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​Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

Sparks | Transportation Theme

Rather than complete traditional Quests, that are reserved for our Elementary and Middle/ High School studios, our Spark Studio explores a different theme each session. This session is all about transportation!
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Heroes will use loose parts to create their own cars, trains, planes, and boats, then spend the final week developing and presenting their own "transportation vehicle" based on all they have learned through the course of the session.
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Hero of the Week: The Sparks will also continue learning about their hero of the week through the Ordinary People Change the World book series. Last session's favorite hero was by far Rosa Parks. The learners really latched onto her story, her courage, and simply couldn't fathom the idea of treating someone so poorly based on the color of their skin.
Session 5 Heroes:
Lucille Ball
Anne Frank
Amelia Earhart
Harriet Tubman

DISCOVERY + ODYSSEY   Zoo keeper QUEST

The Discovery + Odyssey Studios will be teaming up once more this year for another exciting quest. This Quest places learners in the shoes of a zoo keeper here at the Lincoln Children's Zoo, where they will need to assess the enrichment needs of animals at the zoo.

After creating a proposal that they submit to Zoo staff for approval, learners will build enrichment tools or activities for the zoo inhabitants that will actually be featured in each habitat.
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​This Quest is loosely based on Toys for Elephants created by MA University art students and was the winner of the network wide learning design challenge a few years ago! 
Discovery Communication Challenge: Communication challenges in the Discovery Studio are built into Core Skills time, meaning heroes have the choice of completing these challenges. This session they will have two choices to pick from: ​Create an info card (with words and pictures) of a zoo animal of their choosing OR create and write a fun, creative story with zoo animals as main characters.

Odyssey Communication Challenge: This session's communication challenge stays on theme with the Zoo Keep Quest. Heroes will be creating an Info Card to go along with their animal and enrichment activity, in hopes of it being displayed at the zoo!

They’ll be doing research about their animal, write out an info card, and then design a poster on Canva to display at the exhibit.

Adventure Studio | Medical Biology Quest

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Quest: "Paging Doctor House" - Heroes will spend 5 weeks learning about human body systems, common diseases and conditions, and the tools and tests used to diagnose them - from medical histories, to MRI's, to simple blood tests.

They'll use all this to ultimately step into the shoes of the diagnostician, Dr. House - the Sherlock Holmes of the medical field - to apply their knowledge to piece together symptoms and ask the right questions in order to diagnose patients at their exhibition.
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Communication: This session's Communication challenge is based on the book 'The Audacious Ask' - In some cases a high likelihood of failure can lead to fear and paralysis. In other cases it can be incredibly freeing - If failure is essentially guaranteed, what do you have to lose, but also, what do you stand to gain?

​This session Heroes in the Adventure studio will be identifying and attempting to contact a number of their own real life heroes. They'll be challenged with making an audacious ask - something bold, something daring, but something they can make a persuasive case for. Will any succeed? Only time will tell, but regardless, all heroes will have a great opportunity to hone important skills and attributes like clear communication, grit, perseverance, and, of course, audacity!

​Onward!


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2/15/2023

One Hero's Journey

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A Tale of Crossing Into the Unknown
​for One Lincoln Highschooler
​I have experienced many things throughout my life, and Acton has remained most meaningful. I am here to share my story, my growth, and how I have changed for those who are to come.

To begin with, I have explored the academic world my entire life. I have seen many different perspectives on school all with ample opportunities. However, no school quite fit and I didn’t feel seen. Homeschooling left me lonely, and I felt my academic progress couldn’t be compared properly. I struggled socially, felt outcasted, and was consistently frustrated with how underwhelming the learning environment truly was.

One day I was introduced to a new idea. A school that worked with self-paced learning, and individuality while also working together in a tight-knit tribe. It piqued my interest and rekindled a spark of hope for learning that had been gradually fizzing out. Shortly after, I walked through Actons' doors and it became abundantly clear how different this school was. A spacious “studio” with high ceilings holding barely a dozen handpicked people, guided by this overarching idea. This newfound freedom had to be earned, requiring copious amounts of patience and work. I felt completely overwhelmed, convinced a year's worth of work had to be done in a day and my mind was overflowing with new knowledge and responsibility. 

However, I knew I wasn’t the only one. The other heroes in the studio were faced with similar challenges and it felt comforting knowing we were learning together. Unfortunately, though, life is never that uncomplicated. How do you navigate through a learning space without adult intervention? What happens when two don’t get along? I never enjoyed being in the foreground, but I felt I was forced to scramble to keep things together. I had meetings upon meetings to come up with strategies on how to handle the situation, but none of their suggestions seemed to take into account the game theory that was running rampant throughout the studio.

Things came and went as the year went by. But soon things crescendoed into suffocating arguments that rang on all day; every fleeting moment would fan the flames of a new problem. Tension grew stronger and every semblance of guidance seemed to fade into the background. I took things into my own hands (or at least tried to). I walked in knowing I would have my part in the tribe, but I wasn’t expecting to lead the charge.

I felt abandoned by the tribe and by the idea. I felt overwhelmed and in desperate need of a quiet space to hide with schooldays filled to the brim with chaos. My mother was the only one who seemed to understand the true extent this was affecting me. Eventually, things subsided for seemingly no reason. The experience pierced a hole in my perception of Acton and the people it holds. It felt like I saw first-hand how a little chaos could crumble a tribe to its knees. I felt immense pressure to be the authority that kept things intact, directly or indirectly, but that’s not who I am. My mindset, deepest desire, and seeming requirement to be the shining light, the guiding star for those in the studio clashed with my temperament.
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​Acton is a place where you learn how to learn and learn how to live. There will always be fallouts, and places where things just don’t go how you may have planned them to, but what’s important is the ability to brush it off and keep going.
​From my time here as a whole, I have changed as a person. But I believe the majority of my change comes from this moment. I chose to lean into the messiness and chaos of the community, something I would’ve never done previously. I chose to deal with the pressure and environment. I seized the opportunity to step into a role I was deeply uncomfortable with and pushed through the difficulties. Now, I have done things I could’ve never previously imagined doing. Read out speeches, fought in discussions, led an exhibition, talked on a radio station, and now wrote this essay. Now, from my newfound deeper knowledge of the flaws in the systems we had created, I worked tirelessly to try to mend them. 

I saw how much things depended on the relationships in the studio and fought to try to find solutions. Whether they were successful or not is debatable. But, I can say confidently that now the studio has been evolving into something self-sufficient able to finally hold each other accountable to a standard. It’s a world I may have never imagined seeing after the drama of last year. But it’s here and it’s happened.

And now, my perception of myself and the world has changed. I see myself and my abilities for what they are, and I have grown more confident in myself. Previously, I couldn’t own my accomplishments or be aware of how much hard work I put into something. It is a profound shift in such a small amount of time but I believe it shows how impressive Acton can be. 

I consider the most impactful lesson from Acton has been how important this mindset can truly be: there are many ways to view the world but only a handful of them can truly be beneficial. I typically see things in either an abstract or incredibly logical way, but with help from our studies on Growth Mindset, I have now been able to blend things into a mindset that works well for me and my pursuits.

In general, I think this is where the bulk of Acton’s power comes from. Sometimes the ideals can blind people to the reality of how things work. You get what you incentivize for and what you work towards. Tomorrow, my life is not suddenly going to be perfect because I said it would be. It requires effort to create and maintain a tribe, it requires effort to write an essay, and it requires work to mend your mindset. Acton gives me, us, the ability to figure these things out for ourselves. Life is a journey that requires consistent work and dedication, it will not always be a straightforward path. There are times were sacrifices must be made and when you must take a different path. Being taught is not how these things stick, it’s from failure and learning for yourself. 
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​Acton is a place where you learn how to learn and learn how to live. There will always be fallouts, and places where things just don’t go how you may have planned them to, but what’s important is the ability to brush it off and keep going. Again, this is not something that can just be taught. It’s from first-hand hard experience that shows you, you NEED to just keep going. That person you disappointed, that deadline you missed, that job or team you didn’t make, or that sale you lost. It’s a temporary failure that if you let consume you would become much more. 

As I have said before, I have done things I could’ve never imagined doing. I went kayaking through a river even though I was terrified and exhausted. I created a business and helped make an escape room. I figured out physics and electricity (tried to at least). Planned an entire trip to Italy. All of these things I probably would’ve never done without Acton.

Acton is about growth: I have changed as a person, and so have my peers. As we learn and grow, it’s a mountain we must climb to reach the peak of our potential. You encompass the vastness of the world and the opportunities associated with it, but sometimes you are blinded by the fear of failure or possibilities. Acton is where you learn to see both sides. You see the beauty around you and the possibilities of something going wrong while learning as you go how to avoid them. 

Your curiosity is what fuels the world, what’s important is learning how to control it.
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Miss Dharma

Adventure Studio Hero | Acton Academy Lincoln

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2/2/2023

Gamifying Servant Leadership

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Do Guides Really Not Answer Questions?

The following blog is a follow up to a previous deep dive into the Socratic Method at Acton Academy.
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​If you were to boil Acton down to its most basic, it's that Acton Academy Lincoln is a learner-driven community. 

We are learner driven in the sense that the energy for the learning journey flows from the responsibility of the learners to take on challenges and make choices and then own the consequences of their decisions. This is the heart of personal growth and character development.

We are a community in the sense that we are all heroes in the making, actively building a fellowship of heroes, parents, and guides all working together and supporting one another on a hero’s journey. No one journeys alone and individual choices impact the culture of the whole.

Both of these are essential to what we are building at Acton.

In an effort to build Acton into an authentic learner driven community, this past year the guides have focused in on the practice of remaining 100% Socratic all the time.  A part of this has to do with not answering questions directly, but it is even more about developing our own mindset and habits so we are more effectively equipping heroes with tools and recipes, connecting them to one another, and igniting curiosity and growth.

As we have doubled down on this part of Acton learning design, we’ve encountered the misconception (from both learners and parents) that Socratic Guiding means that guides aren’t here to help. That heroes are discouraged from asking questions or seeking help when they need it or that this commitment to remaining Socratic was chipping away at the sense of community at Acton.

There’s certainly a part of this that comes from the fact that we are still very much growing and developing as guides. We’re learning every day and making adjustments as we deepen our own understanding and skills.

But at the heart of this is the fear  that these two critical characteristics of Acton - Learner Driven & Community - are at odds with each other.

But this isn’t the case. Socratic guiding is certainly radical practice in education and a nuanced process. But as we have wrestled with it, both in theory and in practice, it's become clear that having guides who commit to always remaining Socratic is a cornerstone of both ensuring a learner driven environment and building a strong community.

To help challenge this misunderstanding at school, we played a game for the last two and a half weeks of Session 3. Over the course of 12 school days, heroes were challenged to document at least 1000 instances of either guides helping heroes Socratically, or heroes serving one another in a meaningful way. The specifics of the challenge were adapted to be understandable for each studio, but “documented helping” had to fall into these categories:
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To keep energy high, we took a variety of ideas from the heroes (ranging from a pet rabbit, to pizza, to a movie/fort building party) and built a prize bracket that they voted on each day until a final schoolwide choice was made.

And in 12 days the heroes documented 1053 instances of guides helping Socratically and heroes serving one another. The majority were heroes helping each other but more than 250 were instances of guides helping Socratically.
I think all of this is noteworthy, because it shows that at Acton, where guides commit to remaining 100% Socratic all the time:
  1. Guides do help heroes when they need it. We do it Socratically, which means there are no easy answers given. But our goal is always to be genuinely helpful by both empowering heroes to solve the immediate problem before them and equip them with the mindset, skills, and tools to solve similar problems in the future!
  2. Heroes help one another. Constantly. This is actually a critical part of why guides remain Socratic - we want to create a huge space for heroes to serve one another. We have all sorts of systems and badges to facilitate this, but Socratic guiding models this for the heroes and is constantly turning them back to one another. It builds a community of servant leaders.

Again, I think there has been the perception that guides remaining 100% Socratic has been protecting the learner driven side of Acton at the expense of developing the community. And so I’m sharing all of this really for two reasons. The first is simply to highlight the reality that Socratic guiding is an important part of building up both the learner-driven and community aspects of Acton.

The second is to offer parents an insight and a tool to help us push back against this misconception and equip your hero to be a learner-driven community builder. As a fellow Acton parent, as well as guide, I’ve found with my own children that the sense (real or not) of facing a challenge alone or not having anyone to turn to for support can be a trap that leads to a victim mentality. Our hope is that when your child comes home struggling with a problem at school and starts to say things like like “guides won’t help me,” or “I can’t ask anybody for help,” that together you can look back at this experience and use it a conversation starter and tool for pointing them both to the learner driven tools they have AND the community that is here to support them.
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Mr. Luke

Head Socratic Guide

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1/31/2023

No Such Thing As Bad Weather?

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It's been two years since our family first took the plunge into the 1000 hours outside challenge.

It's also been two years since I first wrote about the idea of "There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather" here on our Acton blog.
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​Out of our family's journey has come a new journey, one in which we are challenge all our learners to push their challenge zone and live life outside. Being kids, building forts, playing games, scraping knees, simply learning to 'be' in nature. But the question remains, is there REALLY no such thing as bad weather?

“There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather…”

A phrase most of us have heard at one time or another…sometimes easier said than done but a lesson we’ve learned in our home is all too true. “There’s no such thing as bad weather…only bad clothing.” An old tide and true saying- an even better book. One that changed the way our lives look here in the Harsin household. I also credit the book “Balanced and Barefoot” as the initial catalyst for my desire to make outdoor, free play an absolute priority in our children’s lives.

 I could talk for hours about my inspiration, about the books and the blogs and the podcasts and ALL THE RESEARCH that says, “we go to nature to become our best selves”. But that’s a completely different conversation. 

The goal here is to simply share a few tricks and tips that have served us well over the last two years as our family has continue to embody this concept. We’re by no means experts on this subject but hopefully, you find something here that you can add to your toolbox to make cold-weather, outdoor time a bit more enjoyable!

  1. Cold heads, hands and feet are a deal-breaker. Pay extra attention to these areas.
  2. If you can dress to block the wind you’re already way ahead of the game.
  3. Layers. Layers. Layers. There’s no such thing as too many. They can always peel them away. 
  4. Tuck things in! Tuck shirts into pants and mid-layers into base layers and base layers into boots, etc. etc. Anywhere you can keep the wind from getting in always helps.
  5. Hand-warmers are a game changer. Not only because they actually help keep hands and feet warm but also because kids love them, they think they’re fun and special and if you save them for the cold days- it gives them something to look forward to.
  6. Checkout Goodwill or Facebook Marketplace for AMAZING DEALS on really great quality gear. Think base layer (wool) items or high-end brands like Carhartt.
  7. This is a great time of year to search online sales as winter gear starts to really get marked down. One thing I wish I would have been better at doing early on is buying gender, neutral colors and patterns!!
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Some of our Favorites

  • Our girls base layer- we’ve loved this for years. They come in boys too.
  • A neck gator, scarf and/or a hat that completely covers the ears…one of the cheapest and simplest add-ons and they make a BIG difference. 
  • Waterproof/fleece lined pants. These are great for all types of weather. But, in the winter paired with a base layer we’ve found that our girls don’t even need snow pants on top- they’re that warm (when they’re playing hard). 
  • Both of our girls have worn these boots with much success. 
  • All of our children have a couple pairs of these socks and we’ve loved them.
  • These mittens come highly recommended from a friend in Colorado whose children live outside year round (not quite, but still). We just ordered them for our girls after realizing our current choice isn't cutting it for them.

My final resource is the link to a podcast hosted by the founder of 1000 Hours Outside with guest speaker,  Linda Akesone McGurk the Author of “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather”...two, true experts on the topic. Enjoy!

In closing I’m sharing a few pictures of our Sparks heroes because they (and their parents) have truly embodied the challenge this year as they have spent every Wednesday, all day, outdoors. They’ve shifted and acclimated with the changing weather and continue to blow us away every week with their grit and amazing attitudes. They play HARD and oftentimes we hear them talk of being too warm, even on a cold winter day! They should serve as a great inspiration to us all! ❄️
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1/3/2023

Science Quests All Around!

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Science all around!

We are excited to announce our Quests and other focus areas for each of our four mixed-age studios for the upcoming session. 

Traditionally, this is one of approximately three science themed sessions, where learners have the opportunity to explore various scientific topics in a very hands on way. You can read more about our learning design here.

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Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

Sparks | Detective Work

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Spark heroes will learn the basics of what being a detective entails by diving into challenges involving fingerprints, invisibility, using the senses, and decoding. They will finish out the session by putting their skills to work as they attempt to complete a spy obstacle course!

The Sparks will also continue learning about their hero of the week through the Ordinary People Change the World book series.
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Discovery + Odyssey 

DETECTIVE SCIENCE QUEST

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This session our two elementary studios will be combining forces to work as detectives-in-training! In this quest heroes will work through a series of hands-on challenges and crime simulations where they apply forensics and biology to solve crimes! 

As we are near mid-way through the year, this session will also focus on Rebuilding the Tribe - reviewing foundational studio systems, revamping the contract if needed, and building one another up as to strengthen our studio tribe!

Discovery Writing Focus | Minute Mysteries
Discovery heroes will have the chance to choose from various prompts as one of their meaningful works stations this session.

Odyssey Writer's Workshop | Comic Book Creation
This session Odyssey heroes will discover their inner comic book artist as they write and create their own comic book! After the first few weeks of drafting and finalizing a story of a Hero’s Journey, heroes will use the Pixton app to design a comic book that that tells their story!

Adventure | Biology 1:3

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This Session the Adventure Studio will be diving into part one of a 3 session science focused cycle with Biology. This series of three quests will help work learners up to the point of a medical biology quest where learners step into the shoes of Doctors diagnosing various diseases. Each week of the Biology Quest heroes will be exposed to challenges and games concerning a different part of Biology, from the tiniest of organisms to systems that affect our entire planet, and from the dawn of time to the latest scientific breakthroughs.

There will be a special emphasis on the idea of paradigm shift as they examine examples of the process of discovery and how that impacts scientific thought. 


In addition, as this session marks the midpoint of the year, we will be dedicating a part of this session to "Rebuild the Tribe." This simply means returning intentionally to the questions and ideas with which we began the year about why we are here and what we are building. Heroes will participate in a series of discussions, challenges and games that offer a process for reviewing and updating key studio systems, examining and improving the studio contract, and strengthening the studio community. 

Communication will be something of an assortment this session. Some of the heroes will be completing a Biology Hero Biography, where they will choose a great scientist - whether that be a Paradigm buster, a puzzle maker, or a data gatherer - and will focus their writing around the central question, " What made this person become one of the greatest scientists of all time?" Other heroes may be using this session to dive into a few other communication focused independent projects! 

For Civilization heroes will be continue examining the foundations of early America - the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Slavery and exploration and expansion. As always, their work will put them in the shoes of decision makers in history and their learning will center around the important question, "Why do some civilizations rise and others fall?"

​Onward!


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11/27/2022

Session 3 Here We Come!

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Rise & Fall of Civilizations

SESSION 3 HERE WE COME! ​
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We are excited to announce our Quests and other focus areas for each of our four mixed-age studios for the upcoming session. 

Traditionally, this is our "Civilization" themed session, where learners have the opportunity to explore various historical topics in a very hands on way. You can read more about our learning design here.
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Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

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Sparks

After spending the first two sessions rolling out studio systems and procedures, the studio foundation has been established. The heroes will spend this session further owning their learning, stepping into leadership roles, and setting + achieving goals for their learning journey!​
QUEST
This session the Spark Studio will be exploring the BIOMES OF THE WORLD.🌎 The heroes will get to explore the wonders of the Ocean🐠, Rainforest🦜, and Desert🌵 through hands-on challenges, books, and exploration!

HEROS OF THE WEEK

Each week of a session our sparks are introduced to a new hero from world history using the Ordinary People Change the World book series. This session the learners will meet: Helen Keller, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

CULTURE
On Fridays throughout the session the sparks also explore various cultures around the world. This session they will explore the South Pole, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Discovery

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Acton is a journey and there are simply so many layers to the Acton onion that we continue to roll various new pieces out throughout the first half of the year! This session is no different, the Discovery Studio will be experiencing Writer's Workshop challenges for the first time this year (see details below) AND will be launching a new Daily & Weekly SMART goal system!
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QUEST | US CITIZENSHIP

This session, the Discovery & Odyssey Studios will immerse themselves in U.S. Citizenship! The 
heroes will immerse themselves in the history of immigration in the United States, their family trees, and will experience what it’s like to be someone seeking to become a naturalized citizen, all while playing some games and reflecting upon the experience.

CIVILIZATION

This session, the Discovery Studio will take a break from 'The Story of the World' book they have been reading and instead shift to reading stories of Immigrants.

INTRODUCING WRITER'S WORKSHOP!


This session will be the first chance the Discovery Studio has experienced formalized writing challenges. This first session they will simply be journaling each day, taking time to write about their bricks (what's weighing them down) and balloons (what's lifting them up/ what they are excited about). In subsequent sessions they will have a station set up during meaningful works where they will be able to take on various writing challenges from writing and mailing a letter to a hero, to taking on typing challenges, and more!

Odyssey

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Last session the heroes in the Odyssey Studio voted that they would like to attend Wilderness Wednesdays more often and therefore they will now be joining the fun at Shiloh more often! This issue was raised in townhall, discussed and voted on. Proponents of the move talked about how fun it was and how they really wanted to be outside even more, those in opposition discussed how this meant less time to work towards badges, especially in Core Skills. Ultimately, they all decided this was an investment worth making. 

We share this brief insight, because this is Acton at work! Giving them the freedom and space to raise issues, discuss, debate, and solve as they see fit.

QUEST | US CITZENSHIP

As mentioned, the Odyssey Studio will be joining the Discovery Studio for this engaging Civilization themed Quest.  The Odyssey heroes will immerse themselves in the history of immigration in the United States and will experience what it’s like to be someone seeking to become a naturalized citizen. Through a series of challenges, they’ll assume the role of an immigrant and prepare for a naturalization test, all while playing some games and reflecting upon the experience.


WRITER'S WORKSHOP | LETTERS OF GRATITUDE
Coming off of Thanksgiving and heading into the holiday season, Session 3 felt like the perfect time to continue practicing gratitude. Heroes will be writing letters to the people, places, and things they are grateful for.



CIVILIZATION
The Odyssey Studio will continue to make decisions as they walk in the shoes of heroes from History using the Story
 of the World series as their guide. This session they travel to the 17th and 18th centuries and hearing stories from the Mughal Empire of India, the Great Plague in England, the life of the Sun King, and the rise of Prussia.


Adventure

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Session 3 Focus (Quest, Communication, Civilization)

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Each year, part of the rhythm of learning in the Adventure studio includes a Civilization focused session that will allow us to dive deeply into the roles of decision makers of the past . Thus this year, Session 3 will be built around the American Revolution. Quest, Civilization, and Communication badge work will all be unified around this theme as heroes dig into the central question:

“Should America's Founding Principles be Treasured or Redefined?” 

Part of the session will feature a gamified “revolution” experience - more on that when we get to week two, but if you’d like a preview, I’ll refer you back to chapter 5 of Courage to Grow!


Out and About: On Monday of week two of this session, the Adventure Studio has been invited to travel to the KLIN studio to meet with Doug Fitzgerald - author, entrepreneur, and host of “One Shot. One Life.” Doug has also extended an invite for some Acton heroes and families to join him on the air on Dec. 6 from 5-6PM on the KLIN Drive Time Show!

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11/10/2022

Deep Dive - 6 ingredients of a successful Quest

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Projects for the Real World

​Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills. Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.
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Ingredients of a Successful Quest
  • Exhibition: A great Quest starts with a powerful Exhibition as the goal. For example, in the "World-Changing Speech Quest," learners know on day one that during their Exhibition they will stand on stage for six minutes in front of their family and friends to deliver a speech.
  • Real-world skills: Quests focus on real-world skills, rather than memorizing facts for a test. For example, in the "Medical Biology Quest," learners diagnose diseases and interpret MRIs and X-Rays. At the Exhibition, learners test these skills on their families in a simulation.
  • Narrative and motivation: Learners play a real-life hero at a critical moment in history, solving a problem about which learners care deeply. For example, in the "Electricity Quest," learners develop patents for new electrical devices in Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park lab.
  • Real-world measurement: A Quest should have some way to measure and track outcomes, in a way that mirrors as closely as possible the real world. For example, in the "Bridge Building Quest," learners measure weight supported by the bridge vs. cost to build in order to determine a winner.
  • Expert valuation: Gone are the days when professionals visit schools to talk about their jobs. Instead, we invite high performing professionals and experts to come to our campus to provide real-world feedback on the work and projects of our learners. What better way to ensure our learners (and Guides) understand 21st century real-world demands?
  • Learner-led: A Guide may play a role setting the stage and facilitating discussion to launch each day and then call for Lessons Learned, but learners are largely on their own to navigate the challenges of the Quest. For example, in the "Detective Chemistry Quest," Guides leave clues for learners to then solve a crime on their own, using forensic science.
When do Quests Happen?
  • Three times per week, learners dedicate roughly 2 to 2.5 hours.

How is progress measured?
  • Points for challenges earned
  • Badges for completed Quests
  • Exhibitions showcasing finished work
  • Feedback from users and external experts
  • Portfolios for work they’re especially proud of

Read About Our Past Quests

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Special Thanks

to our friends at The Forest School: An Acton Academy for originally posting this content.

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11/8/2022

Learner Driven Learning Design

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Curriculum is a 4 letter word at Acton, but that doesn't mean we aren't intentional about learning design

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I've already spoken at length about how the word Curriculum is a 4 letter word at Acton. And though it may seem trivial, I would argue the difference between Curriculum & Learning Design is just as vast as the difference between Academics & Education.

"Curriculum" stirs up feelings of administration staff, who have never worked a day in a classroom, selecting textbooks from a list of suitors all trying to sell their version of "what children need to know" in this specific subject at this specific age.

For me, it implies something that's being chosen for you and done to you and is in no way learner-driven.

"Learning Design" on the other hand is simply a series of invitations, challenges, and questions designed to peak your curiosity and actively engage you in the learning process. 

I also tell every family that tours Acton - "We are NOT an Academically driven school, rather we are a Learner-Driven Community that emphasizes character development and leadership (Learning to Be)."

But just because we don't emphasize Academics doesn't mean we don't see Math, Reading and Writing as foundational skills needed to lead a successful life. We still believe in Learning to Do & Learning to Learn (Education).

That said, we also 
believe we don't need to artificially push a child along, label them as ahead or behind, or add pressure to learn a specific skill by a specific age.

We believe every child who enters our doors possesses the ability to learn these skills on their own and at their own pace.  We desire to see learners establishing a true LOVE of learning, then continuing to take on more and more challenging work overtime. 
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My goal in writing this is to simply communicate, to current and future Acton families, though I despise the word Curriculum, and say we aren't an Academically driven school, we still take our learning design very seriously at Acton Lincoln.

​The idea of focusing on MORE than simply academics can most easily be summarized in three words: Whole Child Development. Yes, Math and English are important pieces of the learning design, but they certainly are NOT our only focus:
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​Shifting gears slightly, here are some very brief thoughts on the more academically driven pieces of our Learning Design:
  1. We regularly leverage the network of 300+ Actons and 20,000+ pages of learning design documents for everything from selecting Coreskill programs to building badge plans, from individual launches to Quests and Civilization. This is the beauty of the Acton network - though we have the ability to adapt and change things, we aren't having to create everything from scratch and can lean on experts from around the world!

  2. Our basic learning design map for any given year (though it varies in scope based on the studio) is:

  • Quests (7 Sessions): Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills. Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history. 

    ​The annual formula we have adopted from Acton main : (1) Team Building/ Communication Focused Quest, (1) Entrepreneurship/ Psychology Focused Quest, (1) Civilization Focused Quest, (3) Science/ Design Logical Thinking Focused Quests, (1) Art/ Curiosity Focused Quest. 
    • For Example, this year the plan is for the Discovery Studio to complete the following Quests (always subject to change, but still following the formula above):
      • Build the Tribe/ Lip Dub (Communication/ Leadership)
      • E-Ship Quest (Entrepreneurship 101)
      • US Citizenship Quest (History/ Civilization)
      • Detective Quest (Science/ Logic)
      • Zookeeper Quest (Nature/ Science)
      • Community Garden Quest (Science)
      • Growing Curiosity Quest

  • Writer's Workshops/ Communication Challenges (4-5 Sessions): This process varies greatly from studio to studio with our Discovery Studio building this into their morning work rotations and our Adventure Studio working to perfect their craft. These workshops/ challenges range from podcast creation to writing persuasive speeches, from crafting an email to secure an apprenticeship to fiction-based writing. 

    I must also note that they are learning to write/ communicate in many other ways too, it just doesn't look the same as it did for you and I in school. They write townhall slips and draft meeting agendas, write 360 peer reviews, write reflections on Quest Challenges, and most importantly learn to formulate thoughts and craft arguments multiple times a day during Socratic launches. 

    A great example of some non-traditional writing opportunities that the heroes have just this week are:
    • Writing a thank you note to a veteran on Veteran's Day
    • Just yesterday, I posted a request to all studios to start having 1-2 representatives from each studio handle weekly posts in the Acton app, updating parents on studio life, launches, etc whatever they feel is important for parents to know.
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  • ​Civilization Badges (5 Sessions): For Discovery & Odyssey this is utilizing the Story of the World books, while the Adventure Studio focuses on moral dilemmas and hard choices throughout world history.

    This is Acton's version of World History, Geography, Sociology, etc.

    Putting heroes in the shoes of citizens and heroes throughout world history and asking 'why'. Why do some societies rise, while others fall?

    We also complete one Civilization based Quest each year too (Acton Athens, Colonial Acton, US Citizenship, Cartography, etc).

  • Core Skills (Daily 90-120 minutes): These are self-paced gamified programs designed to make the learning fun & engaging. The bulk of a learner's morning each day is spent building on these foundational skills as well as meaningful works & montessori works in the Spark & Discovery Studios.
    • ​Three facts, I often leave out with these programs and our mastery based system:
      1. We are asking heroes to MASTER each concept/ level. Not simply complete the work. This means we are asking FAR more of the learners than a traditional setting that pushes students along at an artificial pace set by the teacher, not the student. In short, we are asking learners to get an A+ on all their Math & English lessons. For some this means it will take them longer to move to the next concept, but you can be assured that the are building a STRONG foundation for what's to come next.
      2. The software programs we use go far more in-depth than a traditional textbook and worksheet method. Khan Academy for example (one of our Adventure Studio options for Math) covers 3x the material that a traditional Math curriculum would cover, because a traditional program simply doesn't have the time to go that in-depth and must continue to move on to cover all the material.
      3. As a fellow Acton parent, one thing I always come back to is a study that was done true self-paced learning in Math. The study found - if we waited until learners were truly ready & eager to learn math concepts they went from 2+2=4 to MASTERING Algebra in 75 hours!! In a traditional setting this takes 7-8 years of work!
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My hope is this blog post gives you a glimpse behind the curtain of our learning design.  (Even my wife, Heidi, said she learned something new in proofing this blog!). ​​We are always assessing and adjusting as we continue to learn more from everyone in the network.

The Adventure Studio will continue to build excellence into everything they do as the culture continues to build each year.

The goal of the Discovery Studio will be to build FUN & meaningful work into more and more aspects of the learning design, while the Odyssey studio works to be a bridge between those two worlds.

The Spark Studio simply focuses on learning through Montessori & play.

​It's always a work in progress, but that's the end goal.
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​This constant state of assessing and learning is also why we changed math software this year. Dreambox wasn't as fun & engaging, nor did it provide the immediate feedback loops for self-correction like Beast Academy. Plus Beast is actually far more comprehensive in nature too with built in instructional videos for when learners get stuck. Beyond that, we are able to lean on the Acton network here too, Beast came highly recommended from the network/ learners at other Actons which made the decision easier for us.

We didn't even have the space to touch on things like independent reading, handwriting, typing, foreign language, PE, Servant leadership badges, our outdoor program, or really any of the Learning to Be & Learning to Learn concepts in the "Whole Child Development" graphic above. 

All of which play a VITAL role in the overall learning design and badge plans of each of our learners.


My questions for you are,
  1. Are you willing to trust your child with their learning journey?  Trusting they can & will learn these basic foundational skills on their way to discovering their world changing passions...

    If the answer is yes, then ask yourself:


  2. Is Acton's Learner-Driven Community the right setting for that journey to unfold for your family?

    No school is utopia, Acton certainly isn't either. But it is a place that affords EVERY learner that sets foot inside our doors the opportunity to learn to learn, learn to do, and learn to be. All on their own timeline. It's messy. It's hard. It's certainly not the same linear, well mapped out path that comes when curriculum is mapped out for students day by day, quarter by quarter, age grouping by age grouping. No the journey at Acton is FAR richer, and FAR more empowering for a hero on a journey of becoming a life long learner. 

    If the answer to both of these questions are yes, then ask yourself:

  3. Given the time, space, and resources, Do I believe there is anything my child can't learn on their own that they need for their journey?

    If the answer is yes, I would love to hear your reasoning so we can dig into this together, before taking on the challenge.

    If the answer to the final question is no, then I want to leave you with a challenge to continue to equip you for the Acton parenting journey:

My challenge for you, should you desire to dig deeper on our Learner-Driven Learning Design is to complete one or more of the Learning Design Family Badges. There are badges for parents to learn more about: Writing at Acton, Quests, Excellence, Mastery, and more!

Onward!
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11/4/2022

A School that encourages Failure

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Overcoming Early Failures & Challenges

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​The following was written by Acton Mom, Tori Anderson on their families journey at Acton Lincoln. There is no utopia and growth is uncomfortable. Acton is designed to place learners AND parents outside their comfort zones on a regular basis.
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The first thing I heard was 'we believe all kids are geniuses and will change the world' — I cried. That was something we believed about him but just didn’t know how to cultivate in the school setting we had chosen for him. 
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​Acton Lincoln
came to us at a time where our oldest was in the public school after trying private schools in Lincoln and everything in between.

We were midway into 2020 when online learning was not going well and we were all frustrated at home. We watched a video that solidified everything my husband and I believed and wished for our children…that they have the ability to change the world.
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Our start to Acton was rocky and there were so many times we all wanted to quit. But we knew that there was a reason we found ourselves here. We are so thankful for Acton and all it continues to teach us as a family. We are all life-long learners and we can’t wait to see where our family continues to grow.​

​We finished our year in public school and made the transition hoping for the best but, ultimately, not knowing what to expect. Elijah, our oldest, 8 at the time, did not thrive. He struggled. We watched him unlearn a lot of the things he excelled at in public school as he is very intelligent but only knew how to use that skill to ace tests and finish work early to have “free time.”
At Acton, it isn’t about the testing, it is about the personal development, a skill that we longed for our children to develop but didn’t have the tools to encourage it by ourselves. Acton is that tool for us. As the year progressed, Elijah struggled more. He struggled having his voice heard. He struggled with his peers. He struggled finding his place in the studio. He struggled with his emotions as he learned how to manage those emotions as he became more frustrated along the way. Acton is hard. But they are allowing heroes to fail, early, cheaply, often, in order to learn hard lessons now when the stakes are low.

But he also excelled. He excelled at his problem solving skills. His adventurous spirit came out of him–our once fearful child is now climbing trees and exploring the wilderness and nature like never before. He has learned how to share his feelings in a healthy way. He has learned time management skills–something we are still working on as adults. He is learning how to be a better leader, as his sister has now joined him at Acton in the Spark Studio, and as he has the chance to be a part of his studio council.
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Our start to Acton was rocky and there were so many times we all wanted to quit. But we knew that there was a reason we found ourselves here. Elijah, and now Emme, are learning the hard lessons of life now. But they aren’t learning them alone. They have peers they can lean on, guides they trust, and us, their parents, who love and support them in the process along the way. We are so thankful for Acton and all it continues to teach us as a family. We are all life-long learners and we can’t wait to see where our family continues to grow.

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Tori Anderson - Acton Mom

The preceding Acton story was written and shared by Tori Anderson, an Acton mom who wanted to share their family's struggles and successes to help other families.

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10/15/2022

Deep Dive -  Socratic Guiding at Acton

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What do we really mean by
​"guides Don't Answer Questions"

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Deep Dives - a new series where one a session our head guide, Mr. Luke, will dive into a different system or process at Acton to shed light on the system and revisit the 'why' behind it. 

​If you asked any Hero at Acton what the difference between a teacher and a guide is, I can almost guarantee that they would begin with, “Well, guides don’t answer questions.”

This is one of the first things that many people learn about Acton and it is one of the critical ways in which Acton is different. The irony however, is that it is also one of the most misunderstood aspects of Acton’s learning design, including the heroes themselves who can mistake "guides don't answer questions" to mean "guides aren't here to help." This couldn't be further from the truth.

I speak from experience on this because this is something that we as a staff at Acton have spent the better part of a year now wrestling with and trying to fully understand. My hope with this post is to share some of what we have come to understand about guides not answering questions - especially why we hold such a strict standard and what this really looks like in practice.
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​"It’s true that guides DON’T answer questions, yes, but the flip side of that is that we DO - commit to remaining Socratic 100% of the time.  Being Socratic means more than just avoiding questions. It means that the way we respond to questions is by offering choices, tools, or additional questions with the purpose of igniting curiosity and equipping learners to solve their own problems."
This is the goal, but like most things at Acton, the day to day is sometimes messy.  So if our attempts to be Socratic come off as a little snarky or simply frustrating, I think part of that can be attributed to the fact that its a new and unfamiliar thing and part of it comes down to the fact that as guides, we are all still very much in the process of honing this really difficult skill. Don’t get me wrong here - I’m not trying to make excuses - I’m saying we know this is a craft that takes years to hone, and we are always working to better our craft. 

But I can also assure you our goal really is exactly as I’ve described above and we are committed to working really hard at developing these skills so we can build a true learner-driven community where every learner is trusted to make good decisions, develop resourcefulness and initiative, and become a lifelong learner. 

The question has been raised by owners, parents, guides, and heroes alike across the network, does answering questions really mean NEVER answering questions or does it simply apply to 'learning questions'? Surely it's okay for little things like, “How are you doing today?” or “What’s that password again?”

Two thoughts on this:
  1. Exceptions like this would make my life A LOT easier!
  2. But what’s the cost? To me, it's like telling white lies. They may seem better than the truth in the moment, but what's the cost in the long run?

I’ve talked to a hundreds of people about Acton over the past few years, and when I try to explain how it works one of the most common responses I get is something along the lines of, “This sounds great, but the kids can’t really be in charge of all that? It would just be chaos!”

It’s hard for people to believe that adults would really step back out and trust the heroes with so much freedom and so much responsibility.

The reality is the only way we’ll ever be successful at building a strong learner driven community is if the learners (and parents/families) can trust us to truly remain Socratic and not overstep the bounds of the commitments we have made. Every time we don’t it erodes that trust and impedes the process. It creates a slippery slope with more and more potential to overstep. (Think white lies)

The most famous saying of Lord Acton, the Victorian Era politician and writer who is the namesake of our school and network goes like this, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

So another part of the reason for such a stark rule (guides are Socratic 100% of the time) is that the only way for the guides at Acton to avoid the slippery step of overstepping our authority is to stay well back from the edge.  In this sense, the practice of guides not ever answering questions is a truly critical component of the life-blood of the culture we are building.

One of the biggest roadblocks we’ve had to work through on this as a staff is the sense that this all sounds great in theory, but in practice, it's sometimes really hard to do without coming off as a jerk. So last year we made exceptions. But as we continued to wrestle with this, we’ve found that it really is possible to remain Socratic 100% of the time while also being warm and encouraging and building connections in the community!
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"...it really is possible to remain Socratic 100% of the time while also being warm and encouraging and building connections in the community."

To understand what I mean, I’d like to invite you to step into my shoes for a moment and imagine this: It’s about 8:15 AM and you’re standing at the door greeting a steady stream of learners as they get dropped off at school to start a day filled with important work. Lots of smiling faces. Energy, life, excitement. It’s a great way to start the day. 
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But inevitably, this complex moral dilemma plays out: A smiling hero shakes your hand and says, “Good morning, Mr. Luke, how are you today?” I get that for most people, this isn’t exactly a crisis, but as a guide who signed a contract explicitly stating you won’t answer questions, this situation poses a problem. It seems like you have a couple of options:
  1. Just answer the question. Sure, you made a promise, but it’s just a little one. No big deal right? Surely, they don’t really mean that guides don’t ever answer any questions…
  2. Refuse to answer. Take their warm friendly greeting and throw it back in their face. Guides don’t answer questions. Period.
  3. Give an awkward, sort of snarky sounding non-answer like, “How do you think I am this morning?”

What would you do in my shoes?

If I’m completely honest here, I’ve probably done versions of all three of these at some point. All might seem to have their merits, but if none seem terribly satisfying, that's actually good - because in reality none of them are the response of a true Socratic guide.

It’s true that guides DON’T answer questions, yes, but the flip side of that is that we DO - commit to remaining Socratic 100% of the time.  Being Socratic means more than just avoiding questions. It means that the way we respond to questions is by offering choices, tools, or additional questions with the purpose of igniting curiosity and equipping learners to solve their own problems.

Here’s something really important that needs to be clear: We actually want learners at Acton to ask lots of questions. Research shows that children around the age of 5 ask an average of 100 questions per day. And then they start school and that number simply falls off a cliff until about age 11 where many children are essentially asking no questions at all.

So at least a part of our goal in remaining Socratic is to honor and encourage children’s curiosity. Our intent is to communicate the idea that a question asked by a learner is an awesome thing and that one question should lead to more questions. We want to trust and equip them to go out and search for the answer and hopefully uncover even more interesting and exciting questions along the way.

We’ve found that when we simply answer questions, we are robbing heroes of incredibly valuable opportunities to follow their own curiosity, make their own decisions (and learn from the consequences), or draw others in and make important connections. We want them to ask questions, but in the process to gain the confidence to search for answers themselves.
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What Makes Learning Happen | Laura Sandefer on the Socractic Method

Pay special attention from 3:49 - 11:13

To show you what I mean here are three different examples of how a Socratic guide might respond to different sorts of questions:


Learning Questions: “Mr. Luke, I’ve been working on this Math problem for like 20 minutes and I can’t figure it out.”
  • Not Very Socratic Response: Well, have you done 3B4G?
  • Socratic Response: Wow, It sounds like you’ve been working at this for a long time. I’d call that some serious grit. Tell me a little bit of what you have done so far that hasn’t worked? 

(Depending on how they answer offer options/ A-B choices like the ones below)

  1. Would it be more helpful to take a break and come back to math in 15 minutes OR go back now and read through the instructions and problem slowly and carefully one more time? 
  2. Do you think it would be more helpful to review the video and hints in the practice section or do a Google search for dividing with complex fractions?”
  3. I know that Angie just finished that unit and Fred is on the same one - would you like to check in with one of them to see if they have any insights?

Process/Information Questions: “Mr. Luke, what time is PE today?”
  • Not Very Socratic Response: Guides don’t answer questions. Figure it out yourself.
  • Socratic Response: Great question - That’s awesome that you’re planning ahead and trying to stay on time. But as a Socratic guide, I’m not going to answer that question because I trust you to find your own answer. Would you like to check the schedule on the wall or ask a fellow traveler in your studio?

Personal Questions: “Mr. Luke, how are you today?”
  • Not Very Socratic Responses: See the three options given at that start of this post
  • Socratic Response: Thanks so much for asking! Your curiosity about me shows a deep kindness that I admire. But you can trust me as a Socratic guide which means I care about you enough to not answer even little questions. I’d really love to hear about how your day is going so far OR if you’d rather, you could head out back to the playground to find somebody who looks like they really need someone to ask how they are doing. 
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And perhaps a final note - The concern was brought to us recently by an AAL parent that guides not answering personal questions builds walls between heroes and guides and makes us distant or unapproachable. If you’ve thought this as well - you’re not alone. It’s something that has been brought up and discussed across the world-wide Acton network. But our heartfelt belief is that those bonds can be built without violating the promise to not answer questions. When a hero asks a personal question:
  • We can honor and encourage thoughtful questions (“Thanks so much for asking, it really shows how much you care”)
  • We can use it as an opportunity to build trust, a critical foundation of any relationship (“I made a promise to remain Socratic and you can trust me not to answer this questions”)
  • We can use it to foster a deeper connection (“I’d really love to hear about your weekend” …followed by more probing questions, and when the window presents itself still share about ourselves)
  • We can turn them back to the community at large (“I’d like to challenge you to go ask three heroes you haven’t talked to in a while the same question”)

We also have other ways of sharing about ourselves - mostly in sharing testimony and stories in launches - and in reserving it to these special times it makes these revelations all the more valuable and meaningful. There are many other small ways that we as guides can build warm, meaningful relationships with heroes - greeting heroes by name or learning and remembering details about their lives and families, for example, while still remaining completely Socratic.

Everything we do at Acton is built upon the central belief that every person who walks through our doors is a genius on a hero's journey to find a calling and change the world.  Having truly Socratic Guides instead of teachers is a critical part of the recipe for making learner driven education work. We are so grateful to have such an awesome group of learners and families that are willing to both dig into this hard and important part of Acton and also to challenge us as a staff to grow in our own understanding of how and why we guide Socratically! Onward!

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Mr. Luke

Mr. Luke is our Adventure Studio Guide & Team Lead

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8/30/2022

Lift Off! Session 1

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We have lift off!

We kicked off our 2022-23 school year on Monday. This year our learners will be exploring the overarching question "Can one hero truly change the world?" They will begin with session one, by working hard on team building, communication and leadership development. This will look slightly different in each studio, but the goal is the same: Build the Tribe and create a strong foundation for the year, heroes will be drafting, trialing, and finally writing their own studio contract. Along with establishing their own “laws” for studio life.

Take a glimpse to each studio's first session culminating with their public exhibition in October!

Sparks

Build the Tribe, All About Acton
For the Spark Studio, their build the tribe quest will be broken down into focus areas/ goals for each week of the session. Here is the breakdown of each week:
  1. To build a tribe where learners feel known and connected (teamwork)
  2. To introduce systems of the studio
  3. To establish the guardrails and routines that allow learners to work independently
  4. To introduce Montessori works to the learners
  5. To explore emotions and how to appropriately regulate them
  6. To grow in understanding of the hero's journey and the question of the year
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Discovery Heroes building community by playing games together!
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Adventure Heroes reading notes to Spark Heroes from their parents on day one.

Discovery

Quest | Build the Tribe, Lip Dub + Cardboard City
The Discovery studio will be keeping with the theme of build the tribe. They will accomplish this through group activities - like filming a Lip Dub and building a Cardboard City - games, diving into the various Acton systems, reflecting and sharing during launches, and settling into their studio routine!

Core Skills and Meaningful Works will be rolled out over the course of this session as well.
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Heroes enjoying free time! Our learners average 90 minutes of outdoor time a day!!
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Odyssey Heroes working to memorize the song lyrics for their Lip Dub.

Odyssey

Quest | Build the Tribe, Lip Dub + Squad Olympics
Along with establishing their own “laws” for studio life, Odyssey heroes will participate in the 2022 Acton Lip Dub Competition. The Odyssey Studio will be choosing a song and then planning, choreographing, filming, and finally submitting a Lip-Dub video! For the second half of the session, the Odyssey Studio will be hosting the 2022 Squad Olympics! Heroes will compete with their squads in events that will challenge their physical, mental, and creative skills. Throughout the entire session heroes will be diving into the Hero’s Journey and will be keeping Hero Journals and designing Hero Boards that answer the questions: “What makes a hero?“, “Who are my heroes?“, “What gifts do I have?“, and “Where/How do I find my flow?"
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A few of the Adventure Heroes working on an Escape Room in a box. Will they escape?
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Adventure Heroes working hard to 'build the tribe' with a team challenge.

Adventure

Quest: Build the Tribe - Make the Escape
Session 1 in the Adventure Studio is all about bringing together a diverse group of unique individuals to create a world class community that will support each member on a hero's journey to find a calling and change the world. What better way to do that than with a real world, big picture challenge to create something awesome, that will require courage, collaboration, grit, and will also be a lot of fun?  Thus this session, the heroes in the Adventure studio will be challenged with designing, building, marketing, and running a pop-up escape room in their studio. Over the course of the first few weeks, the heroes will even have the opportunity to earn the ability (and some awesome tools) to open their escape room to the public and earn real money for their studio. Along the way heroes can expect plenty of traditional team building activities and discussions and work geared towards creating and shaping studio systems to support individual growth and heroic culture.

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Communication (Writing) - Hero Essay
This first session's Communication Badge will feature a fairly traditional essay writing that is designed to invite hero's to explore and communicate their own hero's journey while also diving deeply into the Acton approach to developing powerful and effective writers. Heroes will dive into topics such as their gifts and passions, core values, hopes, dreams, and fears as they craft, revise, and publish an essay answering will help them to deeply consider the critical question of "Who am I and where am I going?"

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8/5/2022

Heidi's Picks - Top 7 Acton Blog Posts

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Heidi’s Top-7 Acton Blogs

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Summertime- a great time for fun, quick, inspirational reads. When asked to compile my favorite blog posts, I was challenged to keep the list short…my goal was five, I stopped myself at seven. 

The Acton Academy network is FULL of inspiration, of testimony, of stories- all from like-minded people who have chosen to be different, those who have chosen Acton. I imagine you will relate to many of these posts just as I have. It’s powerful to be reminded that we are not on this journey alone, that there are literally thousands of families across the globe choosing the same path.

I’ve also included both posts written about our family and our “why” because they are the foundation of Acton Academy Lincoln. While we have learned and grown IMMENSELY since these first words were written, our “why” has remained the same and I will never tire of being reminded why we are here.

  1. Call Us Crazy, We're Starting a School!
  2. Building a Fiercely Independent School in Lincoln
  3. Virtual School Helps Mom Realize Something HAD to Change
  4. Why I Left Acton, A Mother's Story
  5. An Evening in the Life of an Acton Parent
  6. Lost Happiness, A Story From the Studio
  7. Three Odd Things to Fall-in-Love With This Summer​

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Happy reading, happy summer.

Heidi

P.S - If you're not already follow Laura Sandefer's Blog on Being an Acton Parent, you SHOULD be!

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5/31/2022

It's Time for Session 7!

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​The Final Session of the Year is here!

And just like that we have arrived at the final session of our first full year! 
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​Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.
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If you'd like to look back at previous sessions quests you can do so here, but this year our learners have explored the following areas through their Quest time:
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Spark Studio
  • Servant Leadership
  • Holidays & Cultures Around the World
  • Space Explorers (Outer Space & Space Travel)
  • Healthy Living
  • Survivor Quest
Discovery Studio
  • Architecture Quest
  • Podcast Creation
  • Art Quest
  • Mechanical Engineering (Arcade Game Design/ Build)
  • Survivor Quest
Adventure Studio
  • World Traveler Quest
  • Edison's Lab (Intro to Science at Acton)
  • Physics Quest 
  • Electrical Engineering (Build a Model City)
  • Survivor Quest

~Session 7 Quests~

Spark Studio

Growing Curiosity - This will be a learner-led quest in which the heroes voted on various topics they were interested in and will get the chance to dive deeper into them each week of this session.
The heroes will be provided with 2-3 options of challenges each week that they will be able to complete independently with the materials provided to them.
  • Week #1: Exploring Electricity
  • Week #2: Exploring Color
  • Week #3: Exploring Farming
  • Week #4: Exploring Trees

​Biomes:
 
"Create your own ecosystem"
  • Heroes will be provided with various craft supplies and get to design their own ecosystem from the rainforest, desert, or ocean biomes, all of which were ecosystems they learned about earlier this year.

Discovery Studio

Quest: World Traveling! We will "fly" to each of the 7 continents of the world, where the heroes will have the freedom to explore individual countries' cartography/ geography, culture, and language. After covering the 7 continents, heroes will choose one country to fully immerse themselves in for a more in-depth study.
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Writer's Workshop: For the Love of Writing Around the World! This Writer's Workshop is all about growth in writing - both growth in skills and in the love of writing. Each hero will complete multiple pieces of writing, but they get to choose a plan in their challenge zone to reach that goal!
They have a variety of prompts all based on the continents and world traveling - with the emphasis on exploration, creativity, and fostering still the love of writing.

Adventure Studio

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Quest - Art and Creativity

Are artists discovered or created?  What is art? Is art valuable?  Your job in this quest is to answer these questions through deliberate practice of art, and careful studying of artistic heroes and their works.

Goals: Study the foundations of drawing and technique, make an educated decision about a specialty or niche to study further and make a deliberate practice of as you work towards a public showcase and gallery art sale of your works.
​

Exhibition: Public Art Showcase (with visitors looking to purchase art under a randomly assigned persona and budget).
​


Genre - Short Essay and Creative Writing
​

The Acton approach to building great writers is to write a lot and to utilize a powerful system of peer review, critique, and revision. This session's genre is designed to both inspire and equip the heroes as writers by offering them the opportunity to write a number of short pieces on topics they choose and then to select their best work to take through a process of critique, revision, and publishing.

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5/25/2022

Parent's frustration with school leads to Acton

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Parents Reflect on their Journey to Acton:

"We can't think of a better legacy than this."
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We had high expectations for Acton Academy coming in, and Acton has exceeded them.

​Our journey to Acton is probably like many others. We felt there was more to education than what we'd seen with traditional schooling. And that's not a knock on the teachers, only the current system they work in, which in our view is suboptimal. Reading books like Nurture Shock and The Talent Code and listening to TED Talks like Sir Ken Robinson's opened our eyes to a new way of thinking and inspired use to explore alternative education options in Lincoln, Nebraska. We questioned why today's approach to traditional schooling is essentially the same as decades ago. 
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Why the disconnect in our school system? Why not emphasize usable skills in today's world--creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking--instead of procedural rigamarole?
A series of events then unfolded that led us to Acton Academy Lincoln. First, our daughter, who is very much an outside-the-box thinker and someone who is always coming up with new ideas, was being graded on her handwriting in 1st grade. What wasn't on the checklist scorecard was creativity, where she thrives. Why is that? Doctors toil for years after college, working long hours to perfect their craft, and we consider them successful in life. You know what else they're known for...having illegible handwriting. So why the disconnect in our school system? Why not emphasize usable skills in today's world--creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking--instead of procedural rigamarole? Our daughter would come home from traditional school exhausted, no doubt because they forced her to learn in a manner that didn't suit her best. We can only imagine how many other kids are in her shoes.  
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​During the fall of 2020 through the spring of 2021, we homeschooled our daughter. Our daughter thrived under this less rigid education model. She had the autonomy to study what she wanted when she wanted. To spend more time on something that interested her and less time on what didn't while still getting the work done. The idea that a one-size-fits-all approach works for school doesn't make much sense. The home school experiment was not a long-term solution, so thankfully, we learned about Acton during the tail end of our daughter's second-grade year.  
We had high expectations for Acton Academy coming in, and Acton has exceeded them. We love this school, its mission, philosophy, and how it encourages kids to be kids—Forest Fridays, learning about podcasts and outdoor survival, engineering, etc. We love the mixed-age studios and how everyone works together and encourages each other. Focusing on critical thinking skills, collaborating with your peers, communication, and brainstorming creative ways to solve problems are vital skills for today's world.   
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Not to mention, we love the entrepreneurial focus of Acton and how they encourage young minds to consider the possibilities and challenge the status quo. A person can read about starting a business or running a business until they're blue in the face, but nothing replaces doing those things. Firsthand experience is essential to growth; it's where the mistakes are made and thus where the lessons are learned. It's much safer to stay on the sidelines and criticize others doing the work, but the actual rewards are in the doing. At Acton, kids learn to be, learn to do, and learn to learn. Acton is creating lifelong learners and kids who have a growth mindset. We can't think of a better legacy than this.

- Jon & Audrey Sevenker

Acton Lincoln Parents

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5/17/2022

Children Thrive in Part Time Kindergarten

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Lincoln's Top Rated Private School Now Offering
​Part Time Kindergarten (And PRe-K)

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When we first started looking for Kindergarten options in Lincoln, Nebraska one of the most important things for our family was to have a part-time option for our daughter. 

As we searched, it quickly became apparent that there weren't many options for part-time Kindergarten, let alone ones we saw working long term for our family.

Needless to say, it has always been part of our vision to offer a part-time Pre-K and Kindergarten option at Acton Lincoln. Today that vision is a reality! We are happy to announce we will begin offering a limited number of part-time seats in the fall, with the hope of growing this option in the future!

Our montessori Spark Studio

Our Montessori based Spark Studio is designed to give your 4.5 - 7 year old learners the chance to build the math, reading, self-regulatory, and
social skills needed for success in the highly independent Acton Elementary Studio, or wherever their journey takes them next.

​Our Spark heroes practice basic goal setting and complete challenges at their own pace to earn learning "badges" in math, reading, and citizenship. The rest of the time, they learn through exploration in a series of hands-on
project Quests and present what they've discovered at an exhibition at the end of each Session.
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Give Your Child The Opportunity To:

  • Learn through play and hands-on exploration
  • Practice basic goal setting
  • Identify issues and vote on solutions
  • Move at his/her own pace in math and reading
  • Strengthen self-regulation
Nobody wants to be in the last generation that remembers when it was considered normal and expected for children to go outside and play. Nobody.

​-Richard Louv

Outdoor Program

We are excited to announce our revamped Wilderness Wednesdays in partnership with Camp Sonshine - Shiloh, where our learners will spend the day exploring and immersing themselves in nature. Barring extreme weather, we will spend half the day in free play, simply learning to 'be in nature' and half the day completing challenges, hiking, and developing outdoor & survival skills. They will also have the opportunity to work together, build shelters, and become connected to our natural world and each other. ​

    Request More Information on our Part Time Option!

Request Info

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4/19/2022

Session 6 | Survivor Quest

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Survivor Quest is here!

Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.
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This session our entire school will be diving into the "Survivor" Quest which, as the name suggests, is focused on a variety of survival based skills and challenges. Heroes will dive into basic human needs like food, water, shelter, and warmth and will learn skills to take care of those needs in a wilderness setting. They'll get to try their hand at a variety of awesome hands on activities like starting fires with magnifying glasses and flint & steel, setting up tents, purifying water, and practicing first aid skills (Adventure Heroes will get first aid certified!). This Quest is built to offer the right level of challenge to heroes no matter their previous experience or initial comfort level with the outdoors. While all three studios will be completing this quest, the specific challenges will vary across studios.

This Quest also culminates in a camping trip for our Adventure and Discovery Studios, where they will have the chance to put their newfound skills to the test! And while they will walk away with some practical skills they can take with them, the more important skills of critical thinking, problem solving and overall confidence are far more valuable take aways!

Spark Studio

Biomes | Desert
Each session hero's in the Spark Studio spend time exploring a different Biome from around the world using our Waseka Biome Readers, with the goal of sparking curiosity & a love for reading. This session they will be exploring the Desert Biome!

Discovery studio

Writer's Workshop | For the Love of Writing - Let's Grow!
This Writer's Workshop is all about growth in writing - both growth in skills and in the love of writing. Each hero will write 6 or more pieces of writing, but they get to choose a plan in their challenge zone to reach that goal!
They have a variety of prompts to spark their writing - from "What would you like to invent?" to "Finish the story" scenarios.

Adventure Studio

Genre Writing | Apprenticeship Prep

Heroes will dip their feet into one of the most important and unique aspects of the learning design at Acton - real world apprenticeships.

Heroes will begin with research on industries, companies, and professionals that interest them, then narrow their list to their top three possibilities, and then spend most of their time on the process of actually securing an apprenticeship. It might sound a little intimidating, but the daily challenges will walk heroes through a tried and true step by step process for finding and securing an apprenticeship.

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3/9/2022

Deep Dive | Launches

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socractic launches

We don't do lectures at Acton. We have launches!
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  • Launches serve three purposes: to inspire, equip and connect.

How do you demand attention, teach key skills or keep young people in order if a guide has limited authority and is unable to questions or lecture?

In many ways, it’s a mis-framed question for a learner-driven community. But the short answer is that Heroes get everything they need for the day in a few 15-minute Launches, written and delivered by a guide or (even better) a Hero.
  • To Inspire by connecting to a challenge, hero or world-class example that lifts your eyes to the horizon and gives you energy.
  • To Equip by offering a process, recipe, algorithm or framework that leads to better decisions and habits.
  • To Connect by bringing the tribe closer together with each other, fellow travelers or loved ones.

“To Inspire” comes first, because without a “Why?” it’s unlikely Heroes will embrace a new process or want to work together.

Description
The 15 minutes of group time at the start of the day, before a work sprint, and to kick off project time is called the “Launch.” It’s a powerful moment because it gives your studio the opportunity to get inspired, equipped, and connected before embarking on the next challenge. At the end of a successful Launch, everyone is ready to get something important done.

Here's your chance to step into the shoes of a guide...

Questions for your studio
It’s 8:30 a.m. Heroes are arranged in a circle. The Exhibition is in two days and there are at least four days of work left to do. Do you launch by: inspiring Heroes with a moving video about a sprint to the finish; equipping them to create a plan to prioritize and execute on the last stages of the Quest; or connect the tribe by sharing personal experiences of sprinting towards a deadline?

A week later, it’s early in a new Learning Arc. You start preparing for your next launch by assessing needs. Do energy and intentionality need attention? Is there a key process or framework that needs to be introduced to uplift the culture or execute on a difficult learning challenge? Do you need to introduce incentives or encouragement to unite the tribe or break up cliques?

How will you inject energy, right from the start of the launch? Will you do a quick physical activity, watch a short video, or tell an “imagine this . . .” story? Or perhaps you will share a personal testimonial, tell about the struggle of a hero, describe a big upcoming event, or do a centering exercise?

Which opening question will place each Hero in his or her own shoes or the shoes of a protagonist, facing an extremely important and difficult moral decision that requires immediate action and someday may be faced by each Hero in real life?

What two to four “anchor questions” will you ask, in what order, to dig deeper, provide more perspective, diagnose a problem or create an action plan? During today’s launch, will you focus more on Socratic process to enhance critical thinking skills, the needs or a few to be heard or making progress on a critical decision faced by the studio?

Finally will you close the day with “lessons learned;” next steps or a call to action, for example:
  • “What do you absolutely have to get done today?”
  • “How many minutes until we are focused on important work?”
  • “What is the one thing you promise not to do today to make sure you don’t get distracted?”


It's through these daily launches that we develop

  • Clear thinking, which leads to good decisions,
  • Good decisions lead to the right habits,
  • The right habits lead to character and
  • Character becomes destiny!

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3/9/2022

Deep Dive | Learning to Be

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What exactly do you mean by "Learning to Be"?

The following is a Deep Dive into "Learning to Be" at Acton Lincoln.
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At Acton Academy we promise Heroes will find a calling that will change the world by:
  • Learning to learn;
  • Learning to do; and
  • Learning to be.

The final “learning to be” promise means finding ways through difficult challenges and decisions to deeply etch habits of positive character traits into each soul, while rubbing away the negative habits that take away from who we are destined to become, if we want to reach our full potential.
Acton Academy’s Learning Philosophy is:
  • Clear thinking leads to good decisions,
  • Good decisions lead to the right habits,
  • The right habits lead to character and
  • Character becomes destiny.

Learning to learn means finding the recipes, processes and algorithms that help us make better decisions and more deeply embed the right habits of critical thinking.  

Learning to do means making practical decisions in the real world to accomplish great tasks, as a way to change the world.    

But however important the tasks of learning to learn and learning to do, the most important part of finding the Grail in the Hero’s Journey is not the Grail itself, but how the hero is changed in the process.  This is the essence of learning to be.

We want Eagles near the end of a successful, satisfying and fulfilling life to have answer to three important questions:
  1. Did I contribute something meaningful?
  2. Was I a good person?  and
  3. Who did I love and who loved me?

As such, through launches, studio processes and Servant Leader badges we continually stress the connection between daily tasks and “learning to be” or the process of becoming who you were meant to become.

Variation Across Studios

In the Elementary Studio, much of the “learning to be” impact comes from hero stories, working together in curiosity-filled quests and “learning to be” badges, supported by Full-Circle Feedback from peers.

In the Middle School Studio, 360 feedback and Hero Bucks become even more critical for earning additional freedom and responsibility through Freedom Levels, all supporting the habits of self-management and self-governance, as recorded in Servant Leader Badges.

By Launchpad, many of the most important “learn to be” habits are deeply embedded, and increasingly put into action in lower studios through Servant Leader badges, while attention shifts towards who Launch padders will become in their “next great adventure” in the real world. 

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2/16/2022

Announcing Session 5 Quests!

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Announcing
​Session 5 Quests!

We are thrilled to announce our quests for our Spark, Discovery, and Adventure Studios for this upcoming session.

As our learners continue to work towards answering their overarching question of the year, "How do we build a heroic culture?" each studio will spend the first week back this session revisiting all things Acton. From their daily launches, to Freedom levels, from Core Skills to their contracts, they will explore how these systems help build culture and why each is an important building block for a successful Acton experience!

On top of that, we are also partnering with Tiger Rock Martial Arts this session, to allow all of our heroes to try out Taekwondo during PE, culminating in a Taekwondo showcase as part of our public exhibition on March 31st!

Spark Studio

Quest: Healthy Living

​It's pretty remarkable if you stop to consider, the only world our youngest heroes have ever known is a world fixated on the pandemic. We are coming up on two years since the world shut down. This world altering event marked the beginning of their school experience and in many ways the outside world of masks and hand sanitizer is the only world they've known.
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But what does it truly look like to live a healthy life?

Our Spark studio will explore how factors like food, exercise, sleep/ screen time, and mental health all contribute to the strength of their immune systems and ultimately their ability to live a long healthy life!
​
Biome of the Session: The Rainforest
The Sparks will dive into the world of rainforests, exploring the ins and outs of this diverse and important ecosystem!

Discovery Studio

Quest: Build an Arcade -  Mechanical Engineering
The Challenge:  Use the Engineering Design Process, along with completing a series of challenges, as a team of mechanical engineers to develop and build a new arcade game to be showcased at the exhibition! ​
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Imagine this… you are a mechanical engineer who works for one of the biggest arcade companies in the world.  Your challenge is to create a new arcade game that will win the prize for generating the most income at your company’s exhibition on March 31st.  Not only will the winning team be promoted within the company with the honor of having designed the company's most popular new game, but each team member will receive a Chick-fil-A gift card as well!  Buckle your seatbelts, here we go! 
​
Writer's Workshop: Pitch a Pet
​Narrative: The learners have a big responsibility: to better the community by choosing whether or not to purchase a studio pet, and if so, which pet to choose. They come up with proposals, conduct the appropriate research, learn the art of persuasion, ask others to join them, and then vote on a final decision. 

Adventure Studio

Quest: Building an Electric City​

​Do great cities come from central planning or citizens choosing?
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The Challenge: You are placed in the shoes of a mayor/ city planner and must balance the wants and needs of different residents, and ultimately build a great city!

In this Quest, Lions will have the chance to deeply explore electricity and quantum mechanics, and put theory to concrete use by constructing functioning 21st-century cities.  Throughout, they’ll be challenged to function as effective teams - setting goals, dividing work, and managing projects in the face of uncertainty and aggressive deadlines.
​
Genre: "I Have a Dream For My Community" Speeches

The learner's genre challenge this session is to write a persuasive speech to designed to help improve something in their community. They have six weeks to work their way through a series of writing challenges, culminating with a speech where they "stand on the box" and give their 5-8 minute persuasive speech.

Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

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2/7/2022

What Parents Can Expect From Exhibitions...

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Exhibitions 101

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Acton’s Exhibitions of Learning take place at the end four to seven-week sprints that make up a session. Much like an agile software sprint, sessions have a real-world deliverable at the end, often presented to a live studio audience made up of more than parents.

Exhibitions are performances, with stakes as high as possible. We want Heroes to feel more like Steve Jobs presenting the iPhone than a lame middle school science fair.

Although Exhibitions allow Heroes to showcase what they’ve “learned to do” in Quests, Civilization, Writing, Art, and other learning challenges, they should never resemble the pristine, tightly managed traditional school performances largely crafted by adults.

​Therefore, exhibitions are 100% planned & ran by the heroes. Each session a committee is selected to plan the exhibition and we have seen the exhibitions very much take on the personalities of those heroes selected to the committee, meaning no two exhibitions are alike!

By the end of your time in your child's studio, you should have a grasp of their learning and progress over the past session. But please keep in mind at Acton, academics are not our primary focus. They are important, but finding a true passion for learning, for life, and developing interpersonal skills and leadership skills trump all and that is a little harder to summarize in an 
exhibition or a piece of paper.
As we said previously, exhibitions are the responsibility of heroes to deliver excellent value for parents and guests, so our events are not stage-managed by myself or the guides.  We ask parents and visitors to offer frank criticism as well as praise and to direct it to their hero and his or her peers. We care less about the perfect exhibition and more about the learning opportunities to create one.

This is an example of focusing on the process of learning, rather than the outcomes. Better for these young heroes to try and fail and learn than to be relieved of all the responsibility to make it look really good at the hand of an adult.

As you review all their hard work, we invite you to ask questions not only of your own hero but of other learners as well. Here are some growth mindset questions you might want to ask:
  • What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome this session?
  • How often were you in your Comfort Zone, Challenge Zone or Panic zone this session?
  • How does ________  system work? (ie Freedom Levels, Hero Bucks, Peace Table, etc)
  • Will you show me how to do a math problem on your current math program (KHAN or Dreambox)?
  • What was the most interesting thing you learned from the Quest this session, did you finish all the challenges? Why/ Why not?
  • What book are you reading? Will you read to me? Who is your favorite character?

If at the end of the exhibition your hero doesn’t have an answer to one of your questions OR hasn’t progressed as much as you anticipated, I would invite you to do two things before reaching out to the guide or myself:

1. Re-Read the Parents on a Hero’s Journey Document linked in the parent hub.

2. Have a conversation with your hero, asking them how they spend their time during core skills, ask them if they would log you in and walk you through what they are working on/ how often they are working… While it varies per week and per studio, any hero that is utilizing a computer for their Core Skills should have between 120-200 minutes available per week per program.

​
Remember, praise the process - not the outcome.

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12/27/2021

Session 4 Sneak Peek

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New Year, New Session + Quests!

Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

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Spark Studio

From the depths of the oceans to the far reaches of outer space our Spark heroes will be exploring the solar system for their quest this session and 'the ocean' for the new Biomes portion of their week.
Space Explorers Quest
​

Week #1: The Solar System

Week #2: Rocky Planets
Week #3: Gas Planets
Week #4: The Stars + Constellations
Week #5: Rockets + Space Travel
W
eek #6: Exhibition Prep 

​Biome of the Session: The Ocean
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Discovery Studio

As our heroes continue to define their question of the year, "How do we build a heroic culture?" This session they will explore the role that art plays in culture?
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As heroes explore the world of art, they will also uncover the artist within them! They're going to dive into questions such as: What is art? Why is art important? What skills do artists need? Can we all be artists? As they discover different mediums of art they will complete challenges which eventually unlock their ability to work on their own art projects! Along the way they will meet fellow local artists to help inspire them as they build towards their very own Art Gallery for public exhibition!
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Writer's Workshop | Memoirs
Heroes will write a collection of short stories from their lives that, when put together, create their very own memoir.

They will be required to go through the stages of the Acton writing process including; Prewriting, Drafting, Revision, Editing and eventually Publication in order to earn their writing badge for this session!


Adventure Studio

For our middle & high schoolers each year they will complete a series of 3 science based quests in a row. Last session our heroes were introduced to how we explore science at Acton with Edison's Lab Quest. This year's series of science quests will explore physics, followed by Biology and Chemistry in future years. ​
Physics One Quest | The challenge that will be presented to our Adventure Studio learners is: Explore and model basic physical systems in order to make predictions in simple hands-on systems. 

They will be challenged to constantly examine the “why” behind studying physics and extrapolate our understanding to everyday real-world areas, including sports, transportation, energy (in the industrial sense), design and engineering.
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All of this hard work will be completed with their exhibition in mind: The Physics Olympics, a series of competition physics events where studio members compete in showcasing their skills and knowledge by calculating and predicting the outcome of real-world physics challenges.
Genre
A Hero’s Progress is an allegory tale about a young would-be-hero who ventures out on a great adventure, only to encounter three villains named Victim, Distraction and Resistance bent on thwarting the quest, killing the would-be-hero and throwing her into a fiery hell of eternal suffering.
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Discover The School You Wish You Went To!

Acton Academy Lincoln is Nebraska's fastest growing independent school, request your FREE Info Kit to see what sets us apart.
Send Me a Free Info Kit

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11/24/2021

Ready or Not, Session 3 is here!

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Real World Learning at Acton Lincoln

Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

Spark Studio

In their quest to 'build their own heroic culture', the Spark studio will set out to examine cultures from around the world this session.
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Around the World | This session our quest in the Spark Studio will be titled “Around the World.” The learners in our Montessori Studio will be “traveling” to different countries around the world and learning about their culture, how they celebrate the holidays, and what day to day life looks like. Along the way, they will earn stamps for their passports, which they will then present at exhibition!

Discovery Studio

Does Freedom come freely or is this a price to pay? Is there a freedom you have now, that you wouldn't give up for anything, not even your safety? 
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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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Writer's Workshop: Creating a Podcast!
Heroes will discover the world of Podcasts, pick a topic they would like to talk about, decide what kind of podcast they want to create, write down the script for the podcast, record it and add personal touches to their final product. The goal is to practice communicating their voice, working within time constraints, and giving and receiving specific and helpful feedback to peers.

Adventure Studio

How do you teach science in the 21st century?  If you want to inspire young heroes to change the world through discoveries, inventions and innovations, our belief is that you don’t “teach” science at all.
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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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​Genre: Gratitude 
​For this project Heroes will begin by reflecting on the various things in life they have to be grateful for - from big important things, to the little daily things we take for granted. They will first be invited to observe, consider, and notice these things and then simply journal. They will take these initial reflections to create a short essay or other creative writing piece on a topic relating to gratitude.

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10/13/2021

Session 2 at a Glance

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New Session Means
​New Quests!

Quests are real-world projects to master 21st-century skills.
Usually lasting four- to six-weeks, each Quest includes a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative and is designed to deliver 21st century skills while simultaneously incorporating traditional topics like science, social studies, and history.

Spark studio

How do leaders build culture? Is it be demanding things or through modeling actions?
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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

Discovery Studio

What role does architecture & community design play in building culture? Could my calling be in architecture?
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Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture Quest | This quest is completed in pairs, with challenges taking Lions through the process of designing their own Acton School building: research, design (drafting/sketching), and construction (model building). The goals of this quest include: to introduce the Lions to architecture as a calling and the heroes who chose it, to inspire a love of design and creation, and to instill a deeper understanding of process and the importance of knowing when to follow instructions and when to take your own path. The challenges require deep focus, attention to detail, and an understanding of applied mathematics. The creative element of this quest, along with strict deadlines, requires Lions to self-manage and stop creating when time is up.
Writer's Workshop: Poetry
Civilization: Middle Ages
Creativity Time: Improv Workshop

Adventure Studio

Do We Look to the Past, Present, Future, or Distant Lands for Direction? How does travel shape our view of culture?
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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

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6/17/2021

An Open Letter To Lincoln Families

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An Open Letter to Lincoln Families

Building a Fiercely Independent School in Lincoln, Nebraska
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​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,
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Zach Harsin

Acton Academy Lincoln Co-Founder

​P.S. 

Parents, if you agree with me and want to see your child thrive in a setting like this where they can discover and grow their unique strengths, then Acton is for you! We still have a few seats left for the fall of 2021. You can request an info kit here >>

If you disagree with me, I would love to hear from you. We can disagree and do so respectfully. That is Acton. I have stated my belief and made my stance knowing you may have a different opinion and you’re entitled to stating and defending your stance. But let’s not do it in online comments. It won’t solve anything. Let’s do it face to face over lunch or coffee. We may both grow and learn something from the experience.

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6/17/2021

Acton Named Best Preschool in Lincoln, Nebraska

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Acton's Montessori Program Named
​Best Preschool in Lincoln, NE

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.

Criteria for Ranking as a Top Lincoln Preschool

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More About Acton's top rated Montessori Preschool

Our Montessori based Spark Studio is designed to build the math, reading, self-regulatory, and social skills needed for success in the highly independent Acton Elementary Studio, or wherever their journey takes them next.

​Our Spark heroes help establish the rules in their Montessori Studio and meet for weekly Town Hall meetings to identify, discuss, and vote on issues that affect them. They practice basic goal setting and complete challenges at their own pace to earn learning "badges" in math, reading, and citizenship. The rest of the time, they learn through exploration in a series of hands-on project Quests and present what they've discovered at an exhibition at the end of each Session.

​GIVE YOUR Preschooler THE OPPORTUNITY TO:

  • ​Learn through play and hands-on exploration
  • Practice basic goal setting
  • Identify issues and vote on solutions
  • Move at his/her own pace in math and reading
  • Strengthen self-regulation
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Why Montessori?

An important time for learning is the period between birth and six years of age. Children are eager to learn from new people and experiences. They absorb all the environment has to offer and it is our responsibility to ensure the world they experience is rich, safe, nurturing, and intelligent. The foundation of self-esteem and all future learning is constructed during these early years. Our Montessori based Spark program encourages children to step toward independence in an environment specially created for the developing young learner. This happy and intelligent setting offers your child an opportunity to develop strong social skills as well as explore language, music, practical life skills, art math, geography, science, culture, and large motor activities. In our Montessori - Spark Studio, your child will be introduced to many different concepts and will learn through observing and through direct interaction with our beautifully crafted materials.
Request a FREE Info Kit!

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