“When kids are constantly having to make decisions [in a democratic school], they begin to know who they are and to know how they feel about almost everything. When these kids go into an authoritarian situation, they do not feel threatened about losing their identity; they see the situation, instead, as a game that has […]
Read More »The thought of children playing all day without anyone forcing them to sit at desks may conjure up images of a daycare. But because students at Sunset Sudbury are not told what to do and are certainly not entertained, they must constantly decide what to do with their time. Freedom is not as easy as […]
Read More »“What I have learned, very slowly and painfully over the years, is that children make vital decisions for themselves in ways that no adults could have anticipated or even imagined.” ~ Hanna Greenberg, founder of Sudbury Valley School, in The Art of Doing Nothing The adults at Sunset Sudbury chose not to call themselves teachers because […]
Read More »Parents of younger children may wonder why an older child would want to play with a younger child, so when they hear about it their initial reaction may be fear and doubt. This is normal given mainstream education’s practice of age segregation. In the conventional schooling environment, it is not “cool” for older students to […]
Read More »Like at most other schools, bullying is taken very seriously at Sunset Sudbury. But unlike most other schools, the adults don’t automatically take care of it. Instead, we encourage students to use the student-led justice system. This is very empowering for the “bullied” student, who learns to take care of him or herself against any […]
Read More »Our law book contains all the rules of the community, as well as procedures for handling rule infractions. The rules are decided democratically by students and staff as the need for them arises. In general, the rules provide for the protection of individual rights while maintaining an atmosphere of safety and respect. Anyone in our […]
Read More »“We have a cultural notion that if children were not engineered, if we did not manipulate them, they would grow up as beasts in the field. This is the wildest fallacy in the world.” ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce This is many people’s initial reaction to hearing that children “rule” at Sunset Sudbury. The truth is […]
Read More »“Nobody grew taller by being measured.” ~ Roland Meighan Staff members in our program strive to be non-judgmental of students and their interests and skills. We enjoy celebrating successes, but we do not compare students nor assume to know what is best for them. Instead, we encourage students to trust their own assessment of themselves […]
Read More »“All I am saying … can be summed up in two words: Trust Children. Nothing could be more simple, or more difficult. Difficult because to trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves, and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.” ~ John Holt A big leap that […]
Read More »Play is exactly what your child should be doing! There is a reason that nature has endowed children with an intense need to play in their earliest years of development, at a time when they are learning the most and the fastest than at any other point in later life. Not only do children make […]
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