PSCS Younger Program Concept

Dear Reader,

Welcome to learning about the Puget Sound Community School and its Younger Program for 5-10 year olds. In the 2 posts to follow, you will be presented with the following articles:

A Case For A Younger Program at PSCS: This post explains the need for a Younger Program based on the PSCS style of education.

A Day In the Life Of A Child In The PSCS Younger Program: This narrative takes you through the dreamy journey of the life of a child in the PSCS Younger Program. You are encouraged to leave behind all your ideas about education as you follow the youth of PSCS in their vibrant learning experiences.

For questions and comments, email youngerpscs@pscs.org

Enjoy your ride!

A Case For A Younger Program at the Puget Sound Community School

People are intrinsically curious and compelled to learn. You only need to observe a baby to know this to be true. With big eyes and an ever-vigilant nature, a baby soaks in everything. Going from blurry black and white images, she grows to recognize and make sense of the world, mastering in her first 5 years the basis of what she will ever master. So strong is a baby’s internal drive to learn that, even under less than perfect circumstances, she learns to walk and talk more or less on her own. Anyone that has tried tight rope walking or learning a language later in life knows how incredibly hard it can be to learn these skills. Imagine then the tremendous force and intelligence that lies within each of us that compels us to learn to walk, talk and so many other things from the moment we are born. It is not a leap to say that babies are the world’s greatest learners.

What makes it possible for them to be so? To begin with, babies are loved tremendously. Their needs are met as best as can be. They are told very little and listened to a lot more. Whether we realize it or not, they are masters of their own learning, leaving us to support them the best we can. They pursue their quest with an internal intelligence and an enviable sense of wonder, magical pieces that make for the greatest learning experiences of a human life. Doesn’t it seem natural to hold together these magical pieces for the rest of a child’s life so they can learn as furiously and treat the world with the same sense of wonder? Isn’t that exactly what we would hope for in the education of our children?

Yet our mainstream education system doesn't hold together these magical pieces. Instead, as children get older we start telling them more and listening less. Once in school, using required curriculums and mandatory tests we control what they do, deciding what they should and should not explore, when they get to do it, and with whom. In short, we tell them how to live and in the process squelch their curiosity and their ability to think for themselves.

What if there was a school environment where children continued to be loved unconditionally, where they remained the masters of their learning throughout their childhoods, where they received endless support for their attempts to learn, where they were listened to and not told, where they continued to have the same wonder with which they were born?

Such a place exists.

At the Puget Sound Community School young people are honored for their uniqueness and trusted for their natural abilities and curiosity. Children guide their learning experiences based on their natural curiosity about the world around them. All pursuits are given equal status. Passionate, caring adults create a safe, loving and trusting environment in which a strong multi-age community is
fostered. Not being coerced into learning, children experience the joy of learning, leveraging it to explore life as it comes. They are not bound into preparing for life; rather, they live life for real through their education. In the process, they develop skills that are critical for real living and cultivate passions. They graduate knowing themselves and what they love to do. Above all, they continue to be the life-long learners they were meant to be.

For 13 years PSCS has created this learning environment for 10-18 year olds. But in that time those closest to PSCS have come to believe that the greatest potential of the school’s learning environment will be realized when it can nurture children from a much younger age. These would be the children, not many years ago babies, daring to explore the world based on their intrinsic curiosity, willing to be their authentic selves and evoking a deep sense of love in those with whom they have contact. It is with this conviction that PSCS intends to create a program for 5-10 year-olds.

Nurtured in the PSCS environment from a young age, these children will not need to offload the baggage that older students often bring with them, thus being able to take full advantage of the wholesomeness of PSCS sooner. Parents of these younger children, not yet embroiled in the pressures society puts on older children, are more likely to put their faith in PSCS. Then, seeing the growth in their children, they will enthusiastically let them complete their entire education at the school. In the process, these children will go on to be the responsible, independent, and compassionate pillars of integrity they were destined to be.

The program for younger children will be integrated with the current program in philosophy, approach, and activities to provide a complete K-12 learning experience. The school recognizes that young children have needs that are different from those of older youth and will honor this by providing opportunities for younger children to have their own activities and spaces, individually and as a group. In addition, there will exist activities and spaces in which the entire school or students from all ages can mingle and participate. All students will be supported to move gracefully from one group to another based on their interests, comfort, and developmental level.

When children’s inherent curiosities, natural abilities, and passions are trusted and encouraged from a young age, they become confident life-long learners. When this is done in a community environment, they learn to balance their personal needs with those of the community, thus becoming responsible, caring globally aware citizens. The school’s experience with older children has shown that PSCS students are open to exploration and learning, creating a satisfying life for themselves. Immersing children in such a learning environment at an earlier age will lead to even greater success for them and for the school. Nothing could be more natural.

A Day In the Life Of A Child In The PSCS Younger Program

True to PSCS philosophy, every day looks different for every child so what follows is just a dream of what a day might be like for some dreamed up children.

Joshua lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle with his parents and two younger siblings. A curious baby and young child, Joshua has many interests at the age of 6. Most of all he likes to watch bugs. He has been going to PSCS for a year now and enjoys it very much.

It’s early October and Joshua is playing alongside his mother in the front yard of his home while they wait for his school carpool. He rides each morning with PSCS students Ruby-Louise and Nathan, both age 5 and Amy, age 10, all of whom live in and around Ballard. Carl, Nathan’s dad is driving them today and is running a little late. Joshua is unaffected by the delay. Dressed in his favorite jeans and red hooded sweatshirt, he is warm and horizontal. That is, horizontal on the ground watching an earthworm burrowing into the ground. Joshua reaches for the worm, putting it in his little pocket jar so he can show it to Ruby-Louise who is also fascinated by all things small and wiggly. Carl arrives finally and the troops are on their way to PSCS. The traffic is typically slow so the children have ample time to chat on their way. The younger three had all gone to the storytelling evening at Third Place Books the night before and were mesmerized by the man who told stories while juggling! Nathan had been so taken in that upon reaching home he had grabbed 2 tennis balls and tried to juggle. He still has the balls in his hands and is tossing them to Amy who good-naturedly catches them before handing them back. None of the children know how to juggle but man is it cool!

As they dismount from the car, Carl reminds them all to take the ingredients for their group lunch. Ruby and Joshua walk into the yard of the 2-cottage school deeply inspecting the worm. The front yard has a small pond and a play yard adjoining a big grove of trees. The backyard touches Ravenna Park and has vegetable beds along with an outdoor cooking oven. By now, the worm is trying to make its way out of the jar. Ruby and Joshua decide that they need to find a safe spot for it. Perhaps, they can let it lose into the field of spinach that some of the other students have been growing. They walk up to Regina, one of the staff members, asking her if that is a good idea. Regina welcomes them and follows them to the field of spinach. They talk about what the worm might do for the little field and how it might help loosen the clay soil that has been getting soaked the last few days.

In the meantime, Nathan has engaged another boy, Peter, with the tennis balls and together they have gathered a whole group of keen participants who all also want to juggle. The group is standing in a circle tossing the 2 balls back and forth.
Jeffrey, another of the staff walks up to them and throws a third ball to the circle. Amy catches it and now it’s part of the intergenerational group juggle.

At PSCS, the day starts with a group gathering. Regina and Jeffrey lead it for now, trusting that as the children grow older, they will begin to lead, just like the junior and senior high students do at their morning check-in. Today, they decide that the gathering should happen as part of the juggling circle if that is okay with the group. The gathering starts with Regina asking what everyone did the previous evening. Nathan speaks of his fascination with the juggler and Joshua tells of all the earthworms he has been finding in his backyard. He offers to bring in some to the school if it would help the vegetable patch. Other students agree that that is a great idea. Then, one of the students speaks about a neighborhood friend's brother who has been cutting up worms in his high school. The group is stunned by the idea. They look to Jeffrey for an explanation that he provides. A discussion ensues on what the worms might feel versus the need to study them. The children wrestle with the dilemma before them, not closing on it just then. Then, Ruby jumps in with the idea that she wants to start a ‘Save the worms’ campaign. 3 other students including Joshua say they want to join her. At this point, a girl named Esme brings the group back to the question of what happened the previous evening – she speaks of seeing the picture of a man wearing many beads and being present at the Woodland Park Zoo. She says she couldn’t stop seeing the picture. Regina asks her if she would like to go see the man to which she responds with an enthusiastic jump. 2 other students say they would like to see the man too. The gathering continues for another 10 minutes with other students speaking of their happenings from the previous evening. The gathering then closes with expressions of what the students and staff are most looking forward to in the day.

As they close, Ruby and her group head to a table to start creating posters for the ‘Save the worms campaign’. Nathan continues juggling. Jeffrey is an expert juggler but he chooses not to step in and teach Nathan, letting him discover juggling for himself. Regina and Esme decide to call the zoo to arrange a field trip to see the man of many beads. Regina knows that Esme is referring to the Masai but chooses not to label the man. She believes in letting Esme discover about the Masai rather than naming the group and presenting her with a pre-existing body of knowledge.

Jeffrey is a musician and has been learning to play the Santoor recently. He has brought the Santoor to school today and is playing it under the grove of trees in the front yard. This new instrument intrigues several children. They ask to give it a try and Jeffrey obliges more than willingly. A crowd gathers, with several students asking to play it. Jeffrey asks the group if they would like to create their own Santoor-like instruments and the group cannot wait. Soon, circles of small
bowls filled with water appear. Each child has a pair of chopsticks with which they strike the edge of the bowls. Soon enough they discover that changing the amount of water in a bowl alters the note it produces. The exploration is endless.

Some other students are reading, others are building a teeter-totter that the group has agreed needs to be added to the small school play yard, still others are sitting and looking at their reflections in the pond, while two girls are singing the opening song of the school play. The play is 2 weeks out and the younger children have been working with the older ones in rehearsals. The multi-age play is one of the highlights of the school year, bringing together the 5 year olds and the 18 year olds. The younger and older students interact in many other ways. While they have their own morning gatherings, they do projects together, go on field trips, do service work and tend to share their lunches. The older students also chaperone the younger students to get lunch supplies or books from the public library.

About a half hour before lunch, Remi, who has been at the school for 4 years now, comes around and asks everyone to bring their lunch ingredients into the kitchen. Twice a week, the school enjoys a group lunch. A volunteer coordinates the effort and several students take a lead for particular dishes. Now the whole school of 40 is milling around the kitchen, some students carrying out plates, others looking for flatware and yet others picking fresh tomatoes from the vegetable patch. Amy is in charge of the salad and she is directing 17 year-old Crystal based on the recipe she brought from home. The cooking class that includes several students has just finished making pizzas and a cake. At noon, it is lunch and everyone descends upon the big hall where tables have been laid and the singers from the play are going to practice.

After lunch, all the students help clean up before returning to their other self-chosen activities. Some younger children retreat to the quiet reading room to read and/or take a short nap. Others attend a longstanding storytelling class facilitated by a group of seniors from the local community center. Younger and older students attend the class. Each week, they await stories from the lives of the elders based on historical events. Today, they are hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The older students relay back their experience going through 9/11. Some students follow each class with papers they write on historical events. It is their way of learning ‘history’. In the background, 3 students knit with one of the elderly men. With winter around the corner, they don’t have much time left to finish making the 30 hats they will be donating to the church down the street.

As the day comes to a close, the entire school gathers in the big hall. It is time for reflecting on the happenings of the day and sharing stories from it. Nathan gets the ball rolling (!) by stepping into the center and juggling 2 balls while calling to people. He is indeed a fast learner and very happy that he can now juggle 2 balls and talk at the same time, just like the man who told stories the night before.

Several people comment on the chest they are building in the wood shop. Still others, donning the half-made costumes they have been working on, speak of the need to sell all the play tickets so the school can raise funds for the annual weekend trip to Portland by train. Ruby then asks the group if the older students in the school have been cutting up worms like others she had heard about. One of the seniors answers her question. She then announces the ‘Save the worms’ campaign and asks people to be careful when they walk so as to not crush any worms.

A few weeks later the school play has happened with enough money being raised for all students and staff to be accommodated on the annual trip to Portland. Ruby's ‘Save the worms’ campaign has resulted in posters on the schoolyard, a campaign statement and a project studying worms and other interesting bugs. Esme's quest after the man of many beads results in a trip to the zoo, followed by a study on gorillas that some of the students really took to and a project on the culture of the Masai. Esme now knows that the man calls himself a Masai! Nathan is now juggling 3 balls at a time and has been teaching others how to juggle. He has discovered that Jeffrey is good at juggling and seeks to learn more from him. The chest that the woodshop built is now being used to store school archives. Joshua has been transporting worms from his backyard to the school vegetable patch. The P-patch group has been very thankful to him for the now well-tilled soil. And, a band of Santoor players has been created with the younger children teaching the older ones how to play their newly discovered instrument!

Another vote for the 'Love of Learning'

Andy, the founder of PSCS recently sent this article to a group.

Dorothy Rich captures the purpose of education with, " The purpose – the end of education and of all schooling – is to develop and sustain a student's love of learning for life, long after school doors close."

More below ...

By Dorothy Rich
Special to The Spokesman-Review
September 22, 2007

Call me old-fashioned, but I miss discussion about school goals that included the words, "Love of Learning." I miss the expectation that schools will broaden children's experience and actually work to educate, and not just school, a child.

I know the words used about schools today. The usual ones are "testing," "standards" and "accountability." I hope these will be useful in educating children. We don't know yet. In any event, we can't forget that they are at best just a means to an end, not the true goal of education itself.

The purpose – the end of education and of all schooling – is to develop and sustain a student's love of learning for life, long after school doors close.

When I ask parents about the best education they want for their children, answers from the United States and around the world are very similar. Parents want an education that builds children's capacities for hard work, for responsibility, curiosity, eagerness to learn, self-discipline, sensitivity to others, kindness. Academic skills are needed, but they are not enough.

Studies about 21st-century needs report that the desire to learn, the ability to function creatively, the capacity to concentrate, the motivation do well and, above all, the self-discipline to keep on learning are the attributes our children will need most. These are the true new basics.

Schools can't do everything, no matter how good they are. I saw this sign on a wall recently and it struck home with me: "Children don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care."

Schools have gotten out of balance, out of whack. The heavy emphasis on reading and math, mandated by officials who may not know enough about education, makes it almost impossible to provide a curriculum that includes what educated children of this century need — critical and imaginative thinking, a sense of history and the world.

Most children, rich and poor, come into the early school grades with shining faces and enormous curiosity.

They love learning. Then, visit a fifth grade. The contrast is startling. Of course, some of this is adolescence, but it's more than that. The kids have lost their original love of learning. And this can be more dangerous for real education than low test scores.

A really modern education has got to find ways to co-mingle the current drive for basic skills with the critical need for our students not to outgrow their creativity and desire to keep on learning.

Dorothy Rich is founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute, MegaSkills Education Center in Washington. www.megaskillshsi.org

Communities of Color and PSCS

(From SM)

Hey everyone,

Anoo has asked me to post the letter I sent to some members of the group, so here's a modified version of it:

Andy and others have already spoken about the 21st century education model advocated by Dan Pink, which throws out the old rules. But as we explore the new rules, I want to shine a spotlight on one aspect that does not figure prominently in Pink’s analysis—the fundamental importance of multiculturalism.

It should be self-evident that, as we look to the future, preparing young people for a multicultural world is crucial. And I don’t mean “multicultural” in the politically correct way (which is more accurately labeled “anti-discriminatory.”) I’m not talking here about reminding students not to use the n-word. I mean creating a learning community that explicitly addresses ongoing internalized racism, within individuals and institutions, and seeks to undo it.

Edwin Nichols, who leads workshops on undoing racism in schools and businesses, calls diversity (roughly paraphrasing) the full utilization of the community’s talents. In short, if you’re a white person who runs a business that employs African Americans and you don’t understand how African American culture is different from white culture, then you’re probably not maximizing the talents of all your employees.

The merits of explicitly embracing multiculturalism are so numerous and so obvious, it’s difficult to know where to begin. As a white person, if I ignore the feelings of internalized superiority taught to me by my culture since I was in utero (visit implicit.harvard.edu to participate in an excruciating psychological experiment), I am less than who I can be. I am less confident, more insecure. I have fewer friends, more enemies. I have less wisdom, greater ignorance. Until I undo my internalized racism, I can’t fully self-actualize.

And remember, I’m the privileged one in this racialized society.

Activist groups in Seattle have been telling the school district for decades that schools are racist. They honor one way of being the world. They reward the behaviors common in white culture: individualism, external rewards, a focus on the parts instead of the whole, memorization, etc. A few years ago, I went to a neighborhood meeting run by Mary Bass when she was school board president, and a guy stood up and read off recommendations made by special task forces assigned to examine racism in schools. (Seattle has sponsored a task force on race every five years or so since the mid-1970s.) All the recommendations brought by each of these task forces were the same: provide opportunities for collaboration, build community, teach the whole child, build relationships, nurture intrinsic curiosity instead of threatening students with punishments and bribing them with rewards.

Any of this sound familiar?

My point is this: PSCS is already doing all the things that communities of color are demanding—and not getting—from the school district. The district will never give them those things because the public school model was designed for command and control. The politicians, principals and teachers who lead schools are, in my experience, insecure people who will never, ever undo the hierarchy on which they sit atop. PSCS, meanwhile, is a predominantly white school that is looking to grow. I think a conversation between these two groups—PSCS and communities of color—might prove fruitful.

(The best discussion I’ve read on race and education is Mano Singham’s “The Canary in the Mine.” You can find it here: http://lsc-net.terc.edu/do.cfm/paper/8108/show/use_set-l_equity. I’d recommend printing it out. It’s too long to read on screen, and is much too important to skim.)

I have a friend named Martin, a Jewish white guy, who has been doing anti-racist work for more than a decade. He’s a really good guy, with tons of experience helping groups that are predominantly white communicate with communities of color. I can ask him if he’s interested in working with us on this, if the PSCS community thinks it’s worth exploring.

I hope no one is offended by this line of discussion. My point is not to judge anyone or PSCS as a racist, but merely to raise what I think is a pretty important issue for all of us. Sorry for all the links, but here’s one (http://www.blackprof.com/archives/2007/04/vote_now_for_a_girl_like_me.html)
that illustrates just how young children are when they internalize society’s message about race. As I wrote earlier, racism is relevant to PSCS because it limits our students’ capacity for self-actualization and limits their ability to thrive in a world that is increasingly diverse.

You’ll figure this out eventually, but I guess I should tell you now. I’m always the guy in the group who dreams the big dream, and worries about what’s realistic later. Sometimes it gets me in trouble, but other times it works. Then, I get to be a part of something extraordinary. As we collaborate in the coming years, I can only hope that others in the group lean towards the practical side of things and together, we can balance each other out.

With that warning, here’s my long term vision: PSCS is a school with four campuses: north end, central, south, and eastside. Each campus runs K-12, and has 150 kids (there’s an interesting chapter in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point in which he shows how 150 seems to be a magic number). Upper school kids get the benefits of a bigger community, occasionally taking classes at different campuses and meeting new friends. The school benefits from economies of scale. The story we tell about who we are is so compelling that money flows in from donors. Our endowment campaign is a juggernaut. Tuition drops to $100 per month, while staff salaries match those at public schools. The waiting list is so long that impatient parents decide to start their own school, with a slightly different vision that more accurately represents what they want in a school for their children. The revolution is underway.

A few months ago I asked a parent of one my students if she would meet me for coffee. She is wealthy, and runs a foundation that supports a variety of environmental and social causes. I asked her if she would help me better understand the community of giving in Seattle, and how to raise lots of money for a completely radical education model. She said two crucial things: 1) she would give PSCS $2,000 to pay for a workshop with a consultant who specializes in helping non-profit groups make a plan for major fundraising, and 2) “Lack of money is never the problem.” There is no shortage of money in the private sector. There is more than enough money out there to make a great idea happen.

That’s all for now. Hopefully, this will spark a lively conversation. Please don’t censor yourself; my feelings won’t be hurt.

Best,

S

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for the Puget Sound Community School (PSCS) Younger Program. PSCS is a contemporary junior high and high school that produces passionate, well-rounded, and intelligent 21st century adults. Founded in 1994 and based in Seattle, PSCS currently enrolls students ages 12-18. The PSCS Younger Program is an effort to offer the program to children ages 5 and older in the next 2-3 years. Still in it's formative stage, the PSCS Younger Program effort currently consists of a group of energetic and passionate individuals from the greater Seattle area striving to create the program.

If you're interested in this effort, do email us

For more information about PSCS, visit the school website

Learning for the 21st Century

PSCS offers 21st century education, empowering students to lead happy lives in an age of change. Only recently, has there been discussion in popular contemporary media on the society of the future and the kind of education that is required to live in the 21st century.

Daniel Greenberg, a revolutionary educator and founder of the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA wrote an article on Learning for the 21st Century in the now out of circulation Paths of Learning magazine. You can read a repost of the article on Bookworm blog.

Last summer, Time magazine ran an article on bringing schools out of the 20th century.

Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind projects that the future belongs to 'right-brained' people, those that have in the past been underserved by the education system.

These articles and book shake common beliefs about education and engage us in a dialog on revolutionizing education for our children. PSCS is leading the charge on this front. We invite you to join us.

First Meeting

The first meeting for the younger program was held on July 19, 2007. To read more about it, visit the August issue of the PSCS eNewsletter