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.