Ah! Sweet freedom - - -
- Millions of soldiers have bled and died for it.
- Countless documents have been written to insure it.
- Religions have been founded on behalf of it.
- Thousands of machines have been invented to give more of it.
- Holidays have been set aside to enjoy it.
At the steps of the schoolhouse, the children are forced to surrender:
- Time - 12 of their most formative years
- Vital growth energies
- Naturalness
- Drive
- Powers to invent, imagine and intuit
- Clear purpose
- Choices
- Self-determination
- Freedom to move
- Their immense creativity
- Their joy
- Their own pace
- Their own direction
“Yes, but liberate the kids in schools? Give them freedom? You’ve got to be kidding! Chaos! Bedlam! Irresponsibility!” you might be thinking.
FREEDOM is the crucial feature of the new learning center carefully designed by Hamilton Learning Foundation over a span of four decades.
We already have a working model for freedom and order - - driving cars. Only three things are required:
FREEDOM is the crucial feature of the new learning center carefully designed by Hamilton Learning Foundation over a span of four decades.
We already have a working model for freedom and order - - driving cars. Only three things are required:
But wait! There’s a crack in the Liberty Bell!
Every day, there are over 76 million children in the U.S. educational system who are routinely and systematically denied their freedoms...
Every day, there are over 76 million children in the U.S. educational system who are routinely and systematically denied their freedoms...
Freedom:
Most of these freedoms are given to babies and toddlers in a well- run, safe household.
So the child comes to school intact, with boundless, bright-eyed enthusiasm to risk and explore, discover and grow, expecting to encounter a larger, and much more interesting world.
Instead, what is offered is essentially a box (classroom), a desk, and workbooks or textbooks.
These powerless and vulnerable children eventually “adjust” and learn to silently submit to all of it. Tragically, thus begins the adaptation to lives of civilized agony. All but a few become faint shadows of what they could have been.
These powerless and vulnerable children eventually “adjust” and learn to silently submit to all of it. Tragically, thus begins the adaptation to lives of civilized agony. All but a few become faint shadows of what they could have been.
- Small, defenseless and unable to take up the struggle, they remain in bondage.
- They are contained, controlled, painfully bored, deeply humiliated, stunted, dampened and diminished.
- They begin to be dis-eased as they are compelled to forfeit the most important things necessary for their healthy development.
- They then grow up to spend their lives on dreary work-a-day treadmills that sap their vitality and essential happiness in life.
As psychologist Barbara Sher reminds us: Just like horses raised in a basement that don’t know what their muscles are for, we don’t know what our brains are for.
- Rules – The clear rules and signs of the road, learned before the first drive.
- Prepared Environment – Carefully engineered roads, bridges and intersections.
- Training – Everyone properly trained and licensed.
- Rules – Two simple rules along with the signs and safety standards of the center.
- Prepared Environment – Carefully engineered spaces and equipment.
- Training – Everyone properly trained and licensed.
“The robin redbreast in a cage, puts all of heaven in a rage.” ~ William Blake
