When the primary objective for children is to fit into being a good student and to get good grades, we have no choice but to teach to...

A special tradition we have every beginning of the school year is a handprint ceremony where each new person who joins our community...

The longer I've worked with young children, the more I've come to understand that there is very little we can "teach" people. We can...

Our goal is to make the process of mastery a deeply ingrained habit in our children’s life. If we make learning mostly about excellence...

“A person is a person no matter how small,” the iconic line from Dr.Seuss's Horton Hears a Who, is much beloved by people who value...

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Lao Tzu. I've read and heard this...

We often talk about being Givers, Takers, and Matchers with our Learners. They are very much aware of the nuances- their tendencies as...

A philosophy professor once stood up before his class with a large empty jar. He filled the jar to the top with large rocks and asked his...

One of my favorite areas at ROA is our elevated plant bed filled with lush and colorful butterfly plants, many of which are giant...

At ROA and every other Acton affiliate school, we often refer to our learners as heroes. Why are we so intentional about this and why is...

Education is not a manufacturing process. It doesn't matter if the learning actually happens, only that we have worksheets completed and...

If we were to define "success," most people would think deeply enough to consider more than the capacity to acquire great wealth. We...

Many schools make “excellence” a goal. Those who score a 100 on the test are “excellent” and get a gold star. This means those who fail...

The typical goal of a traditional education requires a rush for advanced coursework with the goal of preparing for the future, requiring...

Fear, an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger, real or imagined. Fear is an emotion that we all experience at some...

It is believed that everyone has ikigai which can be found through your passion in life. Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning one's...

The fundamental thing that we want in an educator is someone who really cares and truly believes in the genius in each child before they...

We have often come to fear the unknown. We find comfort in what we know and being in control of outcomes. Letting go of our expectations...

Sugata Mitra, a professor, who had the idea to install an old computer in a kiosk in an impoverished place in India that was designed to...

There was a story about a janitor mopping up the floor when the president was visiting NASA and asked him what his job was and the...