Several years ago, I made the decision to put my daughter in a school whose philosophy matched mine more closely. The Open Classroom is a space where parents are cooperative team members with their child, the teachers and the administration of the school. Part of the commitment to the school is for the parents to be in the classroom three hours each week, to assist the teachers or help teach through sharing their expertise in their field. This school believes in teaching the whole child – mind, body AND spirit. They focus on supporting the children in their sociality while being educated and allow the students to be responsible for their learning experience.
A few months ago, my daughter graduated from this loving environment and just entered high school. We are already seeing the amazing things that have risen from the choice to send her to the OC… My daughter is a highly confident student who is not afraid to ask questions of her teachers. Because she spent so much of her time, while at the OC, interacting with adults, she is not afraid of them and is able to relate to them on a very respectful level. She has the ability to problem solve and reason through issues and has become a self-directed student who rarely, if ever, needs prodding to get her homework done. In several of the school topics, she is further advanced than the other students in her grade. In the other topics, she’s right on track. For her, she has developed the belief that learning can be fun and, thus, it is.
I am so grateful for the turn of events that lead up to the choice to send her to that amazing school. It has been a gift to us and has set her up for an enjoyable education experience.
