Our Mindset
With the family and whole child in mind, we are pulling from what experts in education, innovation, and child development say prepares children for success: personalized learning, nurturing curiosity, allowing risk-taking, and encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving.
Why is the mindset of our parents so important? We are taking a fresh new approach to education, so for many of us, that means stepping away from our own traditional school experience, and changing our mindset about what school “should” look like.
Mindset values that make our learning processes successful:
Every child who enters our doors is a genius.
Every child is God’s gift to the world—a genius blessed with talents, abilities, and passions that will make a difference the way that no one else can. Guiding each child to understand the world around them and discover the talents within them so that they can find a calling and change the world is our mission.
Children need to take risks to build resilience.
Children practice reasoning and problem solving when they take risks. They will naturally start with small risks, and gradually build up to bigger ones, learning from their mistakes and overcoming their fears in the process.
Growth mindset, not fixed mindset.
We believe that our abilities and talents are not fixed traits. We can strengthen our minds, bodies, and spirits with dedication and hard work. With a growth mindset, students continually work to improve their skills, leading to greater growth and ultimately, success.
Struggle is part of the learning process.
We emphasize the importance of struggle and perseverance in learning. We do not take away a child’s opportunity to learn by interfering in that process—the satisfaction and joy of mastery belongs to the child.
“Entertain an idea without accepting it.”
Adopted from Aristotle’s quote about the mark of an educated person, this mindset welcomes listening to new and different ideas but has developed the logic and reasoning to determine whether or not the idea has merit. We practice expressing our logic and reasoning daily, and learn that it is okay to disagree with each other.
No teachers and students—only learners.
As a learning community, the role of the adult guides is not to teach through lectures. Their role is to set the stage, provide tools for success, inspire, and model a love of learning themselves. Children use self-guided programs to learn academics.
Integrity comes before intelligence.
We believe that the development of high moral character and work ethic is more important for overall well-being and life success than academic achievement alone.
Guides don’t answer questions.
Adult guides don’t answer questions. EVER. We feel it is important for children to learn where to look to find answers on their own, and practice discernment about their sources of information. Guides may offer their own questions to the children to point the search in the right direction, but guides allow children to discover answers on their own.
What next?
Learn about HOW we do learner-driven education.