IN THIS EDITION
🍎 From career-ending tremor to creative triumph.🍎 Montessori: Fad, philosophy, or free-for-all?🍎 Homeschooling's surprising surge: a deeper look.
💡 1 THOUGHT
Phil Hansen’s hand shook. Badly.
For a pointillist—an artist of tiny dots—it was over. Years of dedication, gone. He quit.
But the itch to create stayed. So he came back. This time, he let the tremor lead.
The art wasn't what he planned, but it was his. Born from the shake.
He found freedom in his biggest limit.
Watch Phil Hansen's TED Talk, "Embrace the Shake"
We all have our tremors. Our 'fatal flaws.' What if we let them lead?
📊 2 TRENDS
1. Montessori: What's In A Name? Once a buzzword, now a question mark for some. A major Montessori-inspired chain is shrinking. Is it the economy? Charter school competition? Or that "Montessori" isn't trademarked, meaning quality can be a crapshoot? EdSurge asks: Is the Montessori magic fading?.
2. The Real Reason Some Families Homeschool. It's not always about curriculum choice. For a growing number of parents, especially those with kids needing special accommodations, homeschooling is a lifeline to tailored support that traditional schools can’t provide. So, parents build their own systems—microschools are booming.
🛠️ 3 TOOLS
1. Deliciously Weird Homeschooling. Forget worksheets. How about cheese-making? Horsemanship? Dog behavior training? This Reddit goldmine is packed with wonderfully weird, hands-on projects that make learning an adventure.
2. Primer: The $1M Microschool Model. Imagine K-8 education where kids chase their passions, guided by expert mentors. That's Primer. They just snagged the $1M Yass Prize—the "Pulitzer of Education Innovation."
3. Charlotte Mason Without Breaking the Bank. Giving your child a rich, literature-based education doesn't require a trust fund. A recent video from Simply Charlotte Mason shows you how to do it with library books, smart sharing, and free online gems.
That’s all for today!
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)