Lists 34 resources related to alternative education, including parent organizations, graduate programs, Web sites, clearinghouses, journals, advocacy groups, publishers, newsletters, and national organizations. Listings include contact information and a brief description. (LP)

Interviews with staff and students explore the purposes of Puget Sound Community School (Seattle, Washington), which offers self-directed and community-based learning for students aged 12-18. Since its inception 7 years ago, the alternative school gradually became more scheduled, until the students initiated a restructuring to restore flexibility.…

Vignettes from the Albany Free School demonstrate that successful learning does not depend solely on pedagogical principles. The key to education is learning how to learn; once kids know that, all learning becomes enjoyable. Because learning is a by-product of teaching, which is a function of relationship, cultivating good teacher-student…

Mary Leue started the Free School, an independent, alternative elementary school in inner-city Albany (New York), based on open democratic education dedicated to the authentic lives of children. Other accomplishments include a community-investment organization, a magazine of alternative education, a magazine for empowering families, and a…

Traces the development of John Holt's educational philosophy. His initial realization that forcing children to learn stifled their initiative and creativity led to efforts at school reform that were not welcomed by the school establishment. The idea that education is a community function rather than an institutional function moved him to…

Since 1936, this Phoenixville (Pennsylvania) school, summer day camp, and day care center for children aged 2-7 has implemented the philosophy that children learn best through play, in a nurturing environment where loving people attend to their physical and emotional needs and their intellectual and artistic growth. Contains a resource list of…

The story of a charter school closure is told from the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, and community members, who felt that the sponsoring district revoked the charter for political reasons despite broad local support. The experience underscores the necessity of publicly subjecting the relationship of the public school system and the…

Our increasingly hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and intense economic pressures place stress on children and families. Waldorf education provides an educational environment that alleviates this stress through a connective pedagogy that encompasses continuity of people, curriculum, and instruction; a reverence and respect for the…

The simplicity activist defines voluntary simplicity as critical thinking and discusses its relationship to the environment, consumerism, excessive wealth, alternative education, and democracy. Voluntary simplicity involves discovering what matters, and study circles allow small groups of people to explore an "examined life." Contains…

The Houston (Texas) Independent School District instructs 2,500 students annually that are homebound, hospitalized, or in agency settings through a separate campus called Community Services. Five administrators, 130 teachers, and 52 assistants operate the program. Teachers travel to the students and even though they are responsible for preparing…

Summerhill School has recently come under fire from England's educational bureaucracy, who are calling for its closure for noncompliance with the British national curriculum. The school has responded that it will not change its noncompulsory status nor any aspect of its educational philosophy that distinguishes it as a democratic, free school. (LP)

Jiddu Krishnamurti created a worldwide network of schools with no method of education. He felt that a particular system hinders intelligent thinking. The attitudes and relationship of the teacher and child are more important. Education should cultivate the whole mind, not just the intellectual aspects, and help students develop a foundation for…

Describes a California free school based on humanistic philosophy where children learn in synchronicity with each other, develop leadership qualities, are treated as equals, and are given space to experience all their emotions. Recounts the preschool/elementary school's 50-year history. Describes daily activities, adult-child interactions,…

The analogy of pregnancy and birth is used to describe the founding of a Waldorf-style charter school in southern California. Advice is given for dealing with the sponsoring district, bureaucracy, politics of educational reform, standardized testing, and parent community. Sidebars present the mission statement, grant excerpts, timeline, required…

A Japanese wife and American husband raised their daughter to be bilingual by using the "one-parent/one-language approach," in which each parent speaks only their native language with her. Upon reaching school age, her bilingualism was maintained through home schooling in America, an experimental school in Japan, and exposure to Japanese and…