Day 62 of AY20-21: our final day of 2020

Tuesday, December 22nd, was day 62 of the Abrome pandacademic year, the last day of cycle four, and our last day of 2020. It’s been quite a ride thus far, in spite of all of the disruption and struggle faced by members of our community and by society at large.

How many moons?!

At the remote cell’s morning meeting, we all shared what was one thing we would each do over next two weeks (of break): finish building a house in Minecraft, breathe, breathe, hang out with friends online, and work on myself. We then quickly turned the conversation to the Saturn-Jupiter great conjunction that happened the night before. While I had made time to see it earlier in the week, when Saturn and Jupiter were getting closer and closer to each other, I did not make it out early enough to observe the planets closer together in the night sky than they have been for 800 years. I was kicking myself for missing a rare event until I realized that even though it’s been 800 years to this point, I only have to wait 60 years for the next one on March 15, 2080! I’ll only be a couple years over the century mark by that time. Another Learner said that while he was watching a livestream of it, they were talking about the moons that were visible which led him to begin researching the moons of Jupiter. So much for Self-Directed Educated kids not wanting to learn if they’re not forced to by a teacher. I pulled up some images of the celestial event and remarked that the four moons of Jupiter were surprisingly visible. Two Learners quickly corrected me on that, as the four Galilean moons were visible, but Jupiter has 79 moons!

The mixed-age setting of Abrome benefits both the older and younger Learners

The in-person cell had a fun and challenging day. There was lots of hanging out on this day between Learners young and old. The combination of our commitment to mixed-age groups and keeping our cells no larger than nine people (including Facilitators) means that sometimes the Learners get frustrated not having more same-aged peers with them. However, the mixed-age setting should be a defining feature of an education setting as it helps to eliminate the desire for Learners to create hierarchies among same-aged peers that produce real harm among Learners (e.g., cliques, judgement, bullying). For example, if there are a bunch of 13-year-olds together there will be a desire for the Learners to start judging where they rank in terms of popularity, looks, athletic ability, etc., but when it is a collection of young people who range in age from 6-years-old to 16-years-old there is much less of a need to compare oneself to others. Further, younger Learners are able to look up to and mimic older Learners, while older Learners develop empathy and leadership skills, and they take on a nurturing role with younger Learners.

Having seen Facilitator Ariel and an adolescent Learner biking one day the prior week, a younger Learner decided to bring his bike on our last day of 2020. The Learner really likes to test the boundaries of his capabilities, and this can sometimes scare other Learners and be a cause for concern for the Facilitators. But Facilitator Ariel made sure to let the Learner know that he only wanted to ride with him if he could commit to safe practices. The Learner said that worked for him, and then Facilitator Ariel followed up with a concern about the young Learner biking without his shoes on. So the Learner put his shoes on and they took off biking.

Shooting at something with a magic wand?

Back where the rest of the Learners were, the two other young Learners were involved in a variety of ever evolving games and exploration. As the pandemic numbers continue to worsen in Central Texas we expected that the county would declare risk stage level five at some point in the cycle, and when they did we would revert to a fully remote experience. We were already committed to one remote cell since we were in stage level four. For kids who suffer in conventional school settings, remote learning can be a godsend, as it allows them to escape the constant judgement, stress, and demands of schooling. But for our Self-Directed Education community, we have no Learners who benefit from a fully remote experience, as one of the benefits of SDE is the ability to come together and pursue interests with others who do not try to manipulate or control the Learners. Seeing these Learners engaging and playing really is a thing of beauty in a world that insists on locking kids down in even non-pandemic times.

The prospective Learner who was wrapping up his shadow was still feeling things out, and part of that included testing boundaries. For example, that morning he lightly but intently poked some folks with a stick and waited for a reaction. Facilitator Ariel gave him feedback telling him, “please do not touch him from my knees up to … the top of my head.” So the shadower then tapped him in the shins. This is not uncommon at Abrome when new people join the community, because when we tell Learners they are free, they want to see if we really mean it. Lots of schools might tell students that they’ve turned the school upside down and that the students are in charge, but the students learn quickly that they are only in charge of a tiny range of options that the adults have laid out for them. Quite frankly the schools should stop doing that because it is a form of gaslighting.

While we fundamentally believe in autonomy for all people, we are also a psychologically safe community that is anti-oppressive and consensus based. Or at least we are constantly striving to be one. So the poking incident was a great opportunity to express to the Learner that freedom does not mean license, and that our freedom includes accountability to one another. And although these conversations can be difficult for young people, especially young people who have only ever known rules and demands of them, they help the Learners to recognize the potential of freedom within their lives and how it can be used to support them and everyone else in the community.

The younger Learners, a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, who were playing a variety of games later broke a glass bottle that was in the dried out river bed. When asked what happened the Learners plainly stated, “we found it and decided to break it.” Abrome’s non-reliance on punishment opens up more opportunities for honesty from Learners, particularly when they know they may have done something harmful. But that does not mean that they enjoy having a conversation about it. As Facilitator Lauren attempted to engage them so that they could think through what compelled them to break it, and what the consequences of the act could be on others, the Learners started to walk away. Facilitator Lauren followed them because this was one of those moments they actually needed to discuss what happened because the Learners violated the Abrome agreements that every member of the community committed to. In particularly, the principle of taking care of others and taking care of the space. She said, “I need you to stop. We need to acknowledge what happened and we need to make it safe. We need to fix it.” Facilitator Lauren was concerned about them cutting themselves so she did not insist that they pick up the glass, but she did insist that they be with her while she cleaned it up. They started to point out where the pieces of glass were among the rocks, and then they all discussed why it was unsafe. One Learner said that it was no big deal because he could just walk around it, and that people could walk around it too. Facilitator Lauren struck a chord when she asked what would happen if a raccoon cut its foot. They acknowledged that it might not be able to move around for food and water. This was an example of how Abrome approaches difficult situations without relying on punishments. By doing so, we are able to have meaningful conversations rooted in trust and respect, that allow us to focus on the ethics of a situation instead of compliance and looking good in the eyes of others.

Back in the remote cell I had a scheduled check-in with one of the older Learners. She messaged me on Discord and said that we should cancel the meeting because there was no point in meeting. I asked her to explain and she said she had a rough week and was not thinking about the topic of the meeting. I said we should have the meeting anyway, as it was scheduled and I had made plans to be there, and that we could discuss her week or anything else. When she got on the call I reaffirmed that we did not have to dwell on the original topic, and we soon found our conversation drifting to all the ways that she wants her life to be after Abrome. Some of the conversation touched upon her desire to someday get a college degree, so I asked her if she wanted to take some community college courses. She said she did but that she had no idea how she could go about that or pay for it. I challenged her on that, asking her how she could find out if it was possible, and we then talked through what it means to look up that information and reach out to people who can help. It was a nice conversation and as I left she continued to scroll through the website of Austin Community College.

What an amazing quetzalcoatlus nest

Back at the in-person cell the shadower was sharing the snacks he brought for the last day of his shadow. He was super excited to be able to offer something to the community and the community was super excited to try out his gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free vegan treats. He brought enough for each person to have two of them, although not everyone wanted to eat two treats.

Imaginative play continued on this last day of the cycle, and calendar year. One of the Learners decided that he was going to build a replica of a quetzalcoatlus nest, and then chose to reenact what it might have looked like for one to hatch. It was an impressive display, and everyone was sure to keep their distance in case the mother was ready to swoop in to protect her hatchling.

As the day wound to a close I held one final afternoon roundup with the remote cell. The Learners reflected on one thing they did that day or one thing they appreciated: being with family, writing music, watching Vikings (tv show), finishing a book, writing a blog post, letting chickens out of their coop, cleaning out a shelf in their room where they found old stories that were pretty funny, and working on art. The last to go was the older Learner I had a meeting with and the thing she said she appreciated was our chat. Then she addressed everyone and announced that she was officially signed up for college.

Day 61 of AY20-21: shadow periods work

Day 61 was the last Monday of the fourth cycle of the Abrome pandacademic year. It was also the first day of winter. In the morning meeting I asked the remote cell, how will you celebrate the 1st day of winter? They responded with make apple sauce and winter ornaments, breathe, I don’t know, nothing special, and blinking a couple of times. Clearly first day is not that big a deal to the folks in the remote cell. As for me, I was going to enjoy the nice balmy first day of winter weather with a trip to the area where the in-person cell was spending their day so I could take some video of them from afar, as well as drop off some cards. But before we ended our call we discussed ways that we could welcome the Learners from the in-person cell if they were forced to go remote, tomorrow.

I stayed in touch with Facilitators Ariel and Lauren so that I could find them when I arrived at their location. They were both relatively close to each other and did not hike very far, so I found them pretty quickly. Several of the Learners saw me before I saw them and came over to talk to me. I had to request that they keep plenty of distance from me since I was not in their cell. I was able to hand off holiday cards to Facilitators Ariel and Lauren, as well as a birthday card for a shadower who would be turning 14-years-old over the holiday break. I then tried to get the drone to work, which was not that easy since the iPad I was using apparently did a software update overnight and it was asking me for a password I did not know. As I plodded my way through that experience I tried answering some of the questions from the Learners, but it is virtually impossible to give full attention to a conversation when dorking around with emails, passwords, and technology challenges.

As the Facilitators and Learners fanned back out I was able to get the drone up in the air to film the Learners in action. The adolescent Learners were hanging out near a climbing wall talking, so I maneuvered the drone toward the younger Learners who were scaling the walls of the canyon like mountain goats. I was surprised at how agile the Learners were in scaling the rocks, and it was clear that they had had plenty of practice over the prior two weeks. I had only planned to stick around for about a half an hour as I needed to get back for a Check-in and Chat with an Abrome family and for offerings that I was hosting, so I pulled the drone out of the sky as quickly as possible so I could get on my way.

At that point one of the shadowers came up to me and told me that she wanted to go home early. I asked her why, and she said that she was bored and not learning anything. Also that the outdoor experience was too tiring for her. I asked her if she had an understanding of what Self-Directed Education was, and what the deschooling process entailed. She said that she did, and that she likes freedom, but that she felt that she really needed more guidance from teachers who would tell her what to do. At that point I acknowledged her stated needs, as Learners who have been schooled for a decade can sometimes find deschooling during the shift to SDE hard to grasp, and uncomfortable. I was only seeing her for a moment, but it was clear that the shadow period worked as it should for this Learner in highlighting that Abrome was not the schooling experience that she wanted. I told her that it was a shame that that was the only time I was going to get to meet her in-person, and that I wished her the best of luck if that was the last day that she was going to be at Abrome.

When I got home I wrote up a quick email to her and her family. I reiterated how important the shadow period is for us:

“We value the shadow experience precisely so that prospective Learners know what Abrome is, and we understand that not everyone will like what they see. It allows us to go into a true partnership well informed about what learning and community will look like at Abrome for the Learner.” 

I then encouraged them to review the webinar that we previously shared with them so that they could revisit what Self-Directed Education is, and what it means to deschool. I also shared the following passage from Akilah S. Richard’s Raising Free People to highlight that what we are doing goes beyond schooling, which the shadower suggested she was looking for: 

“… I am constantly learning about myself, putting habits and ideas away and claiming or reclaiming others, as a result of my growing understanding of my way of learning and of managing my emotions and relationships. This—not leniency and a really fun curriculum—is what unschooling means and what it facilitates when you learn how to tap into it. It is a literal act—to consciously and logistically remove schools and classrooms as a child’s primary space for learning and socializing. More than that, it is an entire approach to life and relationships. In that approach is a constant growing and sharpening of the by-products of anti-oppressive, personally driven learning: self-knowledge and healthy self-determination, safe relationship building, socially just leadership and collaboration, curiosity,and genuine joy."

The shadower’s family said that they would pick her up early, so Facilitator Lauren walked her back to the drop-off point. As they waited, Facilitator Lauren invited her to paint with her, and the other shadower and an adolescent Learner came up to the drop-off point and joined in. When her guardian came to pick her up, he said that they were really proud of her for giving the shadow experience a chance.

Much of the day was spent scaling the walls of the canyon

Back at the in-person cell the other shadower and the adolescent Learner expressed their disappointment that the shadow period did not work out for the prospective Learner. They knew that the Self-Directed Education environment gets stronger as the community grows, and as adolescents, they would have also benefited from having another teen around. The two then began talking about astronomy The remaining shadower then searched for, found, and played a video on relative star sizes that he was excited to share.

The younger Learners were busy playing the entire time. They had come down from the walls of the canyon to play a hunter vs hunted game called “cougar stalks deer.” The shadower later joined in on the game as well. Essential to the Abrome experience is the opportunity to engage in unlimited free play in a mixed-age setting. This does not look like schooling to most, which is a good thing in our eyes. Many can intuitively appreciate the benefits of free play for younger Learners, but as young people age the expectation too often is that they will let go of the games to dive into academics. We hope that the Abrome Learners never lose their love of learning or their desire to play.

As the day came to a close the remaining shadower said they were excited to come back to finish up their shadow the next day. He then added that he planned to bring some gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan treats on the final day of the cycle, and of the calendar year for Abrome.

Day 60 of AY20-21: growing in trust

Dangerously close to risk stage level five

December 18th, was day 60 of this pandacedemic year and it was our last Friday of this fourth of eleven cycles of the year. Although we are wrapping up the calendar year soon, we are only about a third of the way through the Abrome year as we stretch our year into mid-July. Nonetheless, time does seem to be flying by. As I’ve been doing every day recently, I woke up and immediately checked the latest numbers related to the pandemic nationally and locally. When I went to the Austin Public Health Key Indicators for Staging I saw that we were kissing the risk stage level five zone. When the county goes to stage level five, we will go entirely remote, as all schools should, as well.

Remote cell morning meeting

Everyone in the remote cell showed up for the morning meeting where I led with the question, “how many days are there ‘til Christmas?” Before I finished my question one of the Learners shouted out, “SEVEN!” The Learners shared a variety of intentions for the day: breathe, breathe more, sew, free write, make dog treats, play Rogue Lineage, take dog to vet, make scarves, watch Netflix, and rest. After reviewing the practices we would all focus on I asked if anyone had any announcements. One of the Learners told us that it was her mom’s birthday. Another Learner told us that she was taking her dog to the vet to be put to sleep. We asked her about her dog, and she told us his name and showed us a picture of him. He was an old dog, and had been around since she was born (over 13 years). It was clear to us that it was going to be a difficult day for her, and we expressed our sympathy as she prepared to say goodbye to him.

At the in-person cell, one of the shadowing prospective Learners came dressed in a quick dry outer layer with no base layer. He was cold and shivering and quickly realized that he was underdressed for the cold weather. The Facilitators talked with the Learners the prior day about how to dress in the cold, as they have many times over, and this shadower said “hypothermia means you die.” Facilitator Lauren offered him a blanket or a coat, but the shadower said that he would first focus on moving around. It was not a great way to start the day but it did allow me to send a message to the other Facilitators over Slack reassuring them that these moments of struggle for shadowers is not a bad thing, but instead it is a good thing because they are seeing what it is like to be outdoors in a Self-Directed Education community.

One of the best seats in this classroom of life

I had a remote check-in with the oldest Learner at Abrome in the late morning. As we talked about different ways in which she could manage her time and her projects I offered up some of the tools that I use to manage my time. While admitting that I was by no means perfect, I shared that I had gotten a lot more out of my time that year because each evening I would set goals for the next day, and because I used a goal tracker that allowed me to not squander precious time and energy each morning trying to figure out what to do next. She asked if I could show it to her and I shared my screen and allowed her to see how I used a spreadsheet to track my goals. As we were talking she started to move around and took her attention off of her tablet (which she was using to talk to me with) and onto her computer. It was a bit distracting trying to talk to her while she was typing away. I asked her if she wanted to end the meeting because it seemed to me that she was not really present anymore. She then told me that she was listening, she was just trying to create her own tracker. We then spent some time talking about ways to format the spreadsheet she was using.

Facilitator Ariel had a challenging day with the youngest Learners as they tested boundaries with him. As a new Facilitator in a community that rejects coercion, Ariel is going through the process we all have of not trying to control the behavior of Learners while simultaneously not allowing Learners to impinge on the autonomy of others. When the youngest Learners poked him with a stick and three rocks his way he opted out of playing with them. They were upset that he walked away, but they were also frustrated that he didn’t set his feelings aside and quickly get over it. Then another Learner got upset at him for not cutting a branch off of a live tree so he could play with it. I later reassured Facilitator Ariel that he was not alone in this experience, as I have been there as well, and with younger Learners these are experiences that will allow them to fully internalize the importance of autonomy and consent, whereas the much easier approach adults take of demanding respectful behavior actually undermines that.

Interacting with a Texas millipede

Facilitator Lauren was spending her time that day with the two shadowers and an adolescent Learner. One of them wanted to go see the ammonite that some of the other Learners had been talking about, so they began their trek, with one of the younger Learners choosing to join them on the trek. They stopped at the Apartment Complex (a series of caves) along the way. There, a shadower and the younger Learner played while Facilitator Lauren, the adolescent Learner, and the other shadower talked.

They then continued on their trek toward The Cave where the ammonite was, and along the way found a giant millipede. They enjoyed observing the slow moving millipede, and then picked it up to experience the sensation of the many feet crawling over their fingers.

Once they arrived at The Cave, they all took time to appreciate the beauty of the ammonite. Who knows how old it was? Maybe 430 million years old. This took up the attention of the entire crew for quite some time.

Then one of the shadowers asked Facilitator Lauren and the adolescent Learner if puberty was uncomfortable. It was a sincere question that centered on emotional discomfort and how it might impact an adolescent’s relationship with family members. It was pretty amazing that this prospective Learner felt comfortable enough to ask a question about puberty to different gendered people they had only met two days earlier. It was certainly a great sign of their level of trust in the community.

Day 58 of AY20-21: welcoming two shadowers to Abrome

Day 58, Wednesday, December 16th, meant that we only had five days left in the cycle. Because we require prospective Learners to shadow with us for five days, those who wished to enroll for January needed to begin shadowing no later than that Wednesday or wait until January to shadow. We had one Learner lined up to shadow since the beginning of the month, and we had a late shadower rush through the admissions process to also begin on Wednesday. We only had room for the additional shadower because one of the Learners who was originally meeting in-person moved to the remote cell due to exposure concerns. It was a hopeful day for everyone at Abrome, knowing that we may be able to grow our community as we launch into the new year.

At the in-person cell the Learners warmly received the two shadowers. Facilitator Lauren told an eight-year-old Learner that the 13-year-old shadower was into paleontology, and they both got right to talking about their interests. They both shared that they each had brought dinosaur books in their backpacks that day! The 15-year-old shadower was nervous, but talkative, and shared that she often had challenges in new settings. They joined the rest of the Learners and Facilitators in declaring intentions for the day, with the 13-year-old saying he hoped to learn a lot that day.

Facilitators Ariel and Lauren offered to host a Self-Directed Education panel to help introduce the shadowers to how SDE works outdoors, without coercion, and within the Abrome community. But the Learners decided that they did not want to settle down for a panel on that day, and suggested maybe trying it later in the week. Each of the Learners shared a bit about themselves to help make the shadowers feel more welcome, and then the shadowers chose to share a bit about themselves. A younger Learner shared that he was autistic, which put one of the shadowers at ease.

At the morning meeting for the remote cell, as we talked about what we had planned for the day, two adolescent Learners suggested that I write an open letter to school leaders about how they should approach schooling during this wave and the dangerously high levels of infection that we will likely face for much of the winter. So besides the offerings and meetings I had scheduled for the day, I added that to my list of goals. Two of the Learners missed the morning meeting, so I checked in with each and encouraged them to join us later in the day. For one of the Learners, we had a scheduled check-in after the morning meeting. He joined me ten minutes late, apologizing for sleeping in. Some folks just don’t appreciate how much adolescents need sleep. Even with a 10:00 a.m. start time, which is much later than the schools in the area, Abrome Learners still are not getting enough sleep.

Ready to ride

At the in-person cell, one of the adolescent Learners and Facilitator Ariel bought brought their bikes to ride. Together they went with another adolescent Learner and the 13-year-old shadower to The Bridge. At The Bridge the former challenged themselves on their bikes, while the latter painted. The older shadower stayed with Facilitator Lauren and the younger Learners, and got into a long conversation with Lauren. After extended conversation the shadower shared that she felt a sense of trust with Facilitator Lauren, even though she does not trust people often.

Some were attracted to the heat, others to the marshmallows

Later, the Facilitators, Learners, and shadowers met up at The Bowl. Facilitator Lauren brought a camp stove, and the group roasted vegan marshmallows and made hot chocolate. The stove and the associated hot treats have been a huge hit this cold December cycle. The adolescent Learners and shadowers spent much of their time hanging around the fire, while the younger Learners were running around playing. One of the Abrome Learners and the 15-year-old shadower connected on their shared interests in mythology, and then art. The shadower then made some art out of a stick she had charred in the camp stove.

At one point, one of the shadowers started to drift away from the group as he explored the area. One of the adolescent Learners went up to him and said that she also used to go off on her own, but that she learned that it is important for us to build up trust with each other before folks begin to venture out on their own. Also, that they should bring a walkie talkie with them, as well. Facilitator Lauren added that she wanted shadowers to stick near Facilitators for now, until they could be sure that the shadowers had a good sense of where they were and that they could quickly be found if need be. It was a great example for the shadower of how we value autonomy, but also how we are a community that looks out for each other and therefore we need to agree to certain boundaries.

This cycle seems to be all about finding a good vantage point

I had two check-ins on the day. In the afternoon I met with an adolescent Learner who wanted to talk about Elon Musk trolling people over pronouns on Twitter. After he gave me a synopsis of what happened, I responded that I did not think that is was particularly amusing that this billionaire felt the need to call out trans and non-binary people over pronouns. We then got into a discussion over what it means to be ‘triggered,’ if being ‘triggered’ is sometimes a better option than mocking people, and what people with power can do with their time. Later in the day, I stumbled across a blog post which expanded on some of the points that I made and shared it with him on Discord. After the check-in it was time for my Free Write offering. Only one Learner has been coming to the offering which I have been hosting each day, and on this day I continued to work on the open letter, which I later published.

Back at the in-person cell one of the older Learners threw a stick onto the rock ledge above them and a rock fell off and grazed the head of one of the shadowers. While being outdoors is far safer during this pandemic than being indoors (the odds of transmitting Covid-19 in a closed environment are nearly 19 times greater than in open-air environments) being outdoors does carry risks. This point was made clear on day one of this prospective Learner’s shadow. Both the Learner who got hit with a rock and the Learner who threw the stick were shaken and upset by the experience. After receiving an ice pack and realizing that it was a minor injury, the shadower leaned over and assured the Learner that she knew that he did not mean to hurt her. He said that he felt terrible that he did something that hurt her, and she responded that she hoped he would feel better soon. The shadower then shared how trustworthy everyone seemed at Abrome, and how it was in start contrast to her experiences at school where bullies reigned. The other shadower then added on that he has always always seemed to stand out as weird at school, and Facilitator Lauren responded, “welcome to your tribe.”

A friendly reminder from the Abrome crew to give a damn

Day 36 of AY20-21: learning to understand each other through play

After a long week, last week, for non-Abrome related reasons (e.g., so is this a coup?), I was better rested and fully ready for a great week at Abrome. In spite of all that was going on outside of Abrome last week, what happened inside of Abrome was pretty great. As the Learners came in on Monday morning they filled out their intentions. Some Learners think about what they want to get out of the day and put down goals: relax, read, record; dig, dig, dig; conversate with people on the dock, finish inking comic; be with dogs, eat, go to lake film, talk to [two Learners], and swim. Other Learners rush through the intention setting process: no intentions; don’t die; fire. I feel I should have a conversation with the Learners about the differences between intentions and goals, and help them consider the value of intentions as they reflect on their experiences at Abrome for a day, or longer. One of the younger Learners volunteered to facilitate the morning meeting and I asked him to try his best to stay focused on facilitating the whole meeting. He began by asking several rounds of questions of everyone, and then toward the end his focus started slipping, which is not unusual for younger Learners, so I gave him some prompts to help him wrap up the meeting.

Perhaps they were talking about the large leaf they fished out of the lake

We then walked on to the lake where the Learners broke off in groups as they had the previous day. Two of the older Learners decided to collect more pecans, and then eat them on the dock. The oldest Learner came over to where I was sitting and set up her chair, and asked if she could read a letter written by someone who is serving life in prison, who she learned about and communicated with through an activist where she lived prior to moving to Austin. It was a long letter written by the incarcerated person, and she was able to get through about one-seventh of the paper before needing to take a break. We had a couple of tangential conversations about whether life in prison for 18 year olds are ever justified, especially for someone who did not directly hurt someone else, and whether prison itself was justified. I’ve had quite a few conversations with this Learner about issues around the criminal justice system to include policing and prisons, and while we do not agree on many of the issues, we find areas of common ground that allow us to discuss ways to mitigate the harm of the system.

Every day is a good day to cuddle Cuddle Buddies

The two youngest Learners had another full day of fun hanging out with each other, playing, climbing, and digging. This included digging a cave and going in feet first, and then going in head first. The Learner who wanted to go in head first asked me to film him doing it, and in doing so I learned that he’s not claustrophobic. Meanwhile, two of the adolescents came over to hang out with Cuddle Buddies Ingrid and Ivan, and cuddle with them. Then they decided that it would be a good day to jump in the water. They jumped in shortly after 12:00 p.m., and then waded while talking to each other, singing, and splashing around. I know that I tend to stand largely still when in cold water, as did these two Learners, which gave them lots of time to talk to each other and get to know each other. Perhaps the polar bear club is all about finding uncomfortable ways to enjoy being around each other?

One of the Learners said that day and the day prior that they had been feeling not so great because of some food and drink choices (i.e., drinking Monster) they were making as well as because of some medication they were taking. They felt they needed to go home so they arranged for their parent to pick them up, and because they had carpooled with two others, all of a sudden at 1:00 p.m. our group size was cut by nearly 40%. This was really unfortunate because we are already challenged with small group sizes due to the pandemic. We currently have a maximum of seven Learners per cell to limit the potential exposure Learners and Facilitators in a cell have, as well as to help contain the disease from spreading through the Abrome community and into our local communities should someone in our community become infected. Self-Directed Education benefits most when there are others around who can bring forth their unique ideas, interests, passions, learning differences, identities, and life experiences. This is partly why many unschoolers are so intent on organizing outings; and this is why schooling, if it was not so coercive and age segregated, and if it didn’t work so hard to prevent kids from interacting with each other, could provide a great environment for learning.

Fortunately, the Learners who remained were paired off and having a blast. The younger Learners kept playing around the beach and the adolescents were still splashing around in the lake. In fact, despite the water being quite cold, the two in the lake remained in the water for over two hours straight, with one of the Learners staying in for nearly three hours. I considered jumping in the water myself but I decided that to stay on the shore with the dogs. At 3:30 p.m. we began to wrap up our day with the afternoon roundup, then made sure we were not leaving any trash behind, and made our way to the pick-up location. The Learners who remained had a blast that day, getting to know each other and further building bonds. In fact, one Learner confided in me that another Learner was “the only one who understands me.”

Good conversation while standing in cold water

Day 35 of AY20-21: creating a stronger culture, together

The first week of our third cycle was a lot for many of us. The election that some of us had feared would be a black swan event had exhausted us long before election day, and as expected, election night amped everything up. At least by Friday it looked like the worst possible outcomes were not going to materialize. It seemed that a sizable proportion of the voting population was coming to terms with the outcome, and much of the rest of the country/world was cautiously letting their guard down hoping that things were going to start getting back to a sense of normalcy in the coming months. Although it needs to be said that the old normal was violently oppressive to many populations, and it would be nice if we could to fighting for the liberation of all people.

Friday the exhaustion was palpable, even among the Learners who do not follow politics. The intentions the Learners set seemed to reflect that: don’t die, freetopia, freetopia, talk to [two Learners], relax, chill, cuddle with dogs, pet the dogs, record, drink Monster, dig, to have no intentions, and maybe swim.

Being Friday I tried to make the morning meeting as short as possible as I expected that we would need to settle into longer Check-in and Change-up meetings, and I was right. Four awarenesses were raised that morning, with two of them being the standard awarenesses of masking/social distancing and drinking water. Two other awarenesses were raised, one about how much time we were spending at the lake, and the other a concern about a name that some of the Learners came up with for a turtle that we always see on our walks to and from the lake. The awareness about the time at the lake was universally shot down in terms of it needing to be added to the Community Awareness Board, and there was just a general agreement that we would be mindful of the wants of people who may not want to spend all day, every day at the lake.

The other proposed awareness took a long time to work out. The name the Learners came up with was ‘disabled turtle,’ as it would always sun on a tree with it’s legs stretched out behind it. It may have in fact been disabled, and the name seemed descriptive, but one of the Learners pointed out that it seemed inappropriate. The Learner was alone in her position, with some of the other Learners thinking it was fine because it was not made with ill-intent, and many of the other Learners not caring about the issue. The Learners who sometimes used the nickname for the turtle made clear that they were not doing it to be mean, and that it was done in fun and that as it was a descriptive name that no one should be offended by it. But the Learner who raised the awareness did not waiver, and we eventually shifted the conversation to the use of ableist language, and how even with good intent how sometimes the language that we use can be harmful. Particularly when we aspire to be a anti-oppressive, psychologically safe community. Eventually the Learners who were opposed to adding the awareness to the Community Awareness Board were persuaded by the arguments, and they agreed to the practices of calling the turtle by a different name (Greginald, a compromise between Greg and Reginald) and to be mindful to not use ableist language. I was super proud of the willingness of the Learners to challenge their own beliefs, and to be open to shifting their choice of words, and I was especially proud of the courage of the Learner who raised the issue.

That branch was a threat that we couldn’t bring down

By the time we finished the Friday meetings we were already an hour into the day, so the Learners made a beeline for the lake. Much of the rest of the day was standard socialization and play. Two Learners jumped in the water and enjoyed each other’s company, two Learners began to re-dig their hot tub, and two others continued their various forms of play along the lakeside. The oldest Learner, who just joined the community this year, approached me to have a discussion about what it would mean to “graduate” from a Self-Directed Education community like Abrome. After the conversation she focused on taking pictures and recording video for her YouTube channel.

During the day I called on two of the older Learners to try to help me dislodge a large, loose branch that was hanging over the trail to the lake. I feared that the branch which seemed to have broken loose from above, and got caught on the way down, could eventually fall on someone’s head. We considered throwing rocks and sticks at it, and also tying off a rock or a stick to twine that would hopefully catch the branch so we could pull it down. While we were trying to prevent someone from getting seriously hurt, we had to be mindful that maybe throwing rocks up into the air was not all that safe either. So we made sure that we were all well positioned and paying full attention each time something went up in the air. We tried for a long time, but ultimately our efforts failed. We will probably come back to attempting to bring it down at a later date.

As the day was coming to an end the older Learners needed to fill in the hole they dug. Filling in a hole is easier than digging it, just as walking down a hill is typically easier than climbing up it. But it was still hard work, and one of the younger Learners decided to led a hand to help them complete the job. We then held our afternoon meeting on the dock, with one Learner volunteering to be the game master and another the facilitator. As the meeting ended a young Learner who typically presents as unemotional turned away from everyone and began to cry. Immediately the other Learners jumped into action asking him what was wrong (he dropped his water bottle into the lake and it was drifting away) and they assured him that they would retrieve the bottle for him. It was beautiful seeing all the Learners concerning themselves with the needs of the youngest Learner, and seeing how this community continues to jell across ages.

Day 34 of AY20-21: but what about socialization?

Sometimes when families are considering homeschooling they get the question, “but what about socialization?” The argument is that schooling is where children become socialized, and taking them out of school will deny them that opportunity. There are many problems with this argument, of which I’ll quickly highlight three of them.

The first problem is that there is very little socialization that happens at school. There is lots of socialization that may happen around school (e.g., coming to school, in between classes, lunch, extracurriculars, leaving school), but schooling is about schooling, and schooling is decidedly anti-socialization. In school, students are expected to be good students, which means not socialization with one another.

If this is socialization, schooling is problematic.

The second problem is that the practices and structures of schooling promote behaviors that are anti-social. Schooling is about testing, grading, and ranking students against one another. It is a race to the top where there is limited room for winners, but there is plenty of room for losers everywhere below the top. In fact, you cannot have winners if you don’t have losers in a competitive game—one must create losers to anoint winners. What schools squander in their game of pitting students against each other or against arbitrary standards is the opportunity to promote empathy, collaboration, conflict resolution, self-regulation, teamwork, and a sense of self-efficacy.

The third problem is that schools operate nothing like society, at least the functional parts of society that uplift people and allow them to lead meaningful lives. So the behaviors one must develop to do well in schooling do not translate over to broader society. For example, in broader society we should be able to interact with people old and young. In schools students are typically stuck in rooms with children all the same age. In broader society we should be able to interact with people who are different than us. Schools literally wall children off fro those who are different than them: children not their age, adults, people with learning differences, and people outside of their segregated school zones. Schools limit students’ universe of daytime interactions to same-aged students from largely homogenous communities in a competitive atmosphere.

So what does this have to do with my daily blog about Abrome during this pandemic year? Three of the seven Learners in my cell listed some form of socialization on their daily intentions: get to know people, hang out, and maybe talk to [a specific Learner].

Some Learners are eating pecans while other Learners are deep in conversation.

When all the Learners had arrived I began the morning meeting with a series of questions that would allow me to get to know them better, and that would help them better know each other. The most serious question was ‘how do you want to be treated at Abrome?’ The responses centered around respectfully, fairly, and kindly. After the morning meeting we made our way back to the lake where two Learners positioned themselves on the dock, two Learners went looking for pecans to harvest, and two Learners began shoveling holes in the sandy beach. The Learner who had intended to ‘get to know people’ then made her way to the dock to be around the two Learners who positioned themselves there, including the Learner who had an intention to ‘maybe talk to [the Learner who joined them on the dock].’ I was not close enough to observe how the conversations began, but soon enough they were all engaged in “awesome conversations” as one Learner later relayed to me.

The older Learners came back to the beach after collecting pecans and began breaking them open and eating them. I appreciated that they kept their masks on while doing so, lifting them just slightly to take in a pecan at any given time. They offered me one and I ate it, and they tasted just like they do when I buy them from the bulk section of the grocery store. As I walked away they continued to ‘hang out,’ which was the intention of one of the Learners.

The two younger Learners continued to dig their holes as deep as they could, which was complicated by the lake pushing sand back into their holes. One of the older Learners reminded one of them to wear their shoes if they were going to dig with the shovel, or to dig from their knees, practices that we highlighted at the beginning of the day when that Learner arrived with shovels. When the younger Learners tired of the digging, the older Learners asked if they could borrow the shovels to dig a large hole that would double as a hot tub. While most of this part of west Austin is a tiny sliver of topsoil on top of limestone, they happened to find a spot that was mostly sand and they dug quite deep until they ran out of energy. It was a great workout and a great bonding experience for them. Note: all Learners refilled their holes by the end of the day.

While the Learners were digging, they were stacking the sand on a pile next to the hole. The two younger Learners found it fun to run through the pile in between each shovel of sand was moved. The older Learner who was digging patiently waited each time to make sure that the Learners cleared out of the space he was throwing the sand so that he did not hurt one of the younger Learners. The six-year-old Learner recognized that their fun was creating a minor inconvenience for someone else, even though the older Learner was okay with the inconvenience. In a show of self-regulation and leadership, the younger Learner decided that it was best to simply stop the inconvenience and turned to the other Learner and said, “we’re making the process slower for [the Learner who was digging], let’s stop.”

These two friends decided to take a cold dip.

Toward the end of the day, the two Learners who wanted to be more social decided they wanted to jump in the lake. It was a cold plunge in the lake, but they did it together, so that took away some of the sting of the cold water. I decided that I should take advantage of jumping in the lake, as well, considering that there may not be many more days of swimming left as we go deeper into the fall. I chose not to touch the cold water to prevent myself from changing my mind, and jumped in from the roof of the dock for good measure. It was really cold.

By the afternoon roundup it seemed that everyone was really happy with how the day played out. Although we are operating in small, physically distant, age-mixed cells during the pandemic, which limits the number of people each Learner can interact with each day (because pandemic), it would be absurd to argue that they would have more opportunities for socialization in a conventional setting, whether that setting was online during the pandemic, in-person during the pandemic, or in-person during non-pandemic times. At Abrome the process of socialization is not directed; it is organic, in an anti-oppressive, consensus based community that centers the needs of each Learner.

But what about socialization?

Day 33 of AY20-21: a post-election energy kind of day

Like many others, I lost sleep on election night. I tried to go to bed at 8:00 p.m., but I did not fall asleep until around 10:00 p.m., and then woke up in the middle of the night just as Trump was claiming victory, and then went back to sleep until I woke up just after 4:00 a.m. I skipped my morning run, opting instead to take care of some administrative tasks that were on a deadline, and then wrote up what happened on day 32 for this blog. I spoke to the guardian of and one of the Learners from the other cell who questioned if she should attend that day, as she had a temperature that was a bit elevated, but was under our cutoff of 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit. After confirming that she cleared our screening process she decided to stay home just in case. I was running a bit behind so I rushed out the door to get to the drop-off location, and then got to slow down once I arrived. Every day I write my intentions, as well. My intentions were to be rested, have conversation with Learners, stay hydrated, take pics/vids, think, and have separate conversations about specific topics with two of the older Learners. Then the Learners started trickling in.

It seemed that the Learners may have also been tired from the night before based on their intentions: have fun, have no intentions, don’t die, don’t die, eat, eat lunch, freetopia, and find a new stick. I asked if anyone wanted to be the game master and a new Learner volunteered. She set the conditions for the meeting and then facilitated it as well. She gave us a prompt to reply to, chose two truths and a lie as a get to know you activity, and asked everyone what their intentions for the ay were. Then we discussed where we would spend the morning. They had previously agreed to spend the prior day at the lake and this day away from the lake to meet the needs of Learners who wanted a break from the lake. So after some short discussion on where they would prefer to go they settled on the large rocks at the top of the hill that look out over the river, with a view of the entire valley. One Learner needed to go to the bathroom so we broke into two groups, with the teenagers taking responsibility for getting everyone to the top of the hill while I joined the Learner who needed to take a detour to the bathroom.

When I arrived a the top of the hill I found one Learner laid out on a yoga mat, two chatting on one rock, and two others looking for sticks to swing around. One of the older Learners then asked me for a walkie talkie so that he could go looking for prickly pear fruit. One Learner found a spot and settled in to ink her comics, while another Learner looked for a spot where he could sit and think. The two younger Learners came together and began beating old sticks they found against the rocks, then climbing the remnants of a dead tree, and then using a small pine tree as a catapult to launch sticks and rocks downhill. The Learner who went looking for prickly pear fruit came back, and then decided to go on a hike. The other older Learner then borrowed a walkie talkie and went off to join the other on his hike. I spent my time at the top of the hill communicating with Facilitator Lauren, checking in on the Learners at the top of the hill, and reminding two Learners about our masking and distancing practices.

I tried to take a selfie with two Learners. Failed.

At around 1:00 p.m., the Learners discussed the possibility of going to the lake and they all agreed that they wanted to do so. We stopped at the drop-off location on the way there to refill our water bottles, and I was pleased to find that three Learners had drank enough to require refills, as that is one of the practices we highlighted on Monday. At the lake everyone settled into their usual locations: three on the dock, one under a tree, and two playing on a small beach (one Learner stayed home).

For me, the day would have been a good one to bring a book, because the Learners were not eager to have conversation with me and I did not have the energy to offer up any games or activities. But that morning I felt that my energy levels did not warrant bringing a book. I did ask some of the Learners who lingered around me at one point if they wanted to talk about anything, and in particular about the election, but they passed on it. Two of the Learners were super high energy, digging in the sand, creating imaginary king mud ball world, climbing trees over the water, and throwing mud at each other. One of the new Learners asked another Learner about her comic, and they got into a nice long conversation that spanned much of the afternoon. They later exchanged numbers so they could continue the conversation via chat. At one point a Learner asked to go back to the drop-off location to refill her water bottle, meaning four of six Learners were staying hydrated, and helping to make sure that the intentions of don’t die were met because “hydrate or die.” Another Learner jumped in the lake for the first time. It was cold but it was alright.

At the end of the day I led the afternoon roundup on the dock, 15 minutes early as a Learner needed to be picked up early. I led with the question “why are you here?” The first response was, “because it’s time for the afternoon roundup.” True, so I elaborated and asked, “why are you here at Abrome, as opposed to at school or being homeschooled?” Most of the Learners highlighted how school was not working for them. How it was a place where they were told they were not smart, or trouble makers, or where other kids would shun or bully them. One Learner who was previously homeschooled said it was in response to her request to have more freedom. I found the responses informative. While some of the Learners sometimes complain about being at the lake, or being away from the lake, or being outdoors when it is hot or cold, or being in small groups, they each expressed appreciation for being able to have control over their time, and over at least the education aspect of their lives. I wanted to be able to bottle up some of the responses to give back to them when they are upset with the composition of the cells or on meeting on a cold day, but just hearing their responses gave me a bit more energy on a day that I did not have much of it. One of the Learners then asked me what Abrome meant, so I went into my story of how I came up with the name of our community five years ago. I then asked the Learners what was the highlight of their day, how we all did on our practices, and if they had any announcements for the group. And then we headed back to the pick-up location and on the way I had one of my planned conversations with two of the older Learners. Because we arrived at the pick-up location early, we had lots of time to sit around and talk with each other while waiting for rides to arrive. Older and younger Learners talked about YouTube videos, how to make and monetize them, which channels they watch the most, and how the channels have evolved over time.

When all the Learners had been picked up I had my daily check-in with Facilitator Lauren. Our check-ins this week have all lasted 20 to 40 minutes in length, as we dive deep into how we are facilitating during different scenarios and situations. We recapped our day, discussed challenges that some of the Learners were facing, as well as some mindsets that were limiting a couple of the Learners. We discussed ways to approach conversations with some of the Learners, and how to address some fears and misconceptions that reside within the community. By the time we ended the call we each had new priorities for some of the conversations we would be having with Learners in the coming days.

Day 32 of AY20-21: election day experiences

Tuesday was election day, so I was not quite sure what to expect from the Learners. I imagined that many of them, or at least their families, were quite anxious about what was to come, and I wanted to find ways to provide space for the Learners to process and express their feelings. But while I thought that the day might be a lot, the intentions they wrote suggested that maybe I was a day too early in my worries. The intentions for the day included: write a story, eat, eat, drink, crochet, not have intentions, don’t die, pet dogs, listen to music, dig a hole, film, chill, ink comic, and feel water.

I asked them if they were willing to move away from the drop-off location for the morning meeting and after a back and forth, they decided that they would move to the small field next to an old house. When we got there I introduced the human spectrum activity where we arranged ourselves in groups or on a spectrum according to our similarities and differences. Some of the Learners were not interested in it, and that feeling quickly spread to everyone else. Three of them said they needed to go to the bathroom, even. It was a really great example of when one person expresses or projects a sentiment, how it can shift the attitudes of others. This example holds in small groups such as ours, as well as in presidential elections.

Before we ended the meeting we needed to decide where we would go to spend our day. There were some varied opinions in the group. It came as no surprise that several Learners wanted to go to the lake. But two Learners wanted to move away from the lake for a change. One wanted to head up the hill to a spot that had a great view of the lake and all the hills around us. Another wanted to go to the waterfall. The Learners who wanted to go to the lake said we should just vote on it. At that point I interceded and reminded them that we can come to collective decisions without resorting to votes which would have ignored the needs of the Learners who wanted a break from the lake. So the Learners began to explain their preferences. One did not want to go uphill because their feet were hurting them. Two of them wanted to go to the lake to dig holes in the sand with the shovels one of them brought. One wanted to feel the lake water. One who wanted to go to the waterfall said that they would just go with whatever everyone else wanted, but that they would enjoy going on a hike. And the one who wanted to go up the hill said that they did not appreciate how hot they got the day before by the lake where there was minimal cover from the sun. They decided that it made sense to go to the lake for the day, but that they would commit to going away from the lake on Wednesday. It was a great example of consensus decisions making that acknowledged the needs of each Learner, and left no Learner feeling like their voice did not matter just because they were not in the majority.

The lake is a draw for most Learners

On the way to the lake we stopped at the bathroom where one of the Learners found a quick moving fuzzy black caterpillar. Then we moved onto the lake where everyone began to settle in. I asked the two oldest Learners to chat with me real quickly where I asked them to reflect on the way they approached participating in the human spectrum activity, and how they have an outsized influence on how younger Learners may choose to participate. I thanked them for listening to me, and then I set out a water bowl for Cuddle Buddies Ingrid and Ivan who were joining us for the first time that cycle.

There were some young children at the park who began chatting with me and we got into a long conversation where I ran with some of their joking and insisted that I was an alien from another planet. It was a fun conversation where we discussed what makes one an alien, to include how if I was an alien, then they were aliens to me! I also rejected their demands that I needed to accept the ways in which humans make sense of the universe which sent their wheels spinning. When the kids left, another Learner approached me and apologized for the way that she responded to the morning meeting. I do not know if she did so because of the way I expressed myself at the meeting, if it was something I said to her in particular, or if she was just reading the room. But I appreciated it. And then everything returned to normal.

Laying in the sun with Cuddle Buddy Ivan

For the two Learners who were in my cell for the first time this year, Tuesday was also their first time being with the Cuddle Buddies. And one of them really took to Ingrid and Ivan. She came over to get to know the dogs and in the process we got to know each other. Meanwhile, the Learners who wanted to dig did a lot of digging on the beach. We did discuss the importance of wearing shoes if they were going to be digging with the shovels, and I asked them to shovel on their knees if they were not going to wear shoes. I had to remind them of this agreement a few times but it eventually clicked.

Experimenting with making videos

One of the older Learners did not show up on Tuesday, which left another one of the older Learners looking for something to do. In their boredom, they decided that they would go looking for pecans to harvest and eat. Meanwhile, a Learner who brought a camera stand to make some videos got into conversation with another Learner about creating videos for social media, and soon they were discussing ways they could collaborate on making the videos. One of the Learners then experimented with making time-lapse videos of passing boats, while the other chose to lay in the sun with the dogs. Another Learner spent much of her day continuing to diligently ink the comics that she has been working on for a while, although she took a break to place fake poop next to my bag as a joke.

Is this the beginning of prank season?

Mid-afternoon, I checked in with the Learners to see if they needed to refill their water bottles. Two of them said they did so we trekked back to the drop-off location with the Cuddle Buddies to top off. When I returned, the older Learner who was picking pecans had a short conversations with me, and then I pulled out my Rubik’s cube to play with it a bit. And before I knew it the day was coming to an end. At the afternoon roundup we did rose-bud-thorn to reflect on our day, and we closed out the meeting with the number game. In the number game we need to count from one to fifteen, with no person saying two numbers in a row, and if two people speak at the same time we have to start over as a group. It is not too difficult if only a few people are playing, but when there are seven people, it is not easy. In our experience the number game is often slow, and never fast. But this time, they flew through it without skipping a beat. We were finished in about ten seconds. We then cleaned up our space and made our way to the pick-up location. There, the rides of two Learners were waiting. But with the other four Learners still sitting around, one of them said they enjoyed how effortlessly we did the number game and asked if we could do it again. We did, with a few restarts, and then an older Learner suggested we play the I-game, where we make a story as a group, one word at a time. It was a really nice counter to the activity at the beginning of the day, and a great way to end the day at Abrome.

Day 31 of AY20-21: Cycle three begins

The first day of our third cycle was bittersweet.

The sweet: Being able to be together again for the third of eleven planned cycles for this academic-plandemic year is something to celebrate. Just last week, a record 61,000 children got Covid-19 last week. Pediatric cases have gone from 2% of all cases in the United States in April to 11%, now. Bringing students, teachers, and staff together indoors will contribute to the spread of Covid-19 within the school community, but school members will take Covid-19 back into their homes and into their local communities. Reopening schools is contributing to the harm of the pandemic. To protect the Abrome community, and the Central Texas community, we decided to take Abrome outdoors, in small, physically distant cells of no more than seven Learners, each. We knew that doing so would be challenging for some Learners because of unfavorable weather (e.g., rain, heat, cold) and lack of the comforts of being indoors (e.g., air conditioning, heating, electricity), as well as for some families as they needed to drive longer distances to drop their Learners off at various public spaces. We also knew that our approach would make it more challenging to bring in new Learners when so many are looking for either an in-school (sometimes without masks) or a remote option. So by having all of our Learners able to come together with us as we started our third cycle, and having real hope that we will begin adding more Learners soon, day 31 was sweet.

The bitter: Unfortunately, as we started the third cycle of the year we did so without Facilitator Jennifer, who has decided move on from Abrome to find opportunities that are a better fit for them. Losing Jennifer is tough, as they have been such a force in helping us improve our culture and prepare us for growth during the pandemic in a way that will help us be a safer place for all children well into the future. Facilitator Lauren and I both decided that we would make space for Learners to process the news on Monday, as well as throughout the week. We hope that Jennifer will be able to come back and visit us, and celebrate with us as our community continues to grow stronger thanks in part to the contributions they made.

The day: This cycle I have seven Learners in my cell. Five of the Learners I have had in my cell before, and two of them are in my cell for the first time. I am excited to get to spend time for the first time with the two new Learners who joined Abrome in September. The cell has Learners who range in age from six to eighteen, with four boys and three girls, and two sets of siblings. They come from the local neighborhood, Austin, Bee Cave, and Lakeway.

As the Learners joined me at the drop-off location they filled out their intentions. There was a mix of excitement and anxiety as some Learners met each other for the first time. The intentions were varied: don’t be cold, explore new space, play games, listen to music, don’t die, play with toys, meet new peoples, write, nothing, drink water, stay off phone, work on comic book, eat, chill, eat, chill, play, relax, and work on comic book. When we all arrived I suggested that we move elsewhere for our morning meeting considering that some folks have gotten chigger bites at that location in the past, and the group decided that we would go to a nice grassy area under a bunch of large pecan trees.

The best seats in the house!

At the pecan trees we spread out and began a long morning meeting. We started with introductions and some get to know you questions. We spoke about Jennifer’s departure and provided an opportunity for Learners to share their feelings. Then we covered safety boundaries. We also discussed our needs as individuals and as a group, our intentions as individuals and as a group, and practices we wanted to focus on (masking, social distancing, and drinking water). When the meeting was over the Learners all gravitated toward the lake. Immediately two of the older Learners climbed up onto the roof of the dock, and then a young Learner followed behind. At the top the young Learner got to play some games on the phone of one of the older Learners who he just met an hour ago. Another younger Learner scaled up toward the roof several times but always stopped just shy of getting to the top due to fear. I expect that this fear will be overcome later this week.

Navigating the wall

I set up my chair in the field under a tree, while another Learner set up under a cypress tree nearby and began working on her comics, which she did for the full day. The younger Learner came back down from roof of the dock and found his way to the sandy beach area where he began to dig with his hands. He assured me that he could dig a very deep hole, and then proceeded to prove it to me. This drew out the other younger Learner who also began digging aggressively. They then eventually moved on to navigating across the most treacherous part of the retaining wall where it slopes toward the lake at a 45 degree angle. Two of the older Learners came over and borrowed a walkie talkie to go on a walk together.

An older Learner came over and engaged me in a conversation that lasted an hour. We discussed a wide variety of topics, from the very personal to reality television. At the end of the conversation she said that she had hoped to get her driver’s license and I asked what was stopping her. She said she did not know where to start and I suggested she go to the Texas Department of Public Safety website where the information was listed. She thanked me and left.

The two Learners who went on a walk returned, and told me that they had collected and ate a bunch of pecans while on their walk. I asked how their stomachs felt, and they said that they felt fine. I saw one of the new Learners doing somersaults and other routines in the middle of the field, so I asked her, have you taken gymnastics lessons? She said she had, as well as her brother. We had a short conversation about that, and got to get to know each other a little bit before she went back to the dock to listen into what the teenagers were talking about.

At some point one of the Learners came over toward me and said, “Antonio, I need to talk to you about something.” He said that he noticed his sister was looking up how to get a driver’s license, and he wanted to get started on the process as well, and he wanted to know how to do so. We talked briefly about looking it up online, he searched for TXDPS on his phone, and found the link that would take him through the steps needed.

Although the day started out cold (it was 45 degrees on my morning run), by mid-afternoon it was feeling pretty warm, with the sun beating down on us. I did not bring a towel to jump in the water as I assumed I would be too busy during the day, but a younger Learner asked if he could jump in, and he jumped in. Several Learners said they would possibly jump in on Tuesday.

Then I got a call from the mom of two prospective Learners. Having time to take the call, I chatted with her for over a half an hour about how we prioritize the autonomy of children over the adultish and schoolish ways of manipulating children, our approach to the pandemic, whether it is ever too late in a young person’s academic career to embrace Self-Directed Education, and the current space we had for new Learners. It was a really wonderful conversation, as it seems that the family is ready to embrace a more liberatory path for their children. When I hung up the phone it was clear that several of the Learners were zeroed in on me. One of them asked, “are we adding to the army?” I laughed, and said maybe, but maybe we could not consider ourselves an army. Let’s build our community instead of fighting with others.

At the afternoon roundup we shared what the best part of our day was, something that we learned that day, how we did on the practices we raised earlier that day, and we got a thumb check on how the day went overall. The funniest lesson learned that day was that it is a good idea not to walk to the bathroom barefoot because it is surrounded by sticker burs. The most moving lesson learned was from the Learner I spent an hour talking with earlier in the day. She said that for the first time, she could finally accept who she is. That was definitely the sweetest part of the day.

Scaling the fence