On Friday we wrapped up our first week outdoors. We are now one week into the first of eleven cycles that will run through mid-July. The week was fun, and had lots of learning experiences embedded in it. Some of the fun:…
read more“Hey can we do somewhere inside today because I don’t wanna sit on wet grass.” That’s the question I saw from a Learner when I checked the Abrome Discord channel in the morning. The first day of the academic year was a…
read moreOne of the reasons we decided to go outside this academic year was so that we could safely be together during this pandemic. We found that connecting over Discord and Zoom was insufficient to meeting our needs as individuals and as a…
read moreWhen we departed for spring break on March 6th, I certainly did not expect that the next time that I’d see the Abrome Learners in-person was going to be on September 8th. But after six months of responding to the unknown, of…
read moreWhen we shut down for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year last April 1st, choosing to continue with remote meet-ups only, we knew that we had to begin preparations for coming back together in very different ways in the 2020-2021 academic…
read moreBringing students, teachers, and staff together inside classrooms and schoolhouses during a pandemic is tyranny. School was already tyranny for children for all the non-pandemic reasons: forced attendance, age segregation, lack of autonomy, sit down and shut up, forced curriculum, testing, homework,…
read moreIt is not easy to grow a Self-Directed Education (SDE) community. Society does not trust children, and Self-Directed Education is rooted in trust. Most adults believe that children must be told what to learn and when to learn it. Many adults find…
read moreSkeptic: What is Abrome? Me: Abrome is a Self-Directed Education community in Austin, TX, that serves young people and their families. Abrome provides Learners with a psychologically safe space that is anti-oppressive and consensus based, where young people have the autonomy to…
read moreThis week we rolled out a contingency planning document to help Learners and their families envision what Emancipated Learning will look like as we navigate through the challenges of Covid-19. The planning document details practices and protocols that Abrome is implementing that…
read moreWhat is it exactly that Abrome Facilitators do? Do you teach them anything? These questions are often as accusatory as they are inquisitive. It is difficult to understand what Abrome Facilitators do if you are focused on what they do not do….
read more“Resource Giveaway Day 3/26 CANCELLED” I was expecting this email from the Sustainable Food Center but it still hurt to see. Twice a year, the organization provides free seeds, transplants, and compost to gardens all around the Austin area. I found out…
read moreAbrome is a Self-Directed Education (SDE) community in Austin, TX, that is now in its fourth year. As Facilitators (adult staff members), we regularly critique our approach to interacting with Learners and building community, as well as how the culture of Abrome is…
read moreAt Abrome, we trust children. At Abrome we believe that young people should be able to be in the world, and be able to navigate the world without interference from meddling adults. We believe that young people benefit from being able to…
read moreProfessor Peter Gray argues that society can free children from coercive schooling through learning centers that will maximize their ability to educate themselves without depriving them of the rightful joys of childhood. We agree. Abrome is a self-directed learning community that opened…
read moreAntonio Buehler, founder of Abrome was invited to the Laura Bush Community Library to speak about how to gain admission into elite colleges and universities. This video is shared courtesy of the library. </iframe>”> Getting into elite colleges such as Harvard or…
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