🐴 Why Ansel Adams' father pulled him out of school

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IN THIS EDITION:

💡 The bold educational choice that changed photography history
📊 What research actually says about kindergarten "readiness"
🔧 The three critical elements that create meaningful learning environments

💡 THOUGHT

THE SPARK WORTH PROTECTING

When Ansel Adams was 12, his father made the courageous decision to remove him from traditional school entirely, giving him instead a year's pass to the 1915 World's Fair and telling him "that would be his school."

We’re all born with this "internal spark.” But too often it’s extinguished by rigid schedules, standardized expectations, and emphasis on external validation.

The courage to protect your child's spark can be hard to muster against conventional wisdom about what "proper" education looks like (especially in the early years).

H/T to Kerry McDonald of the LiberatED podcast.

📊 TREND

RETHINKING "KINDERGARTEN READINESS"

If your five-year-old isn't mastering Mandarin while coding an app between violin practice and advanced fractions, clearly they're falling behind—at least if you let certain Pinterest-perfect social media influencers set your expectations for what’s normal.

But what does the research actually say about early childhood education?

Our latest blog post challenges the conventional "kindergarten readiness" narrative and explores an alternative approach.

Rather than asking whether your child is ready for a particular curriculum, consider whether your educational approach is ready to meet your unique child where they are.

Dr. Raymond Moore, one of homeschooling's pioneering researchers, spent decades studying child development and concluded: "Many children are not developmentally ready for formal academics until age 8-10. Pushing academics too early can create unnecessary frustration and may actually delay a child's progress."

We’re not suggesting you wait until fifth grade to begin formal academics, but it’s worth considering what 5-6 year olds actually need developmentally.

Explore our complete guide to "Kindergarten Without Walls" →

🛠️ TOOL

THE THREE C'S OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING

Creating a personalized learning environment doesn't happen by chance. We've observed that meaningful education consistently happens at the intersection of three critical elements—what we call the "Three C's":

1. Choice: Real agency over how, what, and when learning happens. Psychology professor Dan Ariely has found that a person's willingness to work hard at something is directly tied to how meaningful they perceive the task to be.

2. Competency: Adequate time, resources, and support to develop and master key skills at an individual pace. This means measuring progress against personal growth rather than arbitrary grade-level expectations.

3. Connection: Learning topics that actually matter to the learner and spark genuine curiosity.

These principles become especially powerful in the early years when children are forming their fundamental relationship with learning itself.

That’s all for today! See you tomorrow.

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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