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I Believe in You
In a recent staff meeting we shared inspirational moments of our first week of the school. Our newest teacher talked about teaching her students the “I believe in you face.” She explained to her students that when classmates are trying something challenging like standing up in front of the class, we can radiate the intention of kindness and support...
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Out of the Box Learning
Yesterday the Upper Elementary class went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). I had the great blessing to accompany them. As tired as I was at the end of the day I was also inspired, invigorated and even more passionate about out of the box learning. One child...
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Deciding What to Teach
In any modern school, certain academic skills must be taught. We know these skills as the three pillared core of education: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Education for Life teachers have incredible freedom to decide what to teach their students beyond basic literacy. There are guidelines...
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Teaching as Spiritual Practice
Recently, I had the honor of presenting at the Holistic Teaching and Learning Conference in Ashland, Oregon. It was a very inspiring conference to attend. There were several people there working in schools around Canada and the US who are re-imagining an education that looks at the whole child - not just the intellect. In Education for Life, we work each day to create lessons that...
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The Living Wisdom Experience from a Parent
I discovered the Living Wisdom School (LWS) after reading former LWS Director Susan Dermond’s book "Calm and Compassionate Children: A Handbook" when my son was 3 years old. We were looking for preschools at the time. Excited to learn...
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Appreciating Internal Motivation
At our recent building fundraiser, Nitai Deranja, the co-director of Education for Life, gave an inspiring talk about the work we do at Living Wisdom Schools and why we do it. One of our goals at LWS is to create a schooling experience that is more internally motivated than externally motivated. When students feel safe and inspired, a curiosity bubbles up and learning occurs naturally...
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Inspirational Testing
In the Primary class, we have started doing a weekly spelling test. We don’t administer many tests at Living Wisdom School, but the ability to stay calm, centered and focused during a test is an important skill. So, we start small in Primary class with a spelling test...
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School Performance
As I was driving the other day, I noticed a billboard advertising a school. The largest word on the ad was the word performance...
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Growth through Expansion
We hold parent/teacher conferences at our school twice a year. This process happens at many schools...
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School Preparations
School starts here at Living Wisdom in Portland on September 4th. The weeks leading up to the first day of school are full of energy, but it's a different energy than the energy that buzzes through the school when students are here. This week is a time for us as teachers to connect with each other...
