Our Foundation

Decolonized Parenting

The foundation is reevaluating our parenting practice or the adult/child relationship in school. In her book “Raising Free People”, Akilah S. Richards says,“If I viewed my children as fertile land to shape and design without the partnership of their own choices and curiosities, then I would be colonizing that land, those children. I would be the oppressor in this instance..." Liberation Parenting means a relationship where BOTH parents AND children are free to be and free to act. It's both parents and children considering the choice, voice and consent of each other!

Once we offer children consent, choice and voice, freedom isn’t something that can be tethered to only one area of life. Our government has mandated all children of school age to be in school. How do we offer consent, choice, voice and freedom in school? We don’t unless school has been DEschooled!

DeSchooling

The current experience of traditional school is built upon compulsion and another person’s expectation. School is mandated by law. Someone else decides what your kids will learn, how they will learn it, when they should learn it and how they should demonstrate that they learned it! Compulsory school means teaching and learning are done by force and under threat. Let that sit there for a sec.

So, what does DEschooling really mean? Let’s have a mini grammar lesson. The prefix “de-” means to come off or away from. It means movement from one place to another. What are we moving FROM and TOWARDS? We are moving away from the force or threat. We are moving away from “someone else’s expectation” regarding learning and school. We begin by moving away from the practice of mandating children to learn something by coercion. We move away from the practice of someone else deciding what our kids learn, when they learn, how they learn, if they learn, that they should even learn in the first place, if and how they will demonstrate that they learned AND being punished if they don’t!

But there’s more. DEschooling also means moving away from our own expectations of the what, when and how of our children’s learning.

Imagine a school with all of the curriculum, the guides and age segregated grades. A school with all of the traditional standardized testing and “What a 4th grader should know” expectations. Now imagine we have boxed all that stuff up and removed it from the building. The walls are blank. There are no desks and no chairs, no schedules and no report cards. In fact imagine there isn’t a building at all! An empty, blank space full of NOTHING!

Self-Directed Learning or UNschooling

From NOTHING we can create ANYTHING! So, remember that empty space after we hauled out everyone’s expectation (including your own) of what someone should learn? Imagine you and your Learner(s) are standing there in the NOTHINGness where a “school” used to be. Guess what we place inside the NOTHINGNESS first? YUP. THE LEARNER! Imagine the Learner walks into NOTHING and can authentically BE their Possibility; their GENIUS! DeCentralized, Self-Directed Learning or UNschooling is non compulsory learning. SDL is built on a belief that humans will acquire knowledge as a result of curiosity and LOVE. They will acquire this knowledge when they see the relevance of such knowledge. The Self guides the when, what and how of this acquisition, thus making the child the curriculum. (from the book “For the Fish at the Bottom of the Tree” by Karema Akilah)

The 5 Pillar Invitations of Life: Our Proprietary Curriculum

OUR SCAFFOLDING: The Genius School experience is built around Five Pillar Invitations of Life— lifelong pathways that guide each learner toward self-awareness, purpose, and contribution:

  • Geniī are invited to learn what their genius is by creating “Good Experiences(GE’S)” GE’s are student initiated activities that the learner enjoys, does well and is proud of. GE’s are created through play, projects, real life experiences and work within interest driven, student run corporations.

  • Geniī are invited to learn about any practice that maintains mental, emotional, social and physical well-being. Using techniques including meditation, stretching, mindfulness, yoga, visualization, exercise and nutrition, therapy, counseling, epigenetic tools and other self regulating techniques, Geniī are invited to learn how to RESOURCE themselves and gain an emotional intelligence to balance life.

  • Entrepreneurship is a natural by-product as student run corporations decide how to add value to the student body and the community at large. Geniī in interest based corporations are invited to also learn how to raise capital to purchase material and hire a tutors, if desired. Local business owners prepare Geniī Learners for job readiness. Board games such as CashFlow 101 and Monopoly also gives Learners opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills through real life experiences.

  • Local, regional, international & domestic travel

    Geniī 13 and older are invited to gain independence and autonomy as they navigate the adult world without adults! Geniī receive a skeleton agenda and are invited to collaborate, research, add to the agenda and plan their trip. Expeditions can include independent trips to museums, talks, book stores, cultural and historical places. Younger Geniī complete field trips with their 5 Pillar Genius community and family, but they are also invited to plan all the details of the field trip (with a lil help from grown ups :)

    Local Expeditions are completed autonomously by middle/ high school students.

  • What good is being a Genius if you don’t know how to leverage it to benefit your own backyard? Once Geniī engage with the Pillar One Invitation and know what their Genius is, they are invited to participate in a “reverse pitch;” community leaders pitch Geniī Learners community problems to solve, beginning with the youngest Geniī. Learners collaborate, operating in their strengths to create real solutions wrapped in a sustainable that benefit their own communities!

Each pillar acts as a foundation for your child’s personal growth and expression of genius.

Ikigai; your reason for bEing.


We guide every learner through the Ikigai philosophy — a Japanese concept meaning “reason for being.”
By blending Ikigai with our first pillar, Know Thyself, learners uncover what they love, what they’re good at, what the world needs, and how they can offer it sustainably. It’s more than an education — it’s the journey of becoming.

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