 Sales Continue; Order by December 9 to get them by Christmas
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We had some nice responses to the various purple, black, cyber and giving events.
So far we've had over 90 people enter the contest for 10 free door prizes. We'll do the drawing tomorrow. If you still want to enter you'll have to find the last e news we sent out on Tuesday to click on the link.
We need funding for several major projects we're working on, including the creation of our first MOOC. We're hoping we'll continue to get support through the rest of the "giving season,"
although AERO tends to do its giving all year 'round.
Right now we still have a 25% off coupon in effect for anything in our bookstore (see below). Many of the items in our bookstore can't be found elsewhere. If you order before December 9th we can get your order to you before Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or Diwali (well, the next one is November 7th, 2018).
We also are offering, for the first time,
the paintings of Bill Mintz
on canvas. These are unique. One reader wrote this week, "These paintings are incredibly beautiful, as is the attached eulogy of Bill." When you pick the painting you like, make sure you tell us the number you chose.
You can still get a link to all of the videos of the keynotes at this year's AERO conference. We'd ordinarily sell these for at least $5 each. Many have been downloaded.
Of course we'll be happy if you make a donation to AERO But if you can't afford it or need to wait, just click on it anyway. You can click the links to the keynotes and watch all the keynoters here.
Use the following coupon code at checkout to get 25% off all items in the AERO bookstore: aerobf2018 If it comes to more than $20 you also get AERO membership or extension and over $40, a signed copy of Jerry Mintz' new book, School's Over in addition.
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Humanity School Threatened with Closure by Taiwanese Government
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The Taiwanese government has threatened to close AERO member Humanity School. They have asked us to tell you about this and help them by sending short videos of support or writing letters. You can email your letters of support to them here.
You can read the letter they sent us here.
Here is a note of support Jerry sent them:
"The Humanity School is known all around the world, but especially with the hundreds of democratic schools and the thousands of learner-centered alternatives in our network. Personally many of us have met the students and staff members at our annual International Democratic Education Conference, most recently in Israel. Thousands have watched the documentary by Humanity School graduate and flimmaker Adler Yang. If any harm comes to this school it certainly must be investigated at the highest level to get to the root of the cause."
Below is a summary we've made of the situation.
The Emergency
- Humanity School's funding for Elementary and Junior High is funded by the Taiwanese government.
- The government announced they are canceling the contract with their foundation
- this means the Humanity School is being taken back by the local government
- The government is doing this because it believes the Humanity School is neglecting the academic achievement of their students
- For regular schools the Taiwanese government provides funding for classes with a 1:30 student-teacher ratio, the humanity school has a 1:7 ratio, so the government believes the school is harming the student's growth and is unjust
- What is happening to the Humanity School is Happening at a local level
Additional Information
- In the year of 2014, Taiwan passed the "Three Acts Governing Experimental Education", which accredits three forms of experimental education: The Non-School Form, the School Form, and the Charter Form
- By calling them "Experimental Education," it means that none of these experimental initiatives are required to follow the national regulations, such as the national curriculum, among others
What they want us to do
- Take a short video (around 30 seconds), tell everyone what the value you see in our school is, and in what way is our education important to the world.
- In the end of the video, please tell us: Where are you from, what is your name, what is your organization/position, and say "Don't kill the pride of Taiwan."
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50% Off School's Over Until Tuesday Midnight
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Holiday sale includes Jerry's book!
School's Over: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education : Over the last four decades, Jerry Mintz has quietly established himself as the backbone of the alternative education movement. He has spoken and keynoted conferences in 25 countries. While working with students within the traditional system and after school programs, starting schools in the United States and abroad, and founding the influential Alternative Education Resource Organization, Mintz has gained invaluable insight into the form and function and importance of learner-centered education.
After spending years highlighting the voices of other prominent figures, in School's Over: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education readers finally hear directly from Mintz, who outlines the components of successful democratic schools and how these schools change the lives of those involved. He shares memories from his journeys around the globe-from working with the Iroquois tribe to establish schools that would protect their language and culture, to opening up communication between Eastern and Western alternatives while witnessing the fall of the Soviet Union-and conversations with many well-known leaders, such as John Holt and Jonathan Kozol. Mintz has long been the connective tissue in this movement, tirelessly working in support of new schools, new ideas, and learner-centered education.
Use the coupon code aerobf2018 to get 25% off other items in our bookstore.
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Maria Montessori Discovers Unschooling? Casa dei Bambini, 1907
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Ed: this week I was reading the latest issue of the Montessori Foundation's Tomorrow's Child when I happened on a mind-blowing article! It reproduced a story by Maria Montessori herself about her very first experience with giving children in a slum area total freedom to learn. She was shocked by what happened. I say she discovered the power of unschooling! What do you think?
By Maria Montessori
What happened more than thirty years ago now will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to understand what took place in those children. Certainly there was nothing of what is to be found now in any House of Children. There were only rough large tables.
I brought them some of the materials which had been used for our work in experimental psychology, the items which we use today as sensorial material and materials for the exercises of practical life. I merely wanted to study the children's reactions. I asked the woman in charge not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them, Some one brought them paper and coloured pencils but in itself this was not the explanation of the further events. There was no one who loved them, I myself only visited them once a week and during the day the children had no communication with their parents.
The children were quiet, they had no interference either from the teacher or from the parents, but their environment contrasted vividly from that which they had been used to; compared to that of their previous life; it seemed fantastically beautiful. The walls were white, there was a green plot of grass outside, though no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, but most beautiful of all was the fact that they had interesting occupations in which no one, no one at all, interfered. They were left alone and little by little the children began to work with concentration and the transformation they underwent, was noticeable. From timid and wild as they were before, the children became sociable and communicative. They showed a different relationship with each other, of which I have written in my books. Their personalities grew and, strange though it may seem, they showed extraordinary understanding, activity, vivacity and confidence. They were happy and joyous.
Read the rest here. |
| Will Reversal of FCC's 'Net Neutrality' Policy Help or Hurt Schools? |
Backers of a new plan to
upend "net neutrality" policies tout the proposal as a free market approach to internet oversight-one that will encourage an abundance of web content delivery, innovation, and investment, with no more government regulation than is necessary.
But some school officials and education organizations are deeply skeptical that the plan will protect educators' access to online sources, or nurture innovation by K-12 entrepreneurs.
The "Restoring Internet Freedom Order"
released in full form Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission's Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, is a broad reversal from a policy approved by his agency two years ago.
Read the rest here. |
Links and Calendar
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Ongoing
Calendar
Please send us feedback on this issue. also, we would like to have more articles written by AERO members and about AERO school and organizations.
Thank you for your ongoing support. With
your help
, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!
In Service,
Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization
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Please consider making a donation to AERO to help support our work. Thanks!
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