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Wild Grownups
I’m Issa Waters, founder of WonderWild. Since this is a brand new program with just a few kids, I’m the only grownup right now. After a couple more enrollments, I will begin hiring other staff members. Here’s my vision for the adults at WonderWild: All WonderWild staff will be experienced educators, including having experience with
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All About Issa
Writing a bio about yourself is such a tricky endeavor! First person or third? Sparse or detailed? A little humor or all business? Does anyone love this task? Not me! Nevertheless, I want parents to have a clear idea of who’s running this thing. My short bio is on the home page, and this is
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Learning Portfolios for Wild Learning
Learning happens all the time, and kids are learning from everything they do. WonderWild is a space for self-directed learning and unhindered play, a powerful combination that lets children’s curiosity and imagination lead the way. Our learners choose their own goals and how to spend their time. As a place for adventurous, curious kids, we
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Loose Parts + Donation List
To help children explore their creative vision, we keep a collection of what are termed “loose parts”. Loose parts are things that can be played with, manipulated, and combined in open-ended ways. They can be used over and over again in different projects. When children have access to loose parts, their inventiveness and creativity can
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Wild Learning
How does self-directed education work?How do kids learn by playing?What do kids DO at WonderWild? If you’re new to self-directed learning, it can be hard to imagine exactly how it works. Let’s take a look! What is self-directed education? Self-directed education (SDE) is a learning model where the kids take the active role in setting
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The Balancing Act of Risk
I’m pretty comfortable with risks for my kids. I let them climb tall things and play with power tools. I used to assume that other parents were more safety-cautious than I am. Then one day I went over to a friend’s house, and her kid was at the kitchen counter lighting sticks on fire! To
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No Rules? Lots of Rules!
When people first learn about self-directed learning environments, I hear questions like: If you’re comparing WonderWild to traditional school, the answer is probably most like, “Yes!” Our learning center certainly has fewer rules! The kids aren’t sitting down, they aren’t still, and they aren’t quiet. They have a lot of freedom to choose “whatever they
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What About “Screens”?
How does electronic media work in a self-directed learning environment? How do we include it at WonderWild? What if a child wants to be on the computer all day long?
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Newsletter Archive
→ Thinking about enrolling but not quite ready?→ Planning to enroll later?→ Have a friends or family enrolled?→ Want to be a supportive community member?→ Just curious? Then sign up to stay in the loop with all things WonderWild! About once a month we send out a newsletter with news and updates about WonderWild. Those