Alexander Khost is a father and children's rights advocate. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Tipping Points and founder of Voice of the Children, promoting and facilitating art and activism for young people. He is also Vice President of Friends of the Modern School, supporting the history of anarchistic education, and he works at the homeschooling coop, Brooklyn Apple Academy.
He previously founded the Teddy McArdle Free School, a democratic free school in New Jersey, and more recently he co-founded play:groundNYC, a junkyard playground for children on Governors Island in New York City.
2020-03-18Community Updates on COVID-19
Ten members of SDE communities discuss their reactions to COVID-19 and quarantine.
2020-03-17Love and Learning in a Time of Coronavirus
Recent journal entries from the Director of one self-directed center.
2020-03-12Life Is an Adventure
One person’s decision to direct their own education and why doing it should be the norm.
2020-03-05What Happens When People Start Designing Their Own Learning Paths?
How I designed an “informal PhD” and what other folks are doing in the same direction.
2020-02-27Between Childhood and Maturity
Adults act as if there is an invisible barrier between childhood and adulthood. Suddenly, you expect me to make a difference….but you can’t expect the very people you ridiculed to save you.
2020-02-20Adult Playgrounds
Modeling play and freedom for adults (in hopes that it will help some adults deschool).
2020-02-13The Psychological Ecology of Self-Directed Education
One important role of the group in SDE.
2020-02-06Is Self-Directed Education Producing Model Workers For An Innovation-Based Economy?
Some education experts and “edupreneurs” are looking to Self-Directed Education as the best way to train young people for a competitive global economy. While SDE may promote the skills, additives and behaviors most rewarded in an innovation-based economy, the values of freedom and empowerment of children are in tension with the project of education as economic indoctrination.
2020-01-30From “Video Game Addict” to Computer Programmer
A lifelong unschooler and recent “graduate” of self-directed program Pathfinder Community School transitioned from being obsessed with Minecraft to mastering multiple computer languages in less than a year.
2020-01-20Austin joins Flying Squads as a Collaborator
The latest SDE community to join the recent Flying Squad movement of stepping out of space pre-defined for youth.
2020-01-16Aterrizando depois do ALF (Agile Learning Facilitators)
Aprendendo a ser a mudança que eu quero no mundo.
2020-01-09Siyanür Zehirlenmesinde Nasıl Hayatta Kalınır
“Ölüme inananlar ve hayata inananlar” üzerine, “nefret dolu ceza sistemi” nin toplumumuzu nasıl şekillendirdiğine ve onu nasıl değiştirebileceğimize ya da değiştirip değiştiremeyeceğimize dair düşünceler.
2020-01-02How I Learn(ed)
“But... How did you learn the things that you needed to know?” Everyone involved in SDE knows the common questions — “How did you […]
2020-01-01(Self-Directed) Education is a Political Act
A look at the various current definitions of “freedom” in Self-Directed Education, their historic roots, and their correlation to political ideologies.
2019-12-26The Misuse of Words
As deschoolers, a lot of us use inaccurate words when discussing Self-Directed Education. What are more precise words that we can use and why does this matter? And when do we need to make up our own words?
2019-12-12On Play
Exploring the role of play in our lives: what it is, why we do it, and it’s extrinsic and intrinsic value.
2019-12-05Hot Tub Germ Exposure Bolsters Resilience
A rare encounter with a hostile person reminds us how grateful we are for the freedom to learn that SDE affords us.
2019-11-27Tu interés es tu maestro
Entre los 6 y los 12 años, mi hijo aprendió a leer y hablar inglés sin ir a la escuela ni ser enseñado por maestros.
2019-11-21Re-Directed Attention
Or, what would Dr. Peter Gray’s, “What Einstein, Twain, & Forty Eight Others Said About School” sound like sourced from my library.
2019-11-19Our New Membership Policy and Membership Drive: Raising Our Game to a New Level
A Message from Peter Gray, President of ASDE