Recommended Books
Changing Our Minds
Naomi Fisher, 2021, Robinson
An ideal starting point for anyone looking to learn more about self-directed education. Dr. Naomi Fisher covers all the key research as well as drawing from her own and others personal experiences to explain how children can take charge of their own education.
Free to Learn
Peter Gray, 2013, Basic Books
Free to Learn is the book that first introduced many of the founders to the Sudbury model of education. Gray gives a historical overview of how the school system as we know came to be and analyses what the optimum conditions are to take advantage of our innate instinct to learn.
Free at Last
Daniel Greenberg, 1995, Sudbury Valley School Press
Written in a light anecdotal style, Free at Last, gives a walk through of Sudbury Valley School and its evolution from original concept to established school.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Daniel Greenberg, Mimsy Sadofsky and Jason Lempka, 2005,
Sudbury Valley School Press
The most recent survey of Sudbury Valley School graduates and what they do in their lives after leaving the school.
When Kids Rule the School
Jim Rietmulder, 2019, New Society Publishers
How self-directed democratic schooling builds fulfilling lives and can lead the way back to a civilised society, from the founder and long term staff member of The Circle School, Harrisburg PA.
Beyond Coercive Education
Peter Hartkamp, 2016, The Quantum Company
A powerful argument against the use of coercion in schools and for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to be taken seriously.
How Children Learn
John Holt, 1983, Penguin Education
Fantastically perceptive of the nature of children, Holt, writes about the true nature of learning.
Videos
An introduction to the Sudbury model from Hudson Valley Sudbury School.
Sudbury Valley School on Tomorrow’s World, Tomorrow’s Teacher
Peter Gray: Mother Nature’s Pedagogy: Insights from Evolutionary Psychology
Introduction to Clearview Sudbury School
An explanation of JC (Judicial Committee) from Fairhaven School
Ramin Farhangi: Why I created a school where children are free to do what they want
Articles
From the Sudbury and Self-Directed Education Community
School’s Out by Naomi Fisher
Deschooling by Francesca Liberatore
A Thousand Rivers by Carol Black
What is Self-Directed Education? from The Alliance for Self-Directed Education
Sudbury: Autonomy in Community by Bruce L. Smith
How Learning Blossoms in a School without Schooling by Jeffrey Howard
Why You Can’t Do Sudbury at Home by Cassi Clausen
What Does it Mean to Be Educated? by Blake Boles
Life is Curriculum by Sally Erickson
Articles from Sudbury Valley School
How Do They Learn? by Mimsy Sadofsky
Secret Worlds of Learning at SVS by Wendy Lement
Age Mixing, Another View by Mimsy Sadofsky
Always Exploring by Hanna Greenberg
Articles from Peter Gray
Children Educate Themselves IV: Lessons from Sudbury Valley
The Value of Play IV: Nature’s Way of Teaching Us New Skills
The Many Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games
When Less Is More: The Case for Teaching Less Math in School