Greetings!

Today's newsletter explores the "Goldilocks Effect" in education—finding the learning environment that's "just right" for your child at each stage of development. We dive into why switching schools isn't a failure but an intelligent response to evolving needs, what tech CEOs are saying about the skills that matter in an AI world, and where to find alternatives to traditional education.

THOUGHT: The Goldilocks Effect
‍TREND: The nerds have become the crunchy moms
‍TOOL: A Field Guide to the Education Underground

The Goldilocks Effect

Choosing a school for your child feels like a permanent, high-stakes decision. It's not. The reality is that what works for your five-year-old might not work for them at age 10, let alone 15.

Kerry McDonald - author of a new book on unconventional schooling (see below) - calms fears around “school-switching.”

Just as Goldilocks had to try different bowls of porridge, chairs, and beds before finding the one that was “just right,” sometimes parents and learners have to try a few schools or learning models before they find the best fit.

An education isn't a single path you choose once stick with for thirteen years. For many families, it's becoming a series of tours through different models - a microschool for elementary, a self-directed learning center for middle school, maybe a hybrid program for the high school years.

Each switch is just an adjustment based on what a child needs right now. The goal isn't to find the 'perfect' school, but the right fit for the right stage of development. Each switch is a rational adjustment to a child's evolving needs. It’s a feature, not a bug.

The nerds have become the crunchy moms

In a recent CNBC interview, the incoming CEO of Amazon Web Services said the most important skill in the age of AI is critical thinking. Even OpenAI's Sam Altman admits that human insight is what drives real progress. Funny how the closer we get to superintelligence, the more tech leaders start sounding like homeschool parents from the 90s. It wasn't long ago we featured Anthropic co-founder Ben Mann, explaining how he learned to stop optimizing for academics and embrace the Montessori method.

When your AI assistant can write an essay, what matters is your ability to tell if it's any good. The entire premium is shifting from what you know to how you think - a skill the old assembly-line system was never designed to build.

A Field Guide to the Education Underground

For those ready to explore the growing ecosystem of learner-centered models, Kerry McDonald's new book, Joyful Learning, is a practical field guide. It showcases the sheer variety of options people are building right now.

For a multimedia tour, browse the episodes of the LiberatED podcast. You can hear directly from all kinds of microschool founders and edupreneurs, and get a feel for the diversity of the ecosystem.

The Word of the Day: Heutagogy

Heutagogy (HOO-tuh-go-jee)

Think of it as the final boss of learning. Pedagogy is for kids (teacher-led). Andragogy is for adults (self-directed). Heutagogy is for the truly sovereign learner - it's not just directing your own learning, but deciding what is worth learning and how you're going to learn it.

It's the educational framework for a world where you can't possibly know what's coming next.