NW Academy Info Session!

When: Tues., May 22

                11am - 12pm

Where: Flagg Creek Golf Course

                 6939 Wolf Rd

                 Indian Head Park, IL

Join us to learn more about the NW Academy! You'll be able to ask questions, learn more about our philosophy and approach, and discuss how we'll be able to help your child enjoy school.

This event is free and open to the public.

Learn more:

academy.nurturingwisdom.com

We've found a location!

We're so excited to announce that we've found a location for Nurturing Wisdom Academy!

We'll be located at the former Zion Lutheran School, right in the center of Hinsdale, at:
 125 S. Vine St.

Our full-time school for students in grades 5 - 8 opens this coming Fall. We're currently accepting students for the 2012 - 2013 school year. Our academy is for students who are gifted or whose gifts aren't being realized in the traditional classroom.

Do you feel your child should be getting more from school? 
We'd love to talk with you!

• Contact Amanda at 312-260-7945 x5, or email her: amanda@nurturingwisdom.com
• Join us for our free upcoming info session
• Visit us online to learn more!

academy.nurturingwisdom.com

NW Academy Info Session!

When: Tues., April 24th
            11am - 12pm

Where: Flagg Creek Golf Course
            6939 Wolf Rd
            Indian Head Park, IL

Join us to learn more about the NW Academy! You'll be able to ask questions, learn more about our philosophy and approach, and discuss how we'll be able to help your child enjoy school.

This event is free and open to the public.

Learn more:

academy.nurturingwisdom.com

We like to say that Nurturing Wisdom Academy is for bright students. We’re not talking about kids with perfect grades or the highest IQs. We’re talking about kids who are bright because they are full of light. We seek students who have a spark of passion, who seek out and actively pursue what really interests them.

Learn more about Nurturing Wisdom Academy 
at our upcoming coffee chat!

When	Tues., March 27, 11am - 12pm
Where	Flagg Creek Golf Course  6939 Wolf Rd.  Indian Head Park, IL

You'll be able to ask questions and learn more about how we'll use our philosophy of customization to help your child achieve his or her full potential in school!

This event is free and open to the public.

Contact Amanda at 312-260-7945 or amanda@nurturingwisdom.com to RSVP or to learn more!

Seeking Academy Students!

The Nurturing Wisdom Academy is opening in just seven months!  

We could not be more excited! Our goal right now is to spread the word. Do you know any potential students, anyone else who might know a potential student, or anyone who might be interested in our mission? This includes parents, counselors or teachers at a school, a parent's group, or even potential teachers.  

Contact Amanda at 312-260-7945 ex. 5 with ideas or for more info! Help us spread the word to potential students - our plans are moving forward beautifully - all we need now are students to help!

Factory Education?

by Amanda Vogel

As Ken Robinson implores in his talk Changing Education Paradgims, “If you are interested in the model of education, you don’t start from a production line mentality.” His talk elicits powerful images of children sorted in batches, moving down an assembly line. He brings up some tough questions we need to ask as parents and educators:

• Are our schools focused on “conformity” and “standardization?”
• Do our schools treat children like items being produced in a factory?

Unfortunately, the answers to these questions may be yes.

An article in the July issue of Wired,“How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education” outlines how students can learn math for free at their own pace through the website Khan Academy. A motivated student can do some pretty amazing things on this site. The article tells stories of 5th graders independently learning advanced high school trigonometry!

But some teachers don't like the idea of students making this much progress: “Khan’s programmer, Ben Kamens, has heard from teachers who’ve seen Khan Academy presentations and loved the idea, but wondered whether they could modify it 'to stop students from becoming this advanced'.”

It’s hard to react to this statement with anything less than fury. Aren’t teachers supposed to help students reach the fullest potential they possibly can? Shouldn't teachers embrace any means by which they can individualize to students?

We know that students learn at their own pace, and that they have different strengths and interests. It's hard to imagine that, when presented with an option like Khan, some teachers are pushing against it. The last thing we want is to teach students to reach for mediocrity, or to sentence them to boredom day after day in the classroom.

As an educator, the idea of my students advancing quickly and going beyond what they or others ever thought was possible is exhilarating! In fact, the concept of individualization is the foundation of the Nurturing Wisdom Academy. Classes like math, reading, and writing will be self-paced and taught in very small groups. Students will also have independent time each day to pursue their goals and passions. Above all, our goal is not to keep every student on the same page. We don't want to treat them like cogs along an assembly line. We want to encourage them to continually grow. We believe that there are no limits to what students can achieve!

Visit us online:

academy.nurturingwisdom.com