Educate
the
Whole
Child

It’s time to let the wholeness of the child engage with the wholeness of the world.

WHAT IS

WHOLE CHILD EDUCATION

AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

To the extent that we narrow the purpose of schooling to what can be measured, we fail to
engage those sides of children that must be developed in order for them to pull learning
from life. We also increase the likelihood that
they will be bored, question the value of school,
and in some cases even drop out.

Instead of starting with the questions “How do we prepare kids to compete in the 21st century
global marketplace?” or “What will insure that graduates all have command of basic skills?”,
suppose we start by asking what qualities we want to encourage in children as they grow toward
adulthood.

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OUR

SCHOOLS

Putney Central School

Putney, Vermont

A beautiful rural school with forest classrooms in Putney, Vermont

The James and Grace Lee Boggs School

Detroit, MI

Boggs is more than a school. It is the nucleus of a community and a process of change. Using Place-Based Education, the school immerses students creatively in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities, experiences, and service projects for the school and local community.

Escuela Manzo

Tucson, AZ

Manzo Elementary or Escuela Manzo sits in the Hollywood section of Tucson, and with its gardens and chickens serves as a food source and environmental inspiration for the community.

OUR

RESOURCES

Educate the Whole Child expects to offer a graduate level 12-credit certificate–Teaching the Whole Child. It will consist of four online courses that may be taken as a series or independently. See details here.

Play in the Preschool Classroom

Ashiabi’s 2007 article, “Play in the Preschool Classroom: It’s Socioemotional Significance and the Teacher’s Role in Play” (Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 35, No.2) provides a detailed description of the benefits of play in early childhood education. 

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David Sobel

David Sobel’s work with place-based education develops another path for engaging the whole child. His more recent Children and Nature, Place- and Community-Based Education in Schools with Gregory Smith explores the subject in greater depth.

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Creative Schools

Sir Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica have written a worthwhile study in Creative Schools. They may have been too optimistic in subtitling the book The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education.

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