Top 3 Things a Parent Can Expect When Joining an Acton Academy
Ian Lindsey
3 minute read
I’ve been asked a lot, what can a parent expect when their child is part of an Acton studio. The answer isn’t always easy but this blog post sums it up pretty well.
By Laura Sandefer – March 5, 2021
I thank Jake Thompson, founder of Heroes Academy in Boise Idaho, for co-writing this with me.
A common question we get is: “What are the main things parents can expect when they join an Acton Academy?”
Whether you join an Acton in Lahore, Pakistan or Albuquerque, New Mexico, here are the top three:
1) A Contract.
We are a community grounded in promises to each other. During the application process, you have opportunities to review and discuss the parent contract. If you agree with it, get ready for a transformative and fun journey – not just your child but for yourself.
If you don’t agree with it, don’t sign it. In fact, we’ll try to un-sell you upfront. The last thing we want to do is try to convince someone the Acton’s Hero’s Journey is for them.
2) A Moment of Truth.
At some point, often early in the journey, your child will come home with something that is particularly hard for you. This will be the moment of truth. Will you step in to solve the problem, breaking the parent contract? Or will you dig deep and trust your child to pick up tools in the studio to solve his/her own problem?
If you choose to uphold the contract and lean into the heat, I promise you will experience an “aha” moment when you discover a new truth about your child’s potential and discover how truly brave you are. You’ll ultimately discover fresh energy and joy in daily living.
A new Acton parent recently said to me, “Since our kids have been at Acton, it’s like they’ve come back to life.”
“We feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they are not.” (From “Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected” by Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger.)
3) A new sense of freedom.
Your child will feel honored and respected as they are granted space and time to learn for themselves. It will be bumpy, but they will feel the dignity that comes to all of us who are treated as human beings with great potential. This is why most love coming to school every day.
And you, too, will feel more free. As an Acton parent, I don’t have a school telling me how many days per year my child has to be “present.” I don’t have a school creeping into my home in the afternoons and weekends because of required homework. Part of the Acton promise is that we won’t come between you and your children. We trust you. You are free to be the family you have always wanted to be.
Original post can be found here
Acton St. George Nominated for Best Preschool & Private School in Southern Utah
This past week, Acton Academy St. George, was nominated in the Best of Southern Utah contest for Best Preschool in St. George, UT and Best Private School in St. George, UT. We’re always honored to nominated and appreciate the support of the Southern Utah community. Voting has officially opened and we’d love your support! For…
What Not To Do When Your Kids Have Questions
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it is the catalyst for a self-owned education. We want kids who love to learn, who own their own journey toward knowledge, and grow to be self-starters. All of this is born from a well-nourished curiosity when they are children. Nothing can drive a parent more crazy than…
🏆 Celebrating Excellence: Acton Academy St. George Voted “Best Private School and Preschool” in Southern Utah 2023
We are thrilled to announce that Acton Academy St. George has been honored with the “Best of Southern Utah 2023” awards in not one, but two categories for the second year in a row: Best Private School and Best Preschool in St. George, UT. 🏆 This recognition is first a testament to our community and…
The Hero’s Journey: How Reading Books Can Inspire Your Path to Greatness
The benefits of reading out loud to children are plentiful and well-documented. From expanded vocabulary to instilling a love for reading, consistently reading out loud to children has a long-lasting impact. And, of course, when it comes to books, the greater the quality the better. But perhaps the greatest reason to read good books out…
3 Ways Offering Age-Appropriate Independence Builds Confidence
Watching children grow is one of the most rewarding experiences of life. We picture their graduations and life successes. We envision the people they will grow to be. Yet, when the moments come that shape and stretch them out of their (and our) comfort zones, we often find the work of relinquishing control to allow…
Acton at Home: The First Mentor
In this series, we’ll explore the importance of embarking on a hero’s journey, a foundational part of the Acton Academy St. George experience, and how it can begin before school even starts and be nourished all the while at home. So, what is the hero’s journey? There is a story about a boy who got…
Momentum Off the Timeline: The Case for Being Behind
Benchmarks are useful tools in many disciplines as a reference for growth and comparison. They stand as an immovable standard to compare data. A business may use internal benchmarking to gather data on business performance over time and use it to measure a standard of achievement, while then considering qualitative data to identify best practices…
Best of Southern Utah 2022 Winner!
We are so grateful for all the support we have received from the Southern Utah community and most specifically the families that trust us with their young heroes everyday! We started Acton Academy St. George for our own children to have the education we dreamed of and it has grown into a beautiful environment and…
A LOVE LETTER FOR YOU
Ian Lindsey 5 minute read Jeff and Laura Sandefer received the following letter from an Acton parent and we wanted to share it with all of you. January 20, 2022 Jeff and I received this note yesterday from an Acton mom just as we were heading out to attend her son’s college scholarship signing ceremony.…
Mindset, Mindset, Mindset…
Ian Lindsey 1 minute read By Laura Sandefer June 28, 2021 Like location is to real estate, mindset is to learning. A fixed mindset is a dead-end to lifelong learning. A growth mindset is its rocket fuel. I grew up with a fixed mindset. Getting good grades, avoiding failure and resistance to negative feedback were…
Acton’s Essential Element #1: The Hero’s Journey
Ian Lindsey 2 minute read Laura Sandefer February 3, 2021 Nemo. Luke Skywalker. Mulan. Odysseus. Dorothy. The Little Engine that Could. These stories strike a chord of yearning we share – adventure, identity and meaning in our lives. They also have a structured rhythm that’s been repeated in stories for thousands of years. Joseph Campbell’s…
The Learner Driven Approach: How and Why It Works
By Laura Sandefer The learner driven approach inspires, equips, and connects young people who embrace a Hero’s Journey to make principled decisions towards a more satisfying and fulfilling life because: The energy behind learning – and especially transformational learning – comes from the curiosity and drive of an individual learner supported by the community. The…
Principles of a Learner Driven Community
Ian Lindsey 2 minute read Laura Sandefer – March 16, 2021 While each Acton Academy community has its own culture and personality, we are bound by the same key principles that drive our daily work: Principle #1. We treat each child as a hero with the respect due a world changing genius, no matter the…
Learn to Obey?
Ian Lindsey 1 minute read Jeff Sandefer, Co-founder of Acton Academy, wrote the following: We often contrast Acton Academy’s “Learn to Learn; Learn to Do and Learn to Be” goals with the “Learn to Know” approach favored by traditional schools. Recently I realized our view of traditional schools is incomplete. The full mantra is more…
A Time to Give Thanks
Ian Lindsey 1 minute read “At times out own light goes out and is rekindled by the spark from another person. Each of us has cause to thank with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us” – Albert Schweitzer We have watched millions of people around the world #givethanks over the…
7 Questions That Get Your Children Talking
Ian Lindsey 2 minute read The drive home from school, around town, or the time sitting around the dinner table can be precious moments in life. Although it’s hard these days to have time without distractions where we can have meaningful conversations with our children, or anyone really, we like the idea a lot of…
A Parenting Mindset Shift To Free You
Ian Lindsey 3 minute read A Parenting Mindset Shift To Free You Parenting can be so hard. Anyone who says otherwise has never been a parent. A common mindset I see, and to be honest am guilty of at times, is “this is the way I was raised and I turned out fine.” There is…
Seth Godin’s Take on How to Educate Children
Ian Lindsey July 23rd, 2020 1 minute read If you know me, one thing you know is I love learning about business, especially when it’s different from what I can read in most business books, etc. Seth Godin is one of the people who very much thinks outside the box. He puts a lot of…
Heroes of Education – Jeff and Laura Sandefer
Ian Lindsey 1 minute read A fellow Acton Academy owner, Matt Beaudreau, hosts a great podcast called The Essential 11. He recently interviewed Jeff and Laura Sandefer, founders of Acton Academy and personal heroes of mine. It’s GOOD! If you’re interested in learning more about Acton Academy or already love what we do, I highly…
THE SECRET SAUCE AT ACTON ACADEMY
12 minute read Fellow Acton founder, Lauren Quinn, wrote the following article. I believe it is an important reminder for parents today and a great overview of what we believe at Acton Academy. Enjoy! Harnessing the Heroic in Self-Directed Learning – By Lauren Quinn, M.Ed. “A normal person compares themselves to others. A hero compares…