The Luke Project

We are very careful about having students learn Bible from an academic perspective.  We do not force any of our students to be Christian, nor do we require that they memorize Bible verses or various religious chants.  Although the staff are all Christian, we try to give each student the space to question their faith and figure this out for themselves.  I guess you can say that the only part of our program that is NOT Sudbury is that we do have morning devotions with the students and we do ask the students to read the Bible from time to time. We see this as our way of presenting the Word to them so that they at least can be familiar enough about it to make an educated decision about their religious choices.   In honor of the Christmas season, students were asked to read the book of Luke and to do a creative project on their favorite part of the book.  To our surprise, they really got into it.  We did not tell them how to do the project, we just asked that they be ready to share it with the community on Friday, Dec. 16.  Students developed plays, did artwork, created display boards, etc.  It was so amazing to see them become interested in the story of Christ for themselves.  In fact, as a result, one of the students found a movie about the life of Christ, brought it to school and invited students to watch it with him.  The entire school wanted to watch it!  The staff was so shocked that these kids ages 4 to 17 on their own sat down to watch the movie.  They watched the movie with a deeper understanding and appreciation, we believe. One teen said, "His story is so sad!"  It blessed our hearts for them to see the story of Christ from a place of the heart and not some random head knowledge.  At the same time, we had another student who engaged some staff in a deep debate on why he does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  The staff did not mistreat him or judge him for feeling this way and they did not "argue" with him, but we listened to him.  His mom often says that she is so thankful that she found a Christian school like this, where her teenage son can work through his beliefs in a safe environment.  We as a school believe that it is so important that we give kids the freedom to choose Christianity for themselves.  Many grow up feeling so oppressed in the way they are forced to learn about Christ and they never come to a place of falling in love with the Savior for themselves.  We also have to get rid of that fear of "what if they don't believe?"  They may not!  God is in control.  We are only called to share our faith, not to oppress others into believing and that goes for even when ministering to children.  This Christmas we as a school celebrate the free gift of Jesus, freeing us from religious rituals, but freeing us to enjoy a true and sincere love relationship with God, through his Son.  This is what we hope our students come to experience, and even if they don't they will be loved unconditionally, even still.

We Welcome Homeschool Students STILL!

We are still welcoming homeschooled kids of working parents to join our community at a very reduced cost, BUT we are no longer considering ourselves a Homeschool Center. We are a place for the homeschooled child to learn personal responsibility, time management, art, dance, living in a democratic society, PE, martial arts, self discipline and how to develop their whole person. They learn how to enjoy what we have to offer and then are able to pull away to do the assignments their parents have given them. I love watching one of our 8 yr old homeschoolers hang out with the girls, do martial arts, go to art, play outside and then pull away with her lap top and ask a staff member, "May I go to a quiet place to do some work?" Now she knows that she doesn't have to ask permission and she will just slip away to do her online classes. Kids feel SO good about themselves when they take personal responsibility...and she is only 8! We ask that all homeschooling parents who want to enroll their child with us, learn about the Sudbury model and come to understand why we are committed to upholding the free, self-guided and independent way that children should learn. Staff is here to gently support all children who come to us, homeschooled or those enrolled as full students in the school. It's so cool to watch all these different learning styles on the same journey to discover their purpose in life.

Bible within a Sudbury Context

From the founder: I want to attempt to show what the Sudbury model within a Christian environment may look like. I chose this model of education because as one being a Christian since a little girl and growing up in a church, I saw a pattern of kids growing up in the church and then as soon as they begin college, they leave the faith. I began to ask myself and God, "Why is this happening?" I thought they believed? They grew up in the church. Their parents are strong Christians!" After many years of doing this questioning and also wondering what would happen with my own kids, I believe God led me to the Sudbury Model. It was a total accident. Something I stumbled upon. Something that at first my friends and family thought I had gone insane. This week, however, I experienced something that made me realize what drew me to this model. A student and I sat down to chat this week. In his times of chatting with his schoolmates he had expressed that he was not a Christian. His friends tried to convince him to believe, but he wasn't moving (I love that kids have the freedom to discuss their religion as opposed to a Bible teacher lecturing them every day). I overheard these discussions. Other staff members discussed it too, but not in a way to condemn him. In his time with staff he has been allowed to share his lack of Christian belief and it was allowed. Some may say, "Oh NO! Don't do that!" Well, didn't we all have the freedom to one day CHOOSE God? Didn't we all go through the process of discovring Christianity for ourselves and defining it for ourselves, as opposed to just believing whatever mommy and daddy said? As adults we forget our journey. Why can't kids have the same right and freedom? Kids have questions! We need to let them ask those questions and explore them! Anyway, the student and I sat to talk this week and it was an awesome conversation. Come to find out, he NEVER believed, he said. He just went to church because he was forced to. I asked him how he felt about being at the school with all these Christians around. I asked him what caused him NOT to believe and how old he was when he realized that he didn't (he was 6). I only asked questions and let him answer. I did not try to indoctrinate or convert. I only asked questions to help me understand where he was and how he arrived there. I look forward to furthering this dialogue and I literally have NO idea where it will lead, but I am perfectly within my rights to listen to him, ask him questions and even share my beliefs.   I will say, that I do feel glad that he is in a place where he can openly talk about this and maybe through discussion, questioning, wondering, and adults not forcing their beliefs on him, he will choose Christianity for himself. Either way, at least he will feel loved unconditionally in the process.