By Laura Sandefer August 3, 2022 As a new school year approaches, I asked parents where they needed the most encouragement. The responses poured in and fell into three buckets: Bucket #1:

by Laura Sandefer July 21, 2022 Our brains are efficient machines.  In order to survive our complex environments, they tend to see things as a whole. It takes turning something upside

by Laura Sandefer July 8, 2022 Armed with tools and processes practiced in the studio, the Acton middle schoolers embark the Apprenticeship Quest – an independent pursuit of their passions out

By Laura Sandefer April 22, 2016 Our souls, that treasured light within each of us, reveal who we were born to be. Each soul is shy and tender; therefore, easily crushed.

By Laura Sandefer June 7, 2019 Think of the last time you were in charge of planning every detail of a weeklong trip – including paying for it – for a

1)   Give your children more unstructured and unsupervised outdoor playtime with friends of various ages.  “Play is nature’s way of teaching children how to solve their own problems, control their own impulses,

by Laura Sandefer January 10, 2013 I was the mom who ran out onto the basketball court to tie my son’s shoes. My issue was not about shoes. It was about solving

By Laura Sandefer October 14, 2016 Endings matter. I think of the speech that gripped me up until the dreaded Q&A. Or the deal I almost sealed but for the fumbled close. Or how

By Laura Sandefer March 14, 2018 We can boil the Acton Academy systems to just two choices that ensure a happy, fruitful learning journey: Be kind. Do some work every day. Simple,