The Self-Directed Child

Our mission with The Self-Directed Child is to help children, parents, practitioners and schools put child-centred education into practical and effective use. The Self-Directed Child is named in homage of a central outcome of modern, child-centred education. Self-directed is a term used to describe individuals or environments where one is able to meet their own needs, self-motivated through internal interest. Child-centred education emphasises a prepared developmental environment and supporting methods which together foster independent, confident and joyful self-learning in children. We started The Self-Directed Child out of our interest to share our experience with the broader community of children, parents, practitioners and schools - both Montessori and non-Montessori. We also see opportunities for applying self-directed learning outside of school and in the home. Some of our key areas of interest and experience include- What kind of environment is necessary to create self-directed environments at school, outside of school and in the home- What are the key elements for adults to focus on in order to support a child-centred developmental approach- How do you design structured classroom management and structured discipline systems that allow for freedom, growth and joyful self-direction in children- How do you structure practical scaffolding to support self-directed approaches to curriculum material, such as with the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading and spelling. How Can We Help? We are available to present custom workshops for parents and practitioners, deliver parent education talks, as well as custom consulting services for schools. Feel free to get in touch with us!