These are just a few examples of outside-the-box approaches to learning for both children and adults. There are many more!
Dayna Martin interview
A recent interview with “radical unschooling” pioneer Dayna Martin. Talking about the long term, short term and finer details of home schooling based entirely around the child’s natural directions and interests.
Project Renaissance with Win Wenger
A huge site with resources for educators, students and anybody else with an interest in learning, teaching, imagination, creative problem solving and the forgotten and overlooked abilities of the human mind.
ICU Academy
Website for the ICU Academy, run by Nicola Farmer in Essex, UK, where children learn to see without using their eyes—whether they are blind or sighted in normal life.
Children with Real Superpowers
A short documentary about the ICU Academy and the children who learn to ‘see’ whilst blindfolded.
Project Sanctuary
Silvia Hartmann’s guidebook (now discontinued and replaced with “Infinite Creativity”, which I haven’t read) to building a consistent inner imaginative world or realm, full of whatever and whoever you need to be there. This was something that she did naturally as a child and only later realised that almost nobody else did. Can incorporate memory rooms or systems for any subject and anything else that the world’s creator needs.
Do Schools kill Creativity?
The late Sir Ken Robinson’s legendary first TED Talk is a summary of what does, doesn’t and could work about education. Included here for completeness, as I’m sure that most people with any interest in alternative education have seen it already!
Mind Maps
This is just one of many introductions to Mind Mapping, featuring the inventor—Tony Buzan. This is a simple, creative, expansive, generative, natural, visual, colourful and enjoyable way to take notes, explore ideas and make plans. Mind maps absolutely should be a basic skill that is taught at an early age.
Memory training (number-shape system)
There are many memory systems, some convenient for a short shopping list and others for longer and more complex subjects. The link above introduces a very simple “peg system” for ten items that you can learn in just a few minutes and use from then on. All memory systems rely on vividly imagining pictures and sensations and so they expand imagination as well as both intentional and everyday memory and attention. Like mind maps, these are tools that can revolutionise the ease and scale of learning, especially when adopted at an early age.
Brockwood Park School
A short introduction video to Brockwood Park School in Hampshire, founded by Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1969 and based around self inquiry, self determination, personal freedom and responsibility. This is a completely different learning environment and is far more representative of humanity’s natural state.