Insights & Reflections

Moving from flat planes to hyperbolic, fractal expansion. (And a few notes on the wisdom of lettuce.) Recently, while following a breadcrumb trail that started with a conversation about why two discs of fabric sewn together do not form a sphere, I found myself down a rabbit hole exploring how different approaches to crochet can scaffold an inquiry into different kinds of geometry, and considering what geometry, yarn and lettuce might show us about human learning and potentia

Welcome to the first of hopefully many editions of this collection of “field notes,” which we intend to be a small window into the living process of how things unfold at Misty Meadows - to share glimpses of the inquiries, projects, experiments, and ordinary moments that make up the rhythm of our days. Sort of like a journal, where we all get to notice patterns, changes and some of the work and thinking as it unfolds.

What begins as a search for a “school-leaving certificate” reveals something far more meaningful. In this reflection, Trish explores how the GED (General Education Development) certification shifts learning away from memorising content and toward building real-world capacities—critical thinking, comprehension, and self-direction.

When I first joined the Misty Meadows community I understood from the beginning that “school” was a bit of a misnomer. When Cassie Janisch founded Misty Meadows School in 2012, it was with the following questions: “How would nature do this?” “What if we just trusted children?”

An update on our own journey towards effectively containing and enabling self-directed learning

When I first decided that I wanted to start a school, I thought long and hard about the organisms called “human beings” and how we are...

This morning I was reading a book to Kwandokuhle, a three-year-old Zulu girl in our Misty Meadows preschool group, and I started to think...

My educational life was a glorification of being clever, rather than being wise. I think many can relate to this – all that striving for...

How many people do you know who live life tentatively? Always keeping one foot out of the door ready to move on when there is the...

Someone shared the acronym VUCA with me this week to describe the times we are living in right now – VUCA stands for volatility,...