DYNAMIC

We are a caring community for inclusive, self-directed learning in Lake County, Indiana. Our goal is to create opportunities, throughout Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, for kids and their grown-ups to get together to play, explore, learn, and socialize in community.

We welcome young people of all ages with their caregivers (our activities are not drop-off).  Currently, the kids in our community are up to 7 years old, and we hope to have a more age-mixed environment as our community grows.

We strive to create a vibrant learning community that is: 

• Self-directed: Sometimes referred to as unschooling, self-directed education (SDE) is "education that derives from the self-chosen activities and life experiences of the learner, whether or not those activities were chosen deliberately for the purpose of education. Self-directed education can include organized classes or lessons, if freely chosen by the learner." (Learn more at: self-directed.org/sde/) SDE is learner-driven, consent-based, and individualized to the needs and interest of each child. 

• Inclusive: We are an inclusive, secular group that seeks to welcome diverse members and to foster a climate of intentional belonging. We welcome members of any race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, size, ability, socioeconomic level, immigration status, and family structure. If you are interested in and aligned with the group's approach to education, we welcome you to join!

• Relationship-first: In our interactions with young people we prioritize connection, cooperation, and mutual respect. We avoid conventional approaches to education that prioritize compliance, that center achievement, and that aim to coerce children to perform to adult expectations. Instead, we believe it's important to have developmentally-appropriate expectations of children and to collaboratively and gently guide them as they learn and grow. In our group, children and their grown-ups learn, play, and grow together.

Much of self-directed learning is informal and takes place as part of everyday life. We are committed to providing opportunities in our everyday interactions with children to cultivate their understanding and appreciation of:

• Social Justice - developing empathy, understanding, and a belief in equal rights and justice for all people

• Liberation - freeing our children and ourselves from oppressive systems (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, classism, ableism, etc.) and mindsets (e.g., perfectionism, conformity, people-pleasing, etc.)

• Nature - exploring, enjoying, respecting, and preserving our environment

• Free Play - ensuring children have ample unstructured time to explore, create, play, and just be children