This fall, in line with our physical move back to our roots in the NW Philly homeschooling community, Talking Stick will embrace program offerings that reflect the core of our philosophy: self-directed and inter-disciplinary education. This has always been the root of all of our programming, and our 2013-2014 schedule is planned around this core philosophy. When a student is driven to learn by their natural passion and interests amazing learning occurs.

This year, in response to the more complex needs of our older homeschoolers, we ran two programs that included curricula and goals written by outside organizations: Odyssey of the Mind and Junior Model United Nations. In doing so we learned a good deal about what type of content best meets the needs of our homeschoolers and our faculty. Both programs contained interesting content and thought provoking activities, however the outside constraints limited our creative possibilities and lessened our enjoyment of the process. While we appreciate what we have learned from these experiences we are more than ever confirmed in the importance of student-led learning for all ages.

"To be supported with tools and assistance to develop and pursue one's own ides; and to develop and evolve these ideas as direct engagement with materials and phenomena provides feedback, creates constraints, and inspires new thinking and solutions."

- Mike Petrich, MIT Media Lab

Learning that stems from our own questions, curiosities, and experiences is an organic, motivating and enjoyable process. With the help of our facilitators students will use a variety of sources of information and ideas to increase their understanding of a problem, topic, or issue, helping to develop critical thinking, team-work and support their enthusiasm and motivation for learning. Our facilitators strive to create an environment of intellectual safety, creativity and genuine interest in supporting the participants' ideas. We understand that our most important job is to support learners to care about and pursue their ideas.

In additional to our core Day Program and our wildly popular Math Circle, here are our new offerings for fall 2013:

• Nature, Writing and Literature + S.T.E.A.M. Maker Studio
• Global Studies + S.T.E.A.M Maker Studio
• Maker Workshop

See you there!

- Angie

PS: Any registrations completed by May 31, 2013 will have the $100 Registration Fee waived. No reason to wait!