Self-Directed Education

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Written By Manisha Snoyer (co-founder of Modulo)

Children come into this world with a mind like a sponge and an insatiable desire to learn about the world, so how can we support their curiosity and allow it to flourish? Research shows that giving children a significant amount of space and time to pursue subjects that are of interest to them at their own rate and in their own way can be hugely beneficial, if not indispensable to their intellectual development. Any parent who has ever witnessed their child learning something they are excited about- whether it’s memorizing the name of every dinosaur or asking you to re-read the same book 50 times - knows the power of self-directed learning! Giving children space for self-directed learning also prepares children to be independent thinkers, preserve their natural love of learning and help them grow into autonomous adults, the movers and shapers of tomorrow!

“Children come into the world…genetically programmed with extraordinary capacities for learning. They are little learning machines. Within their first four years or so they absorb an unfathomable amount of information and skills without any instruction. They learn to walk, run, jump, and climb. They learn to understand and speak the language of the culture into which they are born, and with that they learn to assert their will, argue, amuse, annoy, befriend, and ask questions. They acquire an incredible amount of knowledge about the physical and social world around them. All of this is driven by their inborn instincts and drives, their innate playfulness and curiosity. Nature does not turn off this enormous desire and capacity to learn when children turn five or six.” -Peter Gray, Free to Learn

Learn more about self-directed education and build confidence to trust your child to learn and grow so you can create space for their natural passion for learning and give space for it to blossom!

Featured
Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner
Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner

“The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.” -American Institute for Learning and Development . In reality, Gardner suggests that there are many more intelligences than just 8! In this 1994 interview with Edutopia, Gardner discusses the 8 intelligences. Watch the video to learn more about the different types of intelligence, get insights on how your child learns and how you can nurture your child’s unique gifts.

Scholar: Kerry McDonald
Scholar: Kerry McDonald

“Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). She is also an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry's research interests include homeschooling and alternatives to school, self-directed learning, education entrepreneurship, parent empowerment, school choice, and family and child policy. Her articles have appeared at The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, NPR, Education Next, Reason Magazine, City Journal, and Entrepreneur, among others. She has a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowdoin College. Kerry lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children.” - from the Foundation for Economic Education

Film: Class Dismissed
Film: Class Dismissed

“All across America, parents are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the state of public education. The current state of our educational system & economy shines a spotlight on problems with traditional schools. Class Dismissed showcases a growing trend in alternative education strategies that are working for many families across America.” - from the Class Dismissed website

Podcast: Adventures in Free Range Learning with Laura Grace Weldon
Podcast: Adventures in Free Range Learning with Laura Grace Weldon

“In this episode: Janet speaks with pioneering homeschool practitioner and advocate Laura Grace Weldon, author of the best-selling book Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything. Laura’s experiences capture the essence of how children learn best and gain competence, self-confidence, maturity and wisdom. She and Janet find common ground in their respect for the natural learning process of every child.” from Unruffled, the podcast.

Organization: Alliance for Self-Directed Education
Organization: Alliance for Self-Directed Education

“The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) is dedicated to informing parents, educators, policymakers, and social change agents about the intellectual, social, and emotional benefits of allowing children and adolescents to direct their own education.It all begins with an idea.” - from the website for ASDE

Book: Free to Learn by Peter Gray
Book: Free to Learn by Peter Gray

In Free to Learn, Peter Gray makes a compelling case for giving children a much greater bandwidth to explore their interests. He shatters the notion that students learn by being taught information by a trained adult, but rather by being free to explore what interests them at their own pace - and that we, as adults should be more trusting of their innate curiosity and ability to develop. “In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that in order to foster children who will thrive in today's constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, he demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient. A brave, counterintuitive proposal for freeing our children from the shackles of the curiosity-killing institution we call school, Free to Learn suggests that it's time to stop asking what's wrong with our children, and start asking what's wrong with the system. It shows how we can act -- both as parents and as members of society -- to improve children's lives and to promote their happiness and learning.” - from the book, Free to Learn

Manisha Snoyer (co-founder of Modulo)

For the last 20 years, I’ve taught over 2000 children in 3 countries (of all socio-economic backgrounds). I pioneered an English language program in a conflict region in the Middle East. I’ve worked as a bilingual public school teacher at some of the highest and lowest performing public schools and in all five boroughs of NYC. I’ve tutored 18 subjects in three languages to some of the wealthiest families in NYC, San Francisco and Paris to make up for shortcomings in private schools they were paying up to $60,000 a year to attend.

Since 2015, I’ve helped hundreds of parents start microschools (way before this was a household buzzword). I founded CottageClass, the first marketplace for microschools and learning pods that was part of the Techstars 2018 class. In 2019, I created a virtual learning program to help families through the pandemic, a free online math tutoring program (masteryhour.org), and schoolclosures.org, a hotline developed in collaboration with Twilio and 80 other partners including Khan Academy, Revolution Foods and the Crisis Text Line, that served 100,000 families impacted by school closures.

I’ve climbed trees with children in forest schools in San Francisco, and tested new digital apps with kids in seven countries.

I’ve also coached dozens of families at different stages in their homeschooling journey. Most recently, I founded Modulo with homeschooling dad, best-selling author and tech entrepreneur Eric Ries, to help families curate their children’s education, social and childcare experiences drawing from a diverse array of in-person and online resources.


During the last three years, I’ve devoted much of my time to reviewing and testing secular homeschooling curriculum and other resource. I’ve spent the last three years talking to thousands of secular homeschooling families, and poring over tens of thousands of secular curriculum reviews and testing physical curriculum and digital apps for with hundreds of students to find the highest quality, most engaging, personalized learning materials for every type of learner.

I’ve spoken about homeschooling and modular learning at multiple venues including SXSW EDU, NY Tech Meetup, and on the LiberatedEd podcast.

In 2022, Modulo was one of 8 organizations who were awarded the Bridge Grant from the Vela Education Fund to expand access to homeschooling and modular learning to under-resourced communities.

My experience in education and homeschooling has led me to believe that there is no perfect education for every child, but families have an extraordinary amount of wisdom they can apply to building the perfect education for their individual child.

My goal with Modulo is to make it possible for any family to easily build a customized education that their child will love, and that will empower the whole family to thrive, taking into account, social, emotional and academic needs.

I love to answer questions from parents and receive feedback on how we can improve Modulo, so feel free to reach out anytime! I personally answer all the questions and comments readers leave on my blogs.

In my free time, I like hiking, traveling the world, tasting ceremonial grade matcha, enjoying dark chocolate.

I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University with highest honors, with a double degree in French Literature and American Studies and minors in Environmental Studies and Peace & Conflict Studies.

And I love to learn!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/manisha-snoyer-5042298/
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