Articles, Books, Organizations, and more...

Below you will find various resources on Democratic Education, Humane Education, Reggio Emilia, Parenting, Alternative Education, Related Organizations, and more.  We have utilized these as references that inform our practice, however we do not seek to abide by only one approach.  Instead we utilize the parts that resonate with us and ponder the sections that provoke new questions.  Just as with the children, we encourage parents and teachers to strengthen their own internal compasses and support structures, so that ultimately we will be able to trust in ourselves and our community.

Please let us know if you find another resource that you think we should add.

NEW and Recently Discovered:

• November 8th, 2011: The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World's Most Surprising School System.
• July 4th, 2011: Hand in Hand Parenting, thanks to Brenda Illowit for finding this one. 
• June 1st, 2011: Great video: Stop Psychiatric Labeling of Kids, thanks to Elizabeth for finding this one!
• May 28th, 2011: One of AERO's sister organizations, Touch the Future just posted a video on Nonviolent Communication with Marshall Rosenberg and they also have a great Joseph Chilton Pearce video, thanks to Isaac!
• May 26th, 2011: Ted talks about creativity from Sir Ken Robinson: Schools Kill Creativity and Bring on the Revolution, thanks to the Lamb family for passing this along!
• March 22nd, 2011: Assessment Equity in a Multicultural Society by Asa G. Hilliard III-Baffour Amankwatia II, thanks to Haley for finding this one!
• March 16th, 2011: Let Kids Rule the School from the New York Times, thanks to Bill Manley for passing this along!
• March 15th, 2011: New article written by Patchwork Director, Elizabeth Baker: Everyone Concerned About Citizenship, Raise Your Hand:
  Deliberative Democracy with 5 and 6 Year Olds

Articles & Videos

• 2010's 'Best of Democratic Education' List - Isaac Graves
• Want your kids to get into college?  Let Them play - CNN, December 2010
• Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned by Piaget - Constance Kamii
• From Assertive Discipline to Participatory Democracy: The Spectrum of Behavior Management Approaches - Michele Beach (Patchwork Co-Director)
• To Intervene or Not To Intervene: My First Week At Patchwork - Kerry Cerelli (Patchwork Teacher)
• Parents are People Too, Michele Beach, 2010 (Patchwork Director)
• Creativity Crisis - Newsweek, July 2010
• Assessment Without High Stakes Testing - Waldorf Perspectives, July 2009
• Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills - NPR, February 2008
• Dial Down Kids' Summer Activitity - Denver Post, June 2010

Books

• The Happy Child by Stephen Harrison
• Creating Learning Communities edited by Ron Miller
• Making It Up As We Go Along and In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids' Inner Wildness by Chris Mercogliano
• How to Grow a School by Chris Mercogliano
• The Power and Promise of Humane Education by Zoe Weil
• Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century by Howard Gardner
• Tools of the mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education by Elena Bodrova & Deborah J. Leong
• Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners from Project Zero, Reggio Children
• The Hundred Lanugages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach - Advanced Reflections edited by Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini & George Forman

Organizations

• Institute for Democratic Education in America
• Alternative Education Resource Organization
• North American Reggio Emilia Alliance
• Democratic Education.com