Education Is Life Podcast

What does academic success mean to the students themselves? When their grades start slipping in a particular subject, what does that mean to them? In this interview with The Chicago Family Tutor owner Lindsay Zoeller, we quickly learn that tutoring is about much more than a cognitive understanding of math concepts or additional practice with reading. It’s time and space for a student to work through their relationship to a subject or skill with a trusted mentor and do one thing we love to do at Greenfields: fail safely!

What’s fascinating about Lindsay’s approach to tutoring comes from her unique background—not in education, but in family law. She shares with us how a child’s relationship with their parents can affect their schoolwork, and how working holistically with the whole family changes attitudes to create lasting results. At the root of many issues labeled as academic “deficiencies,” across subjects, isn’t a fundamental lack of understanding, but rather a gap in executive functioning skills tied to an emotion or a belief about themselves.

Lindsay wants families to think of her tutoring practice as their “third place” after home and work or school, a soft place to land, problem-solve and create a new plan for their next attempt. She believes that modeling vulnerability and sharing our stories with young learners (especially the moments when we have struggled ourselves) helps them develop a sense of self-worth. They learn that mistakes aren’t the end of the world and that they can get back up when they fall down.

Listen to this insightful discussion and learn more about the awesome resource that tutoring can be for your child and your family.

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Should we just “suck it up and deal with it” when life isn’t right or going our way in a job, a marriage, or a bad situation? What about school- is that for kids to just ‘deal with’ if it isn’t working?

Mitchel BleierGreenfields Academy parent invites parents to listen to children who are sending out the warning signals about school being broken- they are yelling it loud and clear!

In this Episode, we flip things around a bit from tradition when Rob & Mitchel have a discussion about the way school has always been defined as this place you go to, where you don’t seem to challenge, and even if it’s not working, the blame often is put on the child for not being able to manage it well. What if what was broken was the school, not the child?

He shares his story about how coming to this school was more than just a decision of where to send his child for education - but rather, to teach his son about becoming all that he could be for the rest of his life.

We are excited for you to dive-in, maybe even relate a little bit to this story of a family who has found themselves truly listening to the needs of their 10-year-old, and finding a thriving learning-for-life outcome because of it!

If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit greenfieldsacademy.com/

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There are many important things in a young person’s world to experience outside of school hours. Activities such as creative arts, sciences, and.. SPORTS have proven to support them into becoming stronger leaders, confident advocates of their own personal missions, and growth-focused individuals who strive to reach their full potential.

Barb Lazarus, Founder & Co-Owner of Game On! Sports 4 Girls relates the learning and confidence-boosting activity- as simple as it sounds- of throwing a ball to enhance a greater picture of life for girls. With their program celebrating 15 years in existence, she is proud to share with us on the show how the game can be crucial to what is learned in “real life.”

With the impact being in the backyard of Barb’s organization, her message to all women and girls is to feel empowered to get in the game, have fun, and celebrate each milestone- no matter how small they may seem in life.

In this episode of Education is Life, explore a new territory of challenging the way things have always been, including the history & cultural norm of only “boy’s” sports teams being the household names, to allow a new avenue of sports of girls to project new outcomes for hundreds of local girls developing their athletic skills and abilities with Game On! Sports 4 Girls.

How many podcasts do you hear from young people about what school and learning is like? Brace yourself for cuteness and stay curious about how these young people are taking charge of their education, their learning, and life through a pandemic.

“Is it a big change or a change like the size of a … pea!?”

They giggle, we giggle, and this is a little how this episode goes with a lot of first-hand insight. Hear from 6 and 7-year-olds, Sonia and Shaurya, who share what it’s like to be in the launcher program at Greenfields Academy.

Together in one episode, see how Griffins are guided with their non-teacher leaders in their classrooms, how they interact with one another (right here in this episode!), and all of the great things they are working on from science to running a business (yes, kids making actual money!), and looking forward to our upcoming event: “My Pandemic Life” Creative Youth Exhibition to take place on February 25th - 28th, 2021.

Sign up today: https://bit.ly/pandemiclifeebsignup

If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

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What challenges really come up when we are in this win-lose world filled with competition and grades? What can we be as a society if we get to create who we are and express ourselves fully!?

For Adrienne Shroeder, founder of Mindful Music Impact Beyond the Notes, her journey through a life filled with music, challenges, and emotional development has led her here to the podcast today. She currently serves as a Piano and French Horn educator with virtual lessons while being a leader of social-emotional learning for each of her young students.

Through some of her darkest times, she attributes the “doer”side of music performance to hinder the self-expression of “become who you really are.” This mindset, as she shares, has anchored her down while using music in a new way to find light. We relate that to the way this pandemic has been challenging for students and the solution of finding an outlet, such as music, to propel them forward into the work of becoming their whole selves, even in tough times.

Adrienne, like the rest of our community of people who keep it real, break down how to keep moving forward in this pandemic world by simply being empathetic and there for one another. She provides helpful ways for her students to get out feeling “stuck” or “unheard” in a complex world.

BONUS- Listen to Adrienne perform a little something special for our audience at the end after she guides us into a hopeful, happy, and mindful way to be!

The upcoming event, My Pandemic Life, invites students of all ages from all schools and learning communities to unite for a virtual Youth Expo around self-expression. Join us on February 25th for your access into more narratives and performances by people who are rising above through creative self expression.

If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

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How is traditional education squashing the possibilities of solutions & new opportunities for the world to thrive?

From food deserts to cancer patients receiving chemotherapy- young children are capable of coming up with solutions to some of life’s biggest challenges that even adults can’t quite get just right.

Program Manager of the Chicago Student Invention Convention (CSIC), and Greenfields Academy’s Chicago Children’s Business Fair Judge, Allison James, shares her experience with the experiential invention education program that ignites the spark of innovation and entrepreneurship in Illinois youth.

In this episode, Rob & Allison uncover some of the ways that students of the CSIC program & the annual Chicago Children’s Business Fair who are taking advantage of the opportunity to think of new ideas without needing to have any regard for “getting the answer wrong” in school- and instead, use their real-world experience to create something brand new!

With the insertion of creativity in learning, there is absolutely no end for a student to come up with innovative ideas that one day might just change the world!

The Chicago Children’s Business Fair is now accepting Student Vendors until November 2nd, and our fair will run virtually across the weekend of November 13th, 14th, 15th- get your FREE ticket today! https://bit.ly/ChicagoChildrensBizFair

If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit greenfieldsacademy.com/

From Teaching College to Guiding at Greenfields, we hope that you find an abundance of insight in this episode of Education Is Life!

Starting with the concept of Time Deserts vs. Education Deserts- have you thought of the difference in how much time people spend having to work just to have access to the bare essentials with the opportunities presented in the current education system?

Vero Smith shares insights and ideas around what tools students really need to operate as a school & as a society, while comparing today to the way we’ve always done things. She is also a guide at Greenfields Academy & we are so grateful to have her!

Vero saw a lot of challenges around access to higher education during her time in a large, public R1 higher educational institution. As an Architectural Historian, she explains how she sees creating spaces within education in both a classroom & a more habitat context.

In this episode, we take a deeper look at the purpose of higher education & earning a bachelor's degree is challenged in certain populations & geographical areas through the population -what Vero shares in some current research she is working on publishing and to give us a fresh perspective of the true value of higher education for some people.

If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit greenfieldsacademy.com/

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With education that truly guides children into exploring their full potential to change the world, what could that mean for our society?

At the start of this journey, founder Rob Huge had visioned a school that honored the amazing things that a young person has to offer and worked hard to incorporate a style that incorporated guiding instead of teaching. We explore this in more depth in this episode.

Although students may not be learning alongside a standardized curriculum that focuses on worksheets, homework, and memorization of facts & processes, we do believe that this type of learning really sets up our young people to discover their own hero's journey!

In this episode, Rob Huge shares in-depth what the purpose of education looks like for his school, why he has put his money where his mouth is, and why this podcast is a space to talk about different perspectives on his favorite topic!

Will you be joining the movement of Education is Life?

If you are interested in our school, we invite you to an upcoming Info Session! Join an upcoming Info Session: http://bit.ly/joinGFA

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