Category Archives: The Real School

The Real School is a non-hierarchical learning environment, free of coercion and control and rooted in consensus decision making. The school is a space where kids are free to make their own choices. This freedom necessitates responsibility to yourself, others, and the environment, as well as a willingness to communicate, cooperate, self-regulate, and assess your behavior and that of others.

August Events! (Edited*)

Get ready for lots of fun and learning this August at The Real School!

Check out our Workshops, Craft Days, Game Nights and more!(descriptions below) 

Event Calendar:  

Workshops: We have started hosting regular workshops(or you could call them study and discussion groups) on a variety of subjects. They are all non-coercive, relaxed, and donation-based! Here is a list of the current workshops:

Writing Group: Thursday 5-8pm August 8th (we will be in Dallas on the 22nd this month)

All ages. Bring something to discuss (either a question or a piece of writing)!

Spanish: Monday 11-1pm on August 5,12, 19

Beginners welcome. All ages. Will work on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, reading, etc.

Science: Monday 1-3pm on August 12, 19

Do some simple science experiments with us!

Knitting/Crochet:

We will have beginners Knitting and Crochet classes this month. Facilitated by Abbie!

Knitting: Monday the 5th and Tuesday the 13th at 5:30pm

Crochet: Tuesday the 6th and the 20th at 5:30pm

Arts and Crafts Days: Friday the 9th, 11am-3pm; Wednesday the 14th and 28th from 1pm-4pm and Craft Night on Saturday the 17th from 7pm to 10pm

Come with your arts, crafts or instruments or join in on our planned art activity!

Baking: Tuesday the 13th at 1pm with Marie (and more dates TBD)

Beginner’s baking classes are open to everyone!

Note: Math days are currently canceled but we hope to resume in the future!  Also, we are currently working on scheduling Beginner Yoga classes!

SPECIAL EVENTS!!!

Karaoke Nights: Friday August 9th and 26th from 7-11pm 

All ages Karaoke fun with snacks and drinks provided. $5-10 Donation greatly appreciated.

August’s Game Night FUNdraiser! Saturday the 10th 6-10pm 

This has been a lot of fun in the past 3 months and we are happy to host it again! Come for  tasty food, beverages, video and table top games, and more mischief! Bring your favorite games if you wish! Bring drinks or snacks if you want! All ages! $5-10 donation.

Community Potluck for Unschoolers and Allies of Community Education: 

Wednesday August 28, 6-9pm

Join Real Schoolers for a monthly(veg-friendly) Open Potluck to socialize and discuss Un-schooling/Alternative Education models, and work on growing a Community Education project! This is open to our friends, allies, and anyone interested in our project or learning about Un-schooling, Adultism, or related philosophies. Come hang out, discuss, learn and grow with us! All ages of people are welcome! Please bring something to share if possible and donations to TRS are always appreciated!

August’s Open Dialogue:  The Problem With School *

Join us this month on SUNDAY the 18th from 1-4 pm (date was changed due to scheduling issues, sorry!)

We will be discussing the issues surrounding schools and authoritarian learning structures. Possible questions to address could be:  the history of compulsory schooling, the criminalization of children, how schools interfere with real learning, the need for critical thought, the rising police presence and surveillance of kids, the myth of dumbness, corporations and schools(meds, advertising,etc),  and the idea of learning vs schooling. We seek not only to show how unschooling can work but how schooling does not work and is detrimental to young people! General questions on Unschooling and The Real School are also welcome for discussion! Hope to see you there! Donations always appreciated!

For some reading on this topic we suggest The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto:  http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/toc1.htm

(Note: more events may be added and/or dates or times changed, so keep checking back!)

All events are at the ACT building at 2805 Wichita St. and are sliding scale donation based(almost free!).  People of all ages are always welcome as long as they respect others and respect our space(see handbook if you need further clarification).

Hope to see you there!!!!

– The Real School AKA Dragon Valley

P.S. Here is our most recent picture of a delicious learning experience! Baking is great for math and teamwork lessons!

Baking Banana Bread!!

Baking Banana Bread!!

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JULY EVENTS!!: Workshops, Art, Karaoke, Soccer, Games, Cooking and Potluck!

Welcome to July!!! We have lots of great events planned for this month!

Workshops: We have started hosting regular workshops(or you could call them study and discussion groups) on a variety of subjects. They are all non-coercive, relaxed, and donation-based! Here is a list of the current workshops:

Math: Wednesdays from 2pm -4pm : July 10, 17, 24, 31

with Jeff as the facilitator/ resident math teacher. All ages and levels welcome!

Writing Group: Thursday 5-8pm July 11 and 25 (bi-weekly)

All ages. Bring something to discuss (either a question or a piece of writing)! 

Spanish: Monday 11-1pm July 8,15,22, and 29 and Thursday 6-8pm July 4 and 18

Beginners welcome. All ages. Will work on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, reading, etc.

Note: We are working towards creating science, art, and cooking workshops on a  regular basis as well; check out our calendar for our art, science, and cooking events this month. 

SPECIAL EVENTS!!!

Karaoke Nights: Friday July 12 and 26 from 7-11pm 

All ages Karaoke fun with snacks and drinks provided. $5-10 Donation greatly appreciated. 

 

July’s Game Night FUNdraiser! Saturday the 13th 6-10pm 

This has been a lot of fun in the past 3 months and we are happy to host it again! Come for  tasty food, beverages, video and table top games, and more mischief! Bring your favorite games if you wish! Bring drinks or snacks if you want! All ages! $5-10 donation. 

Futbol/Soccer Games: Monday the 15th(more dates TBA) @6pm 

Come play some non competitive soccer with real schoolers and our friends!!! 

Gaming Meet-up: Tuesday, July 23 @ 1pm-6pm

If you like games, come on by! We’ll bring some snacks and play until dinner time! Video games and table top games welcome!! Small donation appreciated. 

 

Open Dialogue: Coercion, Punishment, Corporal Punishment and Child Abuse

(pt. 2) on Saturday, July 20th from 1-3 pm 

We will continue our discussion from last month on the issues of structural violence against children and creating healthier communities and families. Please come to join our discussion and add your voice on ways to intervene against abuse. Kids always welcome!!!

Description: “Members of The Real School Houston will be discussing the issues around corporal punishment, punishment of children and child abuse/domestic violence in regards to fighting the oppression of young people and the large scale issues of systematic and interpersonal violence which plague our society. We will also be discussing strategies for intervening in situations where violence or other abuse is present for the safety of children in our community. The discussion will focus around oppression of children and the damage that these systems cause to us on a societal wide level. We seek to provide a radical analysis of these issues and provide strategies for a community based resistance to violence, abuse and oppression.”

Donations strongly encouraged. 

Community Potluck for Unschoolers and Allies of Community Education: 

Wednesday July 31, 6-9pm 

Join Real Schoolers for a monthly(veg-friendly) Open Potluck to socialize and discuss Un-schooling/Alternative Education models, and work on growing a Community Education project! This is open to our friends, allies, and anyone interested in our project or learning about Un-schooling, Adultism, or related philosophies. Come hang out, discuss, learn and grow with us! All ages of people are welcome! Please bring something to share if possible and donations to TRS are always appreciated!

Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=mtudi6kdp2u970p9flrqqg2gv0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FChicago

(Note: more events may be added and/or dates or times changed, so keep checking back!)

All events are at the ACT building at 2805 Wichita St. and are sliding scale donation based(almost free!).  People of all ages are always welcome as long as they respect others and respect our space(see handbook if you need further clarification). 

Hope to see you there!!!!

– The Real School AKA Dragon Valley

 

 

Upcoming Events: Un-Graduation party, Open Dialogue, Community Potlucks and More!!!

Un-Graduation Party:

Join members of The Real School / Dragon Valley for our very first…Un-Graduation Party!

Isaac, Chandler, Justin and Jared are beginning new chapters in their lives. 

Come and celebrate with us on: 
Saturday June 15th, 2013, 6:00PM until…
2805 Wichita, Houston 77004 PH#713-523-0066

Snacks and beverages will be provided. Feel free to bring an instrument to play.
All ages welcome!
Gifts to The Real School are welcome but not required.
We hope to see many of you there!!!

June Open Dialogue Topic: Corporal punishment, punishing children, abuse, and intervening against violence. 

**Join us Saturday June 22nd at 4pm

at East Side Social Center, 4202 Canal St. Houston, TX

Members of The Real School Houston will be joining with members of East Side Social Center and discussing the issues around corporal punishment, punishment of children and child abuse/domestic violence in regards to fighting the oppression of young people and the large scale issues of systematic and interpersonal violence which plague our society. We will also be discussing strategies for intervening in situations where violence or other abuse is present for the safety of children in our community. The discussion will focus around oppression of children and the damage that these systems cause to us on a societal wide level. We seek to provide a radical analysis of these issues and provide strategies for a community based resistance to violence, abuse and oppression.

Donations to The Real School and/or East Side Social Center are strongly encouraged!! All ages welcome!

Contact: Marie at 713-523-0066
eastsidesocialcenter.com

Community Potluck for Un-Schoolers and Allies of Alternative Education:

Weds, June 26th at 6:30 pm

Join Real Schoolers for a monthly(veg-friendly) Open Potluck to socialize and discuss Un-schooling/Alternative Education models, and work on growing a Community Education project! This is open to our friends, allies, and anyone interested in our project or learning about Un-schooling, Adultism, or related philosophies. Come hang out, discuss, learn and grow with us! All ages of people are welcome! Please bring something to share if possible and donations to TRS are always appreciated!

At 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004

 H.E.A.L. Workshop:

Redefining Parenting: Arguments Against Punishment, Coercion and Rewards

Sunday June 30th 1-3 PM, 2805 Wichita, Houston 77004 with Dr. Krenie Stowe

More Events in June: 

See our calendar for workshops including: Math Thursdays, Monday Morning Spanish, Writing Workshops, Crafts, Ice cream,etc.

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V8qy-3PpIAxXu2cykquWNAtheFACSqPyVayrkaIjoKM/edit?usp=sharing

NEW for March: Open Dialog on Education

Join members of The Real School Unschooling Co-op for our next Open Dialog on Education!
Saturday March 16th at 2:00 pm.
2805 Wichita, Houston, 77004

 

Hello People,

The Real School Unschooling Co-op (www.therealschoolhouston.org) is hosting another Open Dialog on Education on Saturday March 16th at 2:00 pm.

The topic is Learning v. Schooling, Exploring the Distinctions.
Our address is 2805 Wichita, Houston 77004, the Alliance for Cooperative Transformation building.

Open Dialogs are an opportunity for any and all to discuss, evaluate and debate educational ideas, models and paradigms. Dialogs are also a place to ask questions about The Real School Co-op and the unschooling philosophy in general. As always, all ages are welcome.
Open Dialogs are for everyone! You need not be a parent or have a child interested in unschooling to attend. Unschooling in fundamentally about learning in community, something that we all do throughout our lives. I hope to see many of you there. Feel free to email or call with questions. Real School phone 713-523-0066; my cell 713-201-6704; email unschool@therealschoolhouston.org.

In Love and Strength,

Krenie Stowe for The Real School
therealschoolhouston.org

Open Dialog

Join members of The Real School Unschooling Co-op for our next Open Dialog on Education
Sunday, 02/17/13, 2pm
2805 Wichita, Houston, 77004.

713-523-0066

Open Dialogs are an opportunity to learn about our co-op, to discuss philosophies of unschooling and to debate other educational paradigms. Going forward, we intend to have Dialogs monthly on the 3rd weekend of the month. We will alternate Saturday and Sunday, so December’s Dialog will be the 3rd Sunday. As we move forward, we will offer Dialogs focusing on such topics as:

‘adultism’
creating/sustaining a de-institutionalized space
race, gender, class and unschooling
freedom v. license
how can we have economically sustainable cooperative learning spaces?

I hope to see many of you on Saturday 11/17. Feel free to email with questions. All ages welcome.


In Strength,

Krenie Stowe for The Real School
www.therealschoolhouston.org

Dinosaur Saints & Humble Robots Tour

Wednesday the 16th at 3pm, the Real School is hosting a Magic Puppet Bus Tour! This one is called the Dinosaur Saints & Humble Robots Tour. It’s a family event for people of all ages. We are going to have a suggested $5-10 donation, Poncili Company & Jawbone Puppet Theater is traveling on a two month tour from Brooklyn to Texas and back.

Join us at 2805 Wichita St, Houston, TX 77004 on Wednesday the 16th at 3pm.

Dino Tour

Open Dialog- Sunday, December 16th

Join members of The Real School Unschooling Co-op for our next Open Dialog on Education
Sunday December 16th, 2pm
2805 Wichita, Houston, 77004.
Open Dialogs are an opportunity to learn about our co-op, to discuss philosophies of unschooling and to debate other educational paradigms.Going forward, we will continue to have Dialogs monthly on the 3rd weekend of the month. We will alternate Saturdays and Sundays.

This month’s focus will be:

freedom v. license

I hope to see many of you on Sunday. Feel free to email with questions. There is no fee for Open Dialogs, although donations are much appreciated. All ages are welcome. Those with and without children are encouraged to attend. In the eyes of The Real School, we are all students.

Open Dialog – Saturday, November 17th


We welcome you to join members of The Real School Unschooling Co-op for our next Open Dialog on Education on Saturday 11/17, 2pm located at 2805 Wichita, Houston, 77004

Open Dialogs are an opportunity to learn about our co-op, discuss philosophies of unschooling, and to debate other educational paradigms. Going forward, we intend to have Dialogs monthly on the 3rd weekend of the month. We will alternate Saturday and Sunday, so December’s Dialog will be the 3rd Sunday. All ages welcome.

As we move forward, we will offer Dialogs focusing on such topics as:

  • ‘adultism’
  • creating/sustaining a de-institutionalized space
  • race, gender, class and unschooling
  • freedom vs. license
  • how can we have economically sustainable cooperative learning spaces?

Join Us: Education Series

The Real School Unschooling Cooperative has been offering a 5 part series focusing on the work of education icon John Taylor Gatto. The series uses the recently released 5 hour DVD, “The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto” in an extended dialog about John’s work and its importance to The Real School and to all committed to alternative educational models.

There are two sessions left in this series: 8/19 and 8/26 at The Real School from 1-4pm. The address is 2805 Wichita, Houston 77004; this is the Alliance for Cooperative Transformation property which houses The Real School. People of all ages are welcome to attend.

For those who are not aware, John suffered a serious stroke last year. His recovery has been painfully slow, and he is struggling economically. There is no fee for the series, but donations are encouraged, and half of all proceeds will be donated to John to help with his ongoing medical expenses.