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 Lindsey 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 Lindsey'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. Lindsey 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. For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

We don't hear it too often at Greenfields, but kids love to ask: “Why are we doing this?” “When will I need to use this in the real world?” At its core, this question is about much more than being bored or impatient with the subject at hand. It shows that kids care about the larger purpose behind their education. So what is that, exactly?Chris Grenier's experience with public school education is like so many others we have heard from other podcast guests. This Greenfields parent has a few standout memories such as dissecting worms and working at the school store to study marketing in high school. But his days spent in the classroom have all but blurred together. In his interview, Chris talks about this common stumble through conventional education and how it led him to a college experience that was much different from what he  expected. Chris did eventually find his niche in accounting, but it wasn't his education that got him there: instead, he credits the applied knowledge that came from his work experiences.Chris sees this process mirrored in the projects his daughter Amelia has worked on at Greenfields. He reminisces about some of them and points out what skills she has already demonstrated that many people don't learn until adulthood.Perhaps there isn't a single purpose that can explain why educational excellence is important. But throughout this conversation, Chris and Rob highlight several examples that show how sticking to the “Education is Life'' principle creates better outcomes far beyond traditional ideas of academic success. Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

We don't hear it too often at Greenfields, but kids love to ask: “Why are we doing this?” “When will I need to use this in the real world?” At its core, this question is about much more than being bored or impatient with the subject at hand. It shows that kids care about the larger purpose behind their education. So what is that, exactly?Chris Grenier's experience with public school education is like so many others we have heard from other podcast guests. This Greenfields parent has a few standout memories such as dissecting worms and working at the school store to study marketing in high school. But his days spent in the classroom have all but blurred together. In his interview, Chris talks about this common stumble through conventional education and how it led him to a college experience that was much different from what he  expected. Chris did eventually find his niche in accounting, but it wasn't his education that got him there: instead, he credits the applied knowledge that came from his work experiences.Chris sees this process mirrored in the projects his daughter Amelia has worked on at Greenfields. He reminisces about some of them and points out what skills she has already demonstrated that many people don't learn until adulthood.Perhaps there isn't a single purpose that can explain why educational excellence is important. But throughout this conversation, Chris and Rob highlight several examples that show how sticking to the “Education is Life'' principle creates better outcomes far beyond traditional ideas of academic success.  Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode!  For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

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/ Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast

Along the lines of creating something unique for your outside-of-school activities, check out the My Pandemic Life Creative Expo coming up on March 18th - 21st for another great way to see how education in young people is more than academics. It is important to emphasize social & emotional learning, along with athletic and physical development to make a greater impact on each of our lives! Sign up for FREE to the event: https://bit.ly/pandemiclifeebsignup If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit http://greenfieldsacademy.com/podcast 

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 Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast!

Visit Adrienne Schroeder's Website: https://www.adrienneschroeder.com/If you are interested in the My Pandemic Life Creative Youth Expo, more information here: https://www.greenfieldsacademy.com/my-pandemic-life

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/ Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

With years of experience, young entrepreneurs start businesses from as early as the age of 7 at the Chicago Children’s Business Fair, hosted by Greenfields Academy. Founding student, Aviva, has participated as a business owner for the last 6 years and has a treasure trove of knowledge for any first-time students looking to become a kidpreneur this year at the fair. With the unique circumstances of COVID19 allowing the fair to be a Cyber event, here are some interesting tips & ideas from experienced vendors, sellers, and entrepreneurs of the Chicago Children’s Business Fair! In this episode, see how entrepreneurship & life-skills that are learned when it comes to running a business are experienced at such a young age for Chicago Children’s Business Fair student vendors. Also, how Greenfields Academy plans to transition the event from an in-person fair to an online marketplace extravaganza! For more information about the Chicago Children’s Business Fair:https://bit.ly/GFAcbf2020And mentioned in the episode was the Caine’s Arcade story: http://cainesarcade.com/If you are interested in joining the movement as a student at our school, please visit greenfieldsacademy.com/ 

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/joinGFAThanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

How are we approaching the fierce and competitive nature of college admissions and how does it impact the self-worth of students? Student-centered college counseling takes the allure of big-name schools and questions, “Is this right for my child,” as the focus of the conversation and replaces the old way of thinking of “how can my child do everything possible to get into that school one day.” Looking at Generation Z, a more pragmatic demographic set of students than Millenials, how are they valuing the ticket cost of $75,000+ per year for an in-state college education and what does that really look like for them? Author of “Go Your Own Way,” and College Counselor of her own consultancy, Alex Ellison shares what she is seeing with the high school students she works with and how they are approaching the college admissions process today. In this episode of the Education Is Life podcast, Alex gives a different perspective to the group of parents and students as young as 17 years old who truly believe life begins after high school, and the enjoyment of life could really look like it starts after retirement- we aren’t joking! Join an upcoming Info Session: http://bit.ly/joinGFA Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

Psychologist Andrea always knew she was destined to be a helper. Throughout her time as a liberal arts college psychologist, she quickly realized that when struggling children were helped TOO much, problems arose. From the start of her 11 years working with college students (2004-2015), an increasing number of them came to her with mental issues such as anxiety and depression. She focused on supporting them in ways that helped them understand life in their own control, but couldn’t help but notice the parents with good intentions who over protected their children disabled them from developing the resilience needed to navigate life. In this episode, Andrea breaks down ways to navigate practices and techniques on how to feel feelings. How can we thrive and overcome the normal suffering in life that is inevitable? Using the R.A.I.N. acronym, Andrea helps us break down this particular skill to manage our nervous system in a way to move past challenges & allow new things in life to emerge so we can live in the moment. Making the space and holding it is what we want to “be” especially while learning in education. Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

Figuring out how to live a life that doesn’t allow work to absorb all of your time is a valuable life lesson to learn, but imagine knowing all about work-life balance as a 12-year-old! In this episode of, “Education Is Life,” we speak with Greenfields Academy Griffin, Ozan, who is balancing his responsibilities with ease! As yet another way of learning about “life itself,” students at Greenfields Academy prioritize their time outside of the school hours to focus on their interests and other lessons that bring value to their world. Do you agree that establishing a mindset around growth, balance, and harmony is important in life? Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

How the student feels about the way they learn and the environment in which they learn is crucial to start developing at a young age. Having a loose, but not lazy approach to guiding from the teacher-figures in school creates learning that encourages children to feel more comfortable to explore who they are & what they are interested in. In this Episode, Greenfields Academy guide, Becca Penzick, has a vast background in psychology, early education & helping young people grow & develop their sought-after skill sets since she was age 13. In all of her years guiding & leading, Becca realized that the children who were most engaged were ones that she didn’t have to be so strict with. Most of the traditional school “red tape” of grades, rules, worksheets, and larger class sizes limits the exposure of so many powerful things that a young student can experience. As a Guide, our school tries to make the student’s day to day as amazing as it can be so that the student truly knows their place, learning quickly and safely, and fulfill their entire childhood & school years with experiences that enrich their learning. Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

You may not be hearing too much from an education standpoint around racism. Schools across the country may not have the ability to have a powerful discussion with different perspectives from various individuals to talk about how we can do better for our children in schools - not for Greenfields Academy! With monumental, world-changing events taking place after George Floyd’s death earlier this month with protests around anti-racism, our focus as a school & community of change-makers gladly welcome this discussion. In this episode, Mona Yaeger, Talent Acquisition Professional shares a discussion with host Rob Huge around Education, Life, and Racism. Mona shares her perspective about growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood outside of Omaha, Nebraska, and how her black peers had treated her much differently than her white classmates as a young child pursuing a better life & furthering her education. Later in the episode, Mona and Rob discuss what the role of a school has when it comes to racism and what is taught from teachers and the education system. Living in a world that looks, sounds, and acts differently than you may be familiar with is something that Mona encourages our young people to understand through school, volunteering, and just getting out of your comfort zone to explore in order to elevate the connections in education and life. Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

When we think about our young people, how much do they really understand about the world around them? What do they learn in school & what is it that they get to explore beyond their own parent’s biases while at home? Is this something taught in school that allows them to go deeper beyond curriculum & standardization? We are very interested in allowing our young people to start to develop the skills and knowledge around finding out more about themselves, their interests and passions, and guide them to learn on their own exactly HOW to find what they are looking for. In this episode, we dive into current events with a passionate student on the topic, Michael. While at his time at Greenfields Academy, Michael was able to explore more around the areas of interest that he felt was most important and direct the projects he was working on to further learn about what topics he was most interested about: Black History & Policy Brutality. For a 12 year old to understand so much about the world around him, see the current events in action and know what is going on, and further his own impact on the movement by designing future projects, such as a documentary, Michael is able to become the leader adn change maker he wants to be as an adult, today, now, as a child. Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate this episode! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

We don’t have teachers at our school- we have guides. Here’s a perspective from Pawel, middle school/explorer program “guide” at Greenfields Academy. The journey of finding your passion is one of the most transformative & exciting realizations to experience. This is what we discuss in this week’s episode of Education Is Life with Greenfields Academy Guide, Pawel K With a background as a guide at a completely different program, BitSpace, Pawel explains how children can defy even their own parent's beliefs when diving into a project that interests them. If they know how to do something- they are absolutely willing and able to do it! As a Greenfields Academy guide, Pawel also touches on the social-emotional component to learning & how making great leaders who work on their friendships in parallel to excelling in their projects gives him lots of hope for the leaders of our future. For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

There is a real difference between Greenfields Academy education & any other school, take it not from the adults, but from the perspectives of the students themselves! One of our founding Griffins, Amelia, shares with us what her experience was like as a student of 5 years at Chicago private school, Greenfields Academy. Her journey but now a high school student at a selective enrollment high school in Chicago that is “conventional,” Amelia notices some pretty amazing things her years at Greenfields Academy has done to prepare her for high school, and for life. In this episode of Education Is Life, Amelia’s student perspective shines a light on what it is like to attend a project-based learning educational learning environment, how popularity contents seem to be more prevalent in a school that doesn’t embed independence in every action of the school, and what benefits both schools provide to prepare our young people for the rest of their future! With school at home as our current landscape, Amelia also outlines some of the differences between what her high school did to handle the situation in contrast to others in her household who are students at Greenfields. For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

Learning doesn’t always come easy for those who have been put up against multiple-choice or true/false questions. “I’m just rubbish,” was the self-talk of Dr. Aditi Mehra before she learned outside of the bounds of linear answers, pass/fail scores & standardized tests throughout her own learning experience. As a life-long learner, Dr. Aditi realized that it wasn’t just her- it was the way she was learning that held her back from excelling. She noticed the same for her son, Tristian, who was able to completely transform his career in school when adopting a new type of learning. In this episode, we will hear the journey of Dr. Aditi on her quest to discover the FIT Learning model as an after-school program that allows children to stimulate their academic success with learning that has evolved into a different way of doing things. For more information about FIT Learning: https://fitlearners.com/centers/chicago-2/ For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

Powerful Executives are Created by Asking Powerful Questions- with Guest Guy Pierce Bell When looking at who we are and what we are building, what is it the most important question or model we should be following? In this episode, Rob & Guy Pierce Bell share a powerful discussion around education as it relates to the workforce. “The Future of Work is the Future of Education,” says Guy who coaches executives to meet their business goals & has worked for decades as an executive himself. Much like the movement at Greenfields Academy, Guy offers to his clients a new perspective that challenges traditional leadership models from the way we’ve always done it. Guy is a father to his daughter, the author of Unlearning Leadership, a book about unleashing your potential to transform your business, and an executive speaker, coach, and strategic partner for businesses. For more information about Guy P. Bell, visit his website: https://guypbell.com/.

This SPECIAL EDITION Episode - we reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic & some of the lasting effects on our young people. Our school sent out a “School at Home” survey to the surrounding Chicago community of families both inside and outside of our school to find out what was working, & what wasn’t - and just to be there for our parents. With a variety of responses & reflections, we were able to tie back to the story of our founder, Rob Huge, and how things just weren't working when he tried homeschooling his children. In this episode, we share our results & findings. For both private & public schools, we noticed more similarities with a traditional school model approach vs. project based, independent learning. Greenfields Academy is revolutionizing education - creating the focus away from what’s broken in the K-12 model and creating what we believe is a better way to “do school.” Creating a deeper learning experience, tap into the moral compass on what is important to the child, and get their learning to a “mastery” level for the subject matters they really love. No Homework. No Tests. No Teachers. No Standardized learning is what this school is all about.

If we got our way - to make this new evolved type of learning the normal model of learning for public school systems for all, what does it look like exactly? We can point out everything that we’d change, but we still have to have a solution to support us in what we are trying to do and make it happen. Let’s start with accessibility: How can we create a tuition model that is affordable and available to the public while accomplishing what it needs to for our young people in terms of preparing our kids for the future?! In this episode, our question is about creating the system that is going to be the foundational K-12 education to build up our young people, stronger! We explore the difference between public vs. privately funded education in our country & historically, how this has created a separation of educational opportunities in our society.

Greenfields Academy is revolutionizing education - creating the focus away from what’s broken in the K-12 model and creating what we believe is a better way to “do school.” Creating a deeper learning experience, tap into the moral compass on what is important to the child, and get their learning to a “mastery” level for the subject matters they really love. No Homework. No Tests. No Teachers. No Standardized learning is what this school is all about. In this episode, we talk about the journey of the parents at a school like ours. We address the "freedom shock" of first stepping into this type of learning for both parents and the children and how we navigate the beginning steps of learning with Greenfields Academy. We compare the expectations we traditionally put on our children with the reality of the way the world is today: can this be a sustainable way for them to believe life is one way, but in fact, as they get older, its an entirely different reality?

Greenfields Academy is revolutionizing education - creating the focus away from what’s broken in the K-12 model and creating what we believe is a better way to “do school.” Creating a deeper learning experience, tap into the moral compass on what is important to the child, and get their learning to a “mastery” level for the subject matters they really love. No Homework. No Tests. No Teachers. No Standardized learning is what this school is all about. This episode, we talk about caged TIGERS- training tigers and knowing everything about them in a cage is so much different than when in the wild. We like to think the same way about children in an environment that simulates the "cage" with boundaries, limits, and too many rules within a sheltered, contained environment that is traditional school. What are the pro's and con's? What do you gain? What do you lose? We are ready to talk all about it with you in Episode #2! For more episodes, please subscribe to our podcast: https://education-is-life-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/

Greenfields Academy is revolutionizing education - creating the focus away from what’s broken in the K-12 model and creating what we believe is a better way to “do school.” Creating a deeper learning experience, tap into the moral compass on what is important to the child, and get their learning to a “mastery” level for the subject matters they really love. No Homework. No Tests. No Teachers. No Standardized learning is what this school is all about. This episode uncovers the “Backstory” of what the journey was like for Rob, his family, and the first pioneering young people who were ready to make their lives happen in this new and exciting way. The beginning of this new powerful education model was created in Chicago as part of the Acton Academy Learning Revolution as a movement and continues to grow internationally.