Why Sudbury? A Parent Finds a School for Free Thinkers
Sam was directed to use a blue crayon, but he insisted on using a red one. At five years old, he was already strong-willed and free-thinking, and traditional school just wasn’t working for him. In this month’s episode of The Fairhaven Stream, parent Kelly Duffy tells us about what her family now, almost thirteen years later, refers to as The Blue Crayon Incident–how her son’s refusal to use a blue crayon led her to Fairhaven School.
Kelly admits it was scary to send her child to a school without the familiar structure of classrooms and grades, but she soon found Fairhaven to be the perfect school for her son. She saw an instant change in him, a willingness to cooperate and participate in a school where his voice, his opinions and his interests matter. As he gets ready for his freshman year at the University of Alabama, Kelly sees that he is well-prepared for college. He doesn’t need anyone to tell him what to do because he has been practicing autonomy and responsibility in a robust school community for nearly his entire academic career.
If you’re new to the podcast or would like a platform other than Soundcloud, you can find the rest of our episodes on Spotify here.
