David Albert

Topic 1:  Learning About Learning:  Conversations with my Violin

David Albert will contrast the rather strange principles that lie at the heart of public education with the actual learning process itself. Using the violin as an example, he will examine the five internal dialogues that take place in both children and adults when real learning is really happening. Lots of anecdotes, show-and-tell, and humor.

Topic 2:  Home Educating the Gifted Child

Or, "How to talk so your child will think you have something worth listening to!"  David emphasizes that home educating  is not just for the kids, but for the learning family. He posits as a goal of all education "the responsible exercise of freedom."

David Albert holds degrees from Williams College, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago, but says, "The best education he ever received he gets from his two amazing kids." As founder of New Society Publishers, he was both editor and publisher of John Taylor Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", and more than 100 other titles. Author of And the Skylark Sings with Me, David is an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).  He will be a featured speaker at this year's WHO convention.

  http://www.skylarksings.com

He writes:  "Childhood is such a wonderful time in life.  Kids have so much to explore, and often so much energy to do it on their own or in unusual ways.  They will perform perfectly well without pressure. Gifted children may have an especially difficult time in finding themselves--they are often pushed to develop their gifts, rather than their passions. We don't have to think out of the box--our children will do it for us."