Wild Seeds
Agile learning community

Wild Seeds Agile Learning Community (ALC) is a mixed-age, unschooling learning community for young people ages 5–18.

At Wild Seeds, we see young people as the architects of their own lives and learning. Growth happens in the present—through building meaningful relationships to themselves, their peers, and the world around them. We invite young people to bring their skills, questions, and curiosities into our community. Facilitators support them in using these interests as the foundation for meaningful and joyful learning experiences.

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We don’t believe learning should be standardized or forced. Instead, we support young people in learning how to learn. We help kids identify their interests, connect with resources and tools that support their growth, and create projects that bring together youth with shared passions for deeper learning.

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We believe valuable learning extends beyond traditional academic subjects, and we prioritize young people’s social and emotional development. We support kids in understanding their emotions, building meaningful friendships, practicing conflict resolution, and exploring their identities.

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Unschooling at Wild Seeds is also political. We believe it is important for young people to understand systems of power in our world, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, and ableism. Our goal as facilitators is to challenge systems that cause harm and help young people to understand how to be accountable community members. 

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Our Beliefs About Learning

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• Learning is happening all the time.

• Learning can and should be joyful and engaging.

• Learning happens best through trusting relationships and natural curiosity.

• Young people do not need to prove their learning to anyone.

• Learning is not linear; it thrives in authentic, self-chosen experiences.

• Young people may not learn all the same content as in traditional schools, and that’s okay.

• Kids can learn any content at any age. Learning how to learn is foundational to all future learning.

• There is no single “right” pace for learning.

 

The Role of Facilitators

 

Facilitators at Wild Seeds support kids by:

• Creating an inviting, usable, resource-rich environment

• Offering facilitator-led activities that introduce new ideas, topics, and skills

• Sharing their own passions, interests, and expertise

• Noticing and responding to young people’s interests, both spoken and unspoken

• Supporting community-building through daily small group meetings

• Fostering social and emotional growth by helping youth understand their feelings and values, build relationships, and participate intentionally in community life

• Inviting in outside experts to share skills beyond our own

 

Opportunities for Learning 

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• Offerings: Facilitator- or youth-led opportunities to explore specific topics or skills

• Small Groups: Age-based spaces to build community, practice collaboration, and explore meaningful content

• Projects & Clubs: Longer-term experiences for deep exploration or creating a specific product​

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Teens at Wild Seeds 

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While teens at Wild Seeds share space with our whole community, we recognize that they have specific needs and interests. Pennsylvania home school laws also have more specific requirements for high school students.  We are currently planning a new reimagined high school to provide intentional support for teens.

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Families as Partners

 

We work in active collaboration with families to create joyful, supportive learning environments. This includes:

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Family Partnership Meetings: We meet twice a year with families to co-create goals based on each young person’s interests and growth areas.

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Consistent Communication: We use an app called Prism to share daily updates about how kids spend their time at Wild Seeds. Prism also creates a portfolio for each child that documents learning throughout the year.

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Homeschooling Support: Young people in our program are registered homeschoolers. We support families in meeting legal homeschooling requirements, including end-of-year portfolio evaluations and teen course documentation. For families transitioning from traditional school, we offer guidance and resources for getting started with unschooling and homeschooling.

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