About Us
We have observed – over many years – that self-directed learning is a very natural way to raise a child. All a parent needs to do is allow the child to freely explore and figure things out. For anyone who trusts the process of natural human development, self-directed learning can flow. In our culture, though, trusting this process can be challenging. A parent will need to stay in the present and away from imaginary scary scenes about the looming future awaiting his child. This is sometimes easier said than done.
We have observed that most changes in modern education have occurred through the home-education movement. This change is still, to a large extent, very much under the radar. However, it is our conviction that real and rapid change to the culture of education can only occur through the enlightenment of families.
Creative Outcomes is an organization set to support and mobilize this process.
Meet the Team
Rachel Mendelson
Rachel Mendelson is a long-time home-educating mother of three and a business owner. She has been passionate about alternative, open, child-led education since she was 13 years old and read Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing by A.S. Neill. The book started her on a life-long journey of self-discovery and education in the field of Human Development.
She pioneered home-education in Israel while living there with her two young boys and was the founder and editor of an alternative education magazine.
She has shared home-education and self-directed learning with many parents over the years at conferences, through writing, and in other venues. She loves to guide parents in observing “what is right” with their child, as well as how to recognize the tailor-made, self-developed curriculum a child creates for her or himself. She is passionate about guiding parents to trust natural learning and is still fascinated by the process. Rachel has a blog, unschoolingtocollege.com, where she shares stories and thoughts from many years of unschooling her children.
Margaret Parker-Anderies
Margaret Parker-Anderies is a home-educating mother of twenty years. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and has extensive experience in English language teaching in Australia, Canada, China and the U.S. She speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese and is interested in the intersection of Culture Studies and Institutional Analysis. Her key research interest lies in understanding effective provisioning of learning opportunities as public infrastructure.
She is interested in the history of compulsory education in the world and with the measurement of success (and failure) of schools and free-schools. In the future, she would like to see a transition from compulsory/traditional/box style schooling towards self-organizing, open-network and self-regulating learning environments suitable for learners of all ages. View Resume (pdf)
Tracy Brooker
Tracy Brooker is an author, speaker, and, since 2001, owner of an educational consulting company. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from Kent State University and a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Northern Arizona University. Following her own passions of special education, and spirituality, Tracy has taught and consulted for over 15 years and coaches parents on how to create the family life they truly desire. Her experience spans from low-incidence impairments, assistive technology, preschool special needs, and learning resources.
As a young child, Tracy always knew she wanted to become a teacher. Just as many children often do, she realized that compulsory education was not sustainable. As she later pursued her degree in Special Education, she was inspired to learn more about research into curiosity and passion-driven learning. She created the website www.ConsciousEducation.org to provide resources and information on both education and learning from a metaphysical and conscious perspective. View resume (pdf).
“Former Norwegian minister of children and family Valgard Haugland sums up his country’s philosophy: “We have decided that raising a child is real work, and that this work provides value for the whole society.” It is only fair, then, “that the society as a whole should pay for this valuable service.” These countries are already reaping the benefits, in terms of both competitiveness and social mobility.”
(Anne-Marie Slaughter / Unfinished Business)
“It is hard not to feel that there must be something very wrong with much of what we do in school, if we feel the need to worry so much about what many people call ‘motivation’. A child has no stronger desire than to make sense of the world, to move freely in it, to do the things that he sees bigger people doing.”
(John Holt)