@futurebird

This is so well said. I work in a school with a middle school that most definitely covers the basics, but the emphasis is on experiential learning. There are no grades, all feedback is narrative. Classes are mixed ages, 6th-8th grade. Lots of work is project-based and thus hands-on. Math, science, humanities, art -- they're all integrated with each other. Students set goals for themselves, dive into personal interests under an umbrella topic, understand the inter-relatedness of various fields of study.

These students go on to flourish in high school.

But every year, *every* *single* *year*, we have at least one family that takes their kid out of the program, because the adults in the family don't think our academics are "rigorous" enough. Because what we do doesn't look like the rote learning they themselves endured.

It is heartbreaking, and no matter how well we communicate what we are doing and *why* -- it still happens. I wish I could just whip out your quote for these folks to read, every time they start getting nervous. But it probably wouldn't matter. We say all the things you say, in our own way, and it so often falls on deaf ears.