Ever since we decided to start Sego Lily School, and in fact even before we knew that it would be called Sego Lily School, I have been interviewing children about the concept. I ask them all the same basic question: “If you went to a school in which you could decided what to do all day, what would you choose to do?”

Now first of all, adults tend to have some pretty definite opinions about how children will answer this question. They particularly have opinions about how their own children will answer. Adults seem to think that children will do “nothing”, or that they will “waste all of their time.” After a lifetime of an education that was directed for them, they can’t see any possibility of children actually wanting to learn anything. Much more could be said on this point, but I will save that for a separate article.

Children, of course, have very different responses. And while the response of every child has been unique, there are some common threads. The lines of age seem to divide the responses into general categories and determine the level of freedom the children are willing to embrace.

The oldest children, around high school age, give a very limited and yet opinionated answer to my question. After many years of traditional education, there is a box in which their answers must fall. One teenage girl, for example, said, “I would stop taking so many math classes, and focus instead on my writing classes.” Another teenage boy responded, “I would take shop classes for most of the day, and make all of my other classes shorter with no homework.” The paradigm of school, classes, and traditional educational structure limits what they see as freedom of choice. Many teens have specific likes and dislikes that they are very willing to express, and yet it is difficult for them to understand that there may be an entirely different way in which to obtain an education. Schools like Sego Lily School can be especially beneficial for older children, however. The time and support to identify and pursue specific interests allows for these children to begin to listen to and follow their dreams.

The middle group of children, which I identify as from about third grade through junior high school age, also tend to have definite opinions about what they like and don’t like about school, and their answers reflect this. One 11 year old told me he would spend his time “reading, working on geometry, swimming, and probably playing games like baseball and football.” There is a reflection in this answer of the subjects the child enjoys in school, as well as the activities he wishes to pursue. Another student of about the same age asked me if he could learn to fly airplanes. When I told him yes, he asked me if it was legal. We discussed this at some length, looking at what parts of flying an airplane he could learn while in school (studying flight manuals, learning the necessary math and science), and what parts would have to be done outside of the regular school structure (taking flying lessons). His response to me was brilliant – “For that, I would take math classes all day long!” I found this to be a wonderful expression of how learning with a purpose motivates people. His mother had a stunned look on her face. “I thought you hated math?” she asked. “I do,” he said, “but I never had any real reason to learn it before.”

“Little kids” have the best responses to my interview question. With no constrictions of what school is “supposed” to be like, or even restrictions about what is physically possible in the universe, they have amazing and creative answers when I ask them what they would choose to do. Some of the younger children have said they would play house and paint pictures all day, others have wanted to participate in games and learn to use the computer. Still others have really let their imaginations run wild. A five year old girl responded that she wanted to spend her days, “Drawing pictures, voting on good rules so that everyone is happy, and going on field trips, like to the mountains.” My own son, four years old at the time, told me that he wanted to “Do some homework, learn to read, and figure out how to taste the clouds.” Sure, I’m biased, but don’t you think that’s the most creative thing you’ve ever heard a child say?

Even though there is a distinct difference in the age groups and how far outside the paradigm of traditional education they felt free to look, there is one common thread in every response I have heard. Not a single child, from age four through eighteen, wanted to do “nothing.” Human beings are innately curious creatures. None of us can stand to be bored for very long – we will search out things that interest us, that stimulate us, and that connect us to others. That is one of the beauties of Sego Lily School. We provide a space in which people can be fully self expressed while following their hearts. THAT is why we decided to start Sego Lily School for our own children, and it is why we say that our school and others like it will transform the way children in our culture will relate to the world and to each other.