Behind the Explosion in Unconventional Education

Mickey Revenaugh, co-founder of Connections Academy, is out with her debut book titled School’s Out: Why Families Are Choosing Unconventional Education. She joined me—and a surprise cohost, my daughter Kayla!—to talk about what she learned from reporting and writing the book. Together we explored the rise of innovative schooling models and their impact on student learning and traditional education systems, from unschooling models to project-based learning and more. Mickey shared insights on why families are embracing these diverse educational pathways, discussed the challenges and opportunities with assessment and public funding, and expressed optimism that Gen Alpha’s passion for learning and adaptability will mean a brighter world in the years ahead.Michael HornWelcome to The Future of Education. I’m Michael Horn. You’re joining the show where we’re dedicated to building a world in which all individuals can build their passion, fulfill their potential, and live lives of purpose. And to help us think through how to do that today, I’m delighted we have a repeat guest, a friend of mine who, from my very first days in the education world, was there ushering me in, none other than Mickey Revenaugh. We had her on the podcast in 2023 when she was, quote unquote, retiring.Introducing Mickey’s backgroundMichael HornMany folks, Mickey, know you as one of the founders of Connections, of course. But more recently, you were the author of this terrific new book, and congratulations, called School’s Out: Why Families Are Choosing Unconventional Education. I’ve got another copy right behind me. We’re delighted to— Everyone get this book. I will say that upfront. I’m delighted to have you again and talk to you about the book.It’s good to see you.Mickey RevenaughThank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. It’s always fun to talk with you, and I can’t believe it’s been 3 years. And I also appreciate your wise guidance as an author because this first time out for me and whoo, has it been a learning experience.Michael HornI can only imagine, but we’re gonna come back to that in a minute. Before I get started with my questions, I’m gonna out myself. This is the second time this has happened to me in the last couple years where a friend of mine in the education world writes a book, and then before I can even crack it, my daughter literally reads the entire thing spine to spine before I even open the book. And in this case, she actually drafted a bunch of questions for you, and I wondered, could she join us and actually do the interview with me? What do you think?Mickey RevenaughIt would be my pleasure. I’m a little tiny bit intimidated because, you know, kids ask really good questions, but I would love it.Michael HornThey do. They do. And I won’t prep you, but I will bring in Kayla, this is my daughter.Mickey Revenaugh :Hi, Kayla. Nice to meet you.Michael HornAnd Kayla’s gonna be in 6th grade, she’s at a Montessori school, and, like I said, she’s poured through this book. And so I’m going to ask the first question and then I’ll turn it over to you to ask a bunch of yours. But Mickey, maybe let’s start here, which is, as we talked about when I had you on the podcast the first time, before starting Connections with that team, that incredible team, you were a writer. You wrote a lot about — you were a journalist. You wrote a lot about education. You wrote a lot about technology in education. You started observing all these things.You quote unquote retire. I’m going to keep saying quote unquote. And then you start investing in writing again. My recollection is you took some classes, you start writing at 5:00 AM. And I guess my big question is, why this book? Why did you decide to go out, report, as Kayla constantly keeps telling me, interview a lot of people, see a lot of different schooling arrangements, Why did you write this book?Nurturing children’s natural love of learningMickey RevenaughWell, part of it actually was inspired by the Kayla in my life, who’s my great-niece, Gemma, who went to Forest School for her preschool years. And I had not heard of Forest School. I mean, I was really hip to virtual school and charter schools and all kinds of other things, but Forest School in the Pacific Northwest where it’s just like mud, mud, mud all the time. And I thought, all right, well, I’m really curious about this. Why would her mom choose that? Why would she love it? And so that kind of started me down the path of trying to understand from a family’s point of view, what is the draw of these uncon