3rd through 6th grade are the critical years for building or losing a love of learning. This is when Inner Fire can have the greatest impact versus traditional schooling.

These are the years that learners start to encounter more structured assignments and build foundational academic skills. They’re also the developmental years when kids transition from seeking adult approval and readily listening to teachers to exploring more of their independence and vying for the approval of their peer set. Grades 3-6 are the pivotal years during which students either learn to lean in to academics or choose to opt out and disengage from an unfulfilling school experience.

Earlier years from preschool to 2nd grade are equally critical, but their focus is more on behavioral learning than academics. The class material is designed to be more enjoyable and not yet rigorous, and younger children are developmentally more responsive to adult direction. While not every school is perfect, there are many traditional schools that offer a solid early education experience.

And by the time students reach late middle school and high school, they’ve already established learning habits and mindsets from the prior four years. The motivated students will maintain that motivation, while the disinterested students will approach the subject matter with skepticism (“what’s the point of studying this if we’ll never use it”). High school grades are built on middle school learning habits—it’s much harder to rekindle enthusiasm that’s been lost than to nurture it from the start. Additionally, older students will benefit from a greater variety of offerings that our micro-school model can’t support, such as sports, additional arts and languages, and other extracurriculars.

How do we create motivating middle school years that learners will love?

• Teacher passion—we show our love for every subject we teach. When students see us excited to learn more about a topic, they share in the enthusiasm.

• Student dignity—we respect students’ autonomy and don’t force anything. By empathizing with learners’ desire or reluctance, we reinforce the validity of their feelings and work with them as partners to build genuine engagement

• Non-judgment—school should not be a place to be assessed, it’s a place exploration and growth at your own pace. Removing judgment removes anxiety, creating more space for curiosity and joy. That’s why we don’t do grades

Schools are not so different from adult workplaces: if we’re doing work just because we have to, for a boss who directs us rather than listening to us, knowing our success depends on evaluation against a standard… we’re not going to like our jobs very much!

But if we have interesting work for a boss who genuinely loves it, dives into it with us, and listens to our ideas and concerns, and we’re allowed to opt out when we need to without judgment or reprisal… that is a motivating work environment that will inspire us to bring our best.

That is what we want Inner Fire students to experience and learn to demand for themselves.