Shirley Smith joined SelfDesign® Learning Foundation in February as our chief financial officer. She brings to her role more than 20 years of experience as an executive in the finance sector. Most recently, she was Vice President of Finance and Information Technology with the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka, Ontario, a $50-million organization with 1,250 staff. As a transformational senior leader with [...]
Lia Meyer, Class of 2015, still feels that way Lia, a member of SelfDesign® Learning Community’s Class of 2015, came to Canada and Wondertree, SelfDesign’s predecessor in-person school, with her mother, River Meyer. They were living in Colorado when River met Brent Cameron, the founder of Wondertree and SelfDesign, and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2004 so River could [...]
Grades 10 to 12 at SelfDesign are flexible and customizable, in keeping with our learner-centered approach to learning. We provide a comprehensive, theme- and relationship-based approach to high school that aligns fully with the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care’s graduation program. However, to meet Ministry requirements, grades 10 to 12 are somewhat more structured than earlier years. Learners [...]
“SelfDesign is a unique opportunity to pursue your interests in a different way,” says former SelfDesign learner Erik, a member of our Class of 2019. “It’s also a great opportunity to find like-minded people – which could be hard to do otherwise – but SelfDesign provides the perfect opportunities for these connections to be made.” At SelfDesign® Learning Community, learning [...]
SelfDesign® Learning Community Re-enrolment NOW OPEN If you are a family with learners currently enrolled in our kindergarten to grade 12 program or with learners currently registered in SelfDesign® Home Learning who wish to transfer into SelfDesign Learning Community, we’re happy to welcome you back! Visit our enrolment site to begin the re-enrolment or transfer process Please re-enrol or complete [...]
This year, every Friday from October to May, several passionate and engaged learners gather online to learn and talk about how they can learn from the Earth and nurture it. The Earth-Wise Collective is a club for SelfDesign learners in grades 8 to 12 who are interested in the environment. “Every meeting, we include a range of activities to include [...]
When Daniel was looking into post-secondary opportunities to continue after grade 12, he was most intrigued by the Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urbanism program at the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Every year, more than 1,000 people apply to enter the prestigious four-year Bachelor of Arts program. The school, considered Canada’s top architecture school, accepts [...]
A Q&A with our outgoing Director of Organizational Learning and Culture When River Meyer moved from Alaska to a small Colorado mountain town in 2003, she hadn’t heard of SelfDesign, Wondertree (SelfDesign Learning® Community’s predecessor), or Brent Cameron, SelfDesign’s founder. Yet, within the year, she met Brent and began rewriting the manuscript for his book, SelfDesign: Nurturing Genius Through Natural [...]
HomeLearners Network (HLN) has some fabulous certified educators (guides) who are always excited to help your kids discover new passions and realize unique skills. Our new Guides, Heather and Augusta, are no exception! We sat down with Heather and Augusta to get to know them better and find out why they’re excited to be HLN guides. Meet Heather, scientist extraordinaire! [...]
Quebec City has its Winter Carnival. Winnipeg has the Festival du Voyageur. Edmonton has the Deep Freeze Festival. Many communities in Canada and beyond hold winter festivals. They celebrate light and community in the coldest, darkest time of year. They push people to bundle up, leave the coziness of their homes, and meet up with friends and neighbours. SelfDesign® Learning [...]