While exciting, I also knew that Wonder would be a different kind of hard than traditional school. This kind of hard requires immense trust in our daughter to overcome challenging situations that will stretch her, and may even be painful. I realized that we either choose hard now or hard later, when she has to navigate all of these things anyway.

The mere act of listening to wise statements and sound advice does little for anyone. In the process of learning, the learner’s dynamic cooperation is required. This is why at Wonder we ground ourselves in the Socratic Method.

Any school or person who promises a journey with no frustration, easy progression through grade levels and always-happy parents is either bluffing or just wants to get people through a system to count it as a success. There is no learning without frustration. There is no love without suffering.

When you take a road less traveled, there are times of bewilderment and even a sense of loss. But we have a secret treasure at the end of our path that urges us forward: it is that our children will find their callings and will be equipped to create meaningful lives with rich relationships for themselves and those around them.

"The critical skill of this century will not be what you know but rather how quickly and how deeply you can tap into what the people around you know.”