All About Academics at Living Wisdom School

HEAD & HEART is a revolutionary new book about educating happy, academically successful kids.

Head & Heart is based on the 40-year experience of the Living Wisdom School in Palo Alto, California, and accurately reflects the experience of Living Wisdom Schools in Nevada City, California, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Head & Heart offers stimulating conversations with the LWS teachers and students, supportive research, and the thoughts of academic authorities on this proven system for educating well-rounded students.

Three ways to read Head & Heart:

Read the chapters online (below).
Download the book as a PDF (Free): Head & Heart (283 pages, 2.8MB).
Order the book on Amazon: $15.95 plus shipping ($5 for Kindle): Head & Heart: How a Balanced Education Nurtures Happy Children Who Excel in Academics and Life. (Proceeds from book sales support our school.)

Read the Chapters Online

Preface

Appendix 1. The Living Wisdom School Rules

Appendix 2. The Education for Life Curriculum

Appendix 3. Research that Supports Education for Life

JOIN US!

Living Wisdom School
Open Houses
for Prospective Families K-8
2024-2025

Wednesday, October 23, 2024
7 p.m.

Saturday, November 16, 2024
10 a.m.

Saturday, February 1, 2025
10 a.m.

Register: info@livingwisdomschool.org

Meet Our New School Director

Aryavan McSweeney spent his first nine school years at Living Wisdom. All of his life experiences have prepared him to return to his alma mater as its director, and to carry forward its mission of bringing a better approach to education for children everywhere.

Living Wisdom School Presents
Our 31st Annual Theater Magic
Production

“Follow That Star”
The Heroic Life of Harriet Tubman

Watch the Video

Browse the Photo Gallery

Every LWS student plays an important role in our annual all-school Theater Magic production. Watch the video and enjoy a gallery of 155 photos. The students are glowing, and the costumes are amazing!

Kindergarten at LWS:
Portal to Lifelong Happiness & Success

In this important statement, Living Wisdom School Director Helen Purcell reveals how a highly individualized education in a stress-free, safe, joyful environment sets the stage for positive accomplishment and happiness at school and for all of life. Optional: download the 4,667-word article as a PDF.

Love & Success in the Classroom

At Living Wisdom School, a highly individualized, whole-child education in a safe, joyful environment yields spectacular results demonstrated by high school grades and standardized test scores.

A TESTIMONIAL FROM PARENTS WITH
NINE YEARS’ EXPERIENCE OF LIVING WISDOM SCHOOL

Jack and Esther Dieckmann speak about their childrens’ experience at Living Wisdom School. Follow this link to discover their thoughts.

Kindergarten girl writes on paper with focused expression.

The #1 Question Parents Ask About Living Wisdom School

Does an education that supports all five aspects of a child’s nature improve academic performance? The answer is a resounding YES! The evidence is overwhelming – follow this link to learn more.

A Conversation with Lilavati Aguilar, 2nd Grade Teacher and Early Education Advisor

Lilavati taught kindergarten for five years at LWS. She reveals how her former students have grown in personal maturity and academically, and how the school’s Education for Life methods made it possible.

THE CURRICULUM at Living Wisdom School. by Nitai Deranja, Co-Founder of Education for Life and the Living Wisdom Schools. Why does a highly individualized curriculum produce deeper engagement and more efficient learning than a more traditional approach? Nitai speaks from his 52 years of hands-on experience with Education for Life.

NEW: A Conversation with LWS Theater Director Rose Atwell. Rose believes the key to helping each child grow personally and academically is knowing what the individual child needs and helping them take their own next challenging step.

WATCH OUR 2022 THEATER MAGIC FEATURE FILM!

Follow the link to watch our inspiring 2022 Theater Magic film production, “Krishna, The Beloved!” The story of Krishna encompasses a powerful allegory of the soul’s longing for eternal happiness and freedom from suffering. Because of Covid our live performances were limited to parents-only, but the production is captured in this beautiful feature-length film in which every student plays a role. Enjoy!

HOW I DISCOVERED EDUCATION FOR LIFE PRINCIPLES WHILE TEACHING IN A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL

LWS Director Helen Purcell traces the origins of her enthusiasm for a school environment and an approach to teaching that enable every student to enjoy daily experiences of success.

Science in Second, Third, and Fourth Grades. Visit science teacher Lana Steuck’s wonderful exhibition of science projects in the early grades at Living Wisdom School.

Why do our happy graduates do so well in high school and beyond (average high school GPA: 3.85)? To find out why, watch this hilarious (and extremely insightful) TED Talk by Happiness Advantage author Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work (26.7 million views).

Watch the 2022
LWS End of Year Ceremony

Watch the LWS students give their speeches at the annual LWS End of Year Awards Ceremony. This is one of the most inspiring events of the school year, not to be missed! The ceremony was live this year — you’ll meet each student “up close and personal!”

Questions Parents Ask About Middle School at LWS. A conversation with former middle school teacher, LWS founding board member, and present school office manager Gary McSweeney.

NEW: A Conversation with an LWS Graduate..

After working as filmmakers, Aryavan and Ishani chose a road less traveled. Aryavan will become LWS School Director in Fall 2024.

NEW: A Conversation with an LWS Graduate..

After completing graduate studies in mathematics at the University of Bremen, Germany, Hazemach returned to teach at Living Wisdom High School.

Is Your Teen Thriving?
Visit the Living Wisdom High School website to meet the teachers and discover what this inspiring high school can offer your teen. LWHS is a seamless upper-level division of our TK-8 school, with a separate website that addresses the unique educational and developmental needs and interests of students in the adolescent years.

7 Strengths of Our
Micro High School Program

A Personalized University
Model of Coursework
Personal Excellence Through
Mastery Learning
Internships & Experiential Learning
A Community of Cooperation,
NOT Competition
Self-Expansion Through Service, Travel, Entrepreneurship, and Athletics
Meditation & Centering Practices
for Well-being
Small Group Learning and
One-to-One Mentoring

Browse the LWS Calendar

Three important TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson for parents considering Living Wisdom School. His talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” has been viewed by an estimated 350 million people in 160 countries.

Visit Us on Facebook:

NEW: A testimonial from Stanford education researcher Jack Dieckmann whose son and daughter attend Living Wisdom School.

NEW: A testimonial from Stanford Director of Early Education and LWS parent Raju Parikh, shown here with her daughter, Raeva who’s in 4^th grade.

First Steps at Living Wisdom School. Kindergarten teacher Mahita Matulich talks about Conscious Discipline, individualized education, and why play-based academics help very young children perform well above their years — with joy.

A Visit to 3rd Grade at LWS. Ruth Silver gives her students a rigorous, challenging curriculum. Why are her kids so happy?

NEW: What the Arts Can Do for Children. A conversation with Oregon Symphony cellist and 16-year Living Wisdom School music teacher David Eby.

National & International Math Competitions
Living Wisdom School takes a unique approach to the highly competitive Math Olympiads and American Mathematical Society Competitions.

Science at Living Wisdom School:
A conversation with science teacher Doug Andrews.

LWS Students Enjoy the 2015 Google Science Fair: The children had a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with some of the world’s brightest young scientists. A slideshow with introduction and photo captions by LWS science teacher Doug Andrews.

LWS Science Fair 2015: photos with captions by science teacher Doug Andrews.

Research Supports Living Wisdom School Philosophy
Discover why putting happiness first gives children a big advantage in school.

A conversation with teacher Gary McSweeney: “How Middle Schoolers Learn Math at Living Wisdom School”

Living Wisdom School Literary Magazine 2012. Language arts masterpieces by LWS students K to 8th Grade.

Visit our video channels on Vimeo. (Photo: Shubha gives her 2012 graduation speech.)

Watch the LWS 6th and 7th Graders deliver their year-end “Quality Speeches.” The year-end ceremony is a highlight of the academic year, as each student delivers a talk to more than 200 parents, teachers, and fellow students.

Our LWS 2016 annual all-school play was a big success, with three sold-out performances to audiences of more than 250 parents, students, and teachers from LWS and visiting schools. Watch the video.

Watch the Video:
THEATER MAGIC 2015
“George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist to Saint”
(Read audience testimonials.)

Living Wisdom School Children Sing for HH the Dalai Lama
Watch an inspiring 10-minute video of the children singing for the Dalai Lama, and his remarks on uplifting the world by nurturing feelings of kindness and compassion in children.

A talk by Nitai Deranja, founder of the first Living Wisdom School: “Consciousness — The Missing Ingredient in Education Today” (video or audio)

How Children Learn Science at Living Wisdom School. An audio interview with former LWS math and science director Dharmaraj Iyer. (36 min)