Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-232) and index.

Foreword by Ayelet Waldman
Introduction: Meet me at Park Day
1. "Remakers of mankind"
2. The rug: teaching to the "whole child"
3. The inner ear: learning that ignites children's senses
4. The magic circle: building character and community
5. The storyboard: the progressive heart of high technology
6. Tasting the soup: recipes to calm a "testing mania"
7. The laboratory: messiness and failure
progressive education's vulnerability and strength
8. The petition: promoting social justice
Conclusion: Back to the future
Epilogue
Appendix: Progressive Education Association: seven founding principles
A list of schools using progressive education methods
A (somewhat idiosyncratic) top-ten list of books, studies, and articles supporting the benefits of progressive education
Park Day School's sixth-graders' poem to Tom Little

The longtime head of Park Day School, Tom Little embarked on a tour of 43 progressive schools across the country. In this book, his life's work, he interweaves his teaching experience, the knowledge he gleaned from his trip, and the history of Progressive Education. As Little and Katherine Ellison reveal, these educators and schools invigorate learning and promote inquisitiveness by allowing the curriculum to grow organically out of children's questions - whether they lead to studying the senses, working on a farm, or re-creating a desert ecosystem in the classroom. We see curious students draw on information across disciplines to think in imaginative yet practical ways, like in a "Mini-Maker Faire" or designing and building a chair from scratch. Becoming good citizens was another of Little's goals. He believed in the need for students to learn how to become advocates for themselves, from setting rules on the playground to engaging in issues of social justice in the wider community. Using the philosophy of Progressive Education, schools can prepare students to shape a vibrant future in the arts and sciences for themselves and the nation.