We're creating intentional community for people who learn outside the box.

1. to bring together motivated young people taking ownership of their learning experience, their parent guides, and partner organizations who support young people in self-directed learning, to share ideas, resources, network, and raise awareness of Self-Directed Education while building intentional community.  
2.  to be inclusive. Any type of learner is welcome in our community. We are inclusive of neurotypical and neurodiverse kiddos including gifted, ADHD, etc. as well as those from any culture and ethnicity in the world.  We strive to be an inclusive global hub. This community is a network that bridges gaps between individuals, families, groups, and organizations while promoting and supporting the "learning outside of traditional school" movement, including young people in traditional school models who actively learn outside of school hours.  
3. to provide community and network both for individuals and related organizations who need/want a social pillar but don't want to manage/navigate the backend on their own.
4. to inspire one another and lift each other up by celebrating successes, tackling challenges, and exploring interests together while learning, building, and practicing relevant character and interest-based skills.
5. to know and grow ourselves, learning the boundaries of safety and respect, gaining valuable interpersonal and citizenship skills, and navigate our rapidly changing world with confidence while moving forward on our unique journey as life-long learners.

We believe children are people, deserving of respect, trust, and opportunities to learn on their own terms. Also, we support families who love to learn together and the organizations that support these families. If you are already practicing SDE/worldschooling/unschooling/homeschooling/learning outside of school OR are curious about natural and collaborative learning methods, perhaps trying something more liberating and rewarding for both parents and young people, Please JOIN US at Odyssey- Where curiosity is your compass!

Environment: We are a diverse group of self-directed learners and leaders who in their own time, follow their passions/needs/interests to guide their own learning process outside the box.  We practice Self-Directed Education philosophy and utilize Agile tools for our culture and community building as well as task management among others. For more information on Agile Learning click HERE.

***Many in the mainstream may not recognize some of this terminology, however, with global membership and our learning objectives, our community can be sought by ANY type of learner, regardless of their learning environment/style. We have opt-in courses suitable for any learner ages 8-adults.*** 

Young People + Parents + Mentors + Intention = Community

• Take ownership of your own education
• Gain tools and strategies to navigate your Self-Directed Education (SDE) with intention and purpose
• Connect with other Self-Directed Learners and families from around the world in a respectful intentional community
• Connect with other SDE organizations & their cohorts around the world, ask questions, network, co-create, build something new.  Looking for a community for your organization?  Whether you teach a class or run a learning pod, local homeschool/worldschool/unschool group, a self-directed learning community, a school, a gifted & talented cluster, a youth group, scout troupe, a club, a recreation or enrichment cohort, etc...and want the young people more involved and a part of the conversation, Odyssey can help customize your members' experience as well as provide a larger audience if desired. Explore our Odyssey Partnership for details. 
• Practice digital citizenship skills in a safe environment or hone your skills alongside your young learners, helping to guide them and their peers to safe and responsible interactions.
• Share your accomplishments and challenges with others who are on a similar path
• Transform yourself by gaining important character-based skills/knowledge through Quests and practice applying those skills immediately within the community
• Lend your talents and skills to the greater community within, create your own offerings, events, and even courses, growing the knowledge-base in our shared learning economy.

*Odyssey SDLC is an intentional, consent-based, member-driven, private community built OFF social media, with no ads, no algorithms, no data mining, no trolls, and no distractions. The central focus is community and culture building with additional learning and creative leadership opportunities within*

Quests  

• Odyssey Passport Challenge (OPC) meta skills focus: Intentional living, Character, Portfolio/Tracking, Project-based Learning, Public Speaking, Discussion, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Service, Fine Arts, Personal Finance, Independence & Responsibility, Sustainable Planet, Capstone, Mentorship & Apprentice program. 
• Youth Digital Citizenship 
• Teen Digital Citizenship 
  • Upcoming quests: 
    • Songwriting
    • Others created by members!

Events are created by members and/or Odyssey and currently include virtual live events.  The calendars will also include in-person events as the global pandemic situation allows.

• ****APRIL**** 

  • Attention YOUTH & TEENS! (looking for beta testers now)
    Want to be in on the ground floor of this group? Help us jump start the program and customize it, making it your own. Earn free & discounted perpetual membership for participating in our beta-test group.  Email HERE to send your request and to reserve your spot today! (space is limited)
  • Ongoing Teen Promo: (non-beta) 1 FREE Teen membership for first 5 families with teens + discount for 3 teen friends. (See below if you have multiple teens/youth) 
• *One Annual Registration + FREE parent membership is required per family for registration and safety guidelines.
• Every member must complete the "Start Here" article of actions (with parent if under 16) before exploring the community.  This includes the purpose, privacy policy, guidelines and community agreement.  The included Digital Citizenship Quest is highly recommended for online safety practices and etiquette.
• Each member will need his/her own account tied to an email address to sign up and participate. We recommend a free gmail account as some of our tools and Quests may require use of google drive & apps.  (If parents want more control over emails, we recommend creating an extra gmail account for yourself/learner and link directly to parent account or through the google family plan).  Contact us for more information or help in this area.
• If you'd like to request group membership for your organization, please contact us at the email below for your own custom option.
• If more than 3 youth/teen memberships are needed, please contact us for group rates.
• If you are a single parent or currently experiencing economic hardship, please contact us at the email below to explore your options.
• Contact email:  [email protected]

I would like to thank my son, Eamon Foltz, for opening my eyes, giving me the inspiration to think outside of the box and begin shifting my mindset towards a new way of thinking about learning and education. Also, to Ken Danford and Joel Hammon from Liberated Learners & Tomis Parker and Nancy Tilton and all my fellow ALFs with the Agile Learning Network without whose gentle guidance and support this vision would never have come to fruition. Thank you to all of the previous in-real-life original families and facilitators (Samantha Baer, parent volunteers) for helping navigate the ins and outs of this type of community and for standing with us during this time of transition and evolution of the program to this virtual/global & more accessible platform. I also want to thank my parents, my family, and all the fans and followers who have continuously supported this community from it's inception.  Finally, to each and every incoming member, for joining and helping normalize this education revolution.   

Thank you,    

Erin Foltz                                                                                          Founder & Parent Traveler                                                                 Odyssey SDLC