Experiments show that children in unsupervised groups are capable of answering questions many years ahead of the material they're learning in school. In fact, they seem to enjoy the absence of adult supervision, and they are very confident of finding the right answer.

We need a pedagogy free from fear and focused on the magic of children's innate quest for information and understanding.

Learning is the new skill. Imagination, creation and asking new questions are at its core.

Too often we see that teachers and educational administrators feel threatened by self-organized learning. They, therefore, think it is not learning at all.

Children have to have access to books, and a lot of children can't go to a store and buy a book. We need not only our public libraries to be funded properly and staffed properly, but our school libraries. Many children can't get to a public library, and the only library they have is a school library.

My mom was always my biggest teacher, my inspiration, my role model. My mom was just the most amazing person. She was like a bon vivant in that she just lived each day to the fullest. As soon as I became a vegetarian, she became a vegetarian.

My passion has always been books and literature, and teaching.

Unless children have strong education and strong families and strong communities and decent housing, it's not enough to go sit in at a lunch counter.