In order to support student-led education at LumenKids we use leader facilitators to guide learning. In a leader facilitator model students and facilitators acknowledge a common partnership in their educational journey. Facilitators honor the inherent wisdom youth carry and create an atmosphere to explore, question, analyze and interpret. This yin-yang relationship allows a young person to take more responsibility for the topics they engage in and the portfolio of learning they will accumulate at the end of a Lumen program.

Leaders strike a careful balance between cultivating freedom and agency in students to pursue their own passions, and well-crafted lessons to spark and ignite new approaches, skills and perceptions. Lumen Leaders are first and foremost advocates for children and strive to build bonds with them, challenge them, support them and build with them so each and every Lumen student can find their brightest versions of themselves.

In order to support student-led education at LumenKids we use leader facilitators to guide learning. In a leader facilitator model students and facilitators acknowledge a common partnership in their educational journey. Facilitators honor the inherent wisdom youth carry and create an atmosphere to explore, question, analyze and interpret. This yin-yang relationship allows a young person to take more responsibility for the topics they engage in and the portfolio of learning they will accumulate at the end of a Lumen program.

Leaders strike a careful balance between cultivating freedom and agency in students to pursue their own passions, and well-crafted lessons to spark and ignite new approaches, skills and perceptions. Lumen Leaders are first and foremost advocates for children and strive to build bonds with them, challenge them, support them and build with them so each and every Lumen student can find their brightest versions of themselves.

Our goal is to immerse participants in experiences that will stimulate all aspects of their being, challenge their creative problem solving abilities, engage them in activities that will push their physical limits and comfort zones, and invite them to explore their inner selves through solo experiences and a communion with the natural world around them. We aim to accomplish this by educating and nourishing the Mind-Body-Planet and understanding the connections between them. By addressing the whole of a young person, we are confident that they will develop leadership and life skills to become healthy, effective persons and community members.

All LumenKids programs have a systematic approach to experiential learning that supports the acquisition of skills, practice and then performance. The year-long day program allows students to saturate themselves and dive into depths of a general theme such as Water, Ethics, Food, Urban Planning, Transport, etc. Within a theme we explore aspects of student’s interests while utilizing academic approaches in Global Studies, Cultural Anthropology & Comparative Religions to build advanced communication, research, art and presentation skills. By tailoring learning to student’s passions and utilizing the myriad of resources in the Chicagoland area we are meeting the demand to create a generation of self-directed learners who know how to manage the stresses of adult life and thrive.