Happy Friday, everyone!

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this Revolution is that you're not just reading these emails every day, you've been thinking along with me. Asking questions, challenging yourself, challenging me, and challenging the system. I also love that I've left the structure of this series super flexible and open-ended so that I can change the day's content on a whim.

Today is one of those days....

Yesterday, several of you asked essentially the same question: Do the levels of learning build on one another?

Someone asked if a child learning to read would still need to move through the earlier "levels" before they could ever reach the highest one. Another asked if everyone has to work through Levels 1 through 6 in order.

And it made me realize that I chose to explain this in a way that feels very hierarchical, which isn't the point.

When I called them "levels," it unintentionally made them sound like a staircase. Like you master one, then move to the next, then eventually arrive at Level 6 where you've somehow "made it."

That's never what I meant by the levels of learning. I probably should be using a different word that "level"... maybe "depth" was a better choice? I'll workshop this.

Sidenote: Wow, I really am so grateful that you are all taking the time to learn this content in real time with me this month. As I work to develop my research and teachings to write my book and grow Bridge Academy into the revolutionary education experience I envision, working these little nuances out is soooo helpful!

What I've really been trying to describe are the different ways we engage with learning and the ownership we have over the experience. That is ultimately what affects how we retain and understand new learning material and experiences.

Think about someone who has been a surgeon for thirty years. Do they stop attending lectures because they've already reached the highest level? Of course not. They still go to conferences. They still read research papers. They still watch demonstrations from other surgeons. They still ask questions. They still practice new techniques. They still sit through presentations where someone else is teaching. And if you asked a world-class surgeon, I guarantee they'd say they learn just as much, if not more, from all of those experiences than they do in the operating room doing "level 6" life-saving techniques.

The difference is that all of those experiences, regardless of the level, now exist within a learning journey they own.

The same thing is true for a chef. They still read new recipes. They still watch YouTube videos. They still take classes. They still make mistakes. They still experiment with new ideas that sometimes taste terrible. They still ask other chefs for advice. None of those learning experiences disappear simply because they're an expert. In fact, those mistakes are often what helps them become even better at their work.

Now let's look at a child learning how to read. Of course there are moments where someone reads aloud to them (level 1). There are moments where they memorize letter sounds, practice sight words, decode unfamiliar words, and read books with an adult beside them (level 2). Those aren't "lower" forms of learning that we rush through so we can finally get to the good stuff. They're valuable learning experiences in their own right.

What changes isn't the experience.

What changes is the depth. And the ownership.

As our understanding grows, and we find more motivation to go deeper, we engage with ideas differently. We begin asking better questions. We make more connections. We apply what we've learned to real situations. We create with it. We teach someone else. Eventually, we stop thinking of ourselves as someone who's learning about a topic and begin seeing it as part of who we are.

That's the part I was trying to capture with this concept.

The more deeply we engage with something, and the more ownership we have over that learning experience, the greater the retention, the greater the transfer, and ultimately, the greater the mastery.

Ownership is really the key.

It's why two people can sit through the exact same lecture and walk away with completely different outcomes. One person was there because attendance was required. The other was there because they couldn't wait to learn more. The information was identical. The ownership wasn't.

Sidenote: I think about this concept sooooooo often. I think about how much now, as an adult that's deschooled and focused on the things I love, how much I'd enjoy being able to sit through advanced college classes and absorb knowledge without the pressure of doing it because someone told me I had to or while trying to work 7 jobs to pay my way through college (true story - NYC is expensive, friends) so I was too exhausted to pay attention.

Our goal as homeschooling parents shouldn't be to rush our children toward some mythical "Level 6."

I think our goal is to create an environment where learning increasingly belongs to them instead of us. Where we're slowly removing the scaffolding of structuring their experiences for them. Where they aren't simply consuming information but engaging with it, questioning it, applying it, creating with it, and eventually pursuing it because they genuinely care.

So thank you for asking those questions yesterday. It hasn't changed the concept, but I think they helped me realize I haven't quite found the right language for it yet.

One of the beautiful things about learning is that our understanding gets deeper the more we engage with an idea.

I guess I'm living my own lesson.

🫶🏽 Leah