How Our Philadelphia Area Microschool Brings Individualized Learning to Life

When people hear “individualized learning,” they often picture kids moving at their own pace on worksheets or computer programs. At Fáilte Microschool in Norristown, serving families across the Philadelphia and Main Line area, it means something very different: honoring each child’s rhythm, strengths, and challenges, and knowing when to stretch them — and when to step back.

A Story from Our Philadelphia Area Microschool Classroom

Just last week, I was reviewing multiplication tables with my 3rd/4th graders. One child — brilliant in complex math concepts but often tripped up by simple arithmetic — resisted joining in. I didn’t force him, trusting that he would learn the skill when he was ready.

Later that day, he ran over to me, buzzing with frustration and excitement: “How do you draw the 4th dimension?!”

On his paper, he had sketched a line for one dimension, a square for two, a cube for three — and then two cubes connected to show the fourth. He said, “I know this is one dimension, this is 2, this is 3, but how do you draw time?”

“Hmm… good question,” I replied, and then I just waited.

“A clock shows us time is going by but that’s not actually time!” he half shouted in reply.

“Well, with that logic, let’s take a step back. Is that actually 3 dimensions?” I probed, pointing to the cube he had drawn.

We debated: could you really draw three dimensions? No — only represent them. Could you draw four? Not exactly, but you could represent it. Then what he had drawn is one way to represent the 4th dimension!

He wasn’t satisfied. He was determined to find the “official” answer. Together, we searched online and found physics papers showing the exact same model he had created. Turns out that is exactly how physicists represent four dimensions. Who knew?

In the very same day that he refused times tables, this child independently discovered how physicists represent the passage of time.

What would have happened if I had forced him to sit down and do the times table activity? Would he have been in the right mindset to make this new math discovery?

What Individualized Learning Means at Fáilte

This is the heart of individualized education:

• Strengths are celebrated. A child can explore the 4th dimension without shame for not yet memorizing times tables.

• Challenges are supported creatively. We keep working on math fluency in ways that don’t extinguish curiosity.

• Curiosity is honored. When a child’s mind lights up, we follow it — even if it takes us beyond the day’s “lesson plan.”

• The whole child matters. We see beyond deficits, behaviors or labels to nurture brilliance alongside struggle.

  
  

At Fáilte, no two children follow the same path — and that’s exactly the point.

When education adapts to the child, instead of forcing the child to adapt to the system, real learning — joyful, messy, meaningful learning — happens.

That’s the promise we offer families searching for a microschool in Philadelphia and the Main Line: a place where children who are twice exceptional, neurodivergent, highly sensitive, or carrying school trauma can feel safe, seen, and inspired to discover their unique brilliance.