This Trad Idaho School May Put Public Education Out Of Business

Summary

The Isabel Brown Show
Episode Title: This Trad Idaho School May Put Public Education Out Of Business
Date: October 17, 2025
Host: Isabel Brown (The Daily Wire)
Guest: Kylie Modiri, Founder of Alpine Village School and Farm, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

---

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights a dramatic rethinking of early childhood education at Alpine Village School and Farm in North Idaho. Host Isabel Brown visits the school to explore its nature-based, play-driven “renaissance of the one-room schoolhouse” model, which operates with minimal structure and maximal parental involvement. Founder Kylie Modiri, a former public school teacher and administrator, shares her journey of leaving the system to create a model that puts parents and children back in the driver’s seat, emphasizing nature, community, and the development of emotional regulation.

---

Key Topics & Highlights

1. The Broken State of Public Education (01:51–05:20)

• Isabel initiates discussion around education choices for young children, noting how the current U.S. education system "is incredibly backwards and incredibly broken" for kids under age seven. (00:29)
• Kylie explains her motivation: after years as a teacher and administrator, she left public education when she realized "there’s no way I’d put my child in this system" (01:51).
  • She describes “unprogramming everything I’ve known about teaching,” and emphasizes that "the part with the children was going to be easy...my big job was putting parents back in the driver’s seat" (01:51).
• Quote:
  • "You want to put your child through the same system that made you feel inadequate to then teach them yourself?" —Kylie Modiri (02:43)

2. Parents Reclaiming Ownership in Education (03:59–07:10)

• Isabel recounts how her own parents viewed homeschooling as fringe, until COVID exposed flaws in the system. She says, "the American education system has convinced parents that they're too stupid to educate their kids" (04:41).
• Kylie responds: the education system isn’t just broken, "it's intentionally designed that way...there was a very clear agenda as to how we were going to institutionalize children." Citing J.D. Rockefeller: "I want a nation of workers, not a nation of thinkers." (05:20)
• Post-pandemic, Kylie found renewed urgency after seeing how her daughter needed “regulation from me and all these intricacies of motherhood” missing from traditional schooling.

3. Reimagining the Schoolhouse – Nature, Community, and Play (07:16–13:29)

• Isabel draws parallels between Alpine Village and historic one-room schoolhouses with community and nature focus (07:17–08:39).
• Kylie shares that building Alpine Village was “a labor of love” – intentionally kept small for intimacy and community. She highlights the importance of "attachment and attunement…You want to build that community. So a crucial component in public school that we're missing is attachment and attunement." (08:39)
• Day in the Life at Alpine Village:
  • Kids are greeted enthusiastically; the day starts with play, then a morning meeting (11:34–13:29).
  • Tasks like egg collecting, preparing lunch, and chores are intentionally integrated for hands-on learning and community building.
  • Soft drop-off policy removes standard school stresses: "We have our whole life to be stressed. We’re not gonna start that in the primary years." (12:04)

4. The Brain Science Behind Play-Based Learning (13:51–16:13)

• Kylie: Emphasizes that play isn't a lack of rigor: "So much is happening during play. They are primed to develop their social and emotional brain right now." (13:51)
• Points to systemic harm: children labeled early as good/bad students, leading to disaffection and school-to-prison pipeline.
• Quote:
  • "They learn faster through play…it gets stored in their working memory and their long term memory faster when it’s engaging through play and through creating those experiences." —Kylie Modiri (16:13)
• Responds to criticism: "That's all fear-based...the people who are saying that just don't know enough about the brain and they don't know enough about child development." (16:13)
• "If you tend to the brain and the body...through a nervous system perspective...when they are ready to sit down, read and write, it takes off so much faster." (18:22)

5. Social-Emotional Learning and Resilience (21:07–24:14)

• Isabel asks about the “real world” adaptation for students after Alpine Village versus conventional schooling, especially in the wake of COVID.
• Kylie: All students leave reading, some basic writing, but most importantly with the “fire to figure it out that hasn't been beaten out of them.” (21:48)
• The school prioritizes communication skills and emotional regulation. Kylie recounts how 5-7-year-olds can say: “I’m not feeling heard. I need a moment to check in with myself and come back.” (21:48)
• Quote:
  • "At the end of the day, if you can’t articulate what you’re trying to do and work with other people…you’re not going to be very successful." —Kylie Modiri (21:48)
• Small groups enable true learning of "will," boundaries, and respectful conflict.

6. Advice for Parents & Scaling Alternative Education (25:06–28:55)

• Kylie: Encourages parents, "You’re good enough and you can do it...you are going to be your child's compass." (25:06)
• Her vision: Not franchising, but empowering others to create their own community-based models. "You don’t need to have teachers running it. Mothers intuitively know how to guide." (25:48)
• Suggests alternative schooling does not have to replicate traditional structure: “We only run our program three days a week...it doesn’t have to be all day, every day.” (26:10)
• "You can life school. Taking your child to the grocery store—there’s learning in that." (26:29)
• Consulting and mentoring other communities is the next step. Curriculum is based on seasonal, local learning: "The curriculum is where we are in the seasons." (27:49)

7. Tour of Alpine Village — Learning Spaces and Philosophies (30:44–42:59)

• Kylie gives a virtual tour:
  • Equine Co-regulation: Horses are used for modeling calm ("connection over correction"); children learn how their own energy affects animals (30:44–33:43).
    • "Why aren’t we bringing in the horses to teach co-regulation?...they know how to come up to the horses and the horses will match that." —Kylie Modiri (30:56)
  • Outdoor Play and Physics: Sledding hills cultivated by kids reinforce teamwork, physics, and awareness ("What do you learn at a play school? Physics. Teamwork.") (34:01)
  • Permaculture and Gardening: Children learn cycles of life, patience, and ecological stewardship. "We teach the kids there’s a time for the medicine to go back into the roots...that’s the only way it’s going to come back in the spring potent." (34:29)
  • Greenhouse Classroom: Minimalist, natural-light setting, no wall manipulatives required at early ages. Seasonally harvested plants support science and health learning. (39:08–41:17)
    • "You don’t need all those posters...not at this age. When they get older, sure, but at this young age, we don’t need all that stuff.” (39:44)
  • Parent Classes: Monthly, mandatory two-hour sessions for parents to connect research and practice, plus on-site chiropractic for nervous system health. (41:52)

8. Life Skills and Empowerment (41:17–42:59)

• Kids are taught to identify and use local medicinal plants (rosehip, elderberry), blending practical life skills with science. (41:36)
  • "Before we go the [Western medicine] route, there’s so much they can do...there’s so many things they can empower themselves with." (41:17)
• All-weather, outdoor environment: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.” (42:59)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Systemic Education Issues:
  "It's not a broken system. It's intentionally designed that way." —Kylie Modiri (05:20)
• On Parental Empowerment:
  "You are going to be your child's compass and you could do it…because intuitively you know exactly what your child needs." —Kylie Modiri (25:06)
• On Learning Through Play:
  "So much is happening during play—they are primed to develop their social and emotional brain right now." —Kylie Modiri (13:51)
• On Preparedness for Life:
  "It doesn’t matter how smart you are…If you can't articulate what you're trying to do and work with other people…you're not going to be very successful." —Kylie Modiri (21:48)
• On Building Community:
  "We work in partnership to facilitate this child's journey, and that's a tremendous amount of space to hold when you're tending to the emotional and social development of a child." —Kylie Modiri (08:39)
• On Alternative Education Model:
  "School can look like anything…You can life school. Taking your child to the grocery store—there’s learning in that." —Kylie Modiri (26:29)
• On Seasonal, Nature-Based Curriculum:
  "The curriculum is where we are in the seasons. You can incorporate math and science and writing and reading and all of it, but it’s just like where we are." —Kylie Modiri (27:49)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:29 — Isabel: The state of U.S. education & journey toward alternatives
• 01:51 — Kylie: Why she left public education, vision for a new model
• 04:41 — Isabel: Public system convinces parents they can't teach
• 05:20 — Kylie: System is intentionally designed for compliance, not critical thinking
• 07:17 — One-room schoolhouse model, nature, community, and parental involvement
• 08:39 — Kylie: Importance of small class size for attachment/attunement
• 11:34 — A day in the life at Alpine Village (drop-off, play, chores, meetings)
• 13:51 — Brain science of play-based learning, pushback against "just play" critique
• 16:13 — Kylie: Why fear drives resistance to new education approaches
• 21:48 — Measuring success: social skills, self-advocacy, unbroken "fire" for learning
• 25:06 — Kylie: Encouragement for parents, vision for replication, “life schooling”
• 27:49 — Seasonal, locally-rooted curriculum
• 30:44 — Virtual tour: horses for co-regulation, outdoor learning areas
• 34:01 — Sledding hill, physics lessons, teamwork
• 39:08 — Greenhouse classroom, minimalism, returning to basics
• 41:17 — Herbal medicine, life skills, learning self-reliance
• 41:52 — Parent classes, holistic nervous-system health
• 42:59 — Year-round outdoor philosophy

---

Conclusion

The episode offers an eye-opening, practical look at a nature-based, child-centered alternative to traditional American schooling—a model rooted in community, play, emotional regulation, and practical life skills. Alumni leave not just literate, but resilient, self-aware, and capable of healthy relationships—all with a powerful sense of parental involvement.

To Learn More:

• Alpine Village School and Farm social links (see episode description)
• Reach out to Kylie for consultation or guidance on starting similar models in your community

---

“We can create beautiful things. My long-term goal is to consult with community members so I can show people exactly how to set this up.” —Kylie Modiri (27:49)

Transcript

[Isabel Brown]

So good, so good, so good.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

Just in thousands of winter arrivals at your Nordstrom rack store, save up to 70% on coats, slippers and cashmere from Kate Spade New York, Vince Ugg, Levi's and more.

[Kylie Modiri]

Check out these boots.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

They've got the best gifts.

[Kylie Modiri]

My holiday shopping hack. Join the NordicLub.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

Get an extra 5% off every rack purchase with your Nordstrom credit card. Plus buy it online and pick it up in store the same day for free. Big gifts, big perks. That's why you rack.

[Isabel Brown]

Ever since becoming a parent, one of the biggest things on my husband and I's mind has been how we plan to educate our kids. And walking through this journey with so many of you and our friends and family at the same time, it's becoming incredibly obvious that the way the United States of America does education, especially for kids under the age of seven, is incredibly backwards and incredibly broken. Tons of different people are reinventing the wheel or maybe even just going back to basics on how we used to educate our kids across the country, whether.

[Doug]

It'S homeschooling or co ops or even nature based play school.

[Isabel Brown]

And years ago, I came across an incredible account on social media from a family doing just that here in North Idaho.

[Doug]

Today we are escaping the studio for.

[Isabel Brown]

This episode of the Isabel Brown show and getting to know an incredible family trying to reconnect students with nature and play based school at Alpine Village School and Farms in Coeur d', Alene, Idaho. Let's go check it out together. I am so excited to be shaking things up today. We are here in beautiful Coeur d', Alene, Idaho at Alpine Village with you guys here at Alpine Village School and Farm. Introduce yourself to the audience and tell us a little bit about what we're seeing around us right now.

[Kylie Modiri]

Okay. I'm Kylie Modiri. It was always a dream of mine to open and when we decided to make the big move to Idaho, I stepped foot on this property and it was every part of myself was like, this is it. This is where we're going to do it. So it was going to be opposite from anything that I was familiar with since I came from the public school system. So undergrad and child development went through my multiple teaching credential, taught for 10 years, master's in education, administrative credential to be a principal, you. And then I had my daughter and everything changed. Suddenly you realize as much as you don't want to be a part of the system and how much you try to change while you're in the system, you're in that system. So until you fully exit, you're still a part of it. And when I had my daughter and saw how her learning was unfolding and what I needed to do to be an attuned, attentive mother, I was like, there's no way I'd put my child in this system. Wow. So I resigned. I never looked back. I spent the last eight years completely unprogramming everything I've known about child, about teaching, about holding an education space. And I knew if I was going to do it, it was going to be like this. It was going to be outdoors, it was going to be full of natural light, it was going to be centered around the nervous system. It was going to be bringing parents back in. We're so used to outsourcing our power, especially to authority. And my job then became how am I going to bring parents back in so they feel confident making these decisions. And what I'd often hear is, I can't homeschool like I'm not good. And I'd say, okay, let's think about that. You want to put your child through the same system that made you feel inadequate to then teach them yourself. So I knew at that point my role was really to guide parents. And the part with the children was going to be easy. You provide the outdoor experience and they take off with their learning. But my big job was putting parents back in the driver's seat. You could do this and I'm going to empower you with the research and the knowledge to feel confident again. Because intuitively you know exactly what your child needs. But we've been separated from that for so long, there's a disconnect right now.

[Isabel Brown]

I could ask you 8 million questions which I'm so excited to based off of that. But I love hearing this idea of parents taking ownership of their kids education again. So let's start there because I followed your guys journey here at Alpine Village School on social media for a long time, well before I became a parent was married to my husband. But especially as I started getting ready to welcome our daughter into the world and I started talking to my parents about how we were raised and the education we versus this tugging on my husband and I's heartstrings to explore more of a homeschool or a co op school situation. I remember my dad distinctly telling me about a year ago that he used to think that the very few people we knew growing up who homeschooled or did something a bit more non traditional were crazy.

[Doug]

Right? They were so weird and I had.

[Isabel Brown]

Two or three friends maybe that did it ever. And they only did it for about two or three years and after that went back to traditional schooling. And he said, the reason for that is the American education system has convinced parents that they're too stupid to educate their kids. They're gonna mess them up somehow. And so therefore you have to trust these people who have been credentialed. But if anything, I think Covid was such a blessing for our country because you watched this curtain be pulled back to learn how the people teaching your kids were taught themselves. So what was that initial first light bulb moment for you as a parent and as an educator to realize, hang on a second, this system is really broken and that primary education has to come from the parents to begin with?

[Kylie Modiri]

I always knew the system was broken, even going into public education. I think a lot of people want to say it's broken, it's a broken system. It's not. It's intentionally designed that way. It hasn't changed since the industrial era. And when J.D. rockefeller funded the Board of Education in the 1900s, there was no going back from that. There was a very clear agenda as to how we were going to institutionalize children. I mean, his exact quote was, I want a nation of workers, not a nation of thinkers. So I always knew the system I was in. It wasn't until I was a mom where I was like, wait a second, you know, because when I was in the system, I wanted to change it. And there's so many well intended teachers that go in for the same reason you're there to emotionally connect with the kids and you try to relieve as much pressure as you can and you create a beautiful classroom that feels inviting. But it was really when I had my daughter that I thought, if I'm not going to put her in this system, I don't want to be a part of it anymore. And it was really just watching her unfold and the time that it took and the regulation she needed from me and all these intricacies of motherhood where I thought to myself, this doesn't change at 3, 4 or 5, they still need this. So it was during that time I started looking into other researchers, brain development. I mean, I knew there was a missing piece as to how this is supposed to unfold. And so the more I immersed myself and different research, it was so clear. Everything that I had been taught in my undergrad, my graduate program, through my teaching credential, through my administrative credential, be a principal, it was backwards. It's very Similar to my journey of medicine and how I pulled away from Western medicine. It absolutely has a place, a time and a place, but it took so much power away from me. And this education journey was very similar.

[Isabel Brown]

And it takes power away from the child too, I think, with what we're seeing in the current American education system.

[Doug]

I shared with you.

[Isabel Brown]

I grew up kind of splitting my time between here in North Idaho and a beautiful community about 30 minutes west of Denver called Evergreen in Colorado. And I remember learning distinctly about the era of the one room schoolhouse. And we actually still have a one room schoolhouse that's now a museum in Evergreen at one of the schools.

[Kylie Modiri]

One room schoolhouses left.

[Isabel Brown]

They are so fun to go see and to think about. And when we were kids, I remember they were shooting a movie that was set in the pioneer era, and a bunch of kids got cast as extras from our hometown and got to play one room schoolhouse for a while and. But if you think about it, we've really only done the education system the way we do right now for about 100 years before that. This idea of being tied to nature in a one room schoolhouse situation. More hands on learning from a teacher who understands what each individual student is going through at a different pace. And that community aspect, rather than your parents shipping you off for the day from 8 to 3 and then picking you up, not wanting to know what happened all day, parents being directly involved, that has always been the foundation of the American education system. And that's exactly what you guys are building here in North Idaho, which is so beautiful. For those that are just listening on our podcast platforms, you can't see this, but chickens are wandering around and there's beautiful greenhouses, and it's just such a stunning place here, surrounded by the mountains and the trees. Tell me about what building this experience has been like for you, and do you feel like this is a renaissance of the one room schoolhouse concept for education?

[Kylie Modiri]

Ooh. Okay. Well, first, it was a labor of love. You have no idea how intense it is until you're in it and you're like, am I really doing this? But there was such a motivation to change the outlook and the trajectory of how we could be doing this. It was just. I was so determined to make it happen. Originally, behind you. The workshop was supposed to be the school, and we had somebody come and help me design it with natural light and all these things. And I thought to myself, I have that right behind me with the greenhouse. I don't need to do this elaborate school. And really, the more they're connected back to earth, the more regulated they are anyways. So really nature ended up answering so many obstacles and problems that I had along the way of like, oh, this is a quick fix. There's natural light in the greenhouse. Oh, this is a quick fix. There's garden beds in the greenhouse. So it all really like aligned pretty well. As far as the one room schoolhouse. We keep our school really small and we do that intentionally. You want that intimacy, you want to build that community. So a crucial component in public school that we're missing is attachment and attunement. It's just too many kids for one teacher to co regulate. Right. I have really intimate relationships with all the parents of this school. We work in partnership to facilitate this child's journey and that's a tremendous amount of space to hold when you're really tending to the emotional and the social development of a child.

[Doug]

Especially after traveling all over the country this week to go visit our friends at Alpine Village, who we're featuring on today's episode and so many other endeavors. The most important thing to me in the entire world is coming home to a comfortable bed where my family can rest and rejuvenate before we hit the road for the next adventure. And that feels especially more important during snuggle sweater cozy spooky season, which we are in the thick of right now. And I am so, so grateful that we have partnered with Helix Mattresses to help keep our family resting well and all snuggled up together all fall and winter long. Helix has a sleep quiz that matches you with the perfect mattress based on your sleep preferences in just a few minutes. They have everything for hot or cold sleepers, mattresses that are firm, soft or anywhere in between. And they also offer kids mattresses, mattress toppers, bed bases and so much more. Switching to a Helix mattress when I joined the Daily Wire was a game changer for my family and we already noticed it has made a huge difference in the quality of our sleep and and you can bet we are absolutely planning on sharing that with our kids too. You can go to helix sleep.com isabel for 20% off site wide. That is a great deal with the most important investment you can ever make when it comes to your rest and your sleep that is. Helix sleep.com Isabel for 20% off site wide, make sure you enter our show name, the Isabel Brown show after checkout so that they know that we sent you helix sleep sleep.com isabel so when.

[Isabel Brown]

Kids show up every day, what does their day look like?

[Kylie Modiri]

Oh my gosh.

[Isabel Brown]

When they come to Alpine Village School, I'm sure every day.

[Kylie Modiri]

But half of them have their head out the window making some animal sound. As the parents are driving in 10 miles an hour, they come up and because it's so small and it's intimate, there's always a rush of kids running over to greet them. They take their stuff, they hang it in the greenhouse and then it's play. It's play for the first 30 minutes. And we have a soft drop off time for parents who still have younger kids because we know as moms, a good night of sleep is never guaranteed.

[Isabel Brown]

Amen to that.

[Kylie Modiri]

So there's like no need to have this pressure of 8 o' clock and now there's a tardy, and now there's a truancy and now there's a consequence for that. Like we're separating ourselves from all of that stress. And in that system they start priming us for that at kindergarten, even preschool. Right. Of like this just tremendous amount of stress that we have to move through the day. And it's like, nope, we have our whole life to be stressed. We're not gonna start that in the primary years. So it's a soft drop off period. Kids come, they play. Eventually we get together after 30 minutes, we have a morning meeting, we all do a check in. Kids get to do any kind of share that they want to do or a body movement. And that's when we go over what we're going to do for the day. And then we have some chores for the kids. So whether it's collecting eggs, they love to help prepare their lunch. So as much as we can grow, we have in the garden and then everything else is sourced locally, everything is laid out and the kids like to chop, they like to prepare the lunch. And all of those little things are very intentional. We want them connected to their food. We want them, you know, engaging with their meal. We want them putting intention in what they're going to cook. And you notice when you have food on a table and people around, we're sitting there, we're talking, we're laughing, we're having an experience just in lunch prep. So we're really moving away from this. You gotta do your worksheet and then prove to me you know it. And you gotta do this and then prove to me you know it. We're just having an experience. We're teaching them how to be present because 0 to 7 is the time that they really get their blueprint of their nervous system.

[Isabel Brown]

Absolutely.

[Kylie Modiri]

So this is when we're slowing everything down. We're being intentional with them. We're drawing in the parents. The parents will often say, you know, they have to take off work to be here. Because twice a month they're here all day and they're assisting us throughout the day. And every parent rotates that and they say, this is my favorite day of the week. It's calm. You hear the wind. You can look up at the sky. You're not staring at a screen.

[Isabel Brown]

So.

[Kylie Modiri]

So while initially I think it's hard for them to, you know, arrange time to be here, when they're here, you just see them come down and they're here and they get to witness their kid in this environment. So, yeah, really creating experiences where we can just be. And there's so much learning that happens in that. And, you know, people always say, okay, it can't just be all play. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Let's really look at the brain here. So much is happening during play. They are primed to develop their social and emotional brain. Right now. When we reverse that and we start putting what mainstream education calls more formal academics, the reading, the writing, the sitting still, we're working against the brain. And they've done studies where they're interviewing kindergarteners, and by age 5 and 6, they already know if they're a good or bad student. So that's when learning becomes a chore. That's when the passion for learning is just sucked out of them. And you either have a student who knows how to follow the rules and stay in the box and they may do well, but most of them are checked out, or their spirit is just crushed. And it's a pipeline, you know, we know that's the pipeline to prison. We can already, you know, estimate. If they're not successful in school by this time, their trajectory towards incarceration is looking really high. And not to their fault. They're not in a system or an environment that's fostering confidence, the knowledge, the.

[Isabel Brown]

Skills to be and to learn and just genuine exploration. I think I grew up in various education settings, but mostly in a more Montessori oriented environment where it was very self driven from the student. And that worked really well for most of the students in our environment because you got to learn the joy of reading your first book or the joy of learning how to do math with blocks and like a tangible tactile experience, which I really loved. I think we missed the outdoor experience more than anything. We always wanted to be playing outside in the mountains of Colorado. And our favorite week of the entire semester Was always the week we got to do outdoor ed when we would go to a summer camp for a couple of days and spend time reconnecting with nature. But I think one of the main criticisms people are having of the alternative education or Montessori environment or homeschooling is this idea that play based learning or individual exploration limits what information you're actually learning. That students will never have a chance to learn. Reading or writing like you mentioned, or math, the more traditional subjects that certainly do set you up for success later in life. What's your counter response to that and how are students learning that here?

[Kylie Modiri]

That's all fear based. So we know the brain is primed to learn through play. They learn faster through play. It gets stored in their working memory and their long term memory faster when it's engaging through play and through creating those experiences. I think there's such a disconnect right now and we live in such a shame culture that if we're not doing it the way that's most accepted, the fear mongering and the fear based criticism comes in real quick. And that's of, well, that's not the real world. Well, let's, you know what part of a five year old's life is the real world? They have someone putting them to bed, cooking their food, like regulating their whole day. Do we want to prepare them to be resilient humans and handle whatever world they are faced in? Absolutely. But do we need to prepare them for a world that we're not even enjoying? That should be the conversation. So while this setup is not going to be supportive for every family, it's about making small change in your community and trying to meet your community where they are and that will trickle down and that will be a snowball effect. But absolutely, like the people who are saying that just don't know enough about the brain and they don't know enough about child development. And I get it, I get it. It could be really scary to go, to go from something that's more traditional. Suddenly like, okay, they're going to just play. That's it. Like that's their whole day. And I think that snowballs really quickly into. It's not just play when we're cooking, they're measuring, they're cutting. You know, it takes one time to cut yourself with a knife to be like, I'm not holding the fruit and the knife like that anymore. There's so many natural consequences when you have an environment like this. The learning is non stop. But my biggest point is it's not Just forget all the academics and just let them play. And there's no boundaries and there's no rules. That's not what we're doing here. We are supporting the child through their emotional and social development now so that after age 7, the more formal academic learning happens so fast and people don't realize that when we tend to the, the brain and the body right now through a nervous system perspective, creating attachment, creating community, attuning to adults that are trusting around them, when they are ready to sit down, read and write, it takes off so much faster. And I always tell parents too, if your 3 or 4 year old or 5 year old is interested in those, you don't need to keep it away from them. Sure, engage with it. But most, I mean we can look at this, generations that are coming out of college, I feel like they're coming out more confused, more lost, less resilient, more dependent on labels of why something is not feeling right. It goes straight to a label, you know, when for so long, just looking at their education system, they've been forced in a box that never quite fit them. So of course they're going to come out leaving confused and disembodied and I'm not really sure what to do with this. Yeah, but when we spend the crucial ages 0 to 7 doing that now, they learn about free will, they learn about boundaries, they learn how to ask for support, they learn how to be in a social situation, they have a connection with themselves. That's how you create resilient humans. Then we can get into the formal academics, then we can get into the more traditional schooling. If that fits for your family.

[Doug]

Yeah, I love that Alpine Village is taking teaching health to our children so, so seriously. And that is exactly why I am so passionate to be partnering with Jevity. While lately it feels like everybody has just been pushing the latest TikTok wellness trend or magic greens powder, I have been asking myself, why are we just trusting the one size fits all solutions for our health that we see on social media? Especially as a new mom, I cannot afford to just guess what my body needs anymore. Which is exactly why on the show we partnered with Jevoty, they are doing something radically different. Actual science, still a thing. Who knew? Through at home blood work, they show you exactly what your body needs. No more throwing money at random supplements and just hoping that something eventually works. Especially through my breastfeeding journey, which I've been so fortunate to continue through the first six months of my daughter's life. I have to really know exactly what I'M putting in my body when it comes to supplements and when it comes to my nutrition and diet. And here's what really sold me Jevoti creates personalized supplement packs based on your specific blood work, not what some random influencer is selling you this week on social media. Their AI analyzes your results and then real wellness experts review everything so that you can get a blueprint that is actually tailored to your body and your specific health needs. We fight for truth in politics. We fight for it in education and our faith. Why not fight for it in our health too? If you're ready to stop guessing and start knowing exactly what your body needs, head to go jevote.com Isabel Brown or visit the link in the show notes of today's episode to learn more and get an exclusive discount. Choose Jevity because your health deserves so much better than whatever is trending on social media.

[Isabel Brown]

That word resiliency is a really powerful choice, I think. And I'd be curious. There's probably not an apples to apples conversion here in Idaho because let's face it, Covid didn't really exist in Idaho ever, which is part of the reason that you moved here. But coming from the Bay Area in California, as an educator, how do you think students who have been here at Alpine Village School are adjusting to the quote unquote real world and to real world scenarios compared to the students that have been shoved inside with no recess, no play, sitting there with masks, not being able to read facial cues, how do you think students are going to go in two different directions in the next couple of decades in American education because of those few years where we didn't let kids connect with one another or their environment.

[Kylie Modiri]

It doesn't matter how smart you are, it doesn't matter how intelligent you are. At the end of the day, if you can't articulate what you're trying to do and work with other people to make that dream come true, you're not going to be very successful. And you know that's with starting a company, running a business. So all of our kids aged out of this program and they all went to other some went to alternative school, some went to a more traditional school. All of them left reading, even though that wasn't the focus here. But they were excited to do that. My daughter as well. All of them left with some basic writing and it's not because they were forced to sit down, but they still have the passion and the fire to figure it out that hasn't been beaten out of them. And their communication skills that if anything, like we have people come to the school and watching a group of 5 to 7 year olds work out a problem saying, I'm not feeling heard. I don't feel, I feel like I need more space right now. I need a moment to check in with myself and come back. I know that talk sounds silly because we're not used to hearing kids talk like that, but isn't that the world we want for adults? We want people to know, like, hang on, I don't want to be reactive. I just need a moment to gather myself and I'm going to come back in. Or even hearing a five year old say, I'm not feeling heard right now. So whatever's going on right here, we need to pause for a second and get some more help or figure this out. So just even their ability to be in conflict. When you have 30 kids in a classroom, how is a teacher supposed to manage all of that? It kind of goes into fight or flight. You're either going to run out or, or they're gonna fawn and they're gonna just people please. And then give up their will entirely.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Kylie Modiri]

So there's so much in this program that really especially. There's so much in this program that I wanna convey with Will too. You know, when kids are forced to share super early, when kids are in a classroom with 30 other children and their needs are not being met, like, these are really important situations that we need to pay attention to because like what we saw with COVID Will went out the door. People were so afraid to speak their truth. Whatever side you were on, it was just like obey and just go with the masses. Those ideas and beliefs don't come in adulthood. Those are developed now. So when you create an environment where it's a small school and they get to work those things out and they get to know what it feels like to have will. And that doesn't mean that none of these kids share, but you set boundaries around it, you know, when you give them the language. And that's what creates adults that we want in the world right now.

[Isabel Brown]

Nothing would make me happier than a bunch of little kids running around that are wonderfully emotionally regulated. Because I often think we ask ourselves, oh my gosh, how did our culture get here? How did we ever let some of these behaviors or ideas become normalized? Why are we so divided? Why are we so angry? Of course it starts in how we treat our children. And I love the revolution that you guys are starting here, which starts at home, really, with these, these parents being so involved in these families shaking things up as you have messages for parents here in north Idaho or across the country. I know you guys do a lot of outreach on social media as well to other parents who are starting to navigate their educational journey. I'm one of those people. I have a five month old and obviously it's a few years away before we start thinking about school, but certainly it's something that's been on all of our minds and our friends minds. What message of encouragement do you have for parents to know that there are good changes coming in the education system in our country?

[Kylie Modiri]

I think first and foremost for parents to understand you're good enough and you can do it and you're strong enough and you're smart enough and you are going to be your child's compass and you could do it and really you know the goal. Often people ask me, are you going to franchise, you're going to open more schools? That was never part of the vision. My vision was to help other teachers, other parents start something very similar. So we had greenhouses on our property. So great. That's what I used. If we didn't have greenhouses, if we had a workshop, it would look very different. But I really just want to encourage parents. You don't have to have a teaching background. I mean I reversed everything that I learned in 18 years of being in the field, whether it was my undergrad or my graduate program or actually teaching. So you don't need to have teachers running it. Mothers intuitively know how to guide. It's great when fathers are involved, but just reaching out to other like minded people and saying we could start something like this. We only run our program three days a week and that's intentional. We want kids to be with their families more than they're with us. So it doesn't have to be, you know, oftentimes I even see when parents are going the alternative route. Homeschool looks very much like school. It's a lot of worksheets, it's a lot of sitting down, it's a lot of stress. So just breaking away from that and knowing school can look like anything you can life school. Taking your child to the grocery store, there's learning in that. Obviously when you have more than one kid and they get older, you want something more structured. But just reaching out to other parents who are like minded and even getting that momentum, we can create beautiful things. My long term goal is to consult with community members so I can show people exactly how to set this up. And it's gonna look different. Right? It's gonna look different in every state. It's gonna look different in every community. Because I'm building around what this community wants and meeting them where they are. It would look completely different if I was in the Bay Area, where I'm from. But I think there are good changes coming up. You just have to be brave enough to know it's going to look different, it's going to feel different, and there's going to be fear that's coming up because it's different. But as long as we're able to identify that and keep moving, I think all of us know, you know, in our internal compass that this is the right direction. That if you have a choice of having your kid inside all day with artificial lights and they're splitting their attention with 29 other kids, versus being outside, being around animals, exposed to natural light, cooking your food, growing your food, I think more parents would want that. It's just. That's a big jump.

[Isabel Brown]

We haven't even known that was an option. Totally. It's a completely new realm of thinking, which is so funny because it's the way humans have always been doing everything for a long time. You alluded to this a little bit in that answer, but what's next for Alpine Village School? And if you had a vision for this, transforming communities across the country, what would that look like?

[Kylie Modiri]

So next is expansion. I'm trying to figure out what this looks like after seven. I mean, I know what it looks like, but it's building the infrastructure for that. So, yeah, so definitely expanding. And then I would love to consult. I would love to consult with other. I mean, often teachers reach out. Can I fly out with my family and just be there and see what it's like? Or can you walk me through the business aspect of it? Can you walk me through the logistics of it? You know, there's lots of different components, or I'll have a lot of people reaching out for the curriculum. And the curriculum is easy. The curriculum is where we are in the seasons. You know, you can incorporate math and science and writing and reading and all of it, but it's just like where we are. That's how we bring in our curriculum. So really, just consulting with other people of if this is your vision, I can help make that possible just by sharing what didn't work for me, what I would do differently. But right now, you know, for this school, it's just expanding and showing that as we're getting into the more traditional side of schooling, they can still be outside they could still be playing. It can still be small group and parents can still be and should be very involved in the journey.

[Isabel Brown]

I am so excited for you guys in your next chapter and I'm dying to get a bigger look around. So do you mind us a tour?

[Doug]

I love it. Alpine Village, who we're featuring on the show today, is radically redefining how we educate the next generation. But other groups have been doing that for young adults for years, and it is shocking to me that more people have not heard of YAFS National Journalism Center. There is not a more consequential or important pipeline from college into conservative media than the NJC. They boast a 12 week internship program that is fully paid and gives you access to the best reporters and personalities in the business. It also sticks you right inside of a working newsroom in the very first week. If you want to be at the center of the nation's largest and biggest political stories, NJC is the fastest way to do it. It We've had reporters from right here at the Daily Wire who have gotten their start at NJC and launched their professional careers immediately. Our NJC alumni have pursued stories relentlessly, like taking pictures from a helicopter to expose a dodgy Texas community development program marketed to illegal immigrants. Their reporting was later featured on Ben Shapiro's podcast, Fox News and a whole host of other prominent media outlets. This reporting from Daily Wire's NJC alum has created real tangible changes and put concrete wins on the boards for American patriots. It all traces back to NJC's internship journalism boot camp, which covers everything you need to break into media, whether you're interested in podcasting like me, video production, print reporting, or independent journalism. More importantly, if you are ready to just take away the liberal news media to fight back in American culture and you want to win, get off the sidelines and into the game. You can submit your application to the National Journalism center today.

[Kylie Modiri]

This is the second favorite place of the kids. They line up on the skates. Oh, look, they know we're coming for them.

[Isabel Brown]

You are beautiful.

[Kylie Modiri]

So quarter horse is Kalina. The Morgan in draft is Wendy.

[Isabel Brown]

Oh, hello. Sweet.

[Kylie Modiri]

Our main teacher is an herbalist and she trains horses. So as the years were progressing, we realized, why aren't we bringing in the horses to teach co regulation? Wow. So horses can mirror us. They're incredibly sensitive animals. That's why they're used in equine therapy. So the students can actually have a visceral feeling of that calm. They know how to come up to the horses and the Horses will match that. So oftentimes our teacher, Ms. Rachel will take them out here and we will do breathing. And the moment the horses know it's safe to come in, the horses will come in and then they'll mimic our breathing.

[Isabel Brown]

Wow.

[Kylie Modiri]

Get this feeling of, okay, this is what it's like to co regulate or share a calm energy.

[Isabel Brown]

And be a little silly too. Yeah. Yep.

[Kylie Modiri]

So she'll just do basic horsemanship of how we should be around the horses, our mannerisms with the horses, how to brush the horses, how to fill the water and make sure they're taken care of. And they've seen firsthand too. When they come in real hot, the horses are like, see you later. We've also taken instruments out here and played and the horses will come in. So again, another example of we can share that calm energy or we can share that chaotic energy. For the parents, we're teaching it as co regulation that you get to help your child either come down or escalate up. For the kids, we just talk about, okay, we're sharing some calm energy right now. We're like, oh, we're sharing really excited energy right now. But when they see the horses go, they have to kind of center themselves cause they want the horses to come back. So it's really fun. Yeah.

[Isabel Brown]

Oh, beautiful.

[Kylie Modiri]

And then my daughter does junior rodeo, so she's always wanting to go out here and show the kids some things. But yep, the kids will be in the pasture and it's been a really wonderful experience to share that with the horses and the kids.

[Isabel Brown]

Horses are so special. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from riding and being at the barn. And you just learn so much about respect and how to take care of something so much bigger than yourself. Totally connecting with something so beautiful.

[Kylie Modiri]

You know, she, the gal who teaches at the school, Rachel, her philosophy, working with horses is almost identical to mine working with kids. When she first told me, this is a 1500 pound animal, sure we could break it, we could beat it, but at the end of the day, you want your 9 year old standing in front of it and you want this horse to know respect and connection. So her philosophy was connection over correction, which is the same thing for the school. And so right away I said, okay, we have to incorporate the horses in our curriculum. We have to make this part of what we do here. And the students love it. And usually it's the little kids who are over here. After we're in morning meeting, then the moms come and they like, you know, kind of chill out for A little bit with the horses and the kids and so that's really fun too.

[Isabel Brown]

I love that.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah. You can't tell now, but this is the most epic sledding hill that the kids will build. It takes them a couple of weeks. You know, they know to pack it down and they have to go over it so many times. They build bumps, they build turns. Actually last year we hosted a night sledding party that was epic.

[Isabel Brown]

That's awesome.

[Kylie Modiri]

So you know when people are like, what do you learn at a play school? Physics.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

Yep.

[Kylie Modiri]

Teamwork, you know, I can't tell you how many times a kid will not be paying attention to their surroundings. And they walk right in and they learn real quick, like, okay, I have to know to walk around. So there's a lot that's even happening here. And then when it's not snow, we're just enjoying the grass. So we'll bring out the balls and the rocket launching and they have just full freedom to run. You know those big balls that you get at Walgreens or Walmart? Yes.

[Isabel Brown]

Like the big giant ones.

[Kylie Modiri]

Growing up in suburban, you pick that once and it's in two neighbors yard, you never see it again. And then I came out here, I'm like, oh, that's, that's what these balls are for. They can kick them and launch them as far as they want and it doesn't go anywhere, it's still here. So we definitely just utilize this area to just get the zoomies out. We have a garden over here now. We adopt permaculture practices. So this is not your typical instagramable farm. We let things die, we let things go into dormancy. We teach the kids that there is a time for the medicine to go back into the roots. And that's, you know, the only way it's gonna come back in the spring potent is if we give it time. So that's pretty symbolic of our school too, as far as just honoring the child's pace and how we move. But there's a lot of medicine that grows here that we'll harvest throughout. And then we have our famous fairy tree come in here and just feel the magic. Oh my gosh, this is awesome. All the leaves canopy around you and the shadows and the sun. So we end almost every day under here with a read aloud. And by that time the parents are coming, the little kids are coming, so they know right away and they come in here. But yeah, we've, we've had parties under here, we've held circles under here, We've Decorated really pretty flowers and hung them from under here. This is truly, like, one of the most magical spots on the property.

[Isabel Brown]

Yeah. It's amazing.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah. Wow. So a lot of lessons take place out of here, and oftentimes when the child. The children have time to just kind of decompress after lunch. You'll find them here.

[Doug]

Oh, of course.

[Kylie Modiri]

Let's take them in this shape.

[Isabel Brown]

This is, like, absolutely heaven. It's amazing. Wow.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah.

[Isabel Brown]

So cool.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah. So super open. You know, when I first moved from the Bay Area, the idea of letting things die like this is insane, right?

[Isabel Brown]

Yeah.

[Kylie Modiri]

I was like, the beds aren't filled and this and that. And it's taken so much reprogramming to say no, but we want to sustain. It has to be like this. They're molting right now, so they're getting ready for their thicker feathers for the winter.

[Isabel Brown]

How many do you guys have here on the property?

[Kylie Modiri]

About 60 now.

[Isabel Brown]

Oh, my gosh. That's amazing.

[Kylie Modiri]

So we're in the orchard. Doesn't look much of an orchard right now.

[Isabel Brown]

Wrong season, but we'll get there.

[Kylie Modiri]

So we did a massive pruning last season, so it's gonna take a minute for the fruit to start coming back. And then we added 12 new trees that all died the next winter. We had a really harsh winter, so then we planted them again. So we're very much babying this orchard. But the first year of school is great. The kids pick tons of apples and pears, and then, of course, we just design lessons around those.

[Isabel Brown]

That's so cool.

[Kylie Modiri]

Baking and cooking and fermenting and preserving and canning. So there's so much even within that. So having the kids in the coop collecting eggs is always a fan favorite. And then last year, we had baby chicks, so they got to see that. So we have our enclosed garden area in here. So we're not in the greenhouse unless it's snowing. And even then, we're just in there to kind of put stuff away.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Kylie Modiri]

So we'll bring out the stoves. This is where we cook. This is where we eat. And the kids get to practice outside gardening because greenhouse gardening is very different than outside gardening. So we've cleared all the beds so we can put in our garlic and some of our root vegetables. So we're preparing for that in between seasons. Right now we have our garden bunnies in here.

[Isabel Brown]

So sweet.

[Kylie Modiri]

I know that's thyme and huckleberries under there. We won't go in the greenhouses until wintertime when it starts to snow. So until then, we're out in here. Okay, so playground. This was all built very intentional. We tried to limit the nose. So if this is an area that they get to play and move their bodies, we're going to make it really expansive and wide. And giving them less gadgets actually promotes more creativity. So if you look at this playground, there's not much to it. We have a climbing structure, we have pull up bars. And then the mud kitchen, which is a fan favorite.

[Isabel Brown]

Awesome.

[Kylie Modiri]

And then our stage, which we do morning meeting and even in the snow time, we'll come out here. But you want an expansive space, you want risk taking behavior, you want uneven surfaces, you want kids to be barefoot. So we're thinking about all of that when we design this playground. And actually my husband and I built everything except this and this.

[Isabel Brown]

Wow. That's incredible.

[Kylie Modiri]

So we were in the forest chopping it down, doing the things, the hardest work I've ever done. And then we're really lucky because we have medicine all around. We have our elderberry tree, which just did a bunch of berries and they'll have another harvest soon. We have our wild plum tree. And as we get into the forest, we have rose hips, we have St. John's Wort. We're really lucky. We have a lot of native medicine around here. Okay, so let's check out the greenhouse classroom.

[Doug]

Woo.

[Kylie Modiri]

Oh.

[Doug]

Whoa.

[Isabel Brown]

This is awesome.

[Kylie Modiri]

So this is it. All the natural light. If we do need light in the winter, because the snow will canopy, we have incandescent light bulbs.

[Doug]

Wow.

[Kylie Modiri]

Everything that the kids need to cook and prepare, we teach them how to do all of this stuff. So they're setting the table, they're doing their dishes, they're even participating in cooking. So we try to ingrain those skills in as well. As you can see, we're working on two burner stoves. It's nothing elaborate.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Isabel Brown]

Simple.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yep. So in a couple of months, you'll see all the plants starting to come in and the medicine that we've grown and then we're just on one chalkboard. That's it. It's interesting coming from the public school system. You know, you're used to seeing manipulatives everywhere and posters. Those things don't survive in the greenhouse classroom. There's too much light, there's too much heat. So we can control all of that. In the winter, you can be in here in a tank top. So we'll have the heat going. In the summer, we'll have the fan going and it's sucking out the hot air. But it also reminds me to go back to the basics. And you don't need all those posters. Not at this age. When they get older, sure, they're gonna need more things to reference, but at this young age, we don't need all that stuff. They just need to be looking at their garden beds full and the chalkboard for whatever song we're doing. And then we're outside adventuring.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Kylie Modiri]

So it's pretty simple in here.

[Isabel Brown]

Wow. I love it.

[Kylie Modiri]

So this is the medicine we're exploring now. We're able to harvest rosehip.

[Isabel Brown]

That's amazing.

[Kylie Modiri]

Rosehip is super high in vitamin C. So 50 times an orange like this stuff is.

[Doug]

I did not know that.

[Kylie Modiri]

Potent. That's why it's expensive. In facial oils. Yep. So we make this out of a tea. We'll do a fruit leather. And then we have the elderberry growing right outside so they'll see the fresh elderberry. Then we have the dried stuff. This is dried rosehip. Wow. The kids wanted to do an experiment, fermenting elderberry and honey to see how much medicine can get in the honey. And so we did dried elderberry, which seems to be taking forever. But you can see in the light, the honey is changing colors already, so we know the infusion is happening.

[Doug]

Huh.

[Isabel Brown]

You know, I didn't get a chance to ask you about this, actually. You guys have T shirts and hats that say farms over farm mud. How does that start with the kids.

[Kylie Modiri]

Teaching the kids of the abundance of medicine that's growing around us. That's how it is. You know, we always. We're very grateful for western medicine, but I feel like there's a time and a place, and before we go that route, there's so much that they can do. There's so many things they can empower themselves with. Just outside, that's for free. And so we're gonna use that first. And if that's not working, great, they always have another option. But they're gonna learn how to forge medicine. They're gonna learn how it feels in their body. They're gonna learn how to make it a tincture, how to make it an elixir. They're gonna learn how to make it a tea, and then that's a life skill they have forever.

[Isabel Brown]

I love that.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah. Okay. This is where the students tend to migrate after lunch. So it's more forested areas. We want it like this. We want them ducking. We want them paying attention to their surroundings. This is all intentional. So the kids will naturally migrate out here after lunch just for Some downtime and some swinging. And then another important component we didn't talk about at our school is our parent classes. So they're mandatory. So once a month, parents come in for two hours. And that's where we're connecting all the research that we do in the school to the child and why we do it. And so we're trying to empower them with as much information and resources as possible so that they feel more confident in their child's journey. And then we have a nervous system based chiropractor come out.

[Doug]

Wow.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yep. And she works on the students and their families twice a month. So again, giving a felt sense of safety, of this is what it feels like to be in our nervous system and feel safe. And so that's been a really crucial component to our school.

[Isabel Brown]

This is awesome.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah.

[Isabel Brown]

I would hang out here all day.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah. And they're out here. Rain, snow, sunshine, hail. I mean, they have the gear. So weather is not a thing for us here.

[Isabel Brown]

There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.

[Kylie Modiri]

We grew up.

[Doug]

Wow.

[Isabel Brown]

This is awesome.

[Kylie Modiri]

Yeah.

[Isabel Brown]

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Kylie and her beautiful family and for opening up your gorgeous space with us to understand more of what you guys are doing.

[Doug]

If you guys are interested in following.

[Isabel Brown]

Along with Alpine Village and maybe starting something similar in your community. If you're inspired by this episode, we'll make sure to link their accounts in the description of this video.

[Doug]

Don't forget to subscribe wherever you are.

[Isabel Brown]

Watching or listening to catch the next episode of the Isabelle Brown show and we'll see you next time.

[Kylie Modiri]

And Doug, here we have the Limu emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us? Cut the camera. They see us. Us only pay for what you need at libertymutual. Com Savings. Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.