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)