The first round of quarantine took most of us by surprise.

One day was normal, the next we faced a flood of questions.

Now we’ve had time to catch our breath. We have a better idea of what to expect, so we can plan more thoughtfully for the months ahead — which for most families means figuring out how we will educate our kids during a pandemic.

Many of us have long been crying out for change in our schools. Now we suddenly find that the status quo has evaporated, and that no matter where we turn, our next steps are into the darkness of the unknown. Change is hard, but stagnancy is hell, and for the sake of our kids and our world if not our own dignity, we must face this first step into a strange new world of education with the conviction and bravery to try something new.

It will look different in each home. For me and my kids, signing up for mandatory screen time and remote learning through a historically inequitable public school system is not the answer… but what is? It is becoming increasingly clear that we will have to create it ourselves — individually and collectively — and that this will have been an opportunity sadly wasted if we strive simply to weather the storm and wait for a return to normal.

In many ways, we have more questions than answers these days. Here are a handful of books and ideas that have influenced me and my family as we move away from traditional public schooling, at least for the time being, as we raise kids who are educated without being schooled, valued without being graded, and loved without being conditioned.