What do you think?
Rate this book
The Unschooling Handbook (Prima Home Learning Library) by Mary Griffith
To Unschoolers, Learning Is As Natural As BreathingDid you know that a growing percentage of home schoolers are becoming unschoolers? The unschooling movement is founded on the principle that children learn best when they pursue their own natural curiosities and interests. Without bells, schedules, and rules about what to do and when, the knowledge they gain through mindful living and exploration is absorbed more easily and enthusiastically. Learning is a natural, inborn impulse, and the world is rich with lessons to be learned and puzzles to be solved.Successful unschooling parents know how to stimulate and direct their children's learning impulse. Once you read this book, so will you!From the Trade Paperback edition.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1998
155 people are currently reading
1716 people want to read
About the author
Mary Griffith
38 books8 followersMary Griffith is a longtime nonfiction writer who is stepping less and less gingerly into fiction. After pondering and discarding mystery plots and characters for the past two decades, she finally swallowed hard and tackled her first novel for the 2009 National Novel Writing Month. During her seemingly endless revision process since then, she's seen major improvements in her story, to the point where she expects to finally let other people read Absence of Blade later this spring. To her surprise, she's discovered she likes writing mysteries almost more than she likes reading them, so she's looking forward to moving on to the next two or three books in the series.
Not surprisingly, Mary's interest in writing about fencing grew out of her years as a parent of two competitive saber fencers and her (so far) 15 years of national tournament staff work with USA Fencing. Even though she herself has never fenced (and never plans to), she's become addicted to fencing tournaments. She is currently (though August 2015) a member of USA Fencing's Board of Directors.
Before her fascination with fencing and fencing people took over her life, Mary wrote extensively about homeschooling and alternative education. The Homeschooling Handbook: From Preschool to High School, a Parent’s Guide, Mary's first book for new and prospective homeschoolers, was published by Prima Publishing in January 1997, and went to four printings within its first year of publication. The revised 2nd edition was published in the spring of 1999 and went to a second printing within 8 days of its release.
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom was released in May 1998. Focusing on the idea that children learn best when they pursue their own natural curiosity and interests, it offers plenty of useful ideas and resources for an informal, unstructured approach to education.
Since the Random House conglomerate purchased Prima a few years ago, both books have been published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown Books. In addition to their print editions, both The Homeschooling Handbook and The Unschooling Handbook are available as ebooks.
Mary published her last homeschooling book, Viral Learning: Reflections on Homeschooling Life, in August 2007. It looks at homeschooling—and learning and life in general—from the perspective of long-term homeschoolers, including many who contributed to her earlier books. Viral Learning is available from Lulu.com in both print and epub editions, and can be ordered from your favorite bookseller.
Mary is a proud member of Sisters in Crime, both the national organization and the Sacramento chapter, Capitol Crimes.
She was also long-time activist with the HomeSchool Association of California (HSC), the state's oldest secular homeschooling organization. She served several terms on HSC's board of directors, and was editor of its bimonthly California HomeSchooler for four years. She has been a frequent speaker at homeschooling conferences and other events, on such topics as unschooling, learning to live with homeschooling, parental panic attacks, and homeschool advocacy.
Not surprisingly, Mary's interest in writing about fencing grew out of her years as a parent of two competitive saber fencers and her (so far) 15 years of national tournament staff work with USA Fencing. Even though she herself has never fenced (and never plans to), she's become addicted to fencing tournaments. She is currently (though August 2015) a member of USA Fencing's Board of Directors.
Before her fascination with fencing and fencing people took over her life, Mary wrote extensively about homeschooling and alternative education. The Homeschooling Handbook: From Preschool to High School, a Parent’s Guide, Mary's first book for new and prospective homeschoolers, was published by Prima Publishing in January 1997, and went to four printings within its first year of publication. The revised 2nd edition was published in the spring of 1999 and went to a second printing within 8 days of its release.
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom was released in May 1998. Focusing on the idea that children learn best when they pursue their own natural curiosity and interests, it offers plenty of useful ideas and resources for an informal, unstructured approach to education.
Since the Random House conglomerate purchased Prima a few years ago, both books have been published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown Books. In addition to their print editions, both The Homeschooling Handbook and The Unschooling Handbook are available as ebooks.
Mary published her last homeschooling book, Viral Learning: Reflections on Homeschooling Life, in August 2007. It looks at homeschooling—and learning and life in general—from the perspective of long-term homeschoolers, including many who contributed to her earlier books. Viral Learning is available from Lulu.com in both print and epub editions, and can be ordered from your favorite bookseller.
Mary is a proud member of Sisters in Crime, both the national organization and the Sacramento chapter, Capitol Crimes.
She was also long-time activist with the HomeSchool Association of California (HSC), the state's oldest secular homeschooling organization. She served several terms on HSC's board of directors, and was editor of its bimonthly California HomeSchooler for four years. She has been a frequent speaker at homeschooling conferences and other events, on such topics as unschooling, learning to live with homeschooling, parental panic attacks, and homeschool advocacy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
November 19, 2008
I found this in the anemic "parenting" section of my new library. It's a lean little volume, mostly of extended quotes from self-titled "unschooling" parents. The technology is excruciatingly outdated (just go to AOL Member home to join a list!) circa 1997, and even though it calls itself a "handbook" there's nothing very handy or step-by-step about it.
With those criticisms out of the way, though, this was a very interesting book.
I'd never heard of "unschooling" before but the more I read the more I recognized my own experience as a 9th grade high school drop out. When school became so painful and miserable that I no longer was recognizable to myself or my family, my mom finally pulled the plug on it and said, "fine, no more school for you." I stayed home making mountains of sculpey beads, eating ayurvedic food, drawing anatomical diagrams of the bones in my hands, reading my parent's college textbooks, learning latin and middle english, and "helping" my mom with her home businesses. My mom basically left me alone to learn what I wanted, though I relished her very smart criticisms and direction. It was the most healing and life-giving year of my life. When I did eventually go back to public school, I was transformed-- learning at school was suddenly easy.
This book is basically a gentle introduction to a model of very kid-directed homeschooling, where you allow the kid to choose her passions and then spend days or weeks doing nothing but. You provide plenty of raw materials-- books or animals or travel or responsibilities or friends or whatever-- but you don't try to do school at home.
If I hadn't done it myself, I would guffaw. But knowing what a beautiful experience I had "unschooling" I would gladly do it with my kids.
I think this book does gloss over some of the problems and day to day how-tos of unschooling in favor of evangelizing the concept. But it's such an intriguing glimpse of a school-free life that I want to go on and read more. As my dad always says, "don't let your schooling get in the way of your education!"
With those criticisms out of the way, though, this was a very interesting book.
I'd never heard of "unschooling" before but the more I read the more I recognized my own experience as a 9th grade high school drop out. When school became so painful and miserable that I no longer was recognizable to myself or my family, my mom finally pulled the plug on it and said, "fine, no more school for you." I stayed home making mountains of sculpey beads, eating ayurvedic food, drawing anatomical diagrams of the bones in my hands, reading my parent's college textbooks, learning latin and middle english, and "helping" my mom with her home businesses. My mom basically left me alone to learn what I wanted, though I relished her very smart criticisms and direction. It was the most healing and life-giving year of my life. When I did eventually go back to public school, I was transformed-- learning at school was suddenly easy.
This book is basically a gentle introduction to a model of very kid-directed homeschooling, where you allow the kid to choose her passions and then spend days or weeks doing nothing but. You provide plenty of raw materials-- books or animals or travel or responsibilities or friends or whatever-- but you don't try to do school at home.
If I hadn't done it myself, I would guffaw. But knowing what a beautiful experience I had "unschooling" I would gladly do it with my kids.
I think this book does gloss over some of the problems and day to day how-tos of unschooling in favor of evangelizing the concept. But it's such an intriguing glimpse of a school-free life that I want to go on and read more. As my dad always says, "don't let your schooling get in the way of your education!"
September 12, 2015
I tried to keep an open mind as I read this book, but as a Classical homeschooler, there was a lot that I disagreed with. First, while children are naturally curious and desirous to learn, they lack WISDOM to know what might be more or less valuable as adults. Yes, the children will learn a lot that they are interested in, but if they aren't interested, unschooling proponents would let them alone, imagining that they'll either learn x one day or find that x isn't necessary and so will never learn it. Of course, the third option is that kids might not be interested in x and then never find out the wonderful things they missed out by not learning x.
I also was annoyed when quotes from unschoolers in the book basically admitted that they "forced" their child to attend concerts, take art lessons, etc. That's not unschooling people! If your child doesn't want to attend the concert, you are supposed to understand that children have an "innate wisdom" (my sarcastic words not the book's) to know what they need to learn and not.
But really, I'm not completely against unschooling. In fact, if truth be told, my kids unschool a lot. We have cultivated an atmosphere of learning in our house, so in their free time, away from those "horrible prewritten curricula" (my sarcasm again) my kids read plenty of non-fiction books; they watch YouTube videos about Lego building; they program little games and videos online. And, as a one-income family we cannot afford music lessons, so our piano and piano books are available at any time. My oldest taught herself through a Primer book of piano this summer (with some help from when requested) and is now working through Level 1.
I just don't trust unschooling to give a balanced education to little people who lack wisdom. It's my job as a parent to understand my children and not drive them insane doing things that they hate, but to also balance it with pushing them to do things that I believe they DO need to learn.
I also was annoyed when quotes from unschoolers in the book basically admitted that they "forced" their child to attend concerts, take art lessons, etc. That's not unschooling people! If your child doesn't want to attend the concert, you are supposed to understand that children have an "innate wisdom" (my sarcastic words not the book's) to know what they need to learn and not.
But really, I'm not completely against unschooling. In fact, if truth be told, my kids unschool a lot. We have cultivated an atmosphere of learning in our house, so in their free time, away from those "horrible prewritten curricula" (my sarcasm again) my kids read plenty of non-fiction books; they watch YouTube videos about Lego building; they program little games and videos online. And, as a one-income family we cannot afford music lessons, so our piano and piano books are available at any time. My oldest taught herself through a Primer book of piano this summer (with some help from when requested) and is now working through Level 1.
I just don't trust unschooling to give a balanced education to little people who lack wisdom. It's my job as a parent to understand my children and not drive them insane doing things that they hate, but to also balance it with pushing them to do things that I believe they DO need to learn.
January 1, 2008
I adore this book. Like all homeschooling books, I cannot simply follow one philosophy, but it significantly contributed to my personal definition of what "education" and "learning" look like. At our house, learning can take place with a class, a field trip, a project, a book, a workbook, a discussion, a debate, an accident, a movie, a household task, a meditation, a friendship, a visit, or any of the multitude of activities a human completes in a week. Sure, I may advocate for more structure in our family's learning than this book would promote as ideal, but it gave me the lens to recognize learning in the many places that I would see it over our six years of homeschooling, and I am sure throughout Casi's educational career.
August 31, 2016
A fabulous book for the beginning unschooler or anyone who wants to know more about this lifestyle. The only way to learn or understand what unschooling is (how do you understand the absence of something) is to read about other families' experiences while unschooling. A large part of the book is quoted passages but not in a confusing or haphazard way. Nicely organized and touches on the most common questions a new unschooler might have.
I found this book positive and encouraging and it is a handbook only in that you will read firsthand experiences and what they do in their lives. By reading these experiences, we are able to form our own ideas of what we want our family to be and what kind of relationship we want for our children. I highly recommend this book.
I found this book positive and encouraging and it is a handbook only in that you will read firsthand experiences and what they do in their lives. By reading these experiences, we are able to form our own ideas of what we want our family to be and what kind of relationship we want for our children. I highly recommend this book.
June 17, 2017
This book focuses on the strong points of unschooling, making it less a handbook than a plea for acceptance of unschooling to its skeptics and an encouragement to try out its ideas. Indeed, the author not only assumes the reader is not yet an unschooler, she often writes with the assumption that the reader is very doubtful about it and in need of reassurance.
"Sounds impossible, doesn't it? [...] Surely there must be more to the idea than that. Listen to a few more parents [...]", pg. 3.
So much of the book reads like this, it becomes tedious.
I liked the look and feel of the book for the most part; however it was a bit textbook-like, despite the author's apparent dislike for textbooks. I liked that it included commentary by unschooling parents; but the book does it to its detriment. I liked that it provided numerous resources to parents considering unschooling as well; but some of these seem to be outdated and some of them didn't seem helpful for what they were intended for. Some she even repeated multiple times.
I felt like there was a lot of needless rambling. I felt that the author fairly glossed over the challenges of single parents and low income families. She even excludes these unschoolers at times, carrying on at length for example about the *need* for expensive art supplies and how awful cheap ones are and how useless it is when people gift cheap crayons.
I was expecting this book to have a lot of great ideas. Instead, I found long, winding paragraphs reassuring the reader that unschooling won't damage their child, and that their child will indeed learn, all fluffed out by endless quotations from parents (almost exclusively from women). Some of this book was interesting, but not much. For me it just missed the mark entirely.
"Sounds impossible, doesn't it? [...] Surely there must be more to the idea than that. Listen to a few more parents [...]", pg. 3.
So much of the book reads like this, it becomes tedious.
I liked the look and feel of the book for the most part; however it was a bit textbook-like, despite the author's apparent dislike for textbooks. I liked that it included commentary by unschooling parents; but the book does it to its detriment. I liked that it provided numerous resources to parents considering unschooling as well; but some of these seem to be outdated and some of them didn't seem helpful for what they were intended for. Some she even repeated multiple times.
I felt like there was a lot of needless rambling. I felt that the author fairly glossed over the challenges of single parents and low income families. She even excludes these unschoolers at times, carrying on at length for example about the *need* for expensive art supplies and how awful cheap ones are and how useless it is when people gift cheap crayons.
I was expecting this book to have a lot of great ideas. Instead, I found long, winding paragraphs reassuring the reader that unschooling won't damage their child, and that their child will indeed learn, all fluffed out by endless quotations from parents (almost exclusively from women). Some of this book was interesting, but not much. For me it just missed the mark entirely.
February 29, 2008
Unschooling IS using the world as your child's "classroom," even though classroom is not the best word! If you happen to need some ideas to get you started, this is a good book.
August 2, 2023
I have surmised there is nothing inherently wrong with the practices of unschooling — allowing children to select aspects their learning, to allow for time to explore personal interests, to encourage enjoyable learning (through relevance, non-textbook materials, games, play, physical activities, etc.). These are all good things in any learning environment, homeschool or not.
I do, however, take issue with this being the only or predominant means by which a child learns. Chall’s book The Academic Achievement Challenge presents compelling evidence to suggest student-centered learning is not as successful as teacher-centered learning, as much as we might like to believe otherwise.
Considering I am studying learner-centered education for college students as a PhD topic and I have personally benefited from learner-centered activities, I should logically be a staunch advocate for it in children’s education. And while I do advocate for it in moderation, children and adults (including college students) learn differently.
According to andragogy, adults bring prior knowledge to their studies, making self-directed learning very effective for this population. By contrast, children do not have the baseline of prior education to steer or guide their new knowledge to the same extent. Children in an unschooling environment wander aimlessly until something sparks their interest and then they learn about it through largely independent study. There is no sequential advancement in the learned material, by chronology or by complexity.
Children must be given externally imposed structure to maximize their learning.
Certainly, student-centered, experiential education can be integrated to augment the child’s holistic learning experience (e.g., field trips, hands-on kinesthetic activities, games, simulations, etc.), but these are not a substitute for teacher-centered, structured education. I will be using the resources in his book to supplement more formal, structured curricula.
Griffith asserts without theoretical or empirical substantiation that:
1) History should be learned without awareness of chronology.
History is a product of relationships between events in the continuum of time. One should know how an event is impacted by preceding events or impacts the events that follow. Imagine trying to understand why the American Revolution occurred with no knowledge of the British monarchy system that came before;
2) Math should not be learned sequentially or through any memorization.
This negates the axiom that math concepts build upon themselves. How do you conduct addition/subtraction without knowing how to count? How do you learn calculus without first mastering algebra?
Child development is not as arbitrary as the author would like it to seem. If a child who has not received formal reading instruction is unable to read at age 10, they are missing out on a wealth of other learning enabled by the ability to read.
Catering purely to children’s enjoyment of learning “casts the educator as marketer and the student as customer, with a consumerist right to be made happy” (Tompkins & Ulus, 2016, p. 159). I severely disliked the mundane questions to unschooled children (typically between 6 and 14 years old). Two quotes responding to “Do you like unschooling?”: “Yes, I love it. This is the best. This is just as good as life gets. I like it too much almost…I think other kids are crazy for wanting to go to school” and “Unschooling is a very good idea. There’s not very much pressure on me to get things done.” While their parents are surely delighted, these are terrifying sentiments to hear as a prospective parent. Of course, I would not desire for a child to dislike their education or be unenthusiastic, but there is no sense of challenge (the harbinger of growth) in these words. A child should feel reasonably challenged to improve their knowledge and skills through learning, not be content with a lack of challenge.
Also, how can children compare their educational experience to conventional school (or homeschool) when they have been unschooled nearly all their life? These sound more like words of their parents to me.
I try to sympathize with proponents of unschooling since many are well intentioned. They wish to avoid the pressures and deficit-based externalities they endured in their public school education. That said, complete unschooling is the other extreme and it is also quite alarming.
Fortunately, a balance can be struck in a multi-modal type of education which benefits from the structure and theoretical integrity of teacher-centered learning, as well as the customization and joy of student-centered learning.
I do, however, take issue with this being the only or predominant means by which a child learns. Chall’s book The Academic Achievement Challenge presents compelling evidence to suggest student-centered learning is not as successful as teacher-centered learning, as much as we might like to believe otherwise.
Considering I am studying learner-centered education for college students as a PhD topic and I have personally benefited from learner-centered activities, I should logically be a staunch advocate for it in children’s education. And while I do advocate for it in moderation, children and adults (including college students) learn differently.
According to andragogy, adults bring prior knowledge to their studies, making self-directed learning very effective for this population. By contrast, children do not have the baseline of prior education to steer or guide their new knowledge to the same extent. Children in an unschooling environment wander aimlessly until something sparks their interest and then they learn about it through largely independent study. There is no sequential advancement in the learned material, by chronology or by complexity.
Children must be given externally imposed structure to maximize their learning.
Certainly, student-centered, experiential education can be integrated to augment the child’s holistic learning experience (e.g., field trips, hands-on kinesthetic activities, games, simulations, etc.), but these are not a substitute for teacher-centered, structured education. I will be using the resources in his book to supplement more formal, structured curricula.
Griffith asserts without theoretical or empirical substantiation that:
1) History should be learned without awareness of chronology.
History is a product of relationships between events in the continuum of time. One should know how an event is impacted by preceding events or impacts the events that follow. Imagine trying to understand why the American Revolution occurred with no knowledge of the British monarchy system that came before;
2) Math should not be learned sequentially or through any memorization.
This negates the axiom that math concepts build upon themselves. How do you conduct addition/subtraction without knowing how to count? How do you learn calculus without first mastering algebra?
Child development is not as arbitrary as the author would like it to seem. If a child who has not received formal reading instruction is unable to read at age 10, they are missing out on a wealth of other learning enabled by the ability to read.
Catering purely to children’s enjoyment of learning “casts the educator as marketer and the student as customer, with a consumerist right to be made happy” (Tompkins & Ulus, 2016, p. 159). I severely disliked the mundane questions to unschooled children (typically between 6 and 14 years old). Two quotes responding to “Do you like unschooling?”: “Yes, I love it. This is the best. This is just as good as life gets. I like it too much almost…I think other kids are crazy for wanting to go to school” and “Unschooling is a very good idea. There’s not very much pressure on me to get things done.” While their parents are surely delighted, these are terrifying sentiments to hear as a prospective parent. Of course, I would not desire for a child to dislike their education or be unenthusiastic, but there is no sense of challenge (the harbinger of growth) in these words. A child should feel reasonably challenged to improve their knowledge and skills through learning, not be content with a lack of challenge.
Also, how can children compare their educational experience to conventional school (or homeschool) when they have been unschooled nearly all their life? These sound more like words of their parents to me.
I try to sympathize with proponents of unschooling since many are well intentioned. They wish to avoid the pressures and deficit-based externalities they endured in their public school education. That said, complete unschooling is the other extreme and it is also quite alarming.
Fortunately, a balance can be struck in a multi-modal type of education which benefits from the structure and theoretical integrity of teacher-centered learning, as well as the customization and joy of student-centered learning.
April 15, 2017
Even as someone who knows a great deal about unschooling, I got a lot out of reading this book. It's jam-packed with information and personal narratives on the many aspects of unschooling. The author divides the book largely by school subjects, which she acknowledges isn't a perfect fit for the topic of homeschooling, but I think that the format is pretty successful. This is a great resource for those new to homeschooling or those who are curious about unschooling, and provides a lot of inspiration. I have to admit though, that reading so many of the narratives almost gave me the impression that these kids and families are all incredibly special and gifted, and that there's no way I could possibly do as much or as well for my own kids. I think that it's probably my own insecurities and also just a by-product of including so many success stories in one book.
I will be keeping this book and probably re-reading it at certain points throughout our homeschooling journey, and at the very least will be referring to it for the many many resources listed at the end of each chapter.
I will be keeping this book and probably re-reading it at certain points throughout our homeschooling journey, and at the very least will be referring to it for the many many resources listed at the end of each chapter.
January 15, 2022
This was fun to read, and inspiring. The bulk of the book is interviews of unschooling parents and kids. It was surprisingly relevant, given that it was published in 1998! There was a resources section after each chapter, but most of the resources were published also in the 1990s, and many of the companies, sites, and publications are now defunct. Reading this makes me a bit sad that my family didn't stick with homeschooling (we basically unschooled but didn't call it that) through high school, at least for me! I found high school to be incredibly stressful and also boring, and I retained little except from my English classes, and a smattering of other things.
September 9, 2017
It had a few useful things to offer, especially the models on transcripts. I did not have time to read it back to back before returning it to the library, but might find it beneficial to check it back out in a few years.
November 5, 2010
The beginning of this book started out with some good testimonials and experiences from unschoolers, but it also started out with too many complicated words and ideas that made me re-read a number of passages to grasp their meaning. That got annoying really fast. In that way this book is a little too textbook-like. The stories state an idea and the author restates it.
It may be because I just finished "How Children Learn", and loved it, but a lot of the content of this book seemed intuitive and ordinary. There was nothing inspiring or eye-opening about any of it.
About 1/3 of the way through I started to get bored, and I realized that instead of being inspired by unschooling the idea was suddenly losing its appeal. I'm passionate about what I'm deciding and discovering about unschooling and all it entails, so this was disappointing. I'm pretty sure this book was written to SUPPORT unschooling. :) So, I skimmed for awhile and then flipped pages to read section headings to see what the topics were and closed the book.
Not very impressed. I'm moving on to more inspiring literature!
It may be because I just finished "How Children Learn", and loved it, but a lot of the content of this book seemed intuitive and ordinary. There was nothing inspiring or eye-opening about any of it.
About 1/3 of the way through I started to get bored, and I realized that instead of being inspired by unschooling the idea was suddenly losing its appeal. I'm passionate about what I'm deciding and discovering about unschooling and all it entails, so this was disappointing. I'm pretty sure this book was written to SUPPORT unschooling. :) So, I skimmed for awhile and then flipped pages to read section headings to see what the topics were and closed the book.
Not very impressed. I'm moving on to more inspiring literature!
June 14, 2008
ได้ทั้งคอนเซ็ปต์และรูปธรรมในหลายเรื่อง แต่อย่างไรก็คงต้องพิจารณาร่วมกับสังคมของเรา ในแง่สถานภาพทางเศรษฐกิจ กฎหมาย โครงสร้างสาธารณะ เช่นห้องสมุดสาธารณะที่มีบทบาทสำคัญมาก และความร่วมมือของชุมชน น่าจะมีหนังสือของไทยที่รวมรวบแบบไทยๆไว้เยอะ อยากเห็นบทสัมภาษณ์เด็กเพิ่มเติมจนถึงวัยผู้ใหญ่และการส่งต่อความรู้ผ่านการเรียนแบบนี้ รวมทั้ง น่าจะมีภาพของประวัติศาสตร์ของพ่อแม่ในการศึกษาก่อนที่จะมาให้ลูกเรียน เพราะเพื่อจะได้เห็นความแตกต่างเฉพาะ เนื่องจากว่าทั้งหมดแล้วการศึกษาแบบ Unschooling นั้นเป็นเรื่องเฉพาะ จากหนังสือเล่มนี้เป็นเล่มหนึ่งที่น่าสนใจสำหรับบางครอบครัว แต่ในอีกหลายครอบครัวจำเป็นอย่างยิ่งที่จะต้องศึกษาเพื่อเติม เล่มนี้เป็นเพียงเล่มเปิดทางที่ดีเล่มหนึ่ง
เกือบลืมที่จะบอกว่า หลายแนวคิดในเล่มนี้น่าสนใจ
ตั้งแต่ การกระตุ้นเร้าให้ออกจกวิถีคิดแบบขนบ
การปฏิเสธการเรียนรู้ตามเวลาแบบเส้นตรงที่ส่งทอดกันตามประวัติศาสตร์ และไม่ได้สอนให้จำแต่สอนให้คิด
รู้กว้างในเรื่องที่ควรรู้ และรู้ลึกในเรื่องที่จำเป็น
อย่างไรก็ตามมีกรณีศึกษาของพ่อแม่ที่ส่งเสริมให้ลูกเรียนหรือมีแนวทางในสายมนุษย์และสังคมค่อนข้างมาก จำนวนพ่อแม่และลูกในสายวิทยาศาสตร์มีตัวอย่างน้อย ซึ่งน่าสนใจในการขบคิด
เกือบลืมที่จะบอกว่า หลายแนวคิดในเล่มนี้น่าสนใจ
ตั้งแต่ การกระตุ้นเร้าให้ออกจกวิถีคิดแบบขนบ
การปฏิเสธการเรียนรู้ตามเวลาแบบเส้นตรงที่ส่งทอดกันตามประวัติศาสตร์ และไม่ได้สอนให้จำแต่สอนให้คิด
รู้กว้างในเรื่องที่ควรรู้ และรู้ลึกในเรื่องที่จำเป็น
อย่างไรก็ตามมีกรณีศึกษาของพ่อแม่ที่ส่งเสริมให้ลูกเรียนหรือมีแนวทางในสายมนุษย์และสังคมค่อนข้างมาก จำนวนพ่อแม่และลูกในสายวิทยาศาสตร์มีตัวอย่างน้อย ซึ่งน่าสนใจในการขบคิด
March 6, 2012
Overall, I did not agree with the message of this book. I think "Have Kids Will Travel" sends a better message to homeschooling parents, and I think you can adopt the message of learning about your own community as well. The overall message that I attained from the book is that less is more and just let your kids do what they want. I think that message is a little scary and can prove to be disasterous. One page (I returned the book to the library) had a calendar of what they did for the month for school and it only had 3-4 items on it. My kids do more and they are in school.
I liked the resources at the end of each chapter. The rest of the book was narratives or examples from her own family or other families.
I think kids need more guidance and help along the educational road.
I liked the resources at the end of each chapter. The rest of the book was narratives or examples from her own family or other families.
I think kids need more guidance and help along the educational road.
August 28, 2018
I started this book a long time ago, so I don't remember much of the first half, but I love reading homeschooling books, because it keeps me motivated, reminds me of why I do what I do, and convinces me that I haven't failed my kids. They are learning new things all the time, whether or not I'm doing any formal learning with them. Give a kid the opportunity to learn, and they will take it. This book talks a lot about just having resources available for your children to take advantage of: keep the art supplies out (something I've always done, despite people thinking I'm crazy that I let me kids have free access to scissors), have lots of books and games about various topics, and what I think is incredibly important, show them that I love to learn. That's something I've been making a priority over the past 6 months. I've been reading a lot of educational books, especially biographies or historical novels. And, surprisingly, I've loved them all. My 7 year old always asks what I'm reading about. I've learned so much in the past 6-12 months about people like Ada Lovelace, Helen Keller, Jaques Cousteau, George Washington, and today Zaha Hadid, an architect who died 2 years ago. There are so many wonderful things to learn about in the world, and I love that I get to learn them right alongside my children.
The book is very outdated (1998) so a lot of their resources are old fashioned, but still tons of great ideas.
Some quotes from the book I loved are below:
"...reward systems focus attention on the awards instead of on the original task. The student begins to focus on preserving her grade-point average, concentrating on writing the papers and exams that will give her the highest grades instead of on the content of what she studies."
"Texts? I can’t think of one that’s really worth warm spit. Lots of books about history, but texts? Awful. Texts are to history what library paste is to a gourmet meal." 😂😂
"Q: Some critics of unschooling say that it can’t work because kids allowed to control their own learning won’t do difficult things or things they dislike. Do you agree with this? Chase (18): I think that every child has such a need to be curious and to learn that, if left alone, they will learn many a difficult thing, even things they dislike. Do you think learning how to walk and talk was easy? For instance, I dislike fixing the things that fall apart around the house or having to board up the house because a hurricane’s coming. But I have to do these things anyway; I don’t really have a choice, in that it’s easier to fix them now than pay the consequences later. Sure there are lots of things that are hard to learn, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to learn them with just as much intensity. And after you learn them, they are so much sweeter than if they came to you easily. Personally, I think the critics of unschooling do not trust themselves to do the things they do not like without someone hitting them over the head with it, and so of course they can’t imagine how it could possibly be any different. And in some ways, those are the people who need unschooling the most."
"I think the whole concept of learning for your own reasons is applicable to all of life. People usually find out at some point that it’s easier to learn when it’s something you want to do, but growing up in this environment should produce people with a genuine love of learning. I think that we, as unschoolers, learn to trust our children, and that is also an important concept. By and large, society tends to underestimate kids, and by giving them the freedom to explore possibilities, we have an opportunity to demonstrate how much more many kids could be doing."
"Unschooling has made my life fuller and richer, allowed me the “excuse” to learn things for myself, helped me to learn many things from my children." ---this is me 100%
"Unschooling has confirmed for me what I have suspected since high school: children are capable, willing, and able to learn whatever they choose to learn. Learning is fun, energizing, and challenging, and it takes responsibility. If you take the responsibility away from children, they have no stake in the outcome (their livelihood, family, and happiness), and instead learn how to follow orders above solving problems. I believe that patience is the biggest change for me. I need to practice it more now that I know how valuable it is."
"“What gave you the idea you were capable of teaching your child in the first place?” The question seems strange enough, but they picture me sitting and “teaching” him as if he’s an empty vessel who can’t learn on his own. What an obnoxious image that brings to my mind, and yet it’s a perfectly natural thing for people to think. “How do you know what he’s supposed to be learning?” Huh? In a world as vast and complex as this one, how did we ever come to this mutual understanding that there is just one neat package of stuff one needs to get into one’s head to be “educated.” Who is the official authority on what he’s “supposed to be learning”?"
"...but unschooling ideas are insidious; they sneak and slither their way into every part of your life. The learning theory that you meant to apply just to the kids is indeed highly contagious. You begin to realize that you’re envying your children the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they explore their world, and you realize that unschooling ideas are just as applicable to your own life. And then, of course, you’re hooked for good."
The book is very outdated (1998) so a lot of their resources are old fashioned, but still tons of great ideas.
Some quotes from the book I loved are below:
"...reward systems focus attention on the awards instead of on the original task. The student begins to focus on preserving her grade-point average, concentrating on writing the papers and exams that will give her the highest grades instead of on the content of what she studies."
"Texts? I can’t think of one that’s really worth warm spit. Lots of books about history, but texts? Awful. Texts are to history what library paste is to a gourmet meal." 😂😂
"Q: Some critics of unschooling say that it can’t work because kids allowed to control their own learning won’t do difficult things or things they dislike. Do you agree with this? Chase (18): I think that every child has such a need to be curious and to learn that, if left alone, they will learn many a difficult thing, even things they dislike. Do you think learning how to walk and talk was easy? For instance, I dislike fixing the things that fall apart around the house or having to board up the house because a hurricane’s coming. But I have to do these things anyway; I don’t really have a choice, in that it’s easier to fix them now than pay the consequences later. Sure there are lots of things that are hard to learn, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to learn them with just as much intensity. And after you learn them, they are so much sweeter than if they came to you easily. Personally, I think the critics of unschooling do not trust themselves to do the things they do not like without someone hitting them over the head with it, and so of course they can’t imagine how it could possibly be any different. And in some ways, those are the people who need unschooling the most."
"I think the whole concept of learning for your own reasons is applicable to all of life. People usually find out at some point that it’s easier to learn when it’s something you want to do, but growing up in this environment should produce people with a genuine love of learning. I think that we, as unschoolers, learn to trust our children, and that is also an important concept. By and large, society tends to underestimate kids, and by giving them the freedom to explore possibilities, we have an opportunity to demonstrate how much more many kids could be doing."
"Unschooling has made my life fuller and richer, allowed me the “excuse” to learn things for myself, helped me to learn many things from my children." ---this is me 100%
"Unschooling has confirmed for me what I have suspected since high school: children are capable, willing, and able to learn whatever they choose to learn. Learning is fun, energizing, and challenging, and it takes responsibility. If you take the responsibility away from children, they have no stake in the outcome (their livelihood, family, and happiness), and instead learn how to follow orders above solving problems. I believe that patience is the biggest change for me. I need to practice it more now that I know how valuable it is."
"“What gave you the idea you were capable of teaching your child in the first place?” The question seems strange enough, but they picture me sitting and “teaching” him as if he’s an empty vessel who can’t learn on his own. What an obnoxious image that brings to my mind, and yet it’s a perfectly natural thing for people to think. “How do you know what he’s supposed to be learning?” Huh? In a world as vast and complex as this one, how did we ever come to this mutual understanding that there is just one neat package of stuff one needs to get into one’s head to be “educated.” Who is the official authority on what he’s “supposed to be learning”?"
"...but unschooling ideas are insidious; they sneak and slither their way into every part of your life. The learning theory that you meant to apply just to the kids is indeed highly contagious. You begin to realize that you’re envying your children the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they explore their world, and you realize that unschooling ideas are just as applicable to your own life. And then, of course, you’re hooked for good."
September 23, 2007
I think this is a great barebones book for beginning unschoolers - of all early stages. At the time I read it, I felt it was too bare bones, but as time goes by and I forget all I know, I am glad that this book is here to remind me of what I've forgotten. Maybe "barebones" is the wrong word? It's probably the way she keeps things "simple" in this book that makes it work for me.
November 24, 2009
A few of the sections written by the author had interesting ideas, but I think I rather of heard more of the stories of the people who responded to her survey in a more detailed, less disjointed fashion than the way this book was organized. I think it'd have been more useful. I love the resources, though, given at the end of each chapter.
August 1, 2022
While this book did share some helpful insights to the unschooling approach it could have been cut down dramatically by not including the parent anecdotes which in my opinion were only there to fill space and only provide a "grass is greener" view of unschooling. Not a book I would recommend for any new homeschooler to read any time soon.
January 30, 2016
What does it mean to educate a child? In the United States, schooling is dominated by standards, by regular exams that force educators to teach the test. But is forced memorization a means of teaching our children well? Mary Griffith thinks not. A practitioner and advocate of "Unschooling", she believes children ought to be free to learn the way adults do: autonomously, pursuing their own interests with the support of their family. In The Unschooling Handbook, she explains the unschooling philosophy, elaborates on how children can pursue understanding of reading, math, science, art, and even history by themselves, and offers parents who are considering the prospect resources to make the leap. Intriguing and smartly organized, it's a welcome perspective in reflecting on education.
What happens to destroy the natural curiosity of children, corroding kids who delight in learning about anything into reluctant attendees who look on the schoolroom as if a drilling dentist were waiting for them there? The answer is the decidedly unnatural approach of compulsory education, making children to rise early and spend all day under the authority of adults they neither know nor trust, and forcing them memorize a variety of facts about a series of subjects that may not interest them. If a subject does not hold a child's interest, Griffith writes, why do we expect them to retain any knowledge at all? The information may be held long enough for the test, and then promptly dumped. The children are not improved by having been forced to memorize it, and the public is not better off for having used resources to make them do it. That Griffith is concerned with the quality of her child's education is something of a relief: other criticisms of the public schooling systems I've encountered all had ideological roots, with the parents being paranoid about the prospect of Other People influencing their children, zealously guarding their progeny's craniums like Gollum guarding the Ring. Griffith doesn't complain about the Government trying to turn her child into a socialist minion, or a docile sheep for the new world order. Her philosophy does run counter to the state's approach to education, though, and borders on libertarianism: she does not believe in making her child learn anything. She instead trusts that children will eagerly want to learn about a wide variety of subjects, if provided with the right tools. The parents' job is to guide kids through the world, showing it off, and then helping them investigate whatever catches their interest. It may be Anglo-Saxon mythology or geology; it may be Candy Crush.
The potential for abuse is a notable limitation of the unschooling approach, for children are not known for being moderate souls. What is to keep a child becoming obsessed with one subject, and learning nothing at all about mathematics? Griffith's permissive streak seems a vulnerability in a world full of addictive, ever-accessible smartphone games: her technological references stop at 1998, which limits the section on the uses of television and the Internet in education for modern readers. (YouTube is a fantastic resource for learning, but it's also a fantastic way to waste time perusing funny kitten videos.) The author's answer is that children will, in time, grow bored even in these indulgences. Trust them. It's a nice thought, but I'd rather err on the side of discipline. The permissive-parenting argument is a separate argument from that concerning unschooling, though, and that I rather like. I like it because I have learned more reading popular science texts on my own than I ever learned in school, and because the comprehensive variety of information I absorb through my own studying is infinitely more useful than memorizing a few rote facts that pass into oblivion. The greatest weakness of unschooling is that parents' lifestyles may not allow for it: when living costs such that both parents have to work to support families, who can stay home to attend to the children? Reflection is warranted: perhaps a superior education for children, and a closer relationship between parents and children as a result of more time spent together, and less fighting with them to conform to school's regimented schedule and curriculum, would justify a family deciding to downshift so it could afford to run on only one salary.
The unschooling approach demonstrated here makes learning a family experience. Education is not something children endure while mom and dad go to their jobs in the 'real' world; instead, education is part of exploring that real world. The core of The Unschooling Handbook is its section illustrating how kids and parents can learn together about the world. Some subjects, like art, music, and science, are naturally entertaining, and those which require more discipline aren't too difficult to pursue, either: children will gravitate to learning to read if they see their parents reading, and if they are read to. This kind of education requires care on the parents' part, as they are the cultivators of their children's minds. Although all children find the natural world awe-inspiring and fascinating, many adults find science dull, probably because their experience with it has involved more the memorization of facts and less hands-on experience that seduces them into learning more about the subject, and eventually to adopting the tools of science to learn even more. A child can be taught botany from a garden and chemistry from the kitchen. What parents can do is help guide learning from the reactive 'wow' to the 'Eureka!' that follows dogged research. A key seems to be relevance: children may squirm if made to memorize the dates and names of English kings (unless they find the recent birth of the latest prince interesting, as so many Americans inexplicably do), but if history is used to awe children with the fact that the places they see around them, and their family, have a greater story than what is presently seen, it may take root. This approach hearkens to our species' ancient practice of oral traditions: being engaged by history is in our blood.
The Unschooling Handbook is both thought-provoking and useful, if dated. I will assuredly be reading more about this subject -- for I believe learning ought to a result of our enthusiastic attempt to understand the world, and not a forced exercise in training.
Related:
The Beginner's Guide to Unschooling, from Zenhabits. (Possibly what introduced me to the concept..)
http://zenhabits.net/unschool/
The School Sucks Podcast
http://schoolsucksproject.com/
The Unplugged Mom podcast
http://www.unpluggedmom.com/
What happens to destroy the natural curiosity of children, corroding kids who delight in learning about anything into reluctant attendees who look on the schoolroom as if a drilling dentist were waiting for them there? The answer is the decidedly unnatural approach of compulsory education, making children to rise early and spend all day under the authority of adults they neither know nor trust, and forcing them memorize a variety of facts about a series of subjects that may not interest them. If a subject does not hold a child's interest, Griffith writes, why do we expect them to retain any knowledge at all? The information may be held long enough for the test, and then promptly dumped. The children are not improved by having been forced to memorize it, and the public is not better off for having used resources to make them do it. That Griffith is concerned with the quality of her child's education is something of a relief: other criticisms of the public schooling systems I've encountered all had ideological roots, with the parents being paranoid about the prospect of Other People influencing their children, zealously guarding their progeny's craniums like Gollum guarding the Ring. Griffith doesn't complain about the Government trying to turn her child into a socialist minion, or a docile sheep for the new world order. Her philosophy does run counter to the state's approach to education, though, and borders on libertarianism: she does not believe in making her child learn anything. She instead trusts that children will eagerly want to learn about a wide variety of subjects, if provided with the right tools. The parents' job is to guide kids through the world, showing it off, and then helping them investigate whatever catches their interest. It may be Anglo-Saxon mythology or geology; it may be Candy Crush.
The potential for abuse is a notable limitation of the unschooling approach, for children are not known for being moderate souls. What is to keep a child becoming obsessed with one subject, and learning nothing at all about mathematics? Griffith's permissive streak seems a vulnerability in a world full of addictive, ever-accessible smartphone games: her technological references stop at 1998, which limits the section on the uses of television and the Internet in education for modern readers. (YouTube is a fantastic resource for learning, but it's also a fantastic way to waste time perusing funny kitten videos.) The author's answer is that children will, in time, grow bored even in these indulgences. Trust them. It's a nice thought, but I'd rather err on the side of discipline. The permissive-parenting argument is a separate argument from that concerning unschooling, though, and that I rather like. I like it because I have learned more reading popular science texts on my own than I ever learned in school, and because the comprehensive variety of information I absorb through my own studying is infinitely more useful than memorizing a few rote facts that pass into oblivion. The greatest weakness of unschooling is that parents' lifestyles may not allow for it: when living costs such that both parents have to work to support families, who can stay home to attend to the children? Reflection is warranted: perhaps a superior education for children, and a closer relationship between parents and children as a result of more time spent together, and less fighting with them to conform to school's regimented schedule and curriculum, would justify a family deciding to downshift so it could afford to run on only one salary.
The unschooling approach demonstrated here makes learning a family experience. Education is not something children endure while mom and dad go to their jobs in the 'real' world; instead, education is part of exploring that real world. The core of The Unschooling Handbook is its section illustrating how kids and parents can learn together about the world. Some subjects, like art, music, and science, are naturally entertaining, and those which require more discipline aren't too difficult to pursue, either: children will gravitate to learning to read if they see their parents reading, and if they are read to. This kind of education requires care on the parents' part, as they are the cultivators of their children's minds. Although all children find the natural world awe-inspiring and fascinating, many adults find science dull, probably because their experience with it has involved more the memorization of facts and less hands-on experience that seduces them into learning more about the subject, and eventually to adopting the tools of science to learn even more. A child can be taught botany from a garden and chemistry from the kitchen. What parents can do is help guide learning from the reactive 'wow' to the 'Eureka!' that follows dogged research. A key seems to be relevance: children may squirm if made to memorize the dates and names of English kings (unless they find the recent birth of the latest prince interesting, as so many Americans inexplicably do), but if history is used to awe children with the fact that the places they see around them, and their family, have a greater story than what is presently seen, it may take root. This approach hearkens to our species' ancient practice of oral traditions: being engaged by history is in our blood.
The Unschooling Handbook is both thought-provoking and useful, if dated. I will assuredly be reading more about this subject -- for I believe learning ought to a result of our enthusiastic attempt to understand the world, and not a forced exercise in training.
Related:
The Beginner's Guide to Unschooling, from Zenhabits. (Possibly what introduced me to the concept..)
http://zenhabits.net/unschool/
The School Sucks Podcast
http://schoolsucksproject.com/
The Unplugged Mom podcast
http://www.unpluggedmom.com/
November 26, 2024
This book is out dated, yes but it is also mostly testimonials from 33 families that do not say much. I work in education and have a degree in psychology and the more I learn about unschooling the more concerned I get about this education philosophy. How would you know if you child has a learning disability when they learn what they want when they want? There were a couple of stories of children not reading until they were 9 and not being concerned if your child cannot read independently at the age of 12.
I think children should be able to explore their interests but how will they know that they are interested if not introduced? Project based learning can be a fantastic if scaffolded for student success. Griffith talks about how successful unschoolers are in higher education but does not have any statistics to back it up. I was going to rate this 2 stars because I did learn something from this but then I read the testimonial of the mom who was upset with her son going to an in person high school because it messed up her schedule. She started with saying how lonely the computer is without her son being there and that her other children forget that he is not at home. Her son's choice in his education was an inconvenience for her. It really irritated me and I think it was one of many comments that I could just not overlook.
I think children should be able to explore their interests but how will they know that they are interested if not introduced? Project based learning can be a fantastic if scaffolded for student success. Griffith talks about how successful unschoolers are in higher education but does not have any statistics to back it up. I was going to rate this 2 stars because I did learn something from this but then I read the testimonial of the mom who was upset with her son going to an in person high school because it messed up her schedule. She started with saying how lonely the computer is without her son being there and that her other children forget that he is not at home. Her son's choice in his education was an inconvenience for her. It really irritated me and I think it was one of many comments that I could just not overlook.
November 12, 2018
Gave it three stars only because it is an older book, and does not have the most up to date information in the resources segment of each chapter. (my copy is from 1998) I very much appreciate that quotes from people interviewed for the book are in a different font type than the main text. If you wish for a better view on unschooling, it would probably be better to start with John Holt to get an idea of the philosophy behind it, this book is a bit more focused on the practical how-to aspects. I feel like most books on this topic are best read in a sort of multi-book reading session, its fascinating, but a bit obscure/ fringe for most Americans, so it helps to have multiple points to pull from to get the full picture. Chapters 5-10 are broken down into typical "school subjects". Chapter 1 is an introduction to unschooling, Chapters 2-4, 11-13 deal with parenting and homeschooling challenges. Very much enjoyed, this is a re-read for me.
March 19, 2020
When we decided to homeschool my son, we were very open to any approach. We did not want to ‘label’ ourselves. We’d like to think that it’s an adventure of learning together as a family. Finding out what suits us, or
But as time passes, and we learn more and more about him (and about ourselves as parents and individuals, really), we can’t help but realize that we’re leaning towards unschooling.
And this book, although outdated in terms of reference (it was first published in 1998, so yeah), gives us so many insights and encouragements.
And i love the fact that my husband and i read it together and discuss about something that we found interesting. This book helped us to be in the same page about our son’s education!
But as time passes, and we learn more and more about him (and about ourselves as parents and individuals, really), we can’t help but realize that we’re leaning towards unschooling.
And this book, although outdated in terms of reference (it was first published in 1998, so yeah), gives us so many insights and encouragements.
And i love the fact that my husband and i read it together and discuss about something that we found interesting. This book helped us to be in the same page about our son’s education!
February 27, 2025
This book is definitely not a handbook by any stretch, but does do a good job of showing what unschoolers usually believe and what their lives might look like, though it’s really outdated technology-wise at this point. I do agree with the idea that kids learn better when they’re interested in something, and I definitely want my kids to love learning and to have some ownership over what they focus on. But. I don’t think I have it in me to be quite this hands-off about everything. I guess what this book has taught me is that I may be…unschooler adjacent? I dunno. I think I’m just gonna describe myself as an eclectic minimalist instead.
April 10, 2018
Being published in 1998, some of what's mentioned in this book is now out-of-date, but the basic sentiments and suggestions are timeless. I found this book insightful and encouraging as a homeschool parent and am glad to have it as part of my library so I can refer back to it again and again. My favorite parts of this book were the contributions from unschooling families. It's comforting to read about other people experiencing the ups and downs of this journey.
June 7, 2018
I think this books biggest drawback is that it’s not what I expected. It’s not a handbook so much as it’s a collection of what other parents and children think about unschooling. There are some useful resources at the end of each chapter but that’s about all I got from it. If you’re considering homeschooling and you’re trying to decide on an approach I’d not discourage you from checking this book out from a library but it’s not one that requires a permanent spot on your resource shelf.
February 17, 2022
This book was meandering and unhelpful. There are some big assumptions made about the audience and their wealth and privilege. Traveling the world for pleasure is certainly educational, but is out of reach for most Americans. Accepting a lower quality of living and just being a high-paid single mother are also pretty poor recommendations for trying to woo people to homeschooling in general and unschooling specifically.
August 30, 2022
This book has Certainly helped me to reinforce what I knew deep inside me.
Kids are wonderful creatures and we, as parents, should make sure to nourish their curiosities and help them to be the best version of themselves. I am not sure if I would ever be confident enough to totally unschool my children but homeschooling it feels good enough atm. Thanks for the wonderful work you put out there. Love from Italy
Kids are wonderful creatures and we, as parents, should make sure to nourish their curiosities and help them to be the best version of themselves. I am not sure if I would ever be confident enough to totally unschool my children but homeschooling it feels good enough atm. Thanks for the wonderful work you put out there. Love from Italy
March 19, 2021
Anemic introduction to unschooling philosophy, practice and ideas.
Maybe as a light easy blue pill to the hardened traditional schooler this might serve some value but feels dated, limited, narrow. Better resources exist for unschooling philosophy, education with holistic humanistic, scientific and full encompassing resources for parents/children on non traditional paths.
Maybe as a light easy blue pill to the hardened traditional schooler this might serve some value but feels dated, limited, narrow. Better resources exist for unschooling philosophy, education with holistic humanistic, scientific and full encompassing resources for parents/children on non traditional paths.
July 12, 2017
Good book on unschooling. It really filled in some major blanks that I had on whether this was a good fit for our family. I'm still looking to do something a bit more structured and not child-led. But there were some very good points in here for families new to homeschooling like us.
August 30, 2017
Many of the specific resources are outdated, but the overall gist of the book is still excellent today. As a homeschooling mom, this was a great book to get general ideas for how to adapt our practices to more 'life as education' and less 'school at home'.
July 4, 2019
Good overview and options of ways to address issues within unschooling. However, not super current (talks about VCRs and email chains). Reminds me of 'idiots guide to xxxx' style book; not bad, but general. I did like all the individual examples.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews