The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn

I'll still give her book for parents ('Guerilla Learning') a shot and see if I can get a more balanced view. This book is written specifically for teenagers, and the extreme tone of the book makes me wonder if the author isn't trying a bit too hard to be 'the cool adult' by using such anti-school invective. I know of many examples where such is the case, and for the author to deny those individuals their positive experience and their personal integrity is disrespectful in the least. There are a lot of things about the unschooling philosophy which I like (allow a child to pursue her interests without rigidly insisting on precisely what she learns when, allow the child's natural rhythms to determine the day's schedule, etc.) Unfortunately, the author essentially proclaims that anyone who would choose traditional school over unschooling is either an idiot, brainwashed, or a willing slave to the will of 'the authorities.' She refuses to allow for a situation where a child actually thrives in the traditional environment, where a child can be a creative & independent thinker in traditional school. The author is a proponent of 'unschooling,' a radical form of homeschooling which has no formal structure but merely relies on the student's own curiosity for direction. However because the author's position is so stridently anti-school, it is difficult to extract the valuable information from what reads as propaganda. It describes how the traditional school system can actually thwart the natural desire for learning all children have and hinder their ability to learn. This is a very provocative book with an interesting perspective on traditional 'institutionalized' schooling.

and Unschoolers everywhere! Keep the Truth! and make Beautiful Lives Stretching across the land like wildflowers dancing in the wind/sunshine. and that is to foster a true Love of Learning and Beautifully Inspired Minds. Our culture so often misses the point of education. Einstein failed Math! ! ! Some of the great Japanese master poets could not spell correctly! It's not about being a computer andriod of memory or an intellectual elitist. Compulsive - Memorization-style education is not for everyone. No profession has changed so little as the way we choose to educate ourselves. I feel I owe a lot to this book, the love of learning it inspires, the truth it speaks, and the community it creates.

A big deal and trip for a poor Kentucky boy. Became her friend.and worked at her Not Back To School Camp in Oregon State. that one day I got off the school bus, walked past the school house, and NEVER went back.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn