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This book explores the history of the unschooling movement and the forces shaping the trajectory of the movement in current times. As an increasing number of families choose to unschool, it becomes important to further study this philosophical and educational movement. It is also essential to ascribe theory to the movement, to gain greater understanding of its workings as well as to increase the legitimacy of unschooling itself. In this book, Riley provides a useful overview of the unschooling movement, grounding her study in the choices and challenges facing families as they consider different paths towards educating their children outside of traditional school systems.
Consequences of the ongoing pandemic have seriously affected educational systems in the U.S. and around the world. School closures and the opportunities or nightmares of remote learning have caused many parents to reconsider options for schooling their children. Alternatives to going back to conventional school are currently hot topics, strongly motivated by growing racism and the social bullying that confront many youngsters and teens in today’s school environment. (New Yorker Magazine, June 21, 2021, "The Rise of Black Homeschooling.") Jean Nunnally’s memoir of her trials and triumphs in unschooling her two children from birth to college provides an enlightening insight into the innate learning ability of humans, showing how self-esteem, trust and personal responsibility were preserved and strengthened for herself and her kids. "Unschooling," the author says, "is the way we have learned throughout time and the way adults learn when they are free to pursue their interests." Her book gives an overview of unschooling or self-directed learning, but so much more. Jean not only did the work, but her son and daughter are proof that unschooling works. They were each accepted in and graduated from prestigious U.S. colleges and testify, in personal reflections at the end of the narrative, to the happiness and fulfillment of their elementary and high school years following their passions, their hobbies, their music, their dreams, often in stark contrast to the struggles with traditional forms their peers were required to submit to. Those unfamiliar with this unique educational approach, a subset of homeschooling, often argue from misunderstandings of the process. “What about socializing with their peers?” “Do I have to be a trained teacher?” they ask. Success Without School offers Nunnally’s disputation of these and other popular myths surrounding the subject. Along the way, Jean Nunnally points out aspects of her own transformation from a traditional background and a corporate career to the lesser traveled path of alternative education. She explains how her view of school changed, and changed her, as she proceeded to unschool her children. She leaves the reader with an encouraging description of the three jobs of an unschooling parent―exposure, facilitation, and modeling; and offers her unique approach to preparing an unschooled teen for college, and the specific challenges that required.
When early childhood and elementary teacher Marta Obiols Llistar became disappointed with her local school system, she took action. Disillusioned with the so-called normal life, she embarked on a journey into a new life of unknowns. This is her story. In her memoir, 18: An Unschooling Experience, Obiols tells of her endeavor to unschool her three children until the eldest turned 18.
Children are born full of curiosity, eager to participate in the world. They learn as they live, with enthusiasm and joy. Then we send them to school. We stop them from playing and actively exploring their interests, telling them it's more important to sit still and listen. The result is that for many children, their motivation to learn drops dramatically. The joy of the early years is replaced with apathy and anxiety. This is not inevitable. We are socialised to believe that schooling is synonymous with education, but it's only one approach. Self-directed education puts the child back in control of their learning. This enables children, including those diagnosed with special educational needs, to flourish in their own time and on their own terms. It enables us to put wellbeing at the centre of education. Changing Our Minds brings together research, theory and practice on learning. It includes interviews with influential thinkers in the field of self-directed education and examples from families alongside practical advice. This essential guide will give you an understanding of why self-directed education makes sense, how it works, and what to do to put it into action yourself.
Education has become synonymous with schooling, but it doesn't have to be. As schooling becomes increasingly standardized and test driven, occupying more of childhood than ever before, parents and educators are questioning the role of schooling in society. Many are now exploring and creating alternatives. In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children need to be taught in order to learn. They are parents who saw firsthand how schooling can dull children's natural curiosity and exuberance and others who decided early on to enable their children to learn without school. Educators who left public school classrooms discuss launching self-directed learning centers to allow young people's innate learning instincts to flourish, and entrepreneurs explore their disillusionment with the teach-and-test approach of traditional schooling.
Because the real world is the best education. High school can be boring. High school curriculum can be frustrating and out of touch. So what is the answer for young people whose creativity, bright ideas, and boundless energy are being stifled in that over-scheduled and grade-driven environment? What would you do if you could go to college without going to high school? Would you travel abroad, spend late nights writing a novel, volunteer in an emergency room, or build your own company? What dreams would you be pursuing right now? College Without High School shows how independent teens can self-design their high school education by becoming unschooled. Students begin by defining their goals and dreams and then pursue them through a combination of meaningful and engaging adventures. It is possible to pursue your dreams, and gain admission to any college of your choice. Boles shows how to fulfill college admission requirements by proving five preparatory results: intellectual passion, leadership, logical reasoning, background knowledge, and the capacity for structured learning. He then offers several suggestions for life-changing, confidence-building adventures that will demonstrate those results. This intriguing approach to following your dreams and doing college prep on your own terms will be welcomed by students (and their parents).
ELLEgirl, the international style bible for girls who dare to be different, is published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., and is accessible on the web at ellegirl.elle.com/. ELLEgirl provides young women with insider information on fashion, beauty, service and pop culture in a voice that, while maintaining authority on the subject, includes and amuses them.
Generation Y has grown up in an age of the brand, bombarded by name products. In Branded, Alissa Quart illuminates the unsettling new reality of marketing to teenagers, as well as the quieter but no less worrisome forms of teen branding: the teen consultants who work for corporations in exchange for product; the girls obsessed with cosmetic surgery who will do anything to look like women on TV; and those teens simply obsessed with admission into a name-brand college. We also meet the pockets of kids attempting to turn the tables on the cocksure corporations that so cynically strive to manipulate them. Chilling, thought-provoking, even darkly amusing, Branded brings one of the most disturbing and least talked about results of contemporary business and culture to the fore-and ensures that we will never look at today's youth the same way again.
