An excellent resource
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I recommend this book to all people new to home schooling. It is enlightening and very freeing. When I first read it, despite all the case studies, I was sceptical as to whether unschooling could work. But as my daughters have grown I am continually amazed by their inate ability to teach themselves and to soak up information from me and from elsewhere when they are ready for and interested in it, even if it is far above their "grade level". I keep coming back to this book to remind me that it is OK to let them grow intellectually and discover the world by themselves, in their own way, at their own pace and when they are ready. It makes for very happy families and I'm now convinced that unschooling makes the most sense as an educational philosophy, to me at least!
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Life will never be dull again
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I ordered half a dozen books on home education when I first got curious about it, and this is the first one I read. At first I thought it was a bit out there, it relies on having a lot of trust in your child's natural desire to learn, and I wasn't sure I was up to it. I remembered being forced to do homework, the fear and loathing of assignments, the drudgery -- how could I expect my child to WANT to do it all for the joy of it? I read the other books, then came back to this one and realized that it was the one strategy book that made the most sense. Based on this book, supporting documentation in other books, and the personal results of hundreds of home ed families (in online groups), child-led "unschooling" is the most effective for the kids and the easiest method on the parents. We're now dedicated to it, and it's wonderful. And the best part is that we almost never hear "I'm bored" because he knows how to fill his time with interesting things for himself. Read the others, John Holt in particular, but come back to this. You'll never regret it.
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