The Books on Unschooling Moving Through My Hands Lately

Unschooling.  It's on my mind.  It's on the tablet reader.  It's on our bookshelves.  It's on our tongues.  The more you read the more you open yourself up; the more you open yourself up, the more likely you will experience paradigm shifts that rock your world.  I find this whole process to be terribly exciting! I've experienced three major shifts in the past few years, mainly due to reading, thoughtful contemplation and a strong desire to be true to the best parts of myself.

As a homeschooling parent I really want to be true to the best parts of my son, too!  Unschooling serves that endeavor well.  Here are the books that have passed through my hands lately about schooling/unschooling:

The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn

By far the book that left the biggest impression on me with respect to unschooling.  

The Reader's Odyssey by Dena M. Luchsinger

It's been fun assessing the teenager's favorite genres and interests and then hunting for books that might intrigue him.  I've filled a big shelf with fiction, mysteries, how-to books, science fiction, classics, comics, adventure stories, etc.  If he doesn't end up reading them, his dad and I are certainly set for awhile!  Today at a used book store I picked up an Isaac Asimov and a Frank Herbert - both science fiction giants.  The goal is to read widely and WILDLY.  And the hunt is kind of fun, too!

Free to Learn by Pam Laricchia

Free to Live by Pam Laricchia

Guerrilla Learning by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver

101 Reasons by Ps Pirro

It quickly becomes clear that the author does NOT like traditional schooling and she doesn't separate that distaste from her writing; some of her 101 reasons are snarky because she's trying to drive the point home.  You can read around the edges without getting hurt and take out of the book what means the most to you.

 Viral Learning by Mary Griffith

And I haven't even gotten to John Holt yet!  I much prefer when the author rises above bashing traditional schooling and focuses on the possibilities and positives that result from unschooling.  So many people don't know what unschooling really is and looks like, thus they may react viscerally to hearing that a child is being unschooled; they may equate it with neglect or extremism.  Saying the word, "vegan", can generate much the same response sometimes....... a horrified look, a wan smile and then a cloud of dust as the person scurries off in the other direction!

Unschooling is a joyful, stimulating, interesting, refreshing, soul-saving way of looking at and living life.  Go ahead!  Read more about it :).

Here are a few more books about homeschooling/unschooling on a Pinterest board of mine.