Editorial Review

You won't find this book on a school library shelf--it's pure teenage anarchy. While many homeschooling authors hem and haw that learning at home isn't for everyone, this manifesto practically tells kids they're losers if they do otherwise. With the exception of a forwarding note to parents, this book is written entirely for teenagers, and the first 75 pages explain why school is a waste of time. Grace Llewellyn insists that people learn better when they are self-motivated and not confined by school walls. Instead of homeschooling, which connotes setting up a school at home, Llewellyn prefers "unschooling," a learning method with no structure or formal curriculum. There are tips here you won't hear from a school guidance counselor. Llewellyn urges kids to take a vacation--at least for a week--after quitting school to purge its influence. "Throw darts at a picture of your school" or "Make a bonfire of old worksheets," she advises. She spends an entire chapter on the gentle art of persuading parents that this is a good idea. Then she gets serious. Llewellyn urges teens to turn off the TV, get outside, and turn to their local libraries, museums, the Internet, and other resources for information. She devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, math, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that, contrary to what they've been told in school, they won't be flipping burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out.Read more

Reviews (70)

let freedom ring
"She had the ambition of Napoleon and the talent of your average high school valedictorian."
Life Changing
So much of schooling undermines true learning, and as a schooling mom of three who did homeschool for a few years, I think that it is vital for us to wake up, even one person at a time, to this reality.
Very interesting, even from someone who will never quit school...
I picked this up during the summer, after realizing that after my (then) two-week-long attempt at learning German I was at the same level as I had been in French after my entire first YEAR of it.
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Subjects:  1. Careers    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    3. Dropouts    4. Education    5. Experimental Methods    6. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    7. Home Schooling    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Non-formal education    10. School & Education    11. Self-culture    12. United States    13. Educational & careers guidance    14. Schools   

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Education - Teaching Methods    2. Home Schooling    3. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling    4. Teaching Methods & Materials - Language Arts   

Reviews (6)

Not a MUST buy, but still a good read ...
I really enjoyed reading about other families from different backgrounds and how they make homeschooling work for them. While the families did not give a lot of information on the curriculum they used, they did share information on why they homeschool and how they feel about structure and socialization. This is a book I would share with someone considering homeschool but were worried about making it work into their lifestyle. Though not a book I would reach to continually for advice, I did learn some tips and tricks while reading that I have implented into our own homeschool routine. If you see it at the library and you have time to fit in an extra read, I would recommend this book.

A Good Cross-section of Homeschool Families
I enjoyed reading about the different families represented. One of the best aspects of the book is the inclusion of each family's recommended reference books, as well as their favorite and least-favorite advice they'd received.Regarding the reference books:Whenever I felt a connection with one of the families I'd then look to see if I'd read their book recommendations.It was a great way to explore where each family was going with their thoughts.I agree with one of the other reviewers, though, in that there is sort of a detached approach to each family's chapter.Some families I found interesting and a few I did not.But rather than the dry, Here They Are presentation, I would have liked to have been taken further into the families' emotional attachments...how they arrived at the decisions emotionally.One does not buck such a strong system on a whim.Overall, though, a very good read.For anyone considering homeschooling, or for newbies looking for other ideas, this is a very good reference book.I'll be keeping this one!

Excellent Homeschool Resource
I highly recommend this book for anyone considering homeschooling. It is filled with refreshing and inspiring stories of other homeschooling families that are all from different faiths and backgrounds. I applaud their courage to homeschool when it is the acceptable thing to stick your kids in school and thank them for their inspiration. Their stories reinforce my decision to homeschool my daughter. Most of all, I thank Rhonda Barfield for bringing their stories to everyone. This is an excellent and necessary read for anyone considering homeschooling! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Home Schooling    5. Non-Formal Education    6. United States    7. Education / Home Schooling    8. Educational systems    9. Open learning & distance education   

Subjects:  1. Children's Baby - Education    2. Children: Grades 1-2    3. Home Schooling   

Reviews (3)

Great information for any parent or teacher
This is such a great book that I checked it out of the library twice and finally decided I had to have it.
Nice, but this book IS part of "The Three R's"
"The Three R's" is a collection of the three little Beechick books, "An Easy Start in Arithmetic", "A Strong Start in Language", and "A Home Start in Reading". A Common Sense Approach to Language
This book is the only book you'll need to teach language to your primary school-aged child(ren). Ms. Beechick wrote textbooks and taught in the public schools. She has some very educated ideas about how children learnand shares them with us in this book, the two others that go with thisseries, and You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully (for grades 4-8). Thisbook and the others I mentioned are very practical. If you had only thesebooks you could use them extensively, along with your library, and yourchild would get an excellent education through the eighth grade. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Kindergarten    2. Elementary    3. Home Schooling    4. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling   

Subjects:  1. Audio: Juvenile    2. Children's Audio - Language    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Foreign Language Study - General    5. Home Schooling    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Children's and Educational    8. ELT audio-visual (video & audio cassettes)    9. English    10. Modern language learning material    11. Open learning & distance education   

Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. General    3. Home Schooling    4. Problems & Exercises    5. Professional - General    6. Study Aids    7. Study Guides    8. Test Prep   

Editorial Review

Despite their growing numbers, many homeschoolers still find their experience somewhat isolating. This collection of short biographies aims to alleviate some of that loneliness. While the stories profile modern-day homeschool grads and students, famous homeschooled personalities from the past are offered up early in the book for historical inspiration. John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, photographer Ansel Adams, poet Robert Frost, and songwriter Irving Berlin join the long list dug up by author Linda Dobson. And just in case there were any doubts that fame has eluded today's homeschooled, Dobson throws in actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Love Hewitt, the Hanson singer siblings, and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. The people whose stories are told here are successful entrepreneurs, Ivy League students, and athletes, such as Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor and U.S. ski team member Todd Lodwick. But to Dobson's credit, she unearths a healthy array of "regular folk" as well. Their stories are no less interesting and, most importantly, they dispel the notion that homeschooled children are over-the-top achievers and freaks of nature. Among the subjects here are an Arkansas state trooper, a private chef, an art gallery owner, and a Cost Guard Reserve seaman.Read more

Reviews (2)

Encouraging and Exciting!
Linda Dobson's "Homeschoolers' Success Stories" offers an exciting and encouraging picture of the possibile paths and futures of today's homeschoolers. These young people have created hand-made lives; they are carving their own niches in the world. Reading their stories reinforces the hope that homeschooling my children will feed their uniqueness and enable them to make their own, custom, satisfying paths in life. This book would make a great gift for homeschooled teens, as a preview to the places their lives can lead. It would also make a great gift for any homeschooling parent, or even those pesky critical in-laws!

One of the most important books in homeschooling
As a book reviewer with Home Education Magazine, I think this is one of the most important books ever written about homeschooling. When considering homeschooling, people want to know how homeschooling will impact theirkids. The homeschooling movement is coming of age, and we finally have abody of graduates to look to for answers. The answers those graduatesprovide in this book will surprise and enlighten even seasonedhomeschoolers.Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Experimental Methods    5. Home Schooling    6. Politics/International Relations    7. United States    8. Education / Home Schooling   

Reviews (1)

I love this book!
I've been a homeschooling mom for over 6 years now.After using Concerned Communication's A Reason For Writing since the beginning, we stumble on A Reason For Spelling this year.I was tired of "boring" spelling curriculumns, so figured we'd spend the extra $$$ and give this a try.Well, we ALL love it (we're using levels A, C and E for our 1st, 3rd and 5th graders).There is a lot of activities packed into these pages, and you can pretty much pick and choose how much of it you want to do.There are reproducibles in the teachers manuals of additional activities.I'm thinking of using it again next year with all the activities, and I should be able to turn it into our full Language Arts program.One word of warning, DON'T try to use this without the teachers manual, you will be LOST!I find the teacher's manual invaluable! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Home Schooling    2. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling   

Features

• Box set

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Education - Teaching Methods    2. Curricula    3. Education    4. General    5. Home Schooling    6. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling    7. Teaching Methods & Materials - Social Science   

Reviews (6)

Homeschooling High School: Planning Ahead for College Admission
I purchased this book, which was recommended by a home schooling mom, as a resource to refer other home schoolers to.I have not read it as yet myself.I am a consultant to our mission board's MK parents.

This is a Big Help
This book has a lot of Helpful information in it. By reading this book, I have saved myself a lot of time at researching the topics that I found in this book.

A versatile reference for homeschoolers
I was asked to review Jeanne Dennis's book by the publisher because of my interest in helping home schoolers.I've seen the range of questions and concerns home schoolers have shared with each other through email lists and web sites.I feel the book provides many practical ways to systematically prepare for admission to college.As a veteran college admissions officer, I'm glad this book is available for the rapidly growing number of home schoolers forging their paths to college with great independence. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. Education    3. Education, Secondary    4. Home Schooling    5. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling    6. United States    7. Universities and colleges   

Subjects:  1. Calendar    2. Calendars & Diaries    3. Non-Classifiable    4. Education / Home Schooling   

Subjects:  1. Curricula    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Home Schooling    5. Non-Formal Education   

Reviews (5)

terrific resource
Check out this comprehensive "how to" on homeschooling, written by prolific author and homeschooler Ann Lahrson-Fisher. Easy to understand, you can read it from the first page to the last or simply thumb through it, using it as a resource whenever questions come up. There is plenty of information here that will apply to learners of all kinds. The author is a terrific speaker, too, and gives presentations at homeschool workshops around the United States. Go hear her speak if you get a chance!

BestPurchase I have made!
I wish I would have found this book before any others. It was exactly what I needed. It is a wonderful guide to how to teach through real life and with plenty of fun. She gives an extensive list of things in your home that you already have that enrich your childs learning expirience. She talks about making habits in your home. It reminds me of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It sould be called Highly Effective Habits of the Homeschooling Family. It has been such a comfort to me and has given me wonderful new and fresh ideas to add to what I had been doing. She suggests several games that help children learn. I seriously cannot say enough about how much I love this book. It is a breath of fresh air. It isn't telling you that her way is the only way or the best way it is merely stating the fundamentals, the facts, the basics, learning should not be dreaded! Worth Every penny. I only wish it was sold in hard back since I use it so often, Mine has great wear and tear.

Common sense, expertise and heart
Ann Lahrson Fisher's book has proven useful to me in advising new homeschoolers on my email list, and at my website.Homeschooling parents want to know how to help their children in their studies and learning in addition to information provided in textbooks.Ann's book provides it.
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Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Home Schooling    4. Parent Participation    5. United States   

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Education - Teaching Methods    2. Home Schooling    3. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling    4. Teaching Methods & Materials - Science & Technology   

Reviews (1)

Identifies learning problems and teaches parents to help their children.
It's perfectly natural for a young child to not listen and follow directions on occasion...and sometimes you'll notice that it's more often than not :)! But if you notice that your preschool-age child is having real difficulty learning or grasping a new idea or subject, then you, as your child's first teacher, should begin early to correct the problem.
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Subjects:  1. Developmental - Child    2. Education    3. Education, Preschool    4. Home Schooling    5. Parent Participation    6. Preschool & Kindergarten    7. Religion - Christian Education - Home Schooling    8. Child care & upbringing    9. Education / Preschool & Kindergarten    10. Pre-school & kindergarten    11. Psychology | Education   

Reviews (9)

Gentle Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mother
This book is what I would call "gentle encouragement for the homeschooling mother." The book presents the philosophy of Charlotte Mason in the form of a story. The story is of Carol, a stay at home wife/mother/homeschooler in the 1930's. Through the writings of Carol in her diary we follow she and her family during their first year of home education. This book also encorporates the topic of nature study Charlotte Mason style. I found this book to be of gentle encouragment as our family travels the road of home education together.

Sweet Story
This is a sweet story of a young mother (Carol) homeschooling her children in the 1930s United States using methods learned from the writings of Charlotte Mason.The story is presented against the backdrop of family and community life during that time period.There is a quiet ebb and flow to the story I found refreshing and renewing.The story illustrates how naturally and easily homeschooling fits within the lives of the characters.The story also provides examples of how others besides the mother are involved in the homeschool experience: the father, a beloved aunt and uncle, the caretaker at the park, a neighbor, an adopted grandmother...Much of the value of the book is in the parts that are included aside from the story: the lists of recommended readings and the real-life realities behind some of the details included in the story.I have not yet read any other books by this author, but I have visited her website a number of times and have reviewed a book review written by her husband, and I trust the care and thorough thought they seem to put into their efforts.Just relax and read the book without expecting it to be any more or any less than what it is.

Nice read
A little too contrived, but still nice. It was wonderful that I could pick it up and read the chapter in a few minutes. I treated it like a devotional. If only my last spell of unemployment had been solved so easily and so beautifully.Well worth reading if you are a CM fan though. Not nearly as good as her non-fiction works though. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Charlotte Maria),    2. 1842-1923    3. Activity programs    4. Education    5. Elementary    6. Home Schooling    7. Mason, Charlotte M    8. Mason, Charlotte M.    9. Nature study    10. Religion - Educational Resources    11. Teaching Methods & Materials - Science & Technology    12. United States   

Reviews (8)

This really works.
I wanted to pipe in that we have used this and the other Doman books with our 3 children with wonderful success. This book is so easy to follow, and will provide you with many hours of joyful interaction with your child. We started the BITS with my son at 8 months and at 6yrs old he is now doing 5th grade work with ease.

A real eye opener!
This book has its pros and cons to be sure.However, the most important aspect of this book was not the individual facts the author encourages you to teach, but the vast potential he shows each and every child to possess. Your child. My child. The neighbor's child.Despite what others have cometo believe and thus expect from little children, their potential is vast. And the book tells you how children most easily pick up information. BEWARE!
Doman's techniques may work to some extent, but his view on what constitutes "knowledge" is rubbish.Like many simpletons, Doman believes trivia is true knowledge."Bit of intelligence" is hislabel for a piece of trivia, implying that the human being who hasmemorized the most trivia has accumulated the most intelligence.If youwant your child to be a Jeopardy contestant, read this book immediately. If you want your child to be a thinker, don't waste your time and money. Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, despised trivia. Do you want your child to be an Einstein or a Trabek? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child rearing    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Home Schooling    5. Infants    6. Infants & Toddlers - Infants    7. Intellect    8. Intelligence levels    9. Life Stages - Infants & Toddlers/Infants    10. Study and teaching (Preschool)    11. Child care & upbringing   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Handbooks, manuals, etc    3. Home Schooling    4. Home and school    5. Parent Participation    6. Religion - Educational Resources    7. United States   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (7)

Great if you are just getting started
If you've been at it for a while this book will be only minimally helpful. However, if you are going to start homeschooling in the middle years this is the most excellent resource I have found.

Not for unschoolers
I was disappointed reading this book, after enjoing "the early years" by Linda Dobson so much. This book assumes you are going to use some sort of curiculum. If you are interested in UNschooling (aka natural learning) - better get some other book.

This Book is for Beginners Only
I was a little disappointed at how basic the information is in this book.If you are completely new to homeschooling then it would be beneficial, but for those looking for a more content-rich guide with specific curriculum suggestions, this is not the best book to buy.The information is a very general guide to beginning homeschooling and the resource lists are not extensive, but they do include some good recommendations. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Elementary education    4. Experimental Methods    5. Home Schooling    6. Middle school education    7. Education / Home Schooling