Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom

by Kerry McDonald, Peter Gray PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641600637
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	444,711
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kerry McDonald is an education policy writer whose articles have appeared in Forbes, Newsweek, NPR, Reason, Education Next, City Journal, and Natural Mother and Green Child magazines, among others. She has a BA in economics from Bowdoin College, a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and is a board member at the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. The mother of four never-been-schooled children, McDonald lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and blogs at WholeFamilyLearning.com. Peter Gray, PhD, is a research professor in Boston College’s Department of Psychology.
 

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xiii

1 Playing School 1

2 What Is Unschooling? 23

3 The Roofs of Unschooling 47

4 Childhood Isn't What It Used to Be 67

5 Natural Literacy and Numeracy 91

6 Tech-Enabled Unschooling 115

7 Unschooling Resource Centers 141

8 Unschooling Schools 157

9 Unschooled Teens 177

10 Out-of-School Unschooling 201

11 An Unschooled Future 219

Acknowledgments 233

Additional Resources 235

Notes 239

Selected Bibliography 257

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

03/18/2019

McDonald, a board member of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, issues a passionate but unconvincing treatise for “self-directed education” outside of a formal school structure. She paints an appealing picture of how her own “four never-been-schooled” kids thrived by being allowed to pursue their personal interests. But McDonald doesn’t show how what worked in her household, and those of others, can apply to everyone’s, especially for less affluent or single parents without ample resources and time. She is most effective at providing historical context, tracing how the current educational system developed beginning in the mid-19th century, when public education became mandatory and the responsibility for educating the young shifted away from the family. McDonald contends that though “children are natural learners... born with the drive to explore and synthesize their world,” the U.S. “industrial model of schooling” extinguishes this drive. However, she pays little attention to the likelihood that her movement could widen the divide between the haves and have-nots, and offers no middle ground between educational regimentation and self-direction. As a result, her strongly argued book is unlikely to sway even those parents in sympathy with her general philosophy but who are in no position to buck the system. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Kerry McDonald is leagues ahead of the rest of the education reform community. This book demonstrates why. McDonald’s robust evidence of high-quality education without schooling forces us to consider something that makes everyone feel very uncomfortable: our system of compulsory schooling may do more harm than good.” —Corey DeAngelis, author of Doing More with Less and The School Choice Voucher

"This book is a reassuring read that not only delves into the history of unschooling, but also practical advice on how it can be implemented.” —Book Riot


“Kerry McDonald’s Unschooled is a remarkable overview of the growing grassroots movement away from institutionalized education and toward self-directed learning in our homes and communities.” —Patrick Farenga, author of Teach Your Own and publisher of Growing Without Schooling magazine and www.HoltGWS.com
 


“Whether you’re currently unschooling, curious about unschooling, or simply know that something’s not right with the institutionalized educational model, Kerry McDonald’s Unschooled is an invaluable resource. To read it is to realize just how rich education can be.” —Ben Hewitt, author of Home Grown
 


“This well-researched, inspiring book clearly demonstrates that self-directed education supports each person’s innate curiosity and drive to learn. While the form it takes is unique to the individual, experience shows it typically fosters confidence, community engagement, and an abiding love of learning. Hope is right here in these pages.” —Laura Grace Weldon, author of Free Range Learning
 


“Unschooled manages to offer everything: a coherent history lesson, fascinating profiles, an explanation of how self-directed learning works, and an overview of innovative programs, all delivered in a lively, encouraging voice.” —Grace Llewellyn, author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook and Guerrilla Learning
 


“This book makes a compelling case for giving kids back their brains, time, curiosity, drive—and joy!” —Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow and founder of Free-Range Kids 
 


“Unschooled is a wonderful book, enviably balanced between rock-solid data and warm-hearted stories about real families and real young people who have flourished outside our country’s factory-inspired school systems. It’s not the first book to see how bright and interesting the world can be outside the soiled—and, these days, often barred—windows of America’s schools, but it’s fresh, convincing, and clearly written.” —Robert Epstein, PhD, senior research psychologist, American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, and author of Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence


“There’s benefit for almost anyone in America reading this…Unschooled is easily one of the best books I’ve read this decade.” —Titus 2 Homemaker

From the Publisher