The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education | Grace Llewellyn | Heartwrenching and inspiring simultaneously

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The Teenage Libera...

	The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education Grace Llewellyn Lowry House Pub, 1998 - 435 pages average customer review:based on 86 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An important book, despite some flaws

Are you thinking about home-schooling or un-schooling but still have some doubts? Then read this book. I wish I had read it in time.

My parents and I talked off and on about homeschooling from the 7th grade on, but always rejected it for one reason or another.
First we feared I would lose all social content, then my mother was scared off by all the work she would have to do to "teach" me, and when I got to high school we dismissed home-schooling altogether, since you "have to" have a high school diploma and do normal high school course work to go to college. After I finally escaped from high school by graduating a year early, I asked my parents if I could take a year off before college. My intention was to do some self-study and just figure out more of what I wanted. They immediately said no. I wonder if, had they read this book, they might have answered differently.

After reading Llewellyn's book, I realize none of our reasons for rejecting homeschooling were valid. I was a smart, self-motivated teenager who hated school. Had I "unschooled," I believe my high-school years would have much happier, as well as more intellectually productive.

With all that said, this book is not flawless. The writing isn't great, and Llewellyn has a tendency to descend into heavy-handed mystical metaphors. Skip the first chapter with the "fruit" story on the first read, as it may turn you off reading the rest of the book. The tone of the book also strikes me as (ironically) somewhat condescending. Although Llewellyn was only 26 when she wrote this, she comes off as a slightly out-of-touch Baby Boomer who is trying too hard to be "relatable" to teenagers.

Still, I highly recommend this book. It will change the way you think about school, and if you decide to un-school, it is chock-full of great ideas and resources for furthering your intellectual development.

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Heartwrenching and inspiring simultaneously

When I first read TLH, I wanted to cry, because I remembered the amount of stress school placed on me, on my relationship with my parents, and on my self-esteem. I'm the mother of three children, and I plan on homeschooling/unschooling my two youngest.

People have criticized me for wanting to homeschool, because I won't be "socializing" my children properly. Remembering the anti-social wreck I was after a few years of being ostracized, mocked, and beaten - and talking to my friends and family who have also gone to public school - I wonder what sort of advantages anyone could see in that particular type of "socialization". (The people I know who did "well" in high school social circles... they're not happy now, nor successful. Go figure.)

My memories of actually learning in school are few and far between, and are mostly thanks to a sparse handful of dedicated teachers who treated me as though I had an intellect rather than a box into which they must shove rote knowledge.

If my children decide someday that they want to attend public school, I'll allow them - and I'll allow them to stop if they realize that it's not feeding their already intense desire to learn everything they can.

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...with some conditions...

Yes, I love this book...even though its meant for teens and not their parents (a small chapter in the beginning is written for parents).

This book is more for the young person who has decided, on his or her own, to learn without going to school. Some of this is help on how to convince your parents, some of it is ideas on what and how to study.

But most of the kids I know who might have the 'out of school' idea and want to act upon it, do so because of parents who have encouraged their kids to think and behave as if they were...well..intelligent human beings.

I do think this book is for parents, too. This is the book that made me rethink what I am doing, in realizing homeschooling is an option when you're not thrilled with how your kid is doing in school.

When I first started reading, I was still thinking in terms of rating my son's grades (he did C work with an A brain). But now I've had to rethink my logic -- what do I want for him? Memorized data so he can get A's or a love of learning, a discovery of his passions, an opening of opportunities.

There are chapters about each of the conventional school topics - filled with ideas and thoughts about how to think outside the box in coming up with learning about these topics, without necessarily using textbooks (Math is the exception to not using text books).

I would NOT recommend turning this over to a kid who has been in the public school system for all of his learning years. I WOULD recommend that those wanting to homeschool use this book as another source book for ideas and support in homeschooliing or unschooling.

This is also not recommended for parents who prefer a more structured learning environment.

We will probably take another look at this in a year or two, depending on how this next year goes for us.

Wish us good fortune! Meanwhile, parents should read this book, even if they aren't comfortable with having their teens take over their own education, read it and learn!

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Excellent.

This book basically sums up what I've always suspected. I always knew I was smarter as a teenager, before I was brainwashed. I've always said that formal education has gotten in the way of my learning anything. Aside from reading, and writing--my most useful skills were taught to me by...myself. High school and college never seemed to teach me career skills. I love this book. I wish I had the courage to follow its advice. I am definitely going to allow my future children to "unschool."

Teeneage LIberation Handbook: how to quit school and get a real life education

I am using many of the suggestions in this book to teach my daugther. She will be job-shadowing, writing reports, working on a farm, many different things to educate her in the 'real world' besides continuing her homeschooling.

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