School is one option for education; homeschooling is the second, and unschooling is the third. Many parents are frustrated by the school system, perhaps because of bullying, crowded classrooms, and outdated, dull, online courses. Disengaged learners that have no say in their coerced curriculum tend to act out, tune out, or drop out. Education must change and unschooling is the fastest-growing alternative method of learning. Two decades ago, students registered with their local school based on their house address. Now, with the internet, students are borderless. Learning can occur anywhere, anytime, anyway and from anyone-including self-taught. Self-directing their education, unschoolers learn through: - Play - Projects - Reading - Volunteering - Video games - Sports - Mentorship - Travel - Life This book explores the path of 30 unschooled children who self-directed all or part of their education and were accepted by universities, colleges, and other postsecondary schools. Most have already graduated. What children need most are close relationships-parents, teachers, siblings, relatives, coaches, and mentors within a wider community, not just within an institutional school. Educational content is everywhere. Caring relationships are not. Families that embrace unschooling, do not have to choose between a quality education and a relaxed, connected family lifestyle. They can have both.

This book explores the history of the unschooling movement and the forces shaping the trajectory of the movement in current times. As an increasing number of families choose to unschool, it becomes important to further study this philosophical and educational movement. It is also essential to ascribe theory to the movement, to gain greater understanding of its workings as well as to increase the legitimacy of unschooling itself. In this book, Riley provides a useful overview of the unschooling movement, grounding her study in the choices and challenges facing families as they consider different paths towards educating their children outside of traditional school systems.

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.

Unschooling isn't a technique - it's living and learning naturally, lovingly, and respectfully together. The Unschooling Unmanual features 11 essays by 8 writers: Nanda Van Gestel, Jan Hunt, Daniel Quinn, Rue Kream, Kim Houssenloge, Earl Stevens, and Mary Van Doren. Through engaging personal stories, examples, and essays, the writers offer inspiration and encouragement for seasoned and prospective unschoolers alike. This 2nd edition now includes Jan Hunt's Ten Tips for New Unschooling Parents. ''A concise, readable and accessible manifesto for natural learning and trust in children, The Unschooling Unmanualbrings together contributions from eight authors in eleven very readable essays. The Unmanual is a great introduction to learning and unschooling for people coming from an educational perspective... at the same time it can be an invaluable confidence booster for people already on an unschooling journey.'' - Arun Pradhan, The Parenting Pit ''The Unschooling Unmanual is a unique and empowering book about the growing trend of unschooling. It is the book to give to doubtful or fearing partners and family as well as anyone considering or interested in this life.'' - Dayna Martin, Unschooling America

This volume explores unschooling as a growing phenomenon within the broader field of home education and considers the unique position of parents who engage in this self-directed form of education with their children. Drawing on an in-depth hermeneutic phenomenological study, the volume investigates the double consciousness of parents as they balance the costs/benefits of unschooling and navigate the roles of leading/following and parenting/teaching in the education and upbringing of their children. The author conceptualizes unschooling in the context of curriculum theory and situates it within the larger home education movement. By highlighting the fluctuating, (un)divided position that parents assume, the volume examines how learning and living are rendered inseparable in unschooling, thereby revealing unschoolers’ experience of a curriculum of learning-through-living. This book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars, and postgraduates working across the fields of curriculum studies, parenting and family studies, and the sociology of education.

No one is immune to the byproducts of compulsory schooling and standardized testing. And while reform may be a worthy cause for some, it is not enough for countless others still trying to navigate the tyranny of what schooling has always been. Raising Free People argues that we need to build and work within systems truly designed for any human to learn, grow, socialize, and thrive, regardless of age, ability, background, or access to money. Families and conscious organizations across the world are healing generations of school wounds by pivoting into self-directed, intentional community-building, and Raising Free People shows you exactly how unschooling can help facilitate this process. Individual experiences influence our approach to parenting and education, so we need more than the rules, tools, and “bad adult” guilt trips found in so many parenting and education books. We need to reach behind our behaviors to seek and find our triggers; to examine and interrupt the ways that social issues such as colonization still wreak havoc on our ability to trust ourselves, let alone children. Raising Free People explores examples of the transition from school or homeschooling to unschooling, how single parents and people facing financial challenges unschool successfully, and the ways unschooling allows us to address generational trauma and unlearn the habits we mindlessly pass on to children. In these detailed and unabashed stories and insights, Richards examines the ways that her relationships to blackness, decolonization, and healing work all combine to form relationships and enable community-healing strategies rooted in an unschooling practice. This is how millions of families center human connection, practice clear and honest communication, and raise children who do not grow up to feel that they narrowly survived their childhoods.