The number of homeschooling families has grown in recent years, along with the number of methods for learning at home. In this timely book, you’ll meet diverse families that are engaging in the day-to-day work of a variety of approaches, including self-directed learning, unschooling, nature-based education, farmschooling, wildschooling, and worldschooling. Chapters and interludes are written by scholars and families engaged in this work, who show how their approaches take a balanced, slower-paced, and nature-minded approach to learning, nourishing the child’s heart and brain. They also address common critiques of homeschooling and show how it is something that can be normalized and encouraged as a positive educational tool, helping families bond and live life to the fullest. Each chapter includes practical applications you can use right away in your own journey. Simultaneously inspirational and practical, this book will help guide and motivate those who are either considering or already homeschooling to see the possibilities of what learning and education can truly be.

"Wildschooling" is a progressive parenting philosophy which encourages the creativity, curiosity, and joy that children naturally express. It is different from homeschooling in that children are not forced to follow a curriculum and take tests. The focus of the unschooling philosophy is trust of a child's own ability to learn without coercion and encourages children to explore their passions. The parent's role is to facilitate their interests and curiosity. This book focuses also on the evolutionary aspect of parenting and human consciousness. We are facilitating our children's innate potential to succeed in a joyful, productive life by pursuing their passions, and not someone else's agenda. Our goal is to keep encouraging the creativity, curiosity and joy that children naturally express. We focus on child-led, inquiry based experiences and projects, drawing inspiration and opportunities for growth from every day life. The goal here is to get up and get out into our community and out of our shell. Providing the time and space for lots of free, unstructured play. We look to nature as our primary platform for knowledge, reflection, and discovery. This is the beginning of a great adventure for my family, but my hope is that it is also the start of something larger that connects us all. I would love to see you there. Let's grow wild together!

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.

Creative ways to use the garden to inspire learning, for kids ages 4-8 Packed with garden-based activities that promote science, math, reading, writing, imaginative play, and arts and crafts, The Garden Classroom offers a whole year of outdoor play and learning ideas—however big or small your garden. Every garden offers children a rich, sensory playground, full of interesting things to discover and learn about. There's a whole lot of science happening right before their eyes. The garden can also be a place to develop math and literacy skills, as the outdoors offers up plenty of invitations to weave learning into everyday gardening. The garden classroom is a place where plants grow, and where children grow too.

Structured around the 4 seasons, this guide to outdoor learning and activities is packed with kids games, crafts, and skills to encourage your young ones to get outdoors—come rain, shine, or snow. The Forest School ethos of nature-based play and learning encourages children to develop confidence, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence—and it’s exactly what’s needed in an era when childhood problems such as obesity and anxiety are on the rise. Building on the success of the bestselling Play the Forest School Way, here is a brilliant selection of brand-new games, crafts, and activities to get kids developing new skills and exploring the natural world all year round. Structured around the four seasons of the year, each chapter is full of step-by-step games and activities that harmonize with the weather and seasonal nature patterns, including nods to seasonal festivals such as Easter and Christmas. Activities include: Spring: Nettle Soup; Wood-cookie-Man; Earth Day Birthday Cake; Dandelion and Lime Tea Summer: Bark Masks; Blackberry Ink and Feather Quill Pens; Nature Watch; Animal Tag Autumn: Evergreen Paintbrush; Baked Apples; Den Building; Leaf Stitching Winter: Elf Carving; Compass Treasure Hunt; Charcoal Pencils; Animal Track Casts At Forest School, children return to the same location again and again, building a lasting connection with a specific part of the natural world. Each of the four seasonal chapters in A Year of Forest School includes a description of an extended session (combining active and quieter activities, plus an idea for foraging/cooking), capturing this key part of Forest School play and providing inspiration for parties, themed learning days, and outdoor adventures.

The Rainbow Seed is a Waldorf Wildschooling story about a child who finds a magical seed from the very last rainbow tree. It's a story about wonder, nature's treasures and what can happen when we plant a seed and nurture things to grow.

Allow your children to experience the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood with this practical guide that provides all the information, inspiration, and advice you need for creating a modern, quality homeschool education. Inspired by the spirit of Henry David Thoreau—”All good things are wild and free”—mother of five Ainsley Arment founded Wild + Free. This growing online community of mothers and families want their children to receive a quality education at home by challenging their intellectual abilities and nurturing their sense of curiosity, joy and awe—the essence of a positive childhood. The homeschool approach of past generations is gone—including the stigma of socially awkward kids, conservative clothes, and a classroom setting replicated in the home. The Wild + Free movement is focused on a love of nature, reading great books, pursuing interests and hobbies, making the entire world a classroom, and prolonging the wonder of childhood, an appealing philosophy that is unpacked in the pages of this book The Call of the Wild and Free offers advice, information, and positive encouragement for parents considering homeschooling, those currently in the trenches looking for inspiration, as well as parents, educators, and caregivers who want supplementary resources to enhance their kids’ traditional educations.