The Teenage Liberation Handbook--anyone read it?

[ThisIsTheDay]

Link to the book.

 

Intriguing reviews.

 

Expensive (relatively).

 

Is it dated? (1998)

 

Would it offend conservative me?

 

I don't need to be convinced about hsing; we've done it for ten years and have every intent to see our kids through high school. The older my kids get, the less I believe a college education is the only way to go.

[Scarymelon]

I love that book; I think the concepts are not dated, although some of the concepts about unschooling are widely held, at least in my circles. I found it a very inspiring book. We are not unschooling our kids, but when they reach high school age, I want them to read it.

[sewingmama]

I read it in my 20's. I really liked it and wished I could have been schooled that way. I was in PS all my life -I had never heard of homeschooling or I would have begged my mum to do it (and she wouldn't have let me). :crying:

[Denise in Florida]

I read it and enjoyed it, I also liked her book "Real Lives". We were vaguely unschooly (we blended categories in search of the right balance of things for us :001_smile:)

 

I did not find it hard to translate our experiences into high school transcripts. One dd is in college the other is a high school senior and has been accepted to the schools of her choice and now has to choose.

 

Your comment about whether college is the best path or not is a very hot topic among unschoolers. Many folks don't see the point letting kids explore and teach themselves and then saying but you must get a degree. I think some of the unschool philosophies work very well for people who want to go out on their own as entrepeneurs or run a small business.

 

I am a Christian and politically moderate I was not offended by her writing, your mileage might vary.

[laughing lioness]

Read it, like it. Not offensive. Llewellyn is a Holt groupie. It's kind of along the lines of The New Global Student. Llewellyn Not Back to School Camps for the radically unschooled teen.

[oldskool]

I read it and thought it was okay. Not the direction that I hope to go with our schooling philosophy in general, but did offer interesting ideas and thoughts.

[AuntPol]

I thought she cursed way too much. That turned me off. She sounded very angry and self-righteous and that turned me off.

[5wolfcubs]

Link to a previous thread that contains a link to a free pdf downloa of the book.

 

I enjoyed reading it years ago (10 maybe), but the only thing that still stands out is the fruit story (p 81 of pdf).

 

I tried to get my dd to read it when she started high school. She skimmed it and decided she didn't want to put so much effort into things she really wasn't interested in. She would rather I give her "get 'er done" stuff for required subjects (like math) so that she could put her effort into things she really was interested in.

 

In a way that disappointed me, I wanted her to take hold of her education and soar! But I felt it showed maturity on my dd's part -- knowing how she wanted to invest "her" time verses what the state required. I wonder how she'd react reading it now, at the end of her high school years.

[Kathleen in VA]

I read it a very long time ago. I am extremely conservative, but I am one who can eat the meat and spit out the bones and I found lots of meat in this book. I wish I could remember more details for your sake, but since a pp linked you to a free pdf version I guess it doesn't really matter except for the time-wasting aspect. I am not an unschooler, but I remember being intrigued and challenged by many of her ideas and by the teens themselves. I often recommend it to friends.

[ThreeBlessings]

I read it years ago and enjoyed the book, there's some good stuff there and it was worth reading. If you don't want to read it on screen perhaps your local library has it? I borrowed from our library when I read it.