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

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The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn.
Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 435 pages
Publisher: Lowry House Pub; Rev Exp edition (September 1, 1998)
Language: English

A former teacher urges teenagers to free themselves from the world of cookie-cutter conformity produced by factory schooling, to think for themselves and to take charge of their lives and learning.

Amazon.com Review
You won't find this book on a school library shelf--it's pure teenage anarchy. While many homeschooling authors hem and haw that learning at home isn't for everyone, this manifesto practically tells kids they're losers if they do otherwise. With the exception of a forwarding note to parents, this book is written entirely for teenagers, and the first 75 pages explain why school is a waste of time. Grace Llewellyn insists that people learn better when they are self-motivated and not confined by school walls. Instead of homeschooling, which connotes setting up a school at home, Llewellyn prefers "unschooling," a learning method with no structure or formal curriculum. There are tips here you won't hear from a school guidance counselor. Llewellyn urges kids to take a vacation--at least for a week--after quitting school to purge its influence. "Throw darts at a picture of your school" or "Make a bonfire of old worksheets," she advises. She spends an entire chapter on the gentle art of persuading parents that this is a good idea. Then she gets serious. Llewellyn urges teens to turn off the TV, get outside, and turn to their local libraries, museums, the Internet, and other resources for information. She devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, math, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that, contrary to what they've been told in school, they won't be flipping burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out.
Llewellyn is a former middle-school English teacher, and she knows her audience well. Her formula for making the transition from traditional school to unschooling is accompanied by quotes on freedom and free thought from radical thinkers such as Steve Biko and Ralph Waldo Emerson. And Llewellyn is not above using slang. She capitalizes words to add emphasis, as in the "Mainstream American Suburbia-Think" she blames most schools for perpetuating. Some of her attempts to appeal to young minds ring a bit corny. She weaves through several chapters an allegory about a baby whose enthusiasm is squashed by a sterile, unnatural environment, and tells readers to "learn to be a human bean and not a mashed potato." But her underlying theme--think for yourself--should appeal to many teenagers. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

Review
"Bursting with ... wise guidance .... the sole inspiration for ... an endeavor we thought was out of the question." -- The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog

The TLH is more than a book. It’s a map . . Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always thought provoking... -- In2Print Magazine, Fall 1997

The single essential book for those who value learning but not school... a complete tool kit. . . -- LUNO (Learning Unlimited Network of Oregon), April 1992

Will . . . embolden homeschoolers to be courageously creative . . . and will encourage parents to trust their children’s choices. -- Clonlara Home Based Education Program

[Llewellyn’s] enthusiasm. . ., great faith in kids, and... wonderful educational possibilities she presents will make her book tantalizing reading.... -- Booklist, October 15, 1991