Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery: A Journey of Original Seeking

This book is fantastic. It is beautifully written and is one of the few books I've read that I can truly say has changed my life (along with Siddhartha by Herman Hesse). We were casually thinking about homeschooling, but after reading this book have realized that it really is the only choice for us. But this book isn't only about homeschooling. It is also an approach to parenting and life that embraces awareness, passion, and respect. I am finding that not only am I paying more attention to our children's interests and thinking about how I can turn each moment into a learning experience (either for them or myself), but am also paying more attention to myself and rediscovering my own passions. As we embark on this journey, I am excited for all the things we will each learn individually and as a family.

You will want to own this book, not borrow it, because you'll want to read it over and over again. It's truly a classic, and not just for homeschoolers. This book for me was an experience and inspiration, not just a "read." It was a window into my own soul and the souls of my children. I loved my children more as I was reading the book (if that's possible). Though there are plenty of practical ideas on homeschooling in this book, the author doesn't stop there. He also indirectly poses answers to questions such as: How can homeschooling increase the quality of life for everyone in the family? How can the process of homeschooling improve one as a human being? And even, how can homeschooling make the world a better place - not after the homeschooler has grown up and starts using his or her education, but as, well, a side effect of the homeschooling process? You could substitute "raising children" or "living life" for "homeschooling" in the above questions, and the answers given in the book are just as relevent. That's why this book is not just for homeschoolers, but for anybody interested in those ideas. Like another reviewer, I found the social studies section alone worth the price of the book. Because the book is written as a series of essays on numerous topics, you can mostly likely find something that will resonate or be helpful at any given time. I've read dozens of books on homeschooling and education, but this one has a place reserved on my shelf with a handful of others that are true classics and that I will read again and again.

A classic work. A unique, wise, witty, literate, useful, philosophical, and thought provoking journey for homeschooling parents and thoughtful educators. There isn't another comparable work available for those seeking to enrich and expand their homeschooling journey into a life altering experience for themselves and their children. This book carries the ideas brought forth by John Holt and John Taylor Gatto to another level. This book is a wonderful combination of the practical, with ideas you can use, and an example of how to incorporate the aesthetics of family learning into the realm of daily life with the world as your meeting house.

RUN! Do not walk, to get your copy of this marvellous book (Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery, A Journey of Original Seeking, by David H. Albert). As an "unschooler," I must add my two cents to the accumulating glowing reviews. The Social Studies section alone is worth more than the price of admission; I'd love to send that around to everyone I know. It contains an extremely informative yet concise dissertation on racism in the U.S., and illustrates for the reader the unusual lengths to which this author has gone in order to find answers to a deceptively simple question raised by one of his children. This book goes way beyond the whys and how-tos of homeschooling-- it questions many of the assumptions about learning that govern our educational institutions; it guides the reader into seeing his or her own community as a fabulous learning laboratory; it rekindles in the adult reader that spark of curiosity that for so many of us became dimmed by school regimens rewarding passive regurgitation rather than questioning. This book questions! And its questions are well-supported by the author's meticulous research as well as his personal experiences with two inquisitive and talented children. I hope this book will find a place on booksellers' shelves not only in the education section but in the sections devoted to social criticism, social sciences, history and philosophy, for its contents are valuable to a much broader public than the fast-growing minority of homeschoolers. Whether or not the reader is a homeschooler or even a parent, this book offers an invigorating and encouraging message about the value of being a life-long learner-- and a questioner! My copy is so underlined and dog-eared that I'll have to get another one for lending purposes-- those I've shared it with want their own copies, however. Tamara Lichtenstein

David Albert's new homeschooler's dream of a book is organized into essays that busy parents can savor in stolen moments, but I read this book as soon as I got it in the mail, let my partner handle the spills and pick up the Legos that evening, while I read this beautiful ode to those most wonderful mentors who are own children, read the whole book in one gulp and was wonderfully excited again about the homeschooling path my family has chosen. Sheesh! I thought I'd loved Albert's previous book *And the Skylark Sings With Me* --you know, nodding and smiling on every page--but this one had me choking back sobs in my throat. I'm here on the computer just to tell everyone BUY MULTIPLE COPIES of this book and give them out to every new homeschooler you talk to who gives you that "oh what have I done, I've taken her out of school!" look, give copies to your in laws, give copies to the old homeschoolers who don't read the new stuff anymore because they're out learning in the field--I can't imagine anyone who won't get a charge out of this collection of essays. It's stuff you won't learn from an extended Google search, it's stuff every tired, guilt-ridden, hand-wringing parent needs to hear---great for the burnt out late Winter/early Spring blahs everyone seems to be having!I think I've read the whole canon of homeschooling books out there, and I can honestly recommend this one as the book that can and will change your homeschooling life.