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

Are you thinking about home-schooling or un-schooling but still have some doubts? Then read this book. I wish I had read it in time. My parents and I talked off and on about homeschooling from the 7th grade on, but always rejected it for one reason or another. First we feared I would lose all social content, then my mother was scared off by all the work she would have to do to "teach" me, and when I got to high school we dismissed home-schooling altogether, since you "have to" have a high school diploma and do normal high school course work to go to college. After I finally escaped from high school by graduating a year early, I asked my parents if I could take a year off before college. My intention was to do some self-study and just figure out more of what I wanted. They immediately said no. I wonder if, had they read this book, they might have answered differently. After reading Llewellyn's book, I realize none of our reasons for rejecting homeschooling were valid. I was a smart, self-motivated teenager who hated school. Had I "unschooled," I believe my high-school years would have much happier, as well as more intellectually productive. With all that said, this book is not flawless. The writing isn't great, and Llewellyn has a tendency to descend into heavy-handed mystical metaphors. Skip the first chapter with the "fruit" story on the first read, as it may turn you off reading the rest of the book. The tone of the book also strikes me as (ironically) somewhat condescending. Although Llewellyn was only 26 when she wrote this, she comes off as a slightly out-of-touch Baby Boomer who is trying too hard to be "relatable" to teenagers. Still, I highly recommend this book. It will change the way you think about school, and if you decide to un-school, it is chock-full of great ideas and resources for furthering your intellectual development.

I have read this book and would like to point out several erroneous ideas of other reviewers: First, I read the Teenage Liberation Handbook at age 17 and was not in any way convinced or persuaded that this book endorses the idea of experimenting with illegal substances, though it does mention them briefly. Second, that a more suitable title for this book is "Let's skip college and live on a farm handbook," is highly implausible. That reviewer suggests that the book is useless to any reader who aspires to 1.attend college or 2.NOT live on a farm. Contrary to the cover-photo on one edition of the book, it doesn't cover farm life and DOES get intimate with the process of getting into college (in fact, there's a chapter allocated to just that). I know unschoolers in urban (San Francisco, Cincinnati, New York, Sydney) as well as rural places and who, as young as age 16, attend colleges and universities. Further, this book suggests resources for attending college such as the book Homeschooling for Excellence by David Colfax and Micki Colfax and others such as And What About College?: How Homeschooling Leads to Admissions to the Best Colleges & Universities by Cafi Cohen. Lastly, to the reviewer who suggested that the author MUST be a high school failure...Llewellyn explains her perfectly ordinary (or should I say, "above average") educational background, from high school through college, and she does so in the first part of the book. ---- As for myself, I find this book to be a beneficial resource. It discerns a difference between "education" and "school," and poses education as a far greater and broader concept than school. Further, the book illustrates students' struggles within the school system. (Failures of the school system might be more fully explicated in the book The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher's Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling by the award winning former teacher John Taylor Gatto). Llewellyn makes the point that relying purely on the modern compulsory school system as a source for education may mean missing out on a lot of meaningful, real-world experiences and learning opportunities, and she encourages teens not to settle for mediocrity or a one-size-fits-all approach to education. She employs "unschooling" as an alternative means to school, and through the principles of unschooling, Llewellyn encourages teens to excel in education by creating a "tailor-made learning extravaganza:" seeking mentors, taking classes, reading books, going places that inspire (personally meaningful) learning. An overall theme of this book is to not wait until "after high school" to create the life one aspires to, rather to take responsibility for pursuing the life you aspire to live, right now. Perhaps not all teens need this message, but I did: My parents expected little of me outside of my standard public school academics. I dispassionately attended school and made good grades, but it w

This book changed my life.When I was thirteen, bored with school, I was given this book. It took me one long hard summer to convince my parents to let me unschool, but I did. I haven't looked back since. When I read this book, my immediate thought is: "I am the luckiest teenager in the world to be given this book." I loved myself, my life, and I was so happy I was leaving. It also made me angry that I hadn't left school earlier, that I'd been tricked by everyone. I know, I know. You're all wondering about social concerns, right? Well I go to school and have lunch with my friends once a week. I also occasionally stay after school with friends and watch football games or sports. I am involved in the school's after school activities and am considering joining our high school's choir. Just because you're leaving school doesn't mean you leave all of it's benefits! You recieve the best parts of both worlds!However, unschooling is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I love it. I've learned so much more than school ever taught me, as much about life as about academics. If I don't do my "work," I don't just get a bad grade and forget about it. It still needs to be done, and I've learned to just do it. In response to what another viewer said (It's harder to look in the library for something to give yourself in education--in school everything is laid out) I agree with that. It's true. I've learned how to look through a library and find that. I've learned to ask the librarians, my parents, and former teaches for suggestions. I've learned how to find things on my own. Also, someone mentioned that Grace "glossed over" things, and I'd like to say that I believe the reason she did that was because each state/country is different about how it deals with unschoolers. I've been unschooling for a year now, and I love it. I've never been happier, and my only regret is that many of my friends go to school and we can't do much together during the day. Unschooling is hard, but it's the best thing that has ever happened to me. TLH should be required reading.

I was a very fortunate person as I knew Grace Llewellyn personally and was privelaged to read a copy of the book when it first came out. When I she told me about the book I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders, "that's Grace" I thought. I felt certain that I would find the book well written but would disagree with it right down to the premise. I had an excellent High School experience and held a BA from a very good private college. I felt that schooling had been to my beneifit.But when I read the book my reaction was one of sorrow and outrage that I had not had this book when I was a teenager. I gave it to my Mom to read and she is now a huge supporter of Ms. Llewellyn's work as well. This is significant as my mother is a former community college administrator.Reading this book is risky, dangerous, frightening. It will open your eyes to truths you don't want to know and ideas you don't want to think. It will make you question the systems we have set up for education. It might make you quit school, it might make you wish you had.Anthony Valterra

Most people were miserable in school. Most people have been convinced that school was good, even necessary for them. The unfortunate result is that many people believe that being miserable was good for them and will be good for their children. This is far from a healthy attitude.This book presents evidence that even the most ardent defender of the status quo will be hard-pressed to dismiss out of hand; the unschoolers who went to Harvard, the youthful acheivers in every field from theatre to animal science, the testimonials of parents who report that their 'dropout' kids are now happier, more relaxed, less sullen, and brighter. Though the author's tone is often that of the impassioned hippie lady, it adds to rather than detract from this essentially idealistic and hopeful book.This book is for all the teenagers, and all the adults who still have the spine to think that just maybe they didn't deserve to be miserable as kids.