Books and Magazines to Read!

There are many good books out there to help satiate your need for more information. Here are some you can get through your favourite book seller, and others are self-published - I have included links for those.
 

Connections e-zine by Danielle Conger
Connections is a wonderful e-zine of unschooling and mindful parenting with terrific regular columnists such as Anne Ohman, Kelly and Ben Lovejoy, Ren Allen, Robyn Coburn, and Deb Lewis and lots of interesting contributors. You can check out the sample issue at the link above.

Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooled Life by Rue Kream
This self-published book is written in question & answer format, with both unschooling-specific and parenting questions.  As one of the reviewers wrote: "Rue addresses clearly and persuasively the most common questions and objections in an easily accessible format.  The personal experience and conviction brought to each answer shines through along with her deep love and respect for her children." So true. Parenting a Free Child

Moving a Puddle and other essays by Sandra Dodd
Finally! Sandra has pulled together 48 of her essays and published them in easy-to-read book format. The overall theme is how learning, parenting and everyday life can be in the absence of school, viewed from different vantage points over a dozen years.  Moving a Puddle

The Unprocessed Child - Living Without School by Valerie Fitzenreiter
Is a wonderful self-published book about raising a child in an unschooling lifestyle. It's great to read about unschooling in action, not just in theory. The Unprocessed Child

The Unschooling Handbook - How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith
This book is a really great introduction to the world of unschooling. She gives an overview of unschooling, takes a look at the kinds of materials we learn from, discusses documentation, gives examples of the unschooling approach to learning in some basic subject areas, and looks at some of the other issues involved with unschooling. The book is full of anecdotes from other unschooling parents, and some from unschooling kids themselves.

The Homeschooling Book of Answers - The 88 Most Important Questions Answered by Homeschooling's Most Respected Voices by Linda Dobson
Not specifically an unschooling book, but it is quite unschooly. It's a good book for answers to all those nagging little questions, in your mind as well as in the minds of well-meaning relatives and friends!

The Teenage Liberation Handbook - How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn
An "unschooling handbook" for older kids, it has almost reached cult status. I recently order the unschooler t-shirt for Alyssa and it was a big hit! You can find the book at bookstores or buy directly at Lowry House Publishers

Teach Your Own by John Holt
In fact, anything by John Holt - Learning All The Time, How Children Fail, How Children Learn and many others. Considered the "father" of unschooling by many, his books recount his journey from school teacher to unschooling advocate.

Family Matters - Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson
He gives an interesting perspective as high school teacher and a homeschooling parent.

Dumbing Us Down - The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto
Though not an unschooling book at all, it's collection of essays from a long time public school teacher that clearly describe many of the problems with formal schooling. His acceptance speech for New York Teacher of the Year in 1991 is very compelling: The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher.

Life Learning magazine
Is a great bimonthly magazine about self-directed learning which I look forward to receiving and read cover-to-cover. I've also contributed a few articles! Life Learning magazine

Live Free Learn Free magazine
is a new magazine for and by unschoolers and natural learners. It looks great and it's time to save up my pennies and get a subscription! Live Free Learn Free magazine

Other Websites to Visit!