Do NOT judge this book by the cover. Literally. The cover does not do this book justice at all. It gives it the appearance of being some chic-lit book. And while, granted, it does involve a little teenage romance, that is not the focus of the book. The cover sells it short. And now...
I could not put down The Homeschool Liberation League. I did not expect this book to be the page-turner that it is -- and I am not it's intended audience of a middle-school reader. In a nutshell, an eighth-grade girl, Katya, finds that after attending a summer science camp, she can no longer bear going to middle school. Pretending to be someone she's not so she fits in, memorizing things for tests and then forgetting them, and wasting hours doing something at school that she could complete at home herself more efficiently all fuel this decision. Oh, and Katya wants to dump her boyfriend as well. And so the first day of school, she gets off the bus... and turns around to walk home.
Katya's parents are school-people -- as are most Americans -- unaware of what options are out there besides public school and how to learn outside of that institution. They give her a month to try homeschooling, not sure they're doing the right thing for their daughter. Katya wants to unschool, but her parents download worksheets and have her help in her mother's beauty salon instead. Nobody is happy with the way things are going.
Along the way Katya meets Milo, a homeschooler who wants to attend school, and she befriends Francesca, a popular student at school also pretending to be someone she's not. They form the Homeschool Liberation League, as they help each other to achieve their schooling-style goals.
Homeschooling, unschooling, online curriculum, charter schools -- all sorts of options to education outside of the traditional school are presented. I also appreciated that the homeschoolers were not former hippies or doing it for religious reasons of some sort, as are frequently portrayed in fiction about homeschooling. These are everyday people -- possibly your next door neighbors.
Learn More:
Books about homeschooling
- Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt & Pat Farenga. John Holt was one of the earlier advocates of homeschooling as a way to reform school. On education, he said: "...the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we need to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it." This quote is taken from a a conversation with Holt on The Natural Child Project.
- Kayta wanted to "unschool". When homeschooling, giving your child the freedom to learn about what they want, when they want, and how they want, pretty much sums up unschooling. I found these books very helpful in learning about this: The Unschooling Unmanual by Jan Hunt and The Unschooling Handbook: How To Use the Whole World as Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith.
- "But what about socialization?!" That's the first thing you hear out of basically everyone's mouth when you tell them you're homeschooling your kids. Try reading The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole, and that should answer that question!!
- Learn in Freedom! Education Reform, Home-Schooling Resources. To quote: "This site is about learning in freedom, taking responsibility for your own learning. It shows you how to use your own initiative in learning, so you can use schools and teachers just when they are helpful to you, and voluntarily chosen by you." This has a very comprehensive list of websites to check out!
- Is homeschooling legal? Visit The HSLDA: Home School Legal Defense Association
- I'm a member of the California Homeschool Network. They've got a conference every year that is very helpful. Check out The Home School Mom to find resources in your state. Or visit Yahoo Groups. Homeschoolers have a very active social life!!
