The Teenage Liberation Handbook
by Grace Llewellyn · first published 1991
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A practical guide for teens who want to leave conventional school and build their own education. It suits teens and parents considering unschooling, and it resonated with readers early on.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An estimated 700,000 American children are now taught at home. This book tells teens how to take control of their lives and get a "real life." Young people can reclaim their natural ability to teach themselves and design a personalized education program. Grace Llewellyn explains the entire process, from making the decision to quit school, to discovering the learning opportunities available.
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…_The Way Things Work_ ( http://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473/ ). Also, libraries in general, including university libraries. Some books on homeschooling (such as Grace Llewellyn's _Teenage Liberation Handbook_) are full of pointers for self-study.
on “Ask HN: How Can I Make Better Submissions to HN?” ↗I recommend taking a look at a book called The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn. (http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Edu...) The assumption of school is that you don't want to learn and…
on “Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?” ↗A friend directed me to this post, and here is what I have to say. The best decision I ever made was to quit high school when I was fifteen. I read Grace Llewellyn's "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" and, despite it being written a little simply, the ideas resonated with me. Compulsory schooling is about control, busy work, and, as Foucault points out, a type of discipline based on the penal system.…
on “Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?” ↗…a great summer resource for unschoolers--a mix of workshops led by advisors and campers, as well as a social opportunity. NBTSC takes place yearly in Vermont and Oregon. You may also want to read The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn, which is an excellent reference on self-education (for the young self-educator). You may also want to read College Without High School by Blake Boles, when available. See http://www.blakeboles.com/cwhs.htm…
See also Grace Llewellyn's Teenage Liberation Handbook: http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Edu...
on “Let's Abolish High School” ↗Those who enjoy reading John Taylor Gatto may also like to read a great little book called "The teenage liberation handbook" by grace Llewellyn. It's that book you read as an adult and wish you'd read as a teenager.
on “Against School - John Taylor Gatto” ↗…information and skills, but too often just wasting a lot of time. You might look into Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich, John Holt’s books How Children Fail and How Children Learn, and Grace Llewellyn’s The Teenage Liberation Handbook. John Taylor Gatto, a former Teacher of the Year, wrote this great essay The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher about school: https://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html
on “How will high school look like in future?” ↗Three non-fiction books that really changed my life, at different moments of my life: 1. Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone 2. The Teenage Liberation Handbook 3. The Win Without Pitching Manifesto I read a lot of fiction across many genres, but my long-time favourite is Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗I first came across unschooling in 1991 via "the Teenage Liberation Handbook (how to quit school and get a real life and education)" by Grace Llewellyn. The updated 30th anniversary edition came out a few years ago. Wonderful book, I've given out many copies as gifts. Often…
on “I unschool my 5 kids. This is how much it costs” ↗The Teenage Liberation Handbook
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗…are dead on. I founded a company to help college students develop these skills and you can see some of that at: https://useed.net/spotlight I'd encourage you to check out a few other resources: The Teenage Liberation Handbook (John Holt) Most Likely to Succeed (and anything by Tom Wagner) There is a fear that if our children are not lockstep chasing the next learning objective, they will fall behind. This is unfounded. Children…
on “Ask HN: Were you unschooled, or are you unschooling your children?” ↗Get the book "The Teenage Liberation Handbook." It's a bit facile, but it's all about unschooling and how kids like you (and me, at the time) can and do succeed. Dig up the statistics on unschooled/homeschooled kids going to college. My parents were…
on “The Apprentice Programmer” ↗…everything from feminism to anarchism to labour politics and more. One day I decided to sample from the "education" section, an area which I'd been avoiding. As fate would have it, I started with The Teenage Liberation Handbook. http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Educat... It was written by a disgruntled former English teacher and explained that the education system robbed children of their creativity to…
on “To Those Who Want To Drop Out of School” ↗Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn
on “What are you reading?” ↗…His younger siblings like that book too. Libraries in general are where I spend much of my life. I definitely like to bring all my children to libraries at every opportunity. Thanks for mentioning The Teenage Liberation Handbook in your reply. Some older hackers may find that very interesting as a way to hack getting an education.
on “Ask HN: How Can I Make Better Submissions to HN?” ↗