The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Tremendous insight....Essential reading for any family yearning to step off the treadmill and plunge into the world.”
—Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of A Whole New Mind

“Maya’s book lays out clearly and simply how our kids are going to be living as America's First Global Citizens.”
—John Zogby, President/CEO of Zogby International and author of The Way We’ll be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream

"If we want our kids—and our country--to thrive in the global economy, we need to follow the excellent advice in this inspiring book."
—Bill Bartmann, Billionaire Business Coach

"This book is chock-full of fresh ideas."
—Peg Tyre, author of The Trouble With Boys: A Surprising Report Card On Our Sons, Their Problems at School and What Parents & Educators Must Do

"The New Global Student recognizes the truth of the American kindergarten through college education conveyor belt–-it is preparing children for the last century's economy…This inspiring guide shows the way to prepare students for full, satisfying, and self-directed lives. Parents owe it to their children to read this book."
—Bob Compton, Venture capitalist, Executive producer of the documentary, "Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination"

"The New Global Student offers an adventurous, grab-life-by-the-collar alternative to the traditional teenage rat race. Frost's lively prose and the students' eye-opening testimonials make this unorthodox guide a brisk and pleasurable read."
—Dan Brown, author of The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle

“Depressed about college applications and costs? The New Global Student will lift your spirits. It's smart, practical and fun. I guarantee it will make a difference."
—Peter Benson, Ph.D., author of Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers

"Maya Frost may sound like a wacky mom who yanked her family somewhere south of the border. But once you read her engaging, witty and above all practical book, you realize: She's you...if you only took a step back and considered: what kind of life would really help my kids, my bank account and my family's future?”
—Lenore Skenazy, author, Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry

“The globalization of higher education is shaping a new borderless innovation economy in which talent, opportunities and resources can come from anywhere. The New Global Student provides a timely manual for those with the foresight to ride these waves of change and opportunity.”
—John Kao, author, Innovation Nation and Chairman, Institute for Large Scale Innovation

“Frost's book serves as a refreshing antidote to the uninspired, expensive, and challenge-averse educational offerings of the day. Never have students and parents needed its bold, possibility-affirming message more than now.”
—Bill Farren, Founder, Education For Well-being

“Some books inspire, some inform, others convince or rouse the reader to action. The New Global Student does all this while being funny, smart, and a joy to read. In the midst of the whirlwind of stress and expectation that surrounds parents and children as college approaches, Maya Frost’s voice whispers: There is another way.”
—Dale McGowan, author/editor, Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers

“Maya Frost is like Dr. Spock for a new generation of paranoid parents…This irrepressible book blows open doors and gets you moving in a whole new direction. Truly a lifesaver.”
—Karen Maezen Miller, author, Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood

“Get your hands on Maya Frost’s The New Global Student. It will open your eyes, get your heart pounding and your mind racing, and maybe set you off on the adventure of a lifetime.”
—Eric Maisel, Creativity for Life and Coaching the Artist Within

"With wit and wisdom, Maya Frost gives us a refreshing look at opportunities unknown to many of us. She offers a bold new way to help our kids discover their passions, develop their talents, and become successful leaders in our ever-changing global economy."
—Jim Fay, Co-founder, Love and Logic Institute, Inc.

“A terrific resource…Maya Frost firmly validates a parent’s choice to give their children a chance to experience life in another culture.”
—Robin Pascoe, author of Raising Global Nomads: Parenting Abroad in an On-Demand World

“Maya Frost's unconventional approach to international education got me thinking about new avenues – particularly to address my own teenage daughters' interests. As I read The New Global Student I found myself sharing its concepts with other parents whose children would like to pursue non-traditional paths for learning about the world and engaging in it.”
—Homa Sabet Tavangar, author, Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World

Product Description

Good-bye, Old School. Hello, Bold School!

In 2005, Maya Frost and her husband sold everything and left their suburban American lifestyle behind in order to have an adventure abroad. The tricky part: they had to shepherd their four teenage daughters through high school and into college. This hilarious and conspiratorial how-to handbook describes the affordable, accessible, and stunningly advantageous options they stumbled upon that any American student can leverage to get an outrageously relevant global education.

Ready to ditch the drama of the traditional hypercompetitive SAT/AP/GPA path? Meet the bold American students who are catapulting into the global economy at twenty with a red-hot college diploma, sizzling 21st-century skills, a blazing sense of direction–and no debt.

You’ll discover:
• the one thing preventing your student from blasting forward
• why Advanced Placement isn’t so advanced
• why international programs fail to provide a truly global education
• the most critical time for your student to study abroad
• the best exchange program in the world ($3,000 or less per year)
• the strategic way to fast-forward through high school
• how to maximize a family sabbatical
• how to live the life of your dreams abroad–and save thousands for college

Packed with myth-busting facts, laughable loopholes, insider insights, astonishing success stories, and poignant tales from the Frost daughters themselves, this inspiring romp is guaranteed to get you cheering.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307450627
• ISBN-13: 978-0307450623
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,680 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #91 in

  Books > Nonfiction > Education > Multicultural

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing guide to education, parenting, and life, May 25, 2009

By	Amy Tiemann "creator of www.MojoMom.com" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I loved "The New Global Student" so much that I wanted to devour it in one sitting, but there was just too much information to process all at once. So I settled back and enjoyed it.

Maya Frost is a wise, witty guide with innovative ideas for global education. She explains her "Bold School" approach: WHY a substantial, immersive international experience before age 20 transforms students' brains as it creates global citizens. And she provides many ideas about HOW to create such an opportunity, safely and inexpensively. Practical discussions about gaining job experience, getting an education with little or no debt, and helping teens develop independence are spot on for the challenges that today's families face. This is a guide about living with passion and without fear as much as it is about traveling.

Frost shares her own experiences with her husband and four daughters living in several countries, but she also interviews many other exchange students and experts. What I love the most about "The New Global Student" is that Frost presents a smorgasbord of options and trusts the reader to develop a plan that is right for their family and personal situation. She talks about how to break free of traditional high schools, avoiding piling on AP classes, stressing about the SATs, and all that, but in the end she says, "A traditional four-by-four plan [4 years of high school, 4 years of college] could be the perfect choice as long as it's based on an understanding of all options available." That sums up this book's empowering, positive approach.

Recommended for all families, even (especially!) if you have not considered travel abroad. It's a great book to read when the kids are young, to open your eyes to a world of possibility. As someone who blindly climbed the academic ladder all the way to the top, nonstop from kindergarten to my Ph. D., I really wish I had taken a step off the path along the way to gain the independent view that Frost helps readers develop. Using this book for guidance, I plan to open those doors for my own daughter to walk through if she chooses.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile read, but with a few downsides, July 16, 2009

By	K. Metcalf - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found much of the information in this book very interesting, and it offered much solid, practical guidance on studying abroad and finding other paths through high school & college that are not as traditional. I definitely think it is worth the time & money to read.

The major criticism I had of the book is the authors assumption that a "global" child is the goal we are all/should all be aiming for, without much explanation as to why that is so much better for our children than a well-informed, balanced, but thoroughly American perspective. Perhaps given the title, her readers' agreement on that was a fair assumption on her part, but I don't happen to think that anything global or international is inherently better or worse than anything American, and I found myself quite tired of this assumption in the book. I want my children to understand how truly blessed they are, and to speak other languages, too, but I am not attempting to raise global citizens, I am attempting to raise American citizens that can connect with others around the globe. I didn't find any allowances for that in this book.

The second problem I had with the book is related to the first - the author throws her worldview into the book freely without ever stopping to consider that others with different worldviews may still be looking for non-traditional routes to college. Her pejorative use of "suburbia" turned me off, as did her completely out of place reference to health care in America not being as humane as health care in Argentina. She did not seem to have any respect for the fact (or any awareness of it, for that matter) that reasonable, thinking people might like Suburbia and find ways other than moving to another country to deal with the pressures in it, or that indeed they may not want their children to be so heavily influenced by other cultures before they fully understand or are able to defend their own.

All in all, though, I found the real information in this book outweighed the irritations. If you share her worldview, you will probably love it. If you happen to lean more conservative, you may be frustrated also, but it is still worth reading.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tons of Useful Info Wrapped Around a Great Story, June 3, 2009

By	James Read - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not only an informative "How-To" on do-it-yourself global schooling, it is also an inspiring story of a family, finding themselves somewhat dulled by the sameness and tameness of suburban American living, strike out for something more in life and find it. Thoughtful, articulate, with lots of practical tips for those who fear that public schools are doing little to prepare our kids for a flat-world future. Somewhat unwieldy from on organizational standpoint because it's really two ( or maybe three) books in one, but it's a fast read and a book you're likely to keep coming back to.