The Unschooling Unmanual [Paperback]

Nanda Van Gestel (Author), Jan Hunt (Author), Daniel Quinn (Author), Rue Kream (Author), Earl Stevens (Author), Kim Houssenloge (Author), John Holt (Author), Mary Van Doren (Author), Jason Hunt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2008

Unschooling isn't a technique - it's living and learning naturally, lovingly, and respectfully together.

The Unschooling Unmanual features 11 essays by 8 writers: Nanda Van Gestel, Jan Hunt, Daniel Quinn, Rue Kream, Kim Houssenloge, Earl Stevens, and Mary Van Doren.

Through engaging personal stories, examples, and essays, the writers offer inspiration and encouragement for seasoned and prospective unschoolers alike.

''A concise, readable and accessible manifesto for natural learning and trust in children, The Unschooling Unmanual brings together contributions from eight authors in eleven very readable essays. The Unmanual is a great introduction to learning and unschooling for people coming from an educational perspective... at the same time it can be an invaluable confidence booster for people already on an unschooling journey.'' - Arun Pradhan, The Parenting Pit

''The Unschooling Unmanual is a unique and empowering book about the growing trend of unschooling. It is the book to give to doubtful or fearing partners and family as well as anyone considering or interested in this life.'' - Dayna Martin, Unschooling America

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jan Hunt is a parenting counselor and the author of The Natural Child: Parenting From the Heart and the children's picture book A Gift for Baby. She is the Director of The Natural Child Project at naturalchild.org and a conference speaker. Her son Jason, the co-editor and designer of this book, has unschooled from the beginning. Jan and her son live in Sunriver, Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 91 pages
• Publisher: The Natural Child Project; 1 edition (February 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0968575455
• ISBN-13: 978-0968575451
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jan Hunt, M.Sc. Counseling Psychology, is the Director of the Natural Child Project (www.naturalchild.org), a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and a member of the Advisory Board for Holistic Moms Network and Attachment Parenting Intl. Her son Jason unschooled from the beginning with a learner-directed approach.

Jan is available for parenting and unschooling telephone counseling worldwide. For information visit http://www.naturalchild.org/counseling/.

PUBLISHED WORKS

The Unschooling Unmanual (The Natural Child Project, 2009)

A Gift for Baby (The Natural Child Project, 2005)

The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart (New Society, December 2001)

"Ten Reasons Not to Hit Your Kids", Appendix D in Alice Miller's Breaking Down the Wall of Silence, (New York: Dutton, 1991).

Newspaper column: The Natural Child: Parenting and Education that Respects Children, 1989-1998.

"Ten Reasons to Respond to a Crying Child", Empathic Parenting, Journal of the CSPCC, Summer 1996, pp. 7-8.

PROFESSIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

"I consider Jan Hunt's writing as exceptionally clear, based on facts, and coming out of her own experience. Parents rarely find in the press the essential, precious information her work could give them. I very much hope that her strong voice will become more and more known in the world through her lucid, well-informed writing." - Dr. Alice Miller, author of Breaking Down the Wall of Silence and Thou Shalt Not Be Aware

"Jan Hunt is a most diligent, energetic, and well-informed person with regard to children's issues. She is one of the few people who understands and can write about the real needs of children as opposed to the rationalized needs of parents in relation to their children. Moreover, she can do this in an engaging fashion that does not put parents off. For the sake of children everywhere, I hope that her Internet columns are widely read and taken to heart." - Dr. Elliott Barker, Director, Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

"Jan's writing is insightful, carefully thought out, wonderfully readable, and very useful. I wish for her writing to have as large an audience as possible. Adults all over the world need to hear the ideas she expresses so well." - Rick Lahrson, Executive Director, The Kids' Project

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped me find confidence to unschool January 21, 2009

By CR

Format:Paperback

I started unschooling my son this year and have faced more well meaning people who think I'm ruining my son's education than I could have ever expected. Public school teachers, grandparents, childless friends, etc. all seem to think that the only effective way for a child to learn is to sit still for hours at a time and be force fed information. That might work for some people, but others find more to learn from being free to ask questions, make mistakes and explore the world around them on their own time.

This book is a welcome reassurance that we're on the right track in following our instincts, learning at our own pace and stretching our imaginations to reach beyond the limits of a public school education. Unschooling may not be for everyone (my other child is still in public school and happy with it for now), but for those of us who just need an emotional boost now and then, reading a short essay or two from this collection will do wonders.

Not exactly a manual or even a guide book (because unschooling isn't about rules), this little tome is a pick-me-up and a love letter to families who seek to learn from the world around them, not just a text book.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Confidence in a book July 12, 2008

By Alexandra Polikowsky

Format:Paperback

This book will make parents that have been unschooling long or parents that are new to the concept to feel confident in what they are doing.
Its great for spouses that may not be totally on board, or grandparents that have lots of questions.
Its the kind of book to re-read when you need a confidence boost of have any doubts creeping up.
Its a must for new unschoolers and a great read for "old" unschoolers.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The first book on unschooling that is truly compelling April 8, 2010

By D. Goldstein

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a collection of writings from different authors -- parents and/or educational philosophers -- that each illuminate a different facet of the reality of an unschooling lifestyle. I have read the The Unschooling Handbook, which I found to be adequate but simultaneously disquieting (because some of the parents seemed to be so 'hands-off' as to be bordering on neglect), and Radical Unschooling, which clarified my own approach to unschooling by demonstrating what I was not comfortable doing (the 'radical' portion of Radical Unschooling involves allowing children to make all their own decisions... not just around what they want to learn, but also when they sleep, what they eat, how much and what television they watch, how much and which video games they play... and I think that ventures from 'unschooling' into 'unparenting'). I also read Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves, which I found to be very helpful as one family's journey into unschooling, however this book offers more and varied experiences.

Unschooling, at its best with involved, flexible, interested parents, allows children to grow and develop into their own unique, passionate, entire selves, and this book helps to see how that is possible.