Customer Reviews

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just finished this book after unschooling my children for the past 6 years and neither has attended a school. It has reaffirmed my belief that unschooling CAN work and my kids will not flip burgers all their lives.
The book goes through every subject and gives lots of resources for unschooling it. I wish I had found this book sooner and I would have had many less sleepness nights, worrying about unschooling versus "school at home"! I am purchasing a copy to use as a reference manual in our library. Lots of volunteer organizations, internships, business ideas. Just an awesome resource for unschoolers.

This book changed my life.

When I was thirteen, bored with school, I was given this book. It took me one long hard summer to convince my parents to let me unschool, but I did. I haven't looked back since.

When I read this book, my immediate thought is: "I am the luckiest teenager in the world to be given this book." I loved myself, my life, and I was so happy I was leaving. It also made me angry that I hadn't left school earlier, that I'd been tricked by everyone.

I know, I know. You're all wondering about social concerns, right? Well I go to school and have lunch with my friends once a week. I also occasionally stay after school with friends and watch football games or sports. I am involved in the school's after school activities and am considering joining our high school's choir. Just because you're leaving school doesn't mean you leave all of it's benefits! You recieve the best parts of both worlds!

However, unschooling is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I love it. I've learned so much more than school ever taught me, as much about life as about academics. If I don't do my "work," I don't just get a bad grade and forget about it. It still needs to be done, and I've learned to just do it.

In response to what another viewer said (It's harder to look in the library for something to give yourself in education--in school everything is laid out) I agree with that. It's true. I've learned how to look through a library and find that. I've learned to ask the librarians, my parents, and former teaches for suggestions. I've learned how to find things on my own. Also, someone mentioned that Grace "glossed over" things, and I'd like to say that I believe the reason she did that was because each state/country is different about how it deals with unschoolers.

I've been unschooling for a year now, and I love it. I've never been happier, and my only regret is that many of my friends go to school and we can't do much together during the day.

Unschooling is hard, but it's the best thing that has ever happened to me. TLH should be required reading.

This book is excellent. I sometimes wish it had a different name because a lot of people can benefit from it other than teenagers. I am a homeschooling mom of young children but I still got a lot out of it. Her philosophy is basically that you don't need a curriculum to learn. I agree with this. I liked her idea that you can still spend 4 hours a day doing "school work" but you do what YOU want to do instead of what someone assigns you. You do self directed learning. I have found that a solid math and grammar program is all you really need. In the end the SAT and GRE only tests you on your verbal/math skills anyway. Why waste time learning all kinds of subjects in the order some adult tells you to? The only subjects worth studying in a regimented manner in my opinion are math and grammar. Aside from that you should follow your interests. Now the author is a bit extreme in her views so I find you have to temper it with your own good judgement.

The warning is that she actually endorses experimenting with drugs. Pretty scary but she does. I find this very irresponsible of her. Fortunately I was able to work around that and read the rest of the book. You just have to realize she's a bit of an extremist so you have to just take what you learn from it and let the rest go.

It took me about a chapter to realize that I truly hate school, as much as I've said otherwise, and no matter how many times I've been moved up I'm not going to get anywhere. Now, I still haven't finished, and I am already feeling a mix of terrible miffedment, depression, and determination to get out of this place.

Thank you unschooled cousin Loopy for lending me this book!

My only concern about this book is that if a teenager is trying to pursuade her parents to allow her rise out of conventional school she'll need to find another book to give them in order to broach the subject. This book, which is extremely informative for teens and dead-on to those of us in the choir, may be too in-your-face for those who have never heard of nor considered homeschooling as an option for their child. A parent must be approached carefully about the education of their student, since considering a change of this magnitude necessitates a deep examination of all those things most earlier generations have been told all their lives. A "radical" book is always attractive to young adults, but can be off-putting to their parents. Still, the author has paid her dues and has come out the other side informed and with a clear sense of purpose: To sway teenagers to search for a better education by taking control of their own schooling. It's an admirable endeavor and one with which I agree. But as a parent, I had to get beyond the confrontational approach in the beginning. Still, Llewellyn's intended audience IS teenaged, so I persuaded myself to give it 5 stars rather than 4 -- Powerful stuff.

Grace Llewellyn's TEENAGE LIBERATION HANDBOOK is not an opinion. It is a real way to escape the dog-eat-dog hell that is the philosophy of all schools. There's nothing honorable about honors programs. It's elitism that enslaves good human beings. Llewellyn's book is a good place to learn how to destroy the National Honor Society and the Beta Club. I only wish that the book had been out 40 years ago. Going to school as a child did one thing--destroyed a bright cheerful human being who has spent decades trying to recuperate. I read her book four years ago and have found many things that were useful even to a 60 year old man with five accredited college degrees and numerous certificates and diplomas from non-accredited schools. Get your kid out of those damnable breeders of rotted intellect! Get Llewellyn's book!

There are no doubt going to be a lot of people threatened by what Grace Llewellyn has to say, because a lot of people have their entire identities and lives invested in believing that our school system fosters true learning and the confidence and self-knowledge necessary to creat a satisfying, fulfilling life. It quite frankly does nothing of the sort, and Llewellyn is very good at logically spelling out for us exactly why this is so.

Like Llewellyn, I attended compulsory school, was a good student, and went through college (a professional school) in preparation for a career, and also like her I now see the terrible limitations inherent in our school system. Had I had the opportunity of different and more choices, I could have avoided a lot of the tedium, mediocrity, and loss of freedom that such an educational path demanded, even had I eventually *chosen* to educate myself in a traditional way. As well, I have spent the last decade of my life unlearning bad habits that are directly a result of being coerced for years into doing things that are irrelevant to my life, and being subject to arbitrary authorities. Those things crowded out my spirit and my voice until I forgot I had them or how to use them. I am now remembering how, and books like Llewellyn's have been invaluable to me in doing so.

"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty." -- Albert Einstein...

I am 32-year-old recovering public school student. This book finally validated what I knew in my heart all along: education is not a one-size-fits-all deal. This book isn't just for teens--adults cannot afford not to read this. Chances are, there are many bad lessons you learned in school that are still affecting the way you live your life today.

The personal anecdotes made this book a page-turner. And the resources and statistics are priceless. My husband and I are definitely exploring education alternatives when we have children.

This is an enlightening and liberating book for all ages!

It is frightening though to hear how bad life is for most high schoolers. I was looking for books on homeschooling in my local library when a teenaged bystander put this book in my hands and said "read it." I did, even though I had to carry it around with me for weeks to sneak in time to read it. I wish that it had been written before I spent 19 years in school, including graduate level. But who knows, maybe it will save some pain for others. Buy it new. You will want to read it over and over. It is only the second book of my life that I read carefully -- every word. (the first was Catch-22). Find and read anything by this author. She writes from the heart.

First of all, the reason I gave this book 4 starz (rather than 5) is because Grace Llewellyn doesn't seem very open-minded about any type of education besides unschooling. I definently don't have anything against unschooling, it's just that different types of school work for different people, so it's not really fair to pound conventional school. Everything else was absolutely fantastic!!! I am surprised it is not NY Times bestseller by now. I know a lot of people who need to read this book. The Teenage Liberation Handbook is quite a masterpiece in my opinion, because it is written for teenagers without once being condescending!!!!!:) The purpose of the TLH is way more than the what the title professes: it not only tells you how to quit school and start learning, it also inspires you to actually get off your...an DO suff. Unlike school 'survival guides' (that encourage you to stay IN school) the boost of happiness and confidence the TLH gives you remains mint fresh. Another thing: Has Grace Llewellyn written any novels? She is one of the wittiest and most entertaining writers I have ever read. She makes the TLH just plain fun to read. This book is not fantasy stuff. I totally encourage you to read it!!!!!!!!!!