For some kids, school offers a positive and engaging experience. For others, it's a boring, stressful, and frustrating waste of time. If your child is in the second category, why keep tormenting them? Instead, why not help them find an educational environment where they feel genuinely motivated, excited, and empowered? In this eye-opening book, Blake Boles makes the case for leaving conventional school and taking one of the many alternative paths through K-12 that exist today. He addresses...

The Art of Self-Directed Learning is a collection of 23 stories and insights that will help you become a more motivated and self-guided learner. Drawing on a decade of research, adventures, and interviews conducted by Blake Boles (author of College Without High School and Better Than College), this book will inspire you to craft your own unconventional education, no matter whether you're a young adult, recent graduate, parent, or simply someone who never wants to stop learning. Each chapte...

Some of us aren't cut out for "normal life."If you crave nature, freedom, adventure, and work that matters—rather than just paying the bills for a life you never chose—then you might be ready to become dirtbag rich.Drawing from the "dirtbag" tradition of pursuing outdoor bliss through creative self-sufficiency, this book charts an unconventional way of living that includes both security and flexibility, connection and independence, and service and self-actu...

Because the real world is the best education.High school can be boring. High school curriculum can be frustrating and out of touch.So what is the answer for young people whose creativity, bright ideas, and boundless energy are being stifled in that over-scheduled and grade-driven environment?What would you do if you could go to college without going to high school? Would you travel abroad, spend late nights writing a novel, volunteer in an emergency...

What would you do if you could go to college without going to high school? Would you travel abroad, spend late nights writing a novel, volunteer in an emergency room, or build your own company? What dreams would you be pursuing right now?It IS possible to skip High School to pursue your dreams, and still gain admission to any college of your choice! You don’t have to “put in your time” at High School to guarantee entrance to college. Blake Boles can show you how to fulfill college admissio...

Philosophy majors and GPA-challenged students, rejoice! According to career guru Donald Asher, what you major in or how well you do in college are not indicators of future career success. In HOW TO GET ANY JOB WITH ANY MAJOR, Asher debunks the myth that only brainy students with specialized majors find high-paying, visible careers after college. The truth is that plenty of average folks with general, liberal arts majors have gone on to find lucrative and fulfilling careers-and anyone can d...

Now a Netflix Film, Starring and Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor of 12 Years a SlaveWilliam Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him mis...

Towards a Philosophy of Education is Charlotte Mason's final book in her Homeschooling Series, written after years of seeing her approach in action. This volume gives the best overview of her philosophy, and includes the final version of her 20 Principles. This book is particularly directed to parents of older children, about ages 12 and up, but is a valuable overview for parents of younger children as well. Part I develops and discusses her 20 principles; Part II discusses the practical a...

School Education, the third volume of Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series, consists of thoughts about the teaching and curriculum of children aged 9-12, either at school or at home. She suggests that parents should practice what she calls "masterly inactivity"-not neglectful or permissive parenting, but simply allowing children to work things out for themselves, do things for themselves, learn from their own mistakes, and to have time for free play, and space for spontaneity. Charlotte ...

One day when re-reading A Dominie's Log, its author decided that a book is out of date five minutes after it is written. In other words, he was in doubt—terrible and perplexing doubt. Do I really understand children? he asked himself. Are my ideas upon education right or wrong ? He decided that he had not sufficiently studied the psychology of children and that, in consequence, he had been guilty of almost criminal neglect. In the same delightfully discursive and ...

“A journey through the lives of young Eastern European Jews that's not to be missed.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)How do we come to be who we are spiritually? How does our political and social environment influence our development of self?A young American author immerses herself in modern Jewish Hungary. The twenty-one stories she shares will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to be your own best self. Somehow I Am Di...

Studies of effective teaching practices have continued to validate the need for explicit and systematic instruction in basic reading skills, and Bill Honig uses this research to shed new light on an old problem-how to help all students become fluent readers.Teaching Our Children to Read grows out of the experiences of scores of dedicated teachers and their success in the classroom. This book explores current research from the leading experts in the field, and presents new...