deschooling

[earthymato2]

hello!  i hope this question is ok to ask here...

i'm an unschooling mama to three boys, and while i know unschooling comes very naturally to some, it was a long deschooling road for me after 17 years in traditional education.  after working through it, i've noticed that there's not a lot of discussion/support on the deschooling process.  most of what i have seen is advice from experienced unschoolers which can be very hard to integrate until you really "get it" if that makes sense. 

anyway, i've had the idea floating in my head for a while to put together a book of deschooling inspiration.... stories of the struggles, the doubts and fears, the "aha!" moments where things come together, the beautiful ways life change as unschooling begins to flow more naturally. 

my question is, well, would anyone read it??  i'd love some feedback about whether or not this is an idea that would help folks through the sometimes difficult early days of unschooling.  thanks!

[moominmamma]

There is already a book on deschooling edited by Matt Hern ("Everywhere All the Time: A New Deschooling Reader") that is a collection of essays on deschooling. It's not so much "in-the-trenches" anecdotes written by parents as much as it's a collection of more philosophical essays questioning the assumptions school is based on. I don't actually own a copy. I borrowed its predecessor ("Deschooling Our Lives," now out of print) years ago and found it very inspiring. But if you're talking about a book that's more anecdotal, focusing on the struggles, epiphanies and experiences of parents, I think there would definitely be an audience for that. Having said that, it's a difficult type of book to compile, as I'd think the writing would have to be top-notch and cohesively edited in order for it to hold together as a whole. 

Miranda

[SamGroom]

My favorite homeschooling book of all time is "Homeschooling our Children, Unschooling Ourselves".  It is one families story.  I agree that deschooling for the parents is often the hardest part.  Even if you are not unschooling your kids.  i think any book focusing on that area would be very helpful.