Recommended Reading

The following is a collection of websites and books that are a must read by every parent considering or starting their unschooling journey.

Websites

SandraDodd.com/unschooling is a vast collection of thoughts on dozens of radical unschooling topics. It is the site editor’s goto guide on anything unschooling related, featuring voices from a plethora of unschoolers, both young and old, new and seasoned. The topical guide on the left side of the page helps the interested reader pinpoint their research topic.

LivingJoyfully.ca is an immense resource of blog posts, books, and podcast episodes by seasoned unschooling mom Pam Laricchia. Many of her books are featured below, and her podcast is highly recommended by the site editor.

The Natural Child Project is not limited to the practice of unschooling, but also includes content on attachment parenting and child advocacy. The site contains an excellent collection of articles, and the site owner, Jan Hunt, offers one-on-one parent counseling.

JoyfullyRejoycing.com is another excellent collection of articles on all things unschooling and peaceful parenting, by seasoned unschooling mom Joyce Fetteroll.

Freedom to Learn is a blog at Psychology Today by evolutionary psychologist and university professor Peter Gray. About the blog, “Children come into the world with instinctive drives to educate themselves. These include the drives to play and explore. This blog is primarily about these drives and ways by which we could create learning environments that optimize rather than suppress them.”

The Alliance for Self-Directed Education‘s ultimate goal, its vision, “is a world in which Self-Directed Education is embraced as a cultural norm and is available to all children, everywhere, regardless of their family’s status, race, or income.”

Books

Unschooling Basics

Pam Laricchia, Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life
Pam Laricchia, Free to Live: Create a Thriving Unschooling Home
Pam Laricchia, Life through the Lens of Unschooling: A Living Joyfully Companion
Rue Kream, Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooled Life
Sandra Dodd, Big Book of Unschooling
Wendy Priesnitz, et al, Life Learning: Lessons from the Educational Frontier

Self-Directed Education (Academic)

B. E. Ekoko, et al, Natural Born Learners: Unschooling And Autonomy In Education
Connor Boyack, Passion-Driven Education: How to Use Your Child’s Interests to Ignite a Lifelong Love of Learning
John Holt, How Children Learn
Peter Gray, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life

Compulsory Education

Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes
Jeffrey Till, Rise above School: Making the Critical Decision to Abandon School and Embrace Home Education
John Taylor Gatto, Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling

Peaceful Parenting

Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
L. R. Knost, Two Thousand Kisses a Day: Gentle Parenting Through the Ages and Stages
Laura Markham, Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting
Lawrence Cohen, Playful Parenting: An Exciting New Approach to Raising Children That Will Help You Nurture Close Connections, Solve Behavior Problems, and Encourage Confidence
Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
Robin Grille, Parenting for a Peaceful World
Thomas Gordon, Parent Effectiveness Training: The Proven Program for Raising Responsible Children