Unschool Yourself First

A Parent's Gateway to Self-Directed Learning

By: Mark Beaumont

Narrated by: Patrick Smith

Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

If you are considering the unschooling path for your child or know someone who is, this is the best book to get you started; in fact, this book was made specifically for you, the parent who is on the fence regarding this philosophy and method of education.

If you have friends and relatives who are not accepting your choice to unschool, this is the book for you and even more so for them.

In this book, Mark Beaumont, MEd, weaves an interesting, helpful, and powerful combination of the history of school, educational research as it pertains to unschooling, and Mark’s very own creation, the Personal Learner Profile, in order to build a scaffold bridging the spaces between the paths of traditional, coercive schooling and that of the unschooler.

Adding to these three primary components of the book, Mark also uses a plethora of links to provide valuable information aimed at building confidence and providing deep understanding of the ways of unschooling as well as helping to train parents how to unschool themselves and how utilize the many benefits that the internet and 21st-century education provides.

The 21st-century paradigm is changing so rapidly that it will be those who are able to adapt to this change who will be the kingmakers of the coming century and beyond. Unschoolers are educated in the optimum way to take on these new challenges and to thrive in these 21st-century conditions. Yesterday's pack mules are today's hunters and gatherers (rote recall vs. free range unschoolers).

Through the utilization of the internet and the many links and resources provided in this book, you will be granted access to a variety of multimedia resources including documentaries, TED Talks, articles, and other tidbits that will enhance your ability to use 21st century tools and to open up these advantages for your child as well.

Mark Beaumont, MEd, has nearly 20 years of classroom experience internationally and in the US; he obtained his master's degree from George Mason University in international curriculum and instruction. He is a fully licensed educator both in the United States and internationally. He has built homeschool and unschool cooperatives in Asia and the United States, and he works diligently advocating the philosophy and methods of unschooling.

Mark not only preach the ways of unschooling, he is currently raising his own child this way. In short, he practices what he preaches.

If you are looking for a way to overcome your fear and to bolster yourself with a deep understanding of the unschooling ways of living and learning, this book is for you.

©2017 Mark Beaumont (P)2018 Mark Beaumont

Good book BUT….

Not having access to the notes/links that is mentioned multiple times in the book is very frustrating.

Worth a listen

Definitely enjoyed listening to this book and it has given me even more information to look into regarding unschooling my son.

I'm a former public school teacher. I loved it.

I had only ever heard of unschooling but didn't quite know the philosophy and pedagogy involved. This is a great beginner's guide to unschooling that covers quite a lot of topics regarding the issue in such short amount of time. I taught in public schools for less than 6 months before leaving because I felt like I wasn't actually able to help kids due to systemic constraints, and Mark helped me realize how even my own notions of a "teacher" are to blame. Similar to what you see at Acton Academy, this is a book that uses armchair theorizing to make sense of a lot of issues regarding our public schools.

The first chapters are especially compelling as he navigates the history of public schooling and makes an incredible case for why it needs to change, even if you don't want to unschool.

I would say because of its short length, it's not a "one-stop shop" of unschooling needs. You'll want to read/listen to this along with other books on the subject matter – I know I intend to. It's a great resource for if you're already thinking about unschooling for your children, not necessarily if you have no idea what unschooling is. The book approaches it from a clear voluntaryist framework, so it's not written in a way that maybe would be convincing to people who are politically "statist," wondering what unschooling is and using an empirical framework in their approach to the issue.

Even my 7 year old loved the book!!!

My 7 year old daughter loved this book for reading time. The expressions my daughter had at times were so whimsical and had a truly listening ear the whole time.
Very engaging!

Good intro to Unschooling Yourself First

A decent overview of how to unschool yourself. A lot of time is spent discussing the individual learner profile. Maybe I'm missing something, but I was not able to find the "Notes" section of this Audible book as referenced in the book for suggested videos and sources, so I had to search for each video by pausing the book and using the title he mentions in the book. I really enjoyed the videos referenced though, the ones I could find anyway. Also, it would be helpful if the chapters were titled in some way to know which chapter to reference back to for certain areas. Overall, still a useful introduction book I suppose. Thank you.

Amazing

I listen to this entire book in 1 evening. I could not turn it off. Great info and an amazing look into the way children and adults learn. This is a great read for any parent whether their child is homeschooled, public schooled or unschooled. Thank you Mark Beaumont for this wealth of information and the time it took to put it together.

Too many graphs needed- not audio friendly

This MIGHT be a good book. I have no idea. It should NEVER have been turned into an audio book because it is highly dependent on graphs and outside visual sources of information. Because of this I felt frustrated and did not get much out of this book.