Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

The Case for Helping Them Leave, Chart Their Own Paths, and Prepare for Adulthood at Their Own Pace

By: Blake Boles

Narrated by: Blake Boles

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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 parents' major concerns about unconventional education - Can my kids still go to college? Will they still be employable? How will they learn to work hard? - while highlighting the hidden benefits of self-directed learning, such as improved parent-child relationships, a more balanced decision-making process regarding college, and a heightened sense of autonomy and connection.

Drawing upon 15 years of work as a mentor and guide for adolescents in alternative and experiential learning environments - as well as his own unconventional life path - Boles weaves together narrative, theory, and research to build a powerful argument for granting children unusual levels of freedom and responsibility.

©2020 Blake Boles (P)2020 Blake Boles

eye opening/ must read for every parent

Covid 19 changed so much in our lives. Schools failed our kids on many levels and we as parents had finally an opportunity to pause and see what our kids are learning and what is really important to them.

This book makes a case for unschooling. It is a scary idea since we have been brought up to believe in schools and their importance in kids lives. But what if kids do not need school to be successful? What if schools cause more bad than good?
If you want to get answers to those and many more similar questions grab the book.
It is an easy yet trully fascinating read.

A comprehensive guide into educational options

In a nutshell, this book will save you a ton of time that you would otherwise spend researching and untangling the info about educational choices for children in the US.
It is a very comprehensive guide into modern time educational methods that you might already know, but never thought of as actual options for your family because you just didn't know enough about them. The author doesn't push you toward a particular method, but liberates you by giving you the knowledge about different choices available. I recommend this book to parents of children of any age.

Great read/listen

As a sucker for statistics, I loved the incorporation of them throughout this book! The elaborate explanations of college was very helpful. Overall, a great read with lots of consideration to the different views of self directed education.

Worthy Listen

This book is full of helpful research based information and real life stories woven together in a relevant and inspiring way. There is practical wisdom here about how to facilitate wellbeing and personal development in partnership with our kids.

a must for all who interact with teens

Wonderful book for parents or anyone who is dealing with teens/young people on a regular basis, regardless of how they are currently being schooled.

The push I needed

Two minutes into this book and I was in tears. Public schools are failing our kids. This book describes why and gives you the courage to help them leave. A must read for any parent considering homeschooling!

Very inspiring!

I finally took my kids out of school after reading this book, it was the push in the right direction that I needed! I can’t express how great this book is and how it has helped our family come to understand how easy it is live the life we have always wanted.

Shift your perspective about school

I am grateful to the author for this valuable summary of alternative education. If your children are not thriving in their school environment, you do have options. This book is an excellent first step along the way to discovering the many alternatives to a traditional education.

Balanced and informational book

I had been reading books about unconventional schooling, but up until now they were very one-sided. I feel the author did an excellent job of summarizing evidence on both sides and then giving his take on it based on experience. I even appreciated his advice on parenting despite not being a parent, and perhaps even especially because he's not a parent because he offers a third party perspective. if you are considering walking away from schooling with your kid this book is a library of information that I haven't found elsewhere.

What a gift!

I needed the message(s) from this book to help me navigate as the best parent to a child who absolutely hates school.

My son is a natural auto-didactic and school leaves him depressed and anxious. I will now consider an alternative to tradition schooling for him.