The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn – Book Review

BOOK REVIEW
The Teenage Liberation Handbook
by Grace Llewellyn

This is a challenging book for me, which is why I keep it on my shelf. When I feel like I’m veering too strongly toward mind-numbing rigor in our homeschool, I grab this book and it helps swing me closer to center. I’m not sure I’d ever have the courage to hand it to my child, though!

I do feel that since I’ve discovered Circe Institute and others who are pursuing an understanding of medieval classical education (as opposed to the neo-classical style that is currently so popular) I am no longer swinging back and forth on the pendulum between unschooling and what I had been calling classical (which really just fed my drive to be the best). I appreciate what unschoolers are saying in their departure from current educational practices, but I’ve never felt fully comfortable with the ideology. Unschooling seems like it contains within it the potential for breeding unhealthy pride and individualism, and I’m seeing more and more the value of humility in all areas of life. I believe there is much wisdom to be gained from thinkers of the past and that there is something of a canon of knowledge that is important for me to impart to my children. With that said, though, this is still an eye-opening read, and I would recommend it to anyone who has kids in or out of public school.