Reddit mentions: The best parenting & family books

Hi OP. Former homeschool parent here. Let me assure you, you aren't out of time. You actually have quite a lot of options. The thing I know about A.C.E. is it isn't rigorous. You can quickly regurgitate questions as necessary to keep your parents happy. That's good news because it gives you time to catch up on curriculum necessities as well as delve into topics of interest that will make you stand out to colleges when you do apply.

I'm going to throw out a bunch of ideas, starting with a few books you can look for in your local library (look for library exchanges for more options). The first is the Well Trained Mind. It's reading heavy so if you like reading, this will be a good guide for that (just don't think you're supposed to do everything suggested - it's like homeschooling on steroids and meant to be a guide to pick and choose). The author hosts a homeschool forum that is free to join (here). While there are a lot of bible thumpers there, a lot are not. Also, there are a lot of people which increases your chances of finding someone who is very familiar with a topic of interest for you, be it astronomy, snakes, Lord of the Rings, etc.

Another book I would recommend looking through is called Guerilla Learning. It's a bit optimistic, not gonna lie, but you might find some ways of accessing academic or unusual skills in ways that appeal to you and you can do in your spare time. This is also good for developing a unique skill or craft or hobby to appeal to colleges. To this end, look for colleges that have separate applications for home educated students. You might get some good ideas seeing what others have done. Keep in mind they show off the most impressive people, so don't think you have to create a series of chainmail outfits for the local SCA in order to catch someone's attention!

Khan Academy is kind of the state of the art online resource for academic subjects. Each video is short and explains one concept clearly and concisely. I think it's a great resource for catching up or getting to understand subjects you don't feel confident in. You can also look at your state's public school curriculum scope and sequence guide to know what subjects you should be familiar with. Again, don't get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of subjects. Home education is about doing things your way, and standing out.

Look at community colleges and high school continuing ed and libraries in your area. Many of them offer general ed classes, some offer GED classes. Many community colleges offer classes to high school students. You might also do a search for homeschool classes in your area. For example, some of my kids took accredited science labs from a licensed educator. I recognize these would require your parent's approval.

Lastly, if you cannot do these things while you're in school, I would encourage you to develop a skill you can learn at home that will give you an income sufficient to living independently once you're 18 (if not sooner, if you can work that out). Find a skill you can convince your parents god is putting in your heart, and by the time you're 18 you should be able to be working full time or close to it (working in restaurant, sewing, woodworking, blacksmith, programing, etc). Save your money in a bank account your parents do not know about or they may remove money thinking it's in your best interest. Once you've saved up some money and are living independently, look to your community college to catch up. Don't fall for the old story that you have to be enrolled in college by the time you're 18. That's increasingly falling by the wayside, and for good reason. I've known people who have taken one or two classes per semester, as they can afford it, and people who have found alternative work, and people who worked for decades before taking college classes. People find what works for them.

I would suggest you take this semester to make a plan. Allow yourself these next few months to do the research necessary, figure out how much you can learn on your own, how much you can do from home and what you have to do outside home. Just take this time to learn. Think of it as a recon mission. Just gather information. Slowly but surely you'll discover what's going to work best for you.

Good luck friend. I think you got this. I believe in you.

Edit: Oh duh! I just remembered a resource that is probably much better suited for you! Recovering from Religion will have much more information and people who have been right where you are. I would start there. You're not alone.

Saxon math works great in middle and high school. IMO there are better programs for kindergarten and elementary school levels. Making Math Meaningful is what I used as a child. I have it now for my 5-year-old, but I still supplement a lot of it. I have a math degree, and IMO what children need most at this age is constant work with numbers. To be always counting, adding, subtracting, and thinking about them - they don't need the mechanical memorization of techniques nearly as much as they need a mental understanding of what numbers are and what they represent. I don't put much stock in curriculum, because at the K level they are designed for 10-minute lessons and that's it.

I do the following, pretty loosely structured so that my son doesn't feel like he's grinding education:

• MMM (it does work as a curriculum)
  
• Random Common Core Standard exercises I build myself. If you don't like CC, I would at least suggest adopting a policy of never letting decimal system (ten digit, 0-9) learning stop at ten or one hundred. When you work with small numbers, don't stop counting at ten - stop at 20 or better yet 25. Don't count to 100, count to 120. Studies have shown that kids struggle the most with the teen numbers, and they struggle with wrapping ideas from tens to hundreds to thousands. Don't ever just teach a concept to ten in a base ten system; they will understand it better if they get to see how it's constructed beyond that. How it repeats.
  
• Family Math, of which there are several books that are nothing but math games to play. I cannot recommend these books enough, they teach several years worth of math/algebra/geometry/statistics fundamentals in ways that even little kids can have fun with. A used copy at that link will be less than $5 shipped - a steal even if only a couple of games in the book are worthwhile to you.
  
• Math sticker books. Cheap, easy to find at Walmart, Target, and dollar stores. Kids love new things, and books are no exception. It's more practice of the basics, and they won't tire of it as easily.
  
• The classic Schoolhouse Rock series, and LeapFrog movies (the latter being available on Netflix). Little kids need variety. Some of their math needs to be read out of books, sometimes drawn, sometimes held in their hands. Being able to sing along with a video is just one more way to get them in front of numbers without burning them out on the ideas, and that's a really good thing.
  
• Cuisenaire Rods. Done correctly, the child is effortlessly introduced to fractions and algebraic equations, the latter being IMO worth it's weight in gold down the road. The middle-school jump from numbers to variables is one of the largest areas where grade school kids struggle with math - to get that taken care of at this age is a huge bonus.
  
• Khan Academy's lowest level math videos. They aren't too long, and are certainly hit-and-miss, but for example abacus math is very powerful, and a very easy way for children to physically manipulate objects while counting and understanding numeric values (really important at this age). Really Khan Academy across the board is a no-brainer because of how good the lessons are designed for free platform.
  
• Video games, board games, and anything else that encourages counting. Cooking. Cleaning. Drawing. Math is everywhere, and the more opportunities you take, the more ability your child will have to apply math concepts to their world (AKA demonstrate mastery).
  
  I have a tendency to want to stay ahead of the curve with my son: throw more advanced, 1-3 grade concepts at him, and see if any of it sticks. Nothing that will confuse him, nothing that we drill or even push to understand. When it doesn't work, we drop it. When it does work, it's quite the leap in mathematical understanding.
  
  That's my two cents.

She is closer to my younger daughters age for penpal :) but i know my oldest would love pictures as well

You can do it. It seems a bit overwhelming at first cause it is unknown to me and so many options. Also wading through the options of secular and religious is very time consuming. Not sure if I want to buy a full curriculum or go the unschool route. We are in kindergarten this fall and she already knows 80% of what is expected for them to know here. So we are moving on to grade 1 stuff.

Just a tip if your teaching ABC's teach the sounds first. Before the names of the letters. This makes phonics a lot easier later on. Also the book teach your child to read in a 100 easy lessons is awesome!
This book is awesome as well and these are great for history

I find the hardest part at this age is finding a group. A lot of groups in my area are heavily religious or meant for 6+ years. Periodically someone will put together a pre school age one, which is lovely. In Toronto there was a huge group that met a few times a week. It is natural the community here is smaller. I can't wait till they are pre teen age. The University here has weekly science labs set up specific for home school kids. Get the run of a well set up lab. The same for the Museum. The University and the local vocational college as well has it set up so kids being home schooled can start attending at age 16, just general studies. But it's great that they don't have to worry about having the diploma. After a year or two in general studies they will be happy with those gpa's for whatever program they want to apply for.

>It's free

I'm sure you know it's not free, right? The prisons are built and the guards are paid with money stolen from local property owners. If you're saying that you or your parents don't have to pay for it, well... adult prisons are "free" as well, but I don't see many people trying to figure out a way to get in. You know what else is "free?" Parks. Libraries. Volunteering. The internet, the best learning tool ever conceived by man, via public wi-fi.

>My parents would not pay for me otherwise

Like, they would kick you out of the house if you weren't attending prison? Would they not even be open to the idea of alternatives? As I mentioned, if not, maybe you could find support in the community?

>I don't want to be a hermit

Do you not have any personal relationships outside of prison? Understandable if not, but couldn't you use your new found freedom to cultivate such relationships? Again, the AnCap community might be a good place to start...

>I don't think I have many alternatives

What are you interested in learning about? You could try something like WWOOFing. Volunteering, apprenticeship, internships...

>I'm not ready to walk away from my life

Is prison really your whole life though? Are you like Brooks from Shawshank?

>I'll only be there another 2 weeks

Is this your last year? If not, I hope you seriously consider not going back, if so, I'm curious what your plans are for the future? It seems like after twelve years of forced schooling, most people don't know any other way to live and opt for four (or more) years of additional schooling, much to their detriment...

>I've only been an ancap for a couple months

Welcome to the club, brother! As I linked before, I strongly recommend this book, I'd be happy to buy it for you if you're interested.

>Rational people cannot be made worse off by more information

Totally agree! Now if only I could find some of these rational people of which you speak...

Congratulations on getting in on the ground floor so young - I had absolutely no political interest until I was around 21 and learned about libertarianism, but it would have made a significant difference in my life if I had learned about it earlier. Especially since I lived in the same town as Harry Browne, who is often considered to be the best Libertarian presidential nominee (twice nominated, actually) ever.

If I could recommend one thing you do, read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It's a life changing book. If you look around the world to you and see that nothing makes sense and you want to know that you're not the only one who feels that way and you want some answers, Atlas Shrugged is for you. I called into a radio show one time and read my favorite quote from the book (I read a shortened version of the quote but the full text appears in the graphics here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnDTUF3_8Qg ). If you don't like reading, I understand perfectly - I HATED reading when I was a teenager: all the garbage is was force fed by the government schools made me associate reading books with agony. Schools don't encourage students to develop their own taste in literature, so if these stats are accurate (they actually seem on the conservative side to me), it shouldn't be surprising:
http://hotforwords.com/2011/04/11/42-of-people-who-graduate-from-college-never-read-another-book/
>1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

Anyway, what I was getting to is that even if hate reading (and this is a VERY long book), you might find the audiobook version a lot easier to swallow:
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-New-Ayn-Rand/dp/1433256193
The MP3 CD (4 discs) starts at $45 here. It lists the narrator as Scott Brick. He's a different narrator than the version I had listened to by Christopher Hurt. I haven't heard the Brick version, but if you can find the Christopher Hurt version I highly recommend it.

And since you're young, perhaps a good fit for you would be to find a nearby chapter of Young Americans for Liberty:
http://www.yaliberty.org/chapters
They mostly organize on college campuses but I bet they would be more than happy to have a high schooler join.

And while I'm on the topic of college, you're parents will probably try to railroad you into college. Don't let them. INSIST they present you with other options (such as learning a trade) so you can decide for yourself what you want to do. Better yet, research this stuff yourself - I haven't read it myself but the Teenage Liberation Handbook sounds like a great place to start: http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322208726&sr=8-1

One more name I want to drop is Johnathan Taylor Gatto - he was a mulitple winner of NY teacher of the year at public schools and has since turned his back on the public school system and researched what it's really about. This 10 minute speech might wet your appetite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8cr0p9HaG8

Agreed. Once upon a time, science and philosophy were much more closely related than they are today. We are polarizing individual aspects of the arts, which has done more to create robotic thinkers than open minded learners. Homeschooling is a great first step to breaking his daughter out of the conveyer belt thinking process, and introducing her to every aspect of the world of education, even religion, and allowing her to pursue those subjects that interest her most. This will feed her curiosity and allow her to become her own person in the long run. Pushing her toward Atheist thinking is as dangerous as pushing her toward religious thinking, if the goal is to allow her to choose her own path and ideas, and truly become an individual thinker. If her religious upbringing by her mom is more restrictive, and you create an open environment that is truly open to all possibilities, she will be a great leader.

But it starts with you, the parent. If all you are doing is teaching her things in direct opposition to the mom, then this is petty and not in your daughter's best interest, nor will it draw her toward your way of thinking, it will repel it. If your goal is to have her think like you do, then, again, you are not really raising a "free thinker" are you? So start with your own education, your own style and teaching philosophy. Here are some great books to give different and honest perspectives. Do what works for you.

• How Children Learn - Holt
  
• How Children Faill - Holt
  
• The Unschooling Unmanual
  
• Dumbing us Down - Gatto
  
• Thomas Jefferson Education (This one is a method of instruction, and though he encourages use of the Bible as classic literature, he aslo emphasizes that, if the Bible isn't your cup of tea, there's plenty out there that will be)
  
  Enjoy the journey!
  
  *Edited for formatting.

I am a teacher, and Alliebeth offers terrific advice for kids of this nature -- especially about keeping things rigid for her. Some kids have high anxiety from changes in their routine, so the fact that she's acting up on weekends might be a sign of this. The key is to give your daughter plenty of notice for any changes in her schedule -- eg, "(Daughter), this weekend your grandma is coming over for a visit. This Friday, I would like for your to clean your room so that it looks nice for your grandma."

When your daughter starts kindergarten, you might want to send an introductory email to her teacher. Offer a heads-up about what to expect and how you've been dealing with her behavior. Set some goals for the year that are doable but would also reflect substantial growth (eg, for her to be potty-trained and to stop throwing tantrums). You can also include some things your child enjoys, and what she likes and doesn't like teachers to do in a classroom. I highly recommend this because it's important to reinforce expectations at home and school.

For further reading, you might want to check out:

• No: Why Kids -- of All Ages -- Need to Hear It and Parents Need to Say It
  
• The Motivation Breakthrough
  
• The Myth of Laziness
  
  Just so you know, it sounds like you're a very caring parent and have been trying a lot of great options. Don't give up; you'd be amazed how much turnaround a child can have in just a few months -- the key is finding a method that works for you and your child.

> Where do you get the idea that employing a Peace Corp Volunteer takes a job away from a Host Country National?

I just thought it'd be better to educate English teachers, since then you'd be helping out adults that can then continue your work once you're gone. 1 PC teaching 30 teachers means that those 30 teachers can then go teach 900 students, instead of 1 PC just teaching 30 students. But if their isn't anyone around to become teachers, then it looks like MZ does have a problem.

> Besides, with both sides forcing adults into employment, there was no one left to teach.

What about teaching MZ students about /r/unschool? Here are some books that I highly recommend: What Smart Students Know , Study Smarter Not Harder , The Unschooling Handbook , The Unschooling Unmanual , and Unschooling Rules.

> I'll spare you the statistics, but feel free to do some research into literacy and overall education in MOZ.

Yup, you're right.

I usually question everything, especially with regards to activities that our Government engages in here and abroad, since I just don't trust the bastards. But it sure does sound like Mozambique needs more help than I thought, initially, and I'm glad you and lenaurora are going to do it in whatever way you can. I'll delete my previous negative comments, don't want those sticking around.

Cheers and good luck mates! Make sure you update Reddit so we know if there's any other ways in which we can help.

I'm still really new at this, so I'm trying to communicate intelligently about concepts that I'm still figuring out. Normally at this point, I would just say that I don't know anything and stop talking, but I also know how hard it is to find anyone to talk to, so I'm going to keep muddling through.

My son hasn't even started public education, so my basis for information is based off of things I've learned in the past few months. I was able to attend a presentation by Jim Delisle last fall and ended up buying and reading his book and I loved it. I also bought this but haven't read it yet, and I think its focus is specifically on the US school system and might be useful for this exact issue -- meaning what is legally required and what/how we should advocate.

I think that gifted services can vary widely, even within a school district. I know in my state (CO) there was legislation passed just in 2008, but I'm not exactly sure what it changed. At the panel where I met our district coordinator, there were other coordinators from 6-7 local school districts, and they talked about what gifted meant in their districts. Some (but not all!) had pull-out programs, where kids would leave the classroom during the regular day and work alone or in a gifted group on special projects or subjects. I found out recently from a teacher that there are a couple students in our future school who are identified gifted but receiving no services at all, and their parents haven't done anything about it yet.

Specifically to your situation, my opinion (not worth much) is that if your daughter can be tested to confirm her high intelligence, maybe that would help determine how the school should best handle your daughter. For some reason, I assumed she was receiving special ed services, but that was only based on the description as twice exceptional, not anything you actually said. I know even less (nothing) about special ed and IEPs, but I would imagine those plans are more specifically designed for the purpose of "meeting intellectual needs", as we've called it. I don't think gifted-only kids don't get the same level of rigor attached to their education.

Hi! Congrats on starting your new career :) I was in the same boat as you; graduated with a Chem degree and have ended up teaching most every science content (bio, physics, chem, and physical science) in the HS level.

Regarding subject specific resources, hopefully your school provides you with curriculum so that you can know what you need to review/look up--I know I spent a lot of time reviewing biology content when I had to teach that class since I was rusty on it. For a decent content review book, I found this book at Costco last year but they sell it on Amazon:

[Help Your Kids With Science] (http://www.amazon.com/Help-Your-Kids-Science-Publishing/dp/0756692687/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406088680&sr=8-1&keywords=help+your+kids+with+science)

I actually use the book sometimes with my Sped students or when if a class needs some quick review. It's pretty thorough with nice pictures.

This book is about using Science Notebooks in class... I spent a lot of time in grad school/student teaching using notebooks so I felt I had a good grasp on them, but this book provided a few good ideas. It is a little pricey though.

[Teaching Science With Interactive Notebooks] (http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Science-With-Interactive-Notebooks/dp/1412954037/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406089065&sr=8-3&keywords=science+notebook)

If you need any first day advice or anything like that, feel free to PM me!

You've already made the first step, deciding to homeschool / unschool. I'm very proud that my children have never spent a day in government indoctrination centers.

Start looking up the homeschooling laws in your state now. If your state laws are tough on homeschooling, then start planning a move to a homeschool friendly state now, I would suggest New Hampshire!

Find a local homeschool group to be involved in. If you're religious, the options are pretty good. If not, it is tougher to find a secular group in some areas (like the Memphis area we used to live in). The support and friendships in these kinds of groups are a big help.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that homeschooling is one sacrifice after another. We sacrifice my wife's salary, which would be substantial. We sacrifice the benefit of our tax dollars going to schools for other children. We sacrifice paying money on events and stuff we would get for free if our kids were in the system. But, the sacrifices are worth every penny.

Also, this book was a big help to my wife: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Learn-Classics-Child-Development/dp/0201484048/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473526899&sr=8-2&keywords=john%20holt%20unschooling

Congrats on moving to 3rd grade! I think you'll love it! Third graders basically come in as second graders - check in and make sure they know the basics before moving on to the more challenging stuff and (like in kindergarten) practice and teach routines over and over and over! :) Second to third is a HUGE jump though! They are now reading to learn instead of learning to read (most of them).

This book was really helpful for me -
https://smile.amazon.com/Every-Teacher-Setting-Running-Classroom/dp/1892989417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465755946&sr=8-1&keywords=what+every+third+grade+teacher+needs+to+know

and the book Yardsticks will also you give you a good idea developmentally of where they should be - https://smile.amazon.com/Yardsticks-Children-Classroom-Ages-4-14/dp/1892989190/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465755993&sr=8-1&keywords=yardsticks

Don't be afraid to ask for you help from your team or really anyone else in your school who could be of help (other team leads, coaches, etc.)

You got this!!

You might want to buy a book called Yardsticks by a fellow named (yes, his actual name) Chip Wood. Excellent overview of kids ages 4-14 but geard for teachers so it covers development and cognitive growth. I would advise you buy and read this book single parent or not.

I have noticed a great degree of emphasis on sports but I want to encourage you to consider why people have chosen to put that forward. Sports teach teamwork, discipline and the value of giving something your best for the greater good.

The reason why sexism works is because it's systemic. It is in every aspect of our lives from birth. From the way people - adults and peers- treat us, to the toys we play with, to our education, to the media, to the examples we see and so on. It's incredibly difficult to root out the cause through all this mess, because there are so many varied factors.

While we still break up actives based on gender, there will be under-representation of the other side. And anyone that breaks away from going the direction that they "should" based on how our society defines gender is outcast by both sides. That's a very powerful force.

You asked 2 very different questions: gaming and STEM as a career. While similar, I think that choice of a career has a lot more added on to it.

Women are still the primary caretakers of families and those of us uninterested in taking care of messy little people are still considered wrong by most people. Many still believe that is our sole purpose in life. STEM fields are very well known for their work/life imbalance. That's a big decision for someone too young to really know what they want out of their life.

The 80's (when I grew up) had a series of gender neutral toys for "tinkering." I had all sorts of science kits made up of regular colours that were marketed to both. And yet I still knew from as early as I can remember that professionally those are fields for boys. You can't just fix 1 piece of the puzzle. Going back to gendered toys like we have now certainly isn't going to help though.

I think education plays an extremely large role in it. While teachers may not always actively discourage kids who want to go in certain directions, they aren't actively encouraging it either. Boys are also taught to try harder to learn something, while girls are taught that intelligence is binary - you either get the question right, or you don't. Girls are also taught that you can get through school just fine if you are "good and helpful," regardless if you learn anything.

If you are really interested in this topic, I highly suggest the book Still Failing At Fairness. Everything I said about education is from studies done in that book, which looks at issues for both genders.

Everything else will be personal experience.

I am a game programmer. While I had a very strong aptitude in math and science, not once was I ever encouraged to do anything with it. Instead that was mostly ignored while my headstrong and argumentative attitude was their center point. I started gaming when I was 4 and tinkered with computers through the 80's and 90's, but it never once even occurred to me that it could be a career until I started considering grad school.

Being the only woman (or of a very few) in the room is not welcoming. It's actually rather daunting as you don't know what might happen. The best you can hope for is for just bit of benevolent sexism. Sometimes I have to prove my worth. Other times I'm ignored no matter what I say. While others treat me as a novelty. Sometimes though they do treat me like a person.

It's not entirely fun anytime someone is shocked that I'm a programmer. It's tiring anytime someone decides they need to question my knowledge outside of a job interview. The jaw dropping effect grew tiring years ago.

The impostor syndrome is a common hurdle that I still have to fight through at times.

It is slowly getting better the more we talk about it and the more women enter these fields. I've been lucky enough to not have a lot of really bad experiences and most eventually snap out of it the longer they are around me.

Whether or not you're going all the way to homeschooling or finding alternatives such as Montessori or Waldorf, here's my two cents as well. Read up on it. I'll probably come off as bit of an ass, but it's your kid, what more relevance do you need to find and buy lots and lots of manuals(so to speak). Kids're pretty complicated, or so I've heard.

I'm not an expert, but I have a few titles I'll promptly lay on whatever friend of mine starts to procreate first. In my opinion these aren't 'crazy' books, and I sincerely hope you'll take them seriously.

How Children Learn

How Children Fail

Punished By Rewards

The Homework Myth

John Taylor Gatto has written some stuff as well, but Google can find that for you. Read and read more. I couldn't begin to describe my time in the famous twelve years without plenty of cussing.

Take an interest, is my advice.

Hey, not sure if this helps much, but I thought I could share. I have been out of school since I was 6. I have hippie type parents, so they never requiered any formal schoolwork from me. I do get questioned frequently about it. I usually just try to explain that I spend my time on things I'm actually interested in. (Like programming, screenwriting, etc.) I have health problems too, and I spend a lot of time researching and trying new treatments.

My Mum dropped out of high school in the beginning of her senior year, got her GED, and majored in anthropology. Sometimes dropping out is your best option.

Anyway here's the link to a fantastic book on dropping out, learning on your own, finding work, college, and more. (I think the pdf is available online for free.)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Freedom is not just for the unmarried. Many families are doing this. Here are a few examples (some provide resources/support systems for digital nomads with families):

• [Almost Fearless] (https://www.almostfearless.com/)
  
  
• [The Luxpats] (http://theluxpats.com/)
  
  
• [Digital Nomads with Kids] (https://digitalnomadwithkids.com/)
  
  
• [Nomad Together] (https://nomadtogether.com/)
  
  There are also a couple of good books on this from people who are doing it, [Vagabonding with Kids] (https://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Kids-Uncensored-Awkward-Raucous/dp/1612549144/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20) from the terrific AK Turner and [Choose Life: The Tools, Tricks, and Hacks of Long-Term Family Travellers, Worldschoolers and Digital Nomads] (https://www.amazon.com/Choose-Life-Long-Term-Travellers-Worldschoolers/dp/1549955780//ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20) from Daniel Prince.
  
  Hope this is helpful and good luck with getting free!

Google "Education Consultants Shanghai" or whatever city you're in: "Education Consultants Chengdu." You might get lucky to find a company looking and willing to train you. If you have the time and a bit of money saved up, get an IEC certification. It's an "Independent Education Consultant Certificate," and you can do them online or in-person. It's just a step in the direction. I'll admit that many people in the field have master's degrees.

A quick google showed me [some] (http://www.smartshanghai.com/jobs/education/13265) different companies in China, for example. I have no idea about those companies, so please don't consider this an endorsement of them. Go and find them on linked in. It's always better to apply to a company than a job board.

Check out some of the professional groups like HECA and IACAC. Join facebook groups and look around at job sites. Read a few books like "Harvard Schmarvard" and "College Match."

Looking for the job is great, but you should also know what you're expected to do when you get the job.

Buy the FISKE guide and familiarize yourself with colleges and universities in the US. If I asked you name 3 great engineering schools and 3 mid-tier engineering schools, could you do it? What are the top 3 schools for music performance, top 3 for music engineering, etc...

Also, check out /r/ApplyingToCollege and /r/ApplyingToCollegeINTL

A couple of resources you may enjoy:

a) Exploding Dots--this is a model for thinking about place value that I really like. You could skip (or spend little time on) the 1<--2 machine and just start with the 1<--10 machine if you think that's better.

b) Family Math This book is super rad for finding ways to approach these early education topics in fun ways.

EDIT: And some manipulatives never hurt: Base 10 Blocks

I'd love to hear your wife's perspective on all of this, because i wonder if you're having some big miscommunication.

If she knows this is something you're doing just for her, and not so much for your own kinks, she may have a lot of mixed up feelings, although you mention a lot of these behaviors existed before implementing the formal power exchange element?

Take some time to really sit and talk when you're both calm. She's allowed to have feelings, you both need to know that, but you need to work together to find out where the anger is coming from. Is she upset you're enforcing the rules? Does she not feel the rules are acceptable? Does she feel the rules are not enough, or don't hit the buttons she was hoping for? Is she angry at herself for messing up? Does she feel like you're only enforcing the rules some of the time or doing so in an unfair way? Does she just not respect your authority?

A common mistake some folks make is wanting to be 'made' to do things, and will act defiantly until 'forced' to submit. This works when properly negotiated and made clear to both parties, but if she's playing that card and you're not into it - it's an obvious conflict.

Do you have a set ritual for punishment? Is it clear that once she has been punished for something the issue is finished on both sides? Would it help for her to state why she is being punished? For her to state what the punishment should be?

Obviously any behaviors she's held for most of her life take time to un-learn, and you can be supportive there. Are there warning signs that she's going to get upset? Are there possible cues you both can use to indicate she's approaching the line of disrespect? Does she have any intention of being respectful?

Stepping out of the dynamic for your own mental health was a good thing. You're allowed to do that. You are allowed to have limits, you're allowed to withdraw consent. You're also allowed to say - Hey, if you want this type of dynamic, i need you to not behave in this manner. A well respected member of our local discussion group has a partner who gets very emotional at times. He's set a clear boundary - there's no interaction until the submissive is calm and respectful again. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes, sometimes 5 hours.

Does she have any support system in place for her submission? Does she spend time with other folks who do this full time (ideally folks who are experienced and do this in real life)? If she's getting her ideas from fiction, that can be a real issue. Living this stuff is not like porn. It might be worthwhile to look at some books like Erotic Slavehood: A Miss Abernathy Omnibus, The Path of Service, or The Submissive Activity Book. The last two are workbooks which are meant to help a submissive identify their interests, role models, and intentions in submission, however they can be used with a dominant partner.

Books on the subject:

In the slums of India, homeschooled education outdoes the private education
The Beautiful Tree
(http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Tree-Personal-Educating-Themselves/dp/1933995920)

Literacy rates went down since public education was introduced and much much more (written by an award winning teacher who left the system)
Weapons of Mass Instruction
http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716315

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2010/100707/commnews_homeschool.html

Here is the difference we see in our homeschool:

Class size: Most teachers I've talked to say the ideal class size is about 6 kids. That's the maximum we allow in our homeschool (mini-school, as we take in neighbor kids at times). With 6 kids, they all get independent attention.

Curriculum: Instead of a massive one-size fits all, we can tailor the message to each student. One kid loves dance, so she gets math problems related to dancing. Another loves car engines, so they get car engine math. Both care about math.

The big one everyone will bring up: Socialization
I know this may be hard to believe, but we don't lock our students in the basement and teach them about jezzus all day and the evils of evolution. We do co-ops with many other families in the area. Other home schooled kids are used to being treated like adults and making decisions. The result, my kids have never yet had their heads flushed in a toilet. They don't struggle with making friends, and they look at bullies as bizarre and rare things that they can walk away from.

How socialized are the kids in school really? They only interact with kids in their grade (home school kids often learn along side teenagers and little kids and see that everyone has valid opinions. My kids don't discriminate based on age with who they play with in the neighborhood, making them popular).

Time benefits: We don't have to wait in lines, fold our arms and put our heads on our desks while each child brings their test up to the front. The result is that we can teach in 4 hours what regular school does in 8.

Field trips: Public schools can only afford about one or two a year. We do one or two a month. Including private interviews with restaurant owners, ballet dancers, and leads in plays. The Zoo specially arranged so my daughter could see the cougars fed (she loves cougars).

Hall-Pass: My kids can make up their own minds when they go potty, and no one stops them. The concept that an adult would remove your right to a basic biological function is just bizarre to them.

The only real problem with private schooling is a parent needs to stay home and want to teach, but as long as you have that, there is no reason in the world that kids couldn't learn way more with a little support than in a false, forced environment where conformity and factory-like working conditions are the norm.

I understand not everyone has the luxury to do this and that makes me sad, but the idea that public school is superior than a caring, attentive adult and a small class size is bizarre to me.

Read whatever you can get your hands on about it. :) Two of my favorites were The Unschooling Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/The-Unschooling-Handbook-Childs-Classroom/dp/0761512764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408927620&sr=8-1&keywords=the+unschooling+handbook) and this How to Homeschool guide: http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/how-to-homeschool.shtml

Good luck! :)

Consider unschooling, too! I was unschooled, though my parents didn't realize that's exactly what they were doing. I enjoyed learning on my own VERY much growing up (and I still do).

A great starting place to learn more about home/unschooling is The Teenage Liberation Handbook (amazon) by Grace Llewellyn.

If education interests you, you can't go wrong with How Children Fail, How Children Learn, or any of John Holt's later works. Truly inspiring.

The Lives of Children by George Dennison is also amazing.

Girls naturally are good with fine motor skills while boys are naturally good with gross motor skills. So with young children boys will prefer to throw or kick a ball while girls will prefer to sit and color in small spaces.

Of course this is a wide generalization as you get the girl who loves to kick and throw a ball and the boy who loves to sew. But you can say, "It's just the way they are made."

Homeschooling Boys

It massively depends on the specific book you're reading. You don't read the classics and return them to the library. With something like Crime and Punishment, or Faust, or Moby Dick, or anything on this list, you need to be able to mark up the book with notes during a first read through, so that you're better able to absorb and understand and critique the book during the second, longer reading. (A great book on reading: https://www.amazon.com/Well-Trained-Mind-Classical-Education-Fourth/dp/0393253627/ref=dp_ob_title_bk )

If you're reading for pleasure, or if the subject matter isn't as complex as Moby Dick, the library is fine. And, in that case, you're completely correct. I love Le Carre, but I can't imagine buying one of his books. The same goes for cook books--I take them out from the library, copy the recipes I like, and bring them back.

I think that you should only buy a book if you're definitely going to read it and mark it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World

Quite the contrary.

Here are two great reads if you're interested on getting the "abolish the Dept. of Education" peoples take. It's not so much "screw them" as it is "we can give children a better education".

https://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Anniversary/dp/0865714487/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716692/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

The conservative viewpoint of the humanities tends to be focussed on the Western Canon and the great books curriculum or Classical education. A common conservatives opinion is that a classical liberal arts education is critically important and valuable, but that modern Academia mired in revisionist theories and nihilism and leaving students adrift in a sea of electives taught by radicals has lost the thread and are now largely useless at best and more often than not are actively destructive.

A few books about the humanities, philosophy, art & education by conservatives and/or approvingly cited by conservatives.

• The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
  
  
• The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers
  
  
• God and Man at Yale By William F. Buckley
  
  
• The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Santayana by Russel Kirke
  
  
• How Should we Then Live by Francis Schaeffer
  
  
• Modern Times By Paul Johnson.
  
  
• The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
  
  
• The Closing of the American Mind by Alan Bloom

The Teenage Liberation Handbook

Test out of high-school.... I did, it was laughably easy, you could be going to a junior college right now, and taking transfer credits to get into a better university.

Also, I read in another comment that you said your kiddo is emotionally intense. Here’s a book I read as I was trying to figure out how to help my child. I highly recommend it!!

Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings (2nd ed.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618214578/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_u3.YAbFCV5TGX

My son had a lot of emotional excitability at that age. He just entered 4th grade and is doing much better. My thought is it's probably the asynchronous development of the brain. Have you read Emotional Intensity in Gifted Student? Helped us ALOT!

Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618214578/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FqGzDbXWF1V6R

After a bunch of looking at all of our books, I think the single most helpful reference is a book called the Well Trained Mind.

Once you read it you will be overwhelmed....it's that sort of book. Just don't obsess about it, and find the resources that will work for you. We've maybe completed 60% of what it dictates each year.

Oh, and feel free to pm me with any questions, anytime.

I'm in the middle of a good book that talks about how much of school is more about training conformity and obedience than about creating properly trained critical thinkers.

Mindless application of the rules in a situation like this seems like a great example of that kind of approach. I read this situation like a good teacher being pushed out for political reasons.

He's a bit opinionated, something I feel stems from his deep involvement in the issue. Read him and find out.

His biggest book is available online.

Alfie Kohn might be of some interest as well.

Is he though? Much of it speaks true, but clearly that's not enough. Especially on reddit, and I'm not the one to argue for all of this, I've done enough of that and no one cares.

Oh, wait, I'll throw in some Chomsky.

If she's smart and not enjoying high school, don't be afraid to suggest dropping out, getting a GED, and going to college instead.

The dirty little secret that no high school guidance counselor wants you to know is that colleges are very accepting of smart kids who leave high school early.

The Teenage Liberation Hanbook (http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170) is a useful book.

You might want to read this. I don't know how prevalent the type of alternative school you describe is, but you may want to consider homeschooling. You wouldn't have to rely on your parents to teach you, which is a common obstacle for aspiring homeschoolers. You could follow an AP or IB curriculum so that you wouldn't have to worry about how your education would be perceived by colleges. If you can't find the sort of school you'd like to attend, that is what I would recommend.

• “A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form,” by Paul Lockhart.
  
• “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education,” by Grace Llewellyn.
  
• “The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition,” by Don Norman.
  
• “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder,” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
  
• “The Language Construction Kit,” by Mark Rosenfelder.

I'm a part-time babysitter and I believe raising a child right can be one of the most revolutionary things one can do in this world. Two books I'd recommend
Unconditional Parenting Alfie Kohn is a radical in his field, I would pay no attention to almost any other book on parenting than this one.

And for when they're a little older: The Teenage Liberation Handbook This book is written towards teenagers, but i recommend you check it out too. Mostly about unschooling and general hierarchy challenges.

I don't think you are too unusual. Most schools today are pretty awful from a social standpoint (bullying, drugs, violence, etc.) and often mediocre at best from an academic standpoint.

Unschooling is just one way to homeschool. I'd suggest reading The Well-Trained Mind and see how that inspires you.

Check out The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn.

I didn't really get the bit about water and words. Could anyone explain it?

Here's that placebo effect video they briefly showed bits of. It's really well done.

Also, that piece on education made me think of the book Weapons of Mass Instruction.

The idea that forcing our youth into these prisons until they are 18, because we have deemed them unable to be of use society until then is ridiculous. Don't misinterpret me, education is extremely important, mandatory schooling just isn't the way to go about it. I'd recommend reading this.

Have you heard of / read Weapons of Mass Instruction? I'd like to know you're opinion on it.

Oops, I was a bit off, Master Fire, this is her book, not sure of it is along the lines of what you are seeking.

This and/or this May also be of interest to you.

If you haven't read it yet, you might consider The Well-Trained Mind. It's view is that you should not do much too early -- you may kill off any love of learning before it has a chance to sprout.

The fact that people are downplaying your experience is sad. No, it's obviously not a literal prison, but the fact is that you didn't commit a crime to have to be there, and the years you spend in highschool should be the best of your life, it should be your basic right to not be treated like shit by every adult in the institution just because you are where you're told you're supposed to be. If you or your friends are finding it difficult check out this book.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook

book! by Chip Wood.

Buy her The Teenage Liberation Handbook.

"The real function of pedagogy is to render the common population manageable."

-source

There are other options.

http://www.amazon.ca/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-John-Gatto/dp/0865716315

This might not quite be your speed, but How Children Fail and How Children Learn by John Holt both have had a profound influence on my career choices and approach as a teacher.

Also, while technically a parenting book, How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen so Kids Will Talk is the backbone of my classroom management approach.

How Children Learn by John Holt. It might change forever how she perceives and teaches her pupils.

See if you can get a copy of http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170

(Googling for the book title + "PDF" or "download" may be fruitful)

Oh god, I can very much relate to this. I was severely bullied as a child too. I strongly recommend homeschooling, especially unschooling. That's what I did since I was 16. It allowed me to learn a great deal in spite of my severe school phobia.
The book Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395201857&sr=8-1&keywords=teenage+liberation+handbook

It is in the US, as I am still under the iron fist of the law.

This book will tell you just about everything you need to know.

Here's a PDF, but I'm not sure how old it is.

http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716692/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301671958&sr=8-1

Haven't read this book yet but it looks interesting. This guy basically complains that the system of schooling in the US is based on principles that advocate "dumbing down" society..

Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0865716692

HBD

Darwin’s Enemies on the Left and Right Part 1, Part 2 (Blog Post)*

The History and Geography of Human Genes (Abridged edition) – Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
The 10,000 Year Explosion – Gregory Cochrane
Race, Evolution, and Behavior – Rushton
Why Race Matters – Michael Levin

****

Intelligence and Mind

The Bell Curve – Charles Murray
The Global Bell Curve – Richard Lynn
Human Intelligence – Earl Hunt
Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence – Robert Sternberg
A Conflict of Visions – Thomas Sowell
The Moral Animal – Robert Wright
The Blank Slate – Stephen Pinker
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature – Murray Rothbard (essay)

****

Education

Real Education – Charles Murray
Inside American Education – Thomas Sowell
Illiberal Education – Dinesh D’Sousa
God and Man at Yale – William Buckley
Weapons of Mass Instruction – John Taylor Gatto
The Higher Education Bubble – Glenn Reynolds

****

​

You need this book: https://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170

My daughter's 12 and also desiring to be an artist, and I worry about her creativity getting crushed by some jerks. Don't give up to the assholes!

Your situation may be different than mine, but here's a story anyway...

I dreaded starting 10th grade. In the week before the first day, I remembered what previous years were like. Sleep deprivation, social awkwardness, sitting with the same people I didn't like every day, and intense fear of disappointing my teachers and parents. I was expected to get straight A's and when I deviated from that, my mom would guilt trip me with intense arguments to the point where I wanted to kill myself out of hatred at my inability to live up to expectations.

My problem was that I couldn't do homework. The harder I tried, the worse it was. I somehow managed to finish it during class before it was due, but it was often late. Usually when I tried to tell myself, force myself, convince myself, do anything I could to just sit down and start writing, an intense sickness welled up in my stomach. Deep down I knew I didn't want to do this routine work, this meaningless excuse for "education". I wasn't learning anything, and I couldn't trick myself into thinking I was. I got no life-benefit out of this homework and for whatever reason I was too stubborn-at-heart to submit to doing it. I wasn't meant for this life.

Not to mention I had no social life. It wasn't that people didn't like me so much as I got along okay with everyone, but connected meaningfully with no one. Couldn't understand people, and people couldn't understand me. The emotionally-traumatic home situation didn't help me be well-balanced.

So that week before class started, I knew it would be the same. I knew I'd always feel depressed, lonely, and stressed out. I knew I wouldn't have time or energy to pursue dreams like making video games. I knew I'd be a disappointment to everyone I loved. And I knew I would hate school, hate everyone around me, and hate myself every minute of it. I broke down and cried really hard.

Then, I thought that maybe things would be different. I can work at it! I can set goals, make friends, find a way to do the work. No problem.

I went to school, and felt happy and confident for the first three days. Then, as soon as real homework assignments started, I died inside again. And I stayed that way until Christmas break, when I remembered how I broke down half a year ago, and how wrong I was about "everything is going to be okay". Everything turned out exactly how I knew it would from years of experience. I was still lonely, I was still depressed, and I still have another semester of this to go.

I dropped out after I finished that year. I've been recovering from depression ever since. It's been difficult, but I've gone on adventures like going to the other side of the country alone with only a backpack, couchsurfing and trying to find a job and failing but learning a lot about life and happiness in the process. A lot more than school could teach me. I'm now happier than most people I know.

Look up "unschooling". Here's a book about it.