Rethinking School

October 16, 2017
Homeschooling advocate Bauer (The Well-Educated Mind) aims to help parents whose children fit imperfectly into what she deems the “artificial” one-size-fits-all American school system in this highly opinionated but eminently practical book. Bauer makes a passionate case for why the K–12 system desperately needs to be rethought, and for why our criteria for judging educational success must change. These arguments serve as springboards for Bauer to discuss her suggestions of how parents should make the educational system work for them. Bauer describes guiding families to use the options available to their kids within the educational system, such as pursuing single-subject acceleration, opting out of stressful processes such as state testing, and working with teachers to find alternative arrangements for kids during class time, such as independent study. She also details hybrid home-school approaches such as after-school programs, independent study during class time, and gap years. Finally, Bauer pushes parents toward “having the courage to step out” with a homeschooling quick guide, and with discussions of—though not unqualified support for—even more radical approaches such as apprenticeships and “unschooling.” Bauer’s guide to the various options available to struggling kids, inside and outside the educational system, will be both comforting and instructive to their parents.

November 1, 2017
A manifesto with a lesson plan: home-schooling champion Bauer (The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory, 2015, etc.) continues her case for educating outside the system."When an artificial system classifies and segregates people (as opposed to cell phones, say, or sewage), some people will inevitably fit into the system better than others." So observes the author, who goes on to say that she was one who didn't--and managed to get through a doctorate without the high school diploma that we all supposedly require, having gotten into college in the first place with a "mom-generated transcript." Some children need the K-12 system, writes Bauer. Other's don't and can actually be harmed by what is, after all, something geared to "a Platonic child, one who doesn't suddenly melt down, or get overwhelmed by a tidal wave of hormones, or unexpectedly need fourteen hours of sleep." In any event, Bauer urges, the parent has to take charge: if a child remains in school but has problems, then it's up to the parent to figure out why Johnny can't read or Jenny is bored. The possibilities are manifold when it comes to why: autism may be at work, or giftedness, or otherness that the system isn't able to accommodate. Bauer writes in a steadily reassuring tone before really broaching the subject of home schooling, which, she notes, is not for everyone--but then, she adds, if you're battling the system because your child is lost, bored, buried, or bullied, "then you're already spending tremendous amounts of energy fighting to change those things" and might as well take on the task of teacher yourself. On that point, Bauer offers much of practical value, urging, for instance, that we misinterpret the Common Core to mean that certain courses be part of the curriculum when it's really certain skills that need to be mastered.A welcome operator's manual for parents of school-age children, inside or outside the K-12 paradigm.

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January 1, 2018

Bauer, coauthor of The Well-Trained Mind and an advocate for a classical education through homeschooling, offers a detailed look at how modern schooling can be a mismatch for student's needs. For those with a disability, a developmental delay, or giftedness, the structure of age-based classes focused on a single way of understanding and behaving may not work. Bauer breaks down ways in which the system is failing these students and offers advice on how to work around the system to find better options for students. While Bauer does advocate for ways to help the system accommodate individuals, including having frank discussions with principals and teachers, she also advocates for getting out of the system entirely. This bias toward homeschooling influences everything Bauer presents, however, even with this partiality, the balance of firsthand stories of school failure combined with the author's own experiences and practical tips make this book very straightforward and informative. VERDICT For parents seeking support and advice for ways to address their discontent with their children's schooling. --Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young Univ. Libs., Provo, UT

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018

Bauer, coauthor of The Well-Trained Mind and an advocate for aclassical education through homeschooling, offers a detailed look at how modern schooling can be a mismatch for student's needs. For those with a disability, a developmental delay, or giftedness, the structure of age-based classes focused on a single way of understanding and behaving may not work. Bauer breaks down ways in which this system is failing these students and offers advice on how to work around it to find better options for students. While Bauer does advocate for ways to help the system accommodate individuals, including having frank discussions with principals and teachers, she also advocates for getting out of it entirely. This bias toward homeschooling influences everything Bauer presents; however, even with this partiality, the balance of firsthand stories of school failure combined with the author's own experiences and practical tips make this book very straightforward and informative. VERDICT For parents seeking support and advice for ways to address their discontent with their children's schooling.-Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young University Libraries, Provo, UT

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.