DESCHOOLING SOCIETY by Ivan Illich (Harpercollins, 1983) - Originally published in 1971, this classic work is often described as a "life-changing" book.  Full of detail on then-current programs and concerns, the book's core assertions and propositions remain as radical today as they were at the time.  Giving real-world examples of the ineffectual nature of institutionalized education, Illich posited self-directed education, supported by intentional social relations, in fluid, informal arrangements.  The book is more than a critique -- it contains positive suggestions for a reinvention of learning throughout society and throughout every individual lifetime. Particularly striking is his call (in 1971) for the use of advanced technology to support "learning webs." 

SCHOOL FREE: The Home Schooling Handbook, by Wendy Priesnitz (The Alternate Press, 1987) - The best-selling homeschooling and home-based learning handbook by the founder and editor of "Natural Life" magazine and the "Life Learning" magazine website, and well-known unschooling pioneer.  All you need to know to help your children learn at home.  Homeschooling topics covered include: legalities, guiding self-directed learning, assessment, writing and/or choosing curriculum, computers and learning, dealing with objections, socialization, the teenaged unschooler, dealing with school officials, and much more.  An extremely useful, one-of-a-kind guide to home-based, independent learning.  This book has received dozens of enthusiastic reviews and hundreds of unsolicited testimonials from parents since it was first published in 1987. It has since been revised and updated five times.

RITUALS OF FAILURE: What Schools Really Teach by Sandro Contenta (Between The Lines, 1993) - Contenta gives a detailed examination of how Canadian schools are failing not just children but society as a whole. Through portraits of life in schools, Contenta shows how the "hidden curriculum" is slowly breaking the spirits of many children and destroying their years of education.  Rituals of Failure proposes ways in which our schools can be restructured for the better. 

DUMBING US DOWN: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto (New Society Publishers, 1991).  Written by a former New York state "Teacher of the Year," Gatto's book should be read by every parent in America before they blindly send their children to school.  The author asserts that the goal of childhood learning should be to discover the special gift each child has, and that passion and enthusiasm will lead to other learning pursuits.  His assessment of conventional schooling and the type of citizen it produces is a wake-up call for anyone concerned about society.

TEACH YOUR OWN: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt and Pat Farenga (Da Capo Press, 2003).  The classic work on teaching children at home, updated for today's new laws, new lifestyles, and a new generation of homeschooling parents.  In this expanded edition of the book that helped launch the whole movement, Pat Farenga has distilled John Holt's timeless understanding of the ways children come to understand the world and added up-to-the-moment practical advice.  Rather than proposing that parents turn their homes into miniature schools, Holt and Farenga demonstrate how ordinary parents can help children grow as social, active learners.  Chapters on living with children, "serious play," children and work, and learning difficulties will be of interest to all parents, whether homeschooling or not, as well as to teachers.  Teach Your Own not only has all the vital information necessary to be the definitive reference for parents teaching their own children, it also conveys John Holt's wise and passionate belief in every child's ability to learn from the world that has made his wonderful books into enduring classics.

THE TEENAGE LIBERATION HANDBOOK: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education  by Grace Llewellyn (Lowry House, 1991).  This book is undoubtedly dog-eared and sitting on a close bookshelf of every veteran homeschooling family.  Grace Llewellyn presents good reasons for teens to “drop into life”, by leaving school and reclaiming their natural ability to learn.  The book is filled with great advice and personal stories like how to design a real-life education, how to find volunteer positions, and how to get into college without going to high school.  The Handbook was written with teens in mind, yet its message is true for all ages of homeschoolers; self-taught and self-directed children are our future leaders and entrepreneurs.

FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN  by Léandre Bergeron, translated by Pamela Levac (The Alternate Press, an Imprint of Life Media, 2009).  A powerful description of a life led respecting and trusting children, from the naturalness of home birth and breastfeeding on demand, through learning by living and working together on a small farm and in a natural food store. The author's passionate ruminations about his strongly-held philosophies of attachment parenting and self-directed education are woven throughout a series of journal entries describing the daily life of a family of three unschooled teens. The result is a wonderfully warm, sometimes funny, always wise potpourri of advice and inspiration about natural parenting and unschooling from a father who writes, "I believe I have broken free from my complicity with other adults. I have chosen to remove myself from this adult world to side with children." This book provides both rationale for and proof of the wisdom of choosing a path that is so little trod upon in our world, the path of freedom, of respect for our children, of trust in them and belief in their ability to regulate and educate themselves. 

HOMESCHOOLING FOR EXCELLENCE by David & Micki Colfax (Warner Books, 1988) - Homeschooling gained national media attention in the 1980's when David and Micki's oldest son, Grant Colfax, was homeschooled into Harvard.  The Colfaxes had embarked on a life-changing adventure by moving to a remote area of Northern California where together they built a house, farm and several businesses and homeschooled their children.  Grant went on to graduate from Harvard University and then Harvard Medical School.  All together, the Colfax brothers attended Harvard, Yale and Harvard Law School.

NO CONTEST: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986) - Kohn takes an in-depth look at competition, highlights what is wrong with it and shows that cooperation gives much better results. The revised edition includes: (1) detailed accounts of how students can learn more effectively by working cooperatively in the classroom instead of struggling to be Number One; and (2) a personal afterword that assesses shifts in thinking about competition and describes reactions to his message. 

PUNISHED BY REWARDS: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993) - Kohn states that children are intrinsically motivated to make sense of their world. However, we undermine that with the use of approval/disapproval, grades and fear of punishment. What makes the book so valuable is that after demonstrating the harmful effects of rewards (at home, school and the workplace), Kohn describes, very concretely, the many other alternatives available. 

IN THEIR OWN WAY: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Multiple Intelligences by Thomas Armstrong (Penguin Putnam, 2000). In this fully updated classic on multiple intelligences, Armstrong sheds new light on the "eight ways to bloom," or the eight kinds of "multiple intelligences."  While everyone possesses all eight intelligences, Armstrong delineates how to discover your child's particular areas of strength among them.  The book shatters the conventional wisdom that brands our students as "underachievers," "unmotivated," or as suffering from "learning disabilities," "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," or other "learning diseases."  Armstrong explains how these flawed labels often overlook students who are in possession of a distinctive combination of multiple intelligences, and demonstrates how to help them acquire knowledge and skills according to their sometimes extraordinary aptitudes.   Filled with resources for the home and classroom, this new edition of In Their Own Way offers inspiration for every learning situation.