dashtaisen's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I especially liked the questions that the author poses throughout the book. They’re very hard questions, and I appreciate her honesty and sensitivity
optimaggie's review
4.0
This is an excellent book for anyone who is asking questions about schooling, unschooling and deschooling, homeschooling, conscious parenting, race, autonomy, power dynamics, and on and on. I first found Akilah S. Richards' podcast Fare of the Free Child and I have learned a lot from her wise words and her willingness to ask questions where she desires more wisdom and the wisdom and experiences of her family and her guests and when I heard this book was available for pre-order I ordered it right away. I am a white woman living in a white part of the world, and there is a lot here for me, both as a parent and as a person living in this (USA) country and in this world. This book is another tool for me to use in my growth as a parent and as a member of society. I highly recommend it to anyone willing to ask themselves hard questions and take a serious look at their relationships with young people and people in general.
snailwhisperer's review
5.0
I love hearing Akilah speak and her book is just as good as hearing her. This book is a great piece on parenting for all parents. Don't make the mistake of skipping this because you're not unschooling or homeschooling or in a marginalized group or a person of color. This book is excellent for questioning yourself on how you can be a better and more thoughtful parent.
poenaestante's review against another edition
3.0
This is a great read for radical black mamas considering how to ditch the hierarchical colonial ways we were taught meant we were "parenting right".
That said, I already listen to Akilah's podcast so a lot of this felt like rehash to me. While it is nice to have in book form as a reference, it would have benefitted greatly (as would her podcast) from better editing and organization. I think she should create a course or study guide for this that better organizes the ideas for a deschooling study group approach. You know what? Maybe I'll just do it
That said, I already listen to Akilah's podcast so a lot of this felt like rehash to me. While it is nice to have in book form as a reference, it would have benefitted greatly (as would her podcast) from better editing and organization. I think she should create a course or study guide for this that better organizes the ideas for a deschooling study group approach. You know what? Maybe I'll just do it
nqcliteracy's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Super thoughtful and smart exploration and explanation of unschooling, liberators-minded educating practices, and questioning stems that underscores my belief about learning- which is not transactional but instead context based and absolutely natural. Learning is relational and driven by the child. Much of our parenting strategies are about doing things “right,” in a colonized way — how we were trained to do school correctly. There are ways to unabashedly undo this, instead engaging in partnership parenting with our kids, to give them autonomy and thus, real life skills. I was inspired and felt validated.
authenticdmckee's review
5.0
Reading this reminds me that I really need to quit teaching in a school if I am to be truly effective as a teacher.