Fifth graders George and Lilly are best friends, but when they end up leading separate teams competing for the Spirit Week prize, it puts a strain on their friendship, especially when the competition generates a host of nasty pranks designed to sabotage their teams--and if Principal Klein finds out what is going on Spirit Week will be canceled and everybody concerned will spend the rest of the year in detention.--Provided by Publisher.

As schooling becomes increasingly standardized and test driven, occupying more of childhood than ever before, parents and educators are questioning the role of schooling in society. Many are now exploring and creating alternatives. In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model...

Humans are born to explore and engage with the world. So why are we so determined to get in our children's way? When we leave the traditional education system behind we can choose to create a loving and supportive atmosphere that allows unschooling to take root and blossom in our home. That means strong and connected relationships where trust and respect run deep-both ways. With more than a dozen years of unschooling experience, Pam Laricchia explains...

Humans are born to learn. So why are we so determined to get in our children's way? Leaving the traditional education system behind is definitely unconventional and sometimes scary, but it enables us to preserve our children's curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning. And that means more learning, not less. With more than a dozen years of unschooling experience, Pam Laricchia explains the five paradigm-shifting ideas about learning and...

"Individual experiences influence our approach to parenting and education, so we need more than the rules, tools, and 'bad adult' guilt trips found in so many parenting and education books. We need to reach behind our behaviors to seek and find our triggers; to examine and interrupt the ways that social issues such as colonization still wreak havoc on our ability to trust ourselves, let alone children. [This book] explores examples of the transition...

Human beings are born to learn. So why are we so determined to get in the way of our children? Leaving the traditional education system is certainly unconventional and sometimes scary, but it allows us to preserve our children's curiosity, creativity and enthusiasm for learn. And that means more learning, not less. With more than a dozen years of unschooling experience, Pam Laricchia explains the five paradigm-shifting ideas about learning and living...

Embarking on a homeschooling field trip to Central America is stressful enough, but add in perilous bridge crossings, trips to the hospital, and a lack of women's underwear, and you have the makings of an Adventure by Chicken Bus. Buckling under a mountain of debt, Janet LoSole and her family are at their wits' end. Determined to make a drastic change, they sell all worldly possessions and hit the road. With only a few items of clothing, a four-person...

"When Ben Hewitt and his wife bought a sprawling acreage of field and forest in northern Vermont, the landscape easily allowed them to envision the self-sustaining family farm they were eager to start. But over the years, the land became so much more than a building site; it became the birthplace of their two sons, the main source of family income and food, and ultimately, both classroom and home for their children. Having opted out of formal education,...