Home Schooling and Learning Communities – A Book Review

Home schooling has always been popular, and yet for a brief period in our history we didn’t hear a lot about it, today, all that has changed, as home schooling is definitely back in vogue. The No Child Left Behind Act instituted under the Bush Administration with the help of the former Senator Edward Kennedy was brought forth out of frustration, as kids were actually graduating High School, but could not read or write. This of course was unacceptable, and something had to be done.

Nevertheless, the challenges and problems are systemic in nature, and so many parents want no part of our public school system; some say it’s a dangerous place for kids due to gangs, drugs, violence, others say it’s a giant babysitting event at the tax payer’s expense. No matter where you stand you also realize that we are not meeting our educational challenges in this great nation. Perhaps, it’s for this reason that you are looking for alternatives, something that works.

Well then, I was recommended a very good book to read a few years back, and I read the whole thing and was intrigued at what I learned, so much so that I’ve recommended it to everyone I’ve met thinking on the issue of education. I even placed it online in the reading room of our Internet type think tank. The name of the book is;

“Creating Learning Communities,” by Ron Miller and William N. Ellis, published by CCL-LLC and the Coalition for Self Learning Communities, eBook Digital Edition, (2000).

The book talks about not only schools as learning communities, but also addresses the community as a place of on-going learning, and how groups of folks can get together and learn, mentor, educate and drive knowledge, wisdom, and valuable information. This is a living book, with research on learning communities and new chapters being added online.

The philosophy is straight forward, so too is the approach it takes. Learning should be a lifetime endeavor, it’s not something you finish and get a diploma for, and this book is filled with resources and information, places to go to help you whether you are home schooling, or want to learn how to better teach. I’d recommend it to any and all home schooling parents and community advisors, also to educators to expand their own horizons.

Section III is all about the information age, and how computers, the Internet, and other technology devices make all this possible, and shine forward into the future. Please consider reading this book at your first possible convenience. I highly recommend it.

Reference: http://www.creatinglearningcommunities.org/download/download.htm