This wide-ranging book covers many of the useful ideas behind self-directed learning. The author, a clinical psychologist includes her own experience of supporting her own children as self-directed learners and draws on relevant research and evidence for how this is a beneficial way to view education.

In this astonishing memoir Tara Westover recounts her upbringing by a paranoid Mormon father who rejected Western medicine and schooling. Stopping short of actually locking his family away from the world though, his children could not help but interact with it and despite their parents' arguably neglectful interpretation of home-schooling all of the children did become educated, three of them achieving PhDs in the process.

This short video from the website of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education is clarifies the difference between education and schooling, the place of schooling in self-directed education (i.e. when it is freely chosen) and how given the opportunity children and young people will naturally find ways to educate themselves without it being imposed upon them by adults.

This lovely book examines how society tends towards regarding the education of children as having some sort of end product in mind - rather like a carpenter who must ‘measure twice and cut once’ to ensure all the pieces will fit together to make the desired object. Gopnik argues that adults’ roles should be more that of gardeners; facilitating the development of a garden, seeing what helps it thrive and often being pleasantly surprised by outcomes that could not have been anticipated. Drawing on the latest science of child development it explores how concepts of parenting, love and childhood have evolved, how children learn, the work of play, how learning changes with age and the role of technology. Written by a scientist who is also a mother and grandmother this book celebrates the messiness and unpredictability of childhood.

An insight into how The Cabin in Saffron Walden in the UK is running a consent-based alternative to school and homeschooling. I really want to see more of this type of setting emerging in the UK and applaud the time and effort that has gone into making it possible. The video explores what happens there, why it matters and deals with criticisms of it only being accessible to a privileged few, pointing out that all innovation is only accessible to a minority at first - we have to start somewhere.

This is a great book for understanding the power, simplicity and plain common sense of allowing children freedom and play as much as possible. Peter Gray is a professor of psychology at Boston University and is not shy about his view of schooling: "Schooling that children are forced to endure—in which the subject matter is imposed by others and the “learning” is motivated by extrinsic rewards and punishments rather than by the children’s true interests—turns learning from a joyful activity into a chore, to be avoided whenever possible. Coercive schooling, which tragically is the norm in our society, suppresses curiosity and overrides children’s natural ways of learning. It also promotes anxiety, depression and feelings of helplessness that all too often reach pathological levels."

In this book, Gray argues that children are born to learn and they are hard-wired to do it through play. He is quite clear that children become better lifelong learners, more resilient and better prepared for life if they are given freedom, choice and autonomy over how they spend their time. As parents and educators it can be hard to let go and trust children to find their own way but this book demonstrates the astonishing impact that doing so can have.

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Tim Gill, a UK-based scholar advocates for widening children's horizons to include riskier play. You can read his book 'No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society' in full as a PDF on his website. Very readable and succinct, it is relevant to parents, educators, policy-makers and urban planners - it explores the history and spread of risk-averse attitudes, development of playgrounds, perceived and actual risks and how we urgently need to move towards a more child-friendly communities and policies.

John Holt is regarded as one of the founding fathers of home-schooling and better known works of his include 'How Children Fail', 'How Children Learn' and 'Teach Your Own'. A teacher himself, disillusioned by the system and in awe of children's capacity to learn without a heavy emphasis on being taught, he arrives at the manifesto in this book which basically calls for the end of the mass schooling system as we know it and envisions a world where communities would be rich with libraries of all sorts of resources which adults and children can freely dip in and out of and pursue their passions alongside others. This eloquently argued piece builds naturally on his earlier works calling for an urgent end to forced learning, a renewed emphasis on the role of parents in educating children and a skilled recognition of the value of being able to know how to act as a facilitator to a child's learning, preserving their right to choose.

Written by a UK-based home educating parent, this is a reassuring and inspiring read for anyone worrying about the potential messiness of home education. A great way to learn about accepting learning that comes at its own pace, that can happen in unexpected places and at unlikely times - that sometimes down-time and processing time may seem too long but that living slowly sometimes is just fine. Ross Mountney originally wrote a regular feature of the Education Otherwise newsletter and later a blog - this notebook contains her most popular and updates articles covering topics including the impact of whether or not you’re a qualified teacher, socialisation, keeping records, learning to read, screens, the value of play, nurturing curiosity, and avoiding the comparison trap and packaged and processed education.

A detailed personal journey of home educating two sons in a rural location; exploring what and how they learn in the absence of the school day, same-age peers and many of the trappings of modern urban life. 

Former Children's Commissioner Al Aynsley-Green makes the case in 2019 that our current systems and policies are failing our children. This provocative read highlights how as a society we are not paying enough attention to children and their welfare and in comparison to other countries are not serving them well at all. Analysing childhood in Britain, he argues that there is a socio-political betrayal of children and that league tables, testing, disregard for creativity and technical education are ruining our education system. His 40 years' experience give him an unusual breadth of experience to comment on the wide-ranging way in which policies are having a deleterious effect on children in Britain and the potential for failing to create an adult population that is healthy and happy.

First published in 2014, this book explores how Rachel and Margaret McMillan, Maria Montessori and Susan Isaacs have significantly influenced contemporary early years curriculum theory and practice. It is a very thorough introduction to the thinking and ideas of these pioneering women, whose keen observations and dedicated work with children inform the quality of provision for young children today. Designed to encourage reflection on current practice and to understand the basis for much current policy in early years provision, it is important to acknowledge the historical context for these womens' work and integrate their thinking in ways appropriate for children today.

Published in 2001, this book imagines how five year-old, Angelica will witness change in schools. The first part of the book outlines how society views schools and their roots in supporting a society of factories. The second addresses the challenges faced by schools to evolve for the future, a future that is will be a society of knowledge, predicting significant change to the role of teachers. Given that Angelica would now be 23, has she witnessed enough change? For example how much progress have we made against her assertion that "the old way of knowing - by steps and stages, by sequencing of learning into one best path, by traditional, scientific approaches, by having curriculum neatly divided into subjects - is already passing"?

Research published in 2008, conducted by the University of London's Institute of Education demonstrates how many home educators gravitate towards an informal style of learning (unschooling), far removed from the the model of school. This is a solid piece of academic research which explores in detail how children educated out of school acquire numeracy, literacy and much more besides, without formal instruction, For anyone who likes the idea of self-directed learning but struggles with the idea of giving up control of childrens' education, this is important reading.

The Centre for Parenting Culture Studies at the University of Kent published a book in 2014 setting out how and why the tiny details of parenting have increasingly become the subject of much public debate and policy-making. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and including developments in Europe and North America, it has its roots beginning with research around how babies are fed and the complexity experienced by parents in making decisions about how they do this. The book explores the language that has evolved around parenting and the impact of this as well as the rise of parental determinism (the idea that a child's life is causally determined by the quality of the parenting they receive) in shaping many Western structures and institutions, A scholarly but engaging read, this book systematically challenges many parenting ideals.

​A very practical and realistic guide to what learning without school can look like. A must-read for parents who are unsure if they have the right skills and aptitude to give their child an education other than at school. It takes an honest look at the pros and cons of home education addressing many of the key concerns around adjusting if coming out of school, the development of social skills and how home education can be approached for children with learning difficulties. With lots of reference material for further reading and resources and a useful overview of home education as an alternative philosophy of education, this is a very useful and accessible guide.

Sir Ken Robinson got millions of us thinking in 2006 with his astonishingly widely-watched TED talk 'Do schools Kill Creativity?'. In this follow up talk in 2010 and an interview in 2018, like us, he calls not for educational reform, but for revolution. He has spotted a pattern in education familiar to so many - that schooling, as it has evolved, is a model that by its very nature "washes out the differences" between people and is based on a "particular view of intelligence". This is problematic because it is narrow - it fails to make the most  of the many and varied forms of intelligence necessary to tackle the challenges humans are facing and it leaves many unsure of their purpose/direction and fundamentally disempowered.

Published in May 2019, this well researched and referenced book is an excellent overview of the concept of unschooling - the process of learning without school. It explores the many different forms that unschooling may take including ways for children and young people not in schools can learn both alone and alongside peers in a wide variety of settings in the community. It includes inspiring case study examples of self-directed learning centres, educators who have left the system to start something different and parents who took their children out of school to explore the world and underpinning it all is a clear challenge to the myth that children must be taught in order to learn.

An amusing talk from Dr Michael Thompson with a focus on the importance of children having time away from their parents' gaze and giving them ownership. He also advocates for the importance of children having time with older children away from the age-segregated environment of the classroom.

This series of eleven articles give real examples of how unschooling isn't a method so much as a way of life - one that works with children's natural curiosity and gives them the space and freedom to develop at their own pace with the love and respect they deserve. A convincing set of writings on the benefits of natural learning at a time when there is an increase in interest in alternatives to mainstream schooled education.