A master wordsmith, David Albert stands unique among writers of homeschool lore. Don't expect the usual fare from this book:  you won't find it.  His new book is as much an invitation to enjoy the journey of homeschooling as it is a fascinating and freedom-encouraging field guide to creativity and success in parenting.

~  Marji Meyer ~

Two Reviews

The most recent David Albert book

 Review by Marji Meyer:  
Homeschooling and the Voyage of
Self-Discovery:
A Journey of Original Seeking

  A master wordsmith, David Albert stands unique among writers of homeschool lore.  His significant insights offer us a new paradigm and an energetic approach to helping shape and direct the unique and potential-filled children who have come into our care.  Don't expect the usual fare from this book:  you won't find it.  Building on his prior success with "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in Homeschooling and Community-based Education," David skillfully weaves wit and wisdom with sound and practical advice to produce a masterpiece of ideas in "Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery:  A Journey of Original Seeking."  Reading this book is like climbing a mountain on a clear day:  one's reaction upon seeing the majestic vista is of awe and wonder.  In this case, David has done the climbing for us, and has thoughtfully invited us along to share the view.  His new book is as much an invitation to enjoy the journey of homeschooling as it is a fascinating and freedom-encouraging field guide to creativity and success in parenting. 

Even teens will enjoy this book.  My daughter's evaluation after reading it was that "David Albert knows how to appreciate children for who they are and what they can become."   Applying the ideas in "Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery" challenges and encourages us to adopt a certain fearlessness in our educational adventures and achievements. I heartily recommend this book to veteran and novice homeschoolers alike -- and that they share it with their children.  David cogently reminds us that "learning must ultimately begin from within rather than from without" -- a comforting concept to almost any parent, and especially so to those who strive so hard to nurture and educate, and to exemplify peace, optimal development, risk-taking, creativity, and faith to their children.   Thanks, David--you've done it again, and my hat's off to you.

Marjorie Meyer
Founder, School of Abraham
www.schoolofabraham.com

Review by Jenn Young:  
Homeschooling and the Voyage of
Self-Discovery:
A Journey of Original Seeking

            I do not do well with assignments.  I will learn physics, when I darn well want to.  I will read Jane Eyre, when I want to.

            I had agreed to do a review of David Albert's Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery: A Journey of Original Seeking.  In accordance with my preoccupation with promptness, I put off reading it for two months.

            Do not follow my example.  My example is bad and wrong and misguided.  Do not put off reading this book.

            I must say, I was creative with my ways of avoiding it.  I managed to read Merry Wives of Windsor.  (I've been putting that off for a year and a half.)  I read quite a bit of The Silmarillion.  (Been putting it off since Fellowship of the Ring came out.)  I started Wuthering Heights.  (Been putting that off for two and a half years—it's a very, very good book, by the way.)

            I finally sat down with David Albert's book and actually read it, to my great surprise.

            I have to warn you, this book is a dangerous tool in the wrong hands.  In the middle of one of the chapters, I wandered upstairs and asked my mother if she knew where my math book was.  This is very atypical behavior for me.  

Nuclear power?  Forget that.  This book could cause entire economies to implode, countries to revolt. 

Maybe I'm exaggerating.  But then, you weren't there when I started ripping pages out of my ($30) math book.  (No, I didn't really do this.  I did, however, fling my math book across the room in a fit of fanatical rage.)

A Journey of Original Seeking sent me upstairs to practice piano, after stirring accounts of his daughter's trip to Steinway & Sons.  (I am not competitive.  I am just easily inspired.  Really.)

In fact, one of my favorite passages from the book is in the chapter entitled "Flow I:  Don't Worry, Be Happy":

"Meera smiles, and moves on to another piano and then another.  There are four rooms like this, each with even larger numbers of grand pianos, maybe 150 in all.  In the third room, there is a couple in their late 50s, admiring a six-footer with ebonized finish.  But neither sits down to play.  The husband wanders off, but the wife remains behind, looking longingly at what must be her favorite.  Meera places herself on the piano bench, and starts playing Chopin's B Minor Mazurka, Opus 33 No. 4, with its exquisite cross-handed passages.  And the piano sings!  The woman looks on with wonder, and whispers conspiratorially to Meera, who doesn't stop playing the whole while, "Now when my husband appears by the door, you stop and get up quickly, and I'll sit down, and maybe he'll think it was me." (Experience Steinway & Sons with Meera on pages 110-115).

Upstairs, I head to the piano, and pull out the book of classical music.  (Like I said, I'm absolutely not competitive.  Really.)

I am usually quite happy with my online friends and with our cyber- mentality.  It does, however, get tiring to tiptoe around controversies, in true Politically Correct fashion.  I learned from David Albert that he doesn't tiptoe.  Boy, and he doesn't.  He unashamedly tears down beloved American traditions like the Day After Thanksgiving Shopping and promotes Buy Nothing Day.  He proclaims, "We live on an underachieving planet."

His advice:

Make a poster with your kids emblazoned "More Fun, Less Stuff!"  Try it out as a homeschooling family slogan (you could even write a family jingle!), and hang it in a prominent place.  Next time you feel the urge to shop coming on, look at the poster, and you'll know it's time to clean out the garage. 
 

"Hey, this could spell the end of civilization as we know it," says my friend Anthony (I think he was referring to responsible consumerism, not to the new era of uncluttered garages across America.)

Reading Homeschooling and the Voyage of Discovery will elicit a definite reaction from even the most sardonic teen.  You parents out there ought to take note, too:  David Albert's writing is like a deep breath of fresh spring air after a long winter.

I can't talk about this book without mentioning the pretty cover.  It was done by a thirteen-year-old homeschooler, and has a nearly hypnotic power.  I'd sit there for maybe five minutes staring at the thing.  Preeeeety.

This really was a fun book; I usually only say that about fiction, specifically fantasy.  But it really was a fun book.  It had many entertaining stories, but it also had Real Content.  This is a concept that I don't entirely understand, but do very much admire.  David Albert has a unique worldview, and I loved reading his writing.  He discusses a wide range of topics, from standardized testing to violins to racism.  Did I always agree with what he said?  No.  Did that detract from my great enjoyment of the book?  Not in the least.

There are many very pro-public-school children in my neighborhood; I get a lot of, "But public school is so fun!"  (Yeah, there is that, for all that "fun" enhances your education.)  "I could never leave my friends."  "You should come back to public school."

I have a weapon, though.  Next time, I'm going to hand them this book, and invite them to their very own "Journey of Original Seeking".  And then, remembering that most of these publicly schooled children have told me that they hate reading, I am going to take it back and read it aloud to them.  I will reassure them that I know what I missed in elementary school, planting beans and playing dodge ball and writing row upon row of letters.  (I have already been treated to graphic accounts of junior high by a friend of mine—she's the same one who unabashedly informed me that she chooses classes based on how "hot the guys are" [her exact words, I swear!])  Besides, how many public school children would use a fun word like 'hebetudinous'? (see page 31--now I've got you wondering, eh?)

I've invited David Albert to say a few words to us today.  May I have the pleasure to present the one and only David H. Albert, Author Extraordinaire.....

Once we are clear about goals -- to produce aware and alive human beings who can order their own consciousness, and direct their own search for meaning in freedom, regardless of external circumstances--we can then focus more clearly on what it might take to nurture them.  If we do our jobs well, our children are not likely to opt often for pre-packaged flow when they can have the full meal deal.

The key point is to put this nurturance of flow at the center of our homeschooling efforts, rather than on the periphery.  I've never much liked the word "homeschooling".  In our family, so little of it actually happens at "home", and it bears only the slightest relationship to what schooling in our society has come to represent.  What we attempt is "family-centered, child-directed learning", and a key being that while the "learning" is directed by the child, it is not only for the child, but for all of us.  Perhaps we should call it "optimizing the family experience". (page 128)

Want to know more?  Visit David's website at www.skylarksings.com  He can also be reached at shantinik@earthlink.net.  Tell him I sent you.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, dear readers.  I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye.

Excerpts Copyright © 2003 David Albert.