Books on Real Education

Books About Real Education
Click here for descriptions of four new titles,
three in the fall of 2004, and one in 05.
Click here for the complete bookstore,
including books in categories:
about and for children, the environment, personal
experience, poetry, spirit, views of a better world: Also a complete list of Down-to-Earth Publications
(Click on the images for excerpts from the text, or the titles in red below: for brief reviews or praise)

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ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS, the reissued, updated version of Jonathan Kozol's original book,Free Schools (see Free Schools below to read a chapter on the teaching of reading).
CHANGING LIVES, by Jane Day: Interviews with graduates of the Community School in Camden, Maine. $18.95, reviewed by Mary Leue
CHALLENGING THE GIANT; The Best of SKOLE, the Journal of Alternative Education, volumes I-IV $14.95 each, plus shipping $2.00 (pb, 500+ pages each volume), or $50.00 for all four plus shipping and handling $5.00). Click here for additional reviews of volumes 1 & 2 by Claudia Berman, and Vols. 3 & 4 by Emanuel Pariser.
CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND POWER, Charging Up for a New Century, by Mary John, Professor Emerita and former Deputy Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Exeter, UK.
DESCHOOLING OUR LIVES, edited by Matt Hern, foreword by Ivan llich; $16.
FIELD DAY, Getting Society out of School, by Matt Hern; $16.
FREE SCHOOLS, FREE PEOPLE, by Ron Miller, president of the Foundation for Educational Renewal and editor of Educational Freedom for a Democratic Society: A Critique of National Standards, Goals and Curriculum.
A FREE RANGE CHILDHOOD, Self-Regulation at Summerhill School , by Matthew Appleton
(Click on the images for excerpts from the text, or the titles in red below for brief reviews or praise)
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FREE SCHOOLS, by Jonathan Kozol - the definitive work on assessing both the early free schools and the later alternative schools
HOW LIKE AN ANGEL CAME I DOWN, Conversations with Children on the Gospels, by A. Bronson Alcott, edited by Alice Howell. $19.95, reviewed by Mary Leue.
A LIFE IN SCHOOL, What th Teacher Learned, by Jane Tompkins, professor of literature at Duke University and a leader in the field of academic research into the art of teaching; paperback, $9.95
THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, the Story of the First Street School, by George Dennison - "A classic! " - A.S. Neill .$12.95 plus $2 shipping.
MAKING IT UP AS WE GO ALONG, The Story of the Albany Free School, by Chris Mercogliano, $18.00 plus $2.00 shipping. Foreword by Joseph Chilton Pearce. Reviewed by Herb Kohl, Joseph Chilton Pearce and David Ruentzel, Teacher magazine.
MAY YOU NEVER STOP DANCING, A Professor's Letters to his Daughter, by John D. Lawry, St. Mary's Press Christian Brothers Pub., Winona, MN, $13.95 plus $2 shipping, reviewed by Mary Leue ..
MY LIFE AS A TRAVELING HOMESCHOOLER, by Jenifer Goldman, a clear-eyed account by an almost eleven-year-old who travceled with her uncle Jerry Mintz throughout the US - and even into Canada, visiting schools. $12.95.
NO HOMEWORK AND RECESS ALL DAY, Freedom and Democracy in Education, by Jerry Mintz, paperback attending conferences, enjoying life as she learned. Well worth reading. $12.95. ck, $10.95
(Click on the images for excerpts from the text, or the titles in red below
for brief reviews or praise): . .....
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NO MASTER HIGH OR LOW - Libertarian Education and Schooling 1890-1990, by John Shotton, Libertarian Education (LibEd), UK, publisher, 1997, paperback, $17.00 plus $2 shipping, reviewed by Robin Martin.
REAL EDUCATION, Varieties of Freedom, by David Gribble, Libertarian Education, UK, publisher, 1998, paperback, $17.00 plus $3 shipping, reviewed by Robin Martin.
REAL SCHOOLS - IN THEIR OWN W0RDS - edited by Mary M. Leue: Down-to-Earth Books, Ashfield, MA. This is an account of 27 different schools, 24 of them in the US.with accompanying essays by members of each of them - or, in a couple of cases, parents of children in them - taken from SKOLE, The Journal of Alternative Education. Valuable for parents looking at educational alternatives or student teachers, struggling to learn about what is possible in the field. $16.95 plus shipping.
REAL TEACHERS; REAL TEACHING - IN THEIR OWN WORDS - edited by Mary M. Leue. Compendium volume to Real Schools. Contents, articles by 38 different teachers, organized as: teaching as a celebration of life, 8 examples; defining the problems with schools, 12; proposed solutions 6; teaching young children 5; teaching elementary-school age children. 8; teaching high school-age students. 5. teaching college-age students. 4; teaching and learning at home. An absolute must for someone struggling to provide good education for their child(ren) - or for someone equally determined to decide for himself what constitutes really good teaching - and how to find it! This volume offers a wide variety of teaching styles and criteria by which to understand, to choose. $16.95 plus shipping. $16.95
RECOLLECTIONS FROM THE MODERN SCHOOL FERRER COLONY, by Victor Sacharoff and others, Jon Thoreau Scott, editor. $23.95, plus shipping.
THE SCHOOL AROUND US - Twenty-five Years, by Claudia Berman. The story of the Kennebunk, Maine school of that name. $18.95 plus $2 shipping. See also Claudia's review of volumes I and II of Challenging the Giant.
SCHOOL DROPOUTS - The Tragedy of America's Under-Educated Youth, by Carlos Bonilla and Jana L. Brazda. $29.95
(Click on the images for excerpts from the text,
or the titles below for brief reviews or praise)

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SCHOOLING FOR HUMANITY - When Big Brother Isn't Watching, by David O. Solmitz. Introduction by Kathleen Kesson, Goddard College Director of Teacher Education, $29.95
SHINE IN YOUR OWN WAY, Inspiration for Parents of Failing Kids, by Nancy Gill - essays reflecting over two decades of this brilliant, inspired teacher's work with kids of all ages. $18.95 plus $3 shipping.
SKOLE, THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION, Mary M. Leue, editor. Past issues available, $4 each, plus $3 shipping, reviewed by John Potter. Down-to-Earth Books has been operating, both as a publishing house and a bookstore, since the mid-seventies. Our particular emphasis has always been on the implications of various models of education, social customs and attitudes upon family and community - and especially on children. Click here for John Potter's review.
SUMMERHILL SCHOOL - A New View of Childhood, by A.S. Neill, a new edition by Albert Lamb, $12.95, reviewed by Chris Mercogliano (Note: this cover is from the English edition - the copy I sell is actually the US edition - but this one is prettier, so I'm using it).
TEACHING THE RESTLESS - One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed, by Chris Mercogliano, $25.
UNDERGROUND HISTORY OF EDUCATION, by John Taylor Gatto. Oversize paperback, 412 pages, lavishly illustrated. $30 plus $3 shipping - and worth every nickel! Reviewed by Mary Leue
WHAT ARE SCHOOLS FOR? - Holistic Education in American Culture, by Ron Miller. $18.95