Product Description

Examines where the government school "system" has led us as human beings, and shows how your family can exchange conformity and dependency for personal fulfillment through the natural union of learning and living. A homeschooling mother's impassioned analysis of schooling with many different solutions to help parents personalize their children's educations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #390800 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04
• Binding: Paperback

From Scientific American
Linda Dobson's basic premise is that the public school system in this country is based on a false definition of education. We are not educating our children at all. We are conditioning them. Dobson's sources are a complicated blend, but she argues her case for family-centered education effectively.

From The New Yorker
read in a long time...It is a thought provoking and inspiring guided journey into the heart of homeschooling.

Review
Cafi Cohen has written indispensable book for collge-bound homeschoolers. If your child is a teenager and thinking about college, this is the book to get - and the younger your teen, the better. -- Homeschooling For Excellence and Hard Times In Paradise

With this seminal analysis of education Dobson builds a strong case for homeschooling. -- Tranet

Customer Reviews

Dobson's 'Art of Education' Is A Way To Hope And Healing!
Ten years ago you couldn't find much information written and published on homeschooling much less anyone willing to take a stand against our revered public school system. Low and behold, now comes along a writer and a book who stand head and shoulders above the rest. The writer is Linda Dobson. The book is 'The Art of Education.' This is a powerful book. Don't expect to sit down with it and be entertained. When I finished reading this book I was literally shaking! Right from the start John Taylor Gatto shares his wit and wisdom in the forward. Gatto's comments set the tone for Ms. Dobson's book. Ms. Dobson's book is one whale of a wake up call to our crumbling families and to the lack of education in this country, despite the fact we spend $450 billion a year on our schools. If you value your children you should read this book. It is obvious Ms. Dobson values children and her heart is as big as all outdoors. As the news watch columnist for 'Home Education Magazine' she hears and sees much, if not most, of what is happening out there in education. Her observations and the essence of this book is that many Americans don't know what education is or should be and she's right. Our government monopoly schools are taking us down a path to oblivion and it's high time parents take back their children, their families and their sanity. 'The Art of Education' is very frank writing but the book also gives us hope. In chapter fifteen Ms. Dobson gives us 12 starting points from which to begin our journey of awareness and healing. 'The Art of Education' is a book that should be on everyone's must read list. It's provocative and intelligent. It is sure to shake things up in the education community as well as on the home front. As home educators you regain that wonderful, soothing and spiritual element called 'time.' Time to think. Time to share. Time to heal. Time to be with those you love. Ms. Dobson makes it sound so simple. Well, maybe it is. Maybe that's the beauty of the art of education. Be sure to also read 'The Homeschooling Book of Answers' by Linda Dobson and 'Dumbing Us Down' by John Taylor Gatto

Powerful
Well I'm still shaking. I picked this book up at a used book seller, its cover torn and the pages well used. I thought it might be an answer to the impass I feel as a first year teacher. The parent in me feels struck by lightening. The earth has moved and I'm wondering where to go next. Ms. Dobson has certainly changed the view of things in my mind. Her argument is remarkable, powerful, stunning.. I'm practically speechless. I've picked up 4 more books on homeschooling just today and spent 12 hours searching the net in the last couple of days. How can I ever thank you? People... please, please read this book! Our children are at stake.

A must for families who "steps out of the box"
Mrs. Dobson is to be commended in hers, and her family's, efforts in putting this book together. Not only did she have a realistic look of our nations school system she had the courage to publish her findings.
Finally, someone who is a "watcher" of what's really going on instead of sitting on the fence partaking with a blinds eye.
Homeschooling families, though different in their own ways, should read this book with an open eye. Understand why they choose to homeschool in the first place. I believe each homeschooling family ought to be commended, but don't stop there understand why choosing to homeschool is a must not only for your immediate family, but for our society as a whole. After all, no one else is!