Displaying 1 of 1 2012 Format: Book Author: Cummings, Quinn. Title: The year of learning dangerously : adventures in homeschooling / Quinn Cummings. Edition: First edition. Publisher, Date: New York, New York : Penguin Group, 2012. Description: 229 pages ; 22 cm. Summary: A blogger and former child actor recounts her misadventures in first-time homeschooling, an endeavor marked by her own math aversion, experiments with current trends, and a chaperone venture at a home-school prom. Series: A Perigee book Perigee book. Subjects: Cummings, Quinn -- Anecdotes. Home schooling -- United States. Genre: Anecdotes. LCCN: 2012014182 ISBN: 9780399537608 System Availability: 1 # Local items: 1 Call Number: 371.042 Cu # Local items in: 1 # System items in: 1 Current Holds: 0 Place Request Add to My List Expand All | Collapse All Where is it? Suggestions and more Fiction/Biography Profile Genre NonFictionFamily & relationshipsSociology Topics Mothers and daughtersHome schoolingHome lifeEducatorsParentsPersonal narratives Setting - United States Time Period -- 21st century Large Cover Image Trade Reviews Library Journal ReviewCummings (Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life) and her partner, Daniel, were frustrated when their daughter Alice had difficulties in public school. After much thought and debate, they decided to homeschool her. Most of the burden fell on Cummings, whose insecurities often had her second-guessing their decision. Cummings discovered various homeschooling methods--online charter schools, Radical Unschooling, the Fundamentalists, Gothardites. She enrolled Alice in an online course, only to abandon it six weeks later, and went to conferences to check out other homeschooling groups. In the end, they stuck with Cummings's original curriculum, and Alice flourished both personally and academically in the process. V-ERDICT Professional educators may dismiss this as fluff. But along with her wit, Cummings offers concrete proposals for the future of education. Her book should have wide appeal and is likely to give readers a more positive view of homeschooling.-Terry A. Christner, Hutchinson P.L., KS (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly ReviewCummings's witty memoir records her family's homeschooling experience and offers a critique of "mainstream" homeschoolers. A blogger and former child actor, Cummings (Notes from the Underwire) pulled her daughter, Alice, from the public school system after feeling that Alice wasn't meeting her potential, worried that increased homework loads would leave Alice "less free time to follow a sudden curiosity." The family sets off on a haphazard homeschooling plan for Alice's sixth-grade year, dabbling in various methodologies ranging from hyperstructured online charter school approaches to active avoidance of structure before finding some middle ground with live, online classes taught by credentialed teachers. After recognizing and dismissing common concerns about socialization, Cummings launches into a brief history of compulsory education and the birth of modern homeschooling. She then walks through various subsets of homeschoolers and their approaches-from the "unschoolers" to Christian fundamentalists. In an effort to find her niche within the homeschooling world, Cummings attends meetings and conferences with homeschoolers ranging from the most liberal to religiously motivated conservatives (this latter group being the founders of the modern homeschooling movement). Her own story, and that of her daughter, occasionally feels overshadowed by her larger critique of the movement, but Cummings's self-deprecating humor and parental earnestness makes for an enjoyable journey. Agent: Kate Garrick, DeFiore and Company. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Summary A year of homeschooling. What could possibly go wrong? In this honest and wry memoir, popular blogger, author, and former child actor Quinn Cummings recounts her family's decision to wade into the unfamiliar waters of homeschooling -- the fastest-growing educational trend of our time -- despite a chronic lack of discipline, some major gaps in academic knowledge, and a serious case of math aversion. (And that's just Quinn.) Quinn's fearless quest includes some self-homeschooling -- reading up on education reform, debating the need for "socialization," and infiltrating conferences filled with Radical Unschoolers as well as Christian fundamentalists (and even chaperoning a homeschool prom). Part personal narrative, part social commentary, and part how-not-to guide, The Year of Learning Dangerously will make you laugh and make you think. And there may or may not be a quiz at the end. OK, there's no quiz. Probably. Table of Contents Breathlessp. 1School. Dazep. 3Tribesp. 19Magical History Tourp. 33Unchartered Territoryp. 49Joy Storyp. 57Le Mathp. 87Veni, Vidi...p. 101The Fourth Rp. 107Rhymes with Orangep. 113Go, Teamp. 131Cabin Feverp. 137The Perils of Sensual Readingp. 147Oh, What a Nightp. 179Mapquestp. 193Graduationp. 205Parent/Teacher Conferencep. 213Acknowledgmentsp. 225Further Readingp. 227 Librarian's View Series Information Similar Titles Similar Series Summary Reader Reviews Displaying 1 of 1