And the Skylark Sings with Me

by David H. Albert, Joseph Chilton Pearce (Foreword)

A joyous account of a progressive family's homeschooling experience. Acting on their conviction that to educate a child well is to enable her to find her destiny, David Albert and his partner Ellen listened carefully, with respect and with love, to how their children expressed their own learning needs. Leaving traditional homeschooling methods behind, they followed their daughters' unique knowledge quests-from astronomy and botany, to opera and mythology-and then went about finding the resources and opportunities to meet those needs within their community. Gracefully written, And the Skylark Sings with Me passionately illustrates that real learning is much richer and more mysterious than any school can encompass.

Genres: Education, Parenting, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book expecting it to be an inspiration to my homeschooling but ended up a lot less impressed than I had expected. This book feels like a book length bragging about a gifted child. I am happy for this family that they are able to give her the educational setting that works best for her but it was not really an inspiration to me (perhaps because I found it impossible to resist comparing my own children and even his two children to each other). I found myself feeling badly for their other daughter who is a musical prodigy and would be considered entirely remarkable on her own if not overshadowed (in this book) by her sister. I do know people who have raved about it but it was difficult for me to finish this book. There are a few links and resources that I will look into but I am not sure it was worth the struggle for me to read this book.

[Brigid · Rating 1 out of 5]

With a subtitle of "Adventures in Homeschooling and Community Based Education", I was hoping for something a bit more inspirational than the author bleating on about his daughters' (especially the eldest's) being prodigies at everything they attempted. I don't begrudge Mr. Albert the pride in 2 talented daughters, but what I got out of this book could have been published in a small pamphlet. As I contemplate homeschooling my son, I appreciate the author's advice about using community resources and parents as door openers for their kids.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people think that David Albert is too gushy about the abilities of his wonderful daughters. That they couldn't *really* be that wonderful. I disagree! This book is full of inspiration for what can happen when there is full participation of educated, well-rounded parents, and the interests of the children are fully supported and encouraged. This is a beautiful book full of thought-provoking opportunities.

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

Not your run-of-the-mill homeschool book, but more of a journey for a particular family with gifted children.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a lot out of this book - it's the book on unschooling that I've found most applicable to my own family. That said, I often found myself rolling my eyes at the author's recitation of his daughter's precocity. It was insufferable at times.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable though utterly useless (by design) as a model for homeschooling. It does present some great stories that could and should inspire. I found the first half much more engaging than the second. Each chapter has a short bibliography and these contain some good things to follow up on.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful description of homeschooling.

[Irina Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Congratulations to the author on having such brilliant children and being brilliant himself. I enjoyed reading about how brilliant this family is and how they end up in brilliant learning situations. I am sure this book is not fiction but it felt like fiction. Still, it's a great book. I just don't think that my brilliant kids will ever be this brilliant so I am obviously very jealous.

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was 'difficult' to like. The author's tone and obvious pride in his eldest daughter was a bit hard to swallow at times. He talks much less about his younger, adopted daughter, and that omission was a bit difficult for me to swallow as well....
The eldest daughter is obviously VERY, VERY gifted - a child prodigy in music and many other subjects... and at times the reader can get sucked into feeling rather inadequate in comparison.

BUT the reason I chose to give this book 4 stars is because ultimately, their vision and their ability to advocate for their daughters needs and educational curiosities is extremely inspiring and what I strive to be and do for my own son.

I LOVED how this family utilized their communities to help with the education of their daughters.

I definitely want to purchase this book to reread again.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This analogy may be lost (or overused, in my case), but this book has become to my homeschooling journey what "Spiritual Midwifery" was to my child-bearing journey. I feel like the glass jar has broken open and I'm free to explore what I glimpsed and wanted to believe must be on the outside. I love David Albert's insistence on writing from his heart, regardless of pressure to focus on curriculum or philosophy. I love his childlike awareness of his world. I may have to re-read this one a few times more, down the road. Definitely recommended. Fun to read, too.

[Clair Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book both inspiring and annoying probably with a 60% inspiration/40% annoying split. The inspiration came from the lengths both parents went to to facilitate some pretty cool experiences for their kids and the huge amounts of support and encouragement the girls received whatever their interests. I did feel that the book was a bit of a homage to his eldest daughter, which is of course entirely up to him being his book an all, but I found it odd how little his younger daughter was mentioned.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story of a family who chose to homeschool their children in a more community based way. They sought out experts in the subjects/disciplines that their children were interested in and learned all that they could. This book is encouraging to realize that there are many ways to educate a child, and there are many resources. Education is bigger than a class, a curriculum or even a teacher.

[Joan Concilio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember where I found this book, but I glad I did and HIGHLY recommend it. While Albert and his partner, Ellen, don't identify as unschoolers with their daughters Ali and Meera, there is so mich good unschooling philosophy here, regarding following interests, abandoning age- and grade-level do and don't lists, learning in and from community and more. I wish I could hang out with this family.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about homeschooling written by an Olympia author. While I no longer homeschool I am still interested in the topic as a way to supplement a public school education. For that purpose there are some great ideas in this book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most inspirational homeschooling books I've read

[Cheryl]

refrrd for those passionate about music

[Heather Clemons-Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent view of the world as my educational oyster for homeschooling...

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring account of the life of a homeschooling family.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping for something different with this book...very disappointed.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I just didn't care!!! Couldn't get through much of this one...

[Laura Cheek · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite homeschooling reads