New Chapter in the Paperback
The paperback version of the Buccaneer- Scholar is now available. It has a new chapter.
Although I wrote the book for young working people who work with their minds, it turns out the dominant market for it is parents of homeschooled and unschooled kids. So, I’ve added a chapter specifically for them. It’s deals with how to think and feel about your child growing up and making the jump to adulthood. Being self-educated is no obstacle for them, but we parents sometimes worry about that.
The chapter looks at three famous thinkers: Vincent Van Gogh, Mark Twain, and Charles Darwin. None of these men found their stride until they were 27. My self-making son is 17, so that’s a comfort to me! Van Gogh, in particular, wrote a painful letter to his brother, wherein he poured out his heart about feeling aimless and frustrated. Just a few weeks later, he decided to be a painter… and made history.
See Van Gogh’s letter, here.
oh yay.
thank you so much James. what an incredible book, what a great addition.
Comment by monika hardy — October 22, 2011 @ 10:21 pm
Thank you for writing this book. I already decided to homeschool the kids several years ago… but I think you may have just helped tip me all the way over to unschooling. I also appreciate hearing about your own struggles with Imposter Syndrome (or feeling like any day everyone will realize it’s all a fraud, and you’re really just worthless), which I can never seem to shake off.
Comment by katie — October 24, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
Hi James,
I am sure your book would be very useful for self learners around the world. I noticed that it is not available in the Kindle edition. Are there any plans to make it available in the Kindle or even a pdf download ?
I maintain and develop a website for Computer Science self-learners, and I think the book might be very useful to the community.
Thanks
[James' Reply: The book IS available on Kindle. Here's the link.]
Comment by Parag Shah — October 31, 2011 @ 3:05 am
Great, now I have to read it again! In fact, in the time since I read your book a couple of months ago, I started reading books about homeschooling (and unschooling, specifically) and realized that your book was an excellent argument for it. (I also admit that before I began researching homeschooling, I left your book in the bathroom so that my husband would chance upon it. After doing so, without any persuasion on my part, he suggested that I try homeschooling our daughter!)
[James' Reply: Cool!]
As a person who was valedictorian at every graduation I attended (including School of Engineering in college) but who never developed much confidence in myself or my ability to truly learn or execute on my learning, I found your book both inspiring and energizing. Thank you!
[James' Reply: Thank you very much!]
Comment by Tana — November 7, 2011 @ 1:23 pm