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Page Index

Laurie is cited as one of NYC's 18 Coolest Power Moms by the Red Tricycle website

The video that accompanies the Fox News article Homeschooling New York City children (by Dana Archin, 10 October 2017) includes an interview with Laurie. new


Education Uncensored, by Laurie Block Spigel

Available now ...

Education Uncensored
by Laurie Block Spigel

A Guide for the Aspiring, the Foolhardy, and the Disillusioned

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Articles by Laurie Block Spigel


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Articles including interviews with Laurie Block Spigel


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Reviews by Laurie Block Spigel


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Quotes about Homeschooling

When asked whether being homeschooled made him feel different from his schooled cousins:

"I can just be myself all of the time. I don't have to change myself to fit into the group."

Christopher, age 10

"As the movement grows larger and more diverse, evidence is mounting that home-schooling, once confined to the political and religious fringe, has achieved results not only on par with public education, but in some ways surpassing it."
Daniel Golden, Wall Street Journal Atlanta



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Other Articles and Reviews updated


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Podcasts

CUNY Radio has a podcast on people who have self-created different things. The interview starts with the Maker Faire, and then leads to a piece on homeschooling with Laurie Spigel and other parents. The reporter has some misinformation. My older son had a scholarship to NYU Film school years ago, and he is now no longer attending college. Also, I never gave her the impression that homeschooling is not a choice to people in the lower income brackets. Personally, I was totally broke when I started, and that's what led to the "what's free or cheap in NYC" a vast list or activities that is currently on my website. I have always believed that anyone can do this, regardless of income. However, if both parents choose to work full time and there is no one available to be with the child, then I do not believe that homeschooling is a good choice.


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Videos & Films

Going to YouTube and searching on homeschool brings up 479,000 links (as of March 2017), including Seven Lies About Homeschoolers , a funny short video made by a teenage homeschooler. Watch also Homeschooling in NYC, made by a group of homeschooling kids.

A teenager started The Independent Project, a program of self-directed learning within a high school. Every week each student selects and pursues a single question in each major academic area, and also works on a term-long project that is a personal endeavor. This is an interesting model for self-directed learning, individually and in groups.

Sylvia Ashton Warner * John Taylor Gatto * Seth Godin * Helen Keller * Herbert Kohl * Sir Ken Robinson * Cevin Soling * Others


Sylvia Ashton-Warner was a New Zealand writer, poet and educatorwho spent many years teaching Maori children, using stimulating and often pioneering techniques which she wrote about in her 1963 treatise Teacher and in the various volumes of her autobiography


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John Taylor Gatto, a New York State Teacher of the Year, retired from teaching claiming that he was no longer willing to hurt children. He is a tireless campaigner for education reform. His books include: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992); The Exhausted School (1993); A Different Kind of Teacher (2000); and The Underground History Of American Education (2001).


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Seth Godin speaks on Education.


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An inspiring newsreel clip from 1930 of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan.


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Herbert Kohl, educator and author, answers some questions on education in his keynote speech at the 2010 AERO Conference.


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Sir Ken Robinson explores ways to connect peoples' natural aptitudes with their personal passions to achieve at their highest levels in education and business. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for his outstanding achievements in education and the arts. Ken Robinson has written numerous books, including The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything .

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Cevin Soling, an independent filmmaker, recently made an excellent documentary called The War on Kids that takes on the education establishment in a hard-hitting way. It won "Best Educational Documentary" at the New York International and Independent Film and Video Festival. The closing remarks in the trailer are made by John Taylor Gatto.

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Others