As schooling becomes increasingly standardized and test driven, occupying more of child years than previously, parents and educators are questioning the role of schooling in society. Many are today discovering and creating alternatives. Inside a compelling narrative that introduces historical and modern research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights what sort of diverse group of individuals and institutions are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children have to be taught in order to find out. They may be parents who saw firsthand how schooling can dull children’s natural curiosity and exuberance and others who decided early on to enable their children to learn without school. Teachers who still left public-school classrooms discuss starting self-directed learning centers to permit young people’s innate learning intuition to flourish, and business owners explore their disillusionment with the teach-and-test strategy of traditional schooling.