A plea for the value of liberal arts education (yay!) that reads like an infomercial for conservative homeschoolers wondering if George Wythe University is right for their children (boo!). The historical arguments are shaky and the recommended canon of literature too narrow. One of its few attempts at embracing a global perspective is marred by the misspelling of Gandhi's name.

This is an extremely highly rated book, and quite difficult to obtain, I found after I decided to read it. I can see why it is so highly regarded, I think it is a fantastic tool for parents wondering about home schooling their children, or looking at alternatives to mass education, which it sounds like lots of US parents are starting to do (and the literacy and numeracy levels in mass education schools in the states makes this very understandable).
The last 50 or so pages of this small book consist of Appendices designed to get down to the nuts and bolts of what to teach, and how to teach, for those taking on this important task, and I think they are absolutely right in what they point out as important content and method. There would be a huge call for inspiring and practical tools such as this to encourage serious and thoughtful people to undertake the job, and a great deal of the mystique which surrounds what happens in schools and puts off those who want to provide an alternative is carefully stripped bare by this work, made understandable and thereby replicable or, more importantly, alterable.
The rest of the book is dedicated to an analysis of the Interests driving mass education content and its effects on its recipients, and the Philosophy of Education in the truest sense, and how this can be fulfilled in venues other than schoolyards and classrooms of 30 age matched students.
DeMille rightly (IMHO) identifies the industrialisation of the educational institution as having been the architect of its degradation, turning schools into job training factories, producing workers who look down at their feet and never forward; who have jettisoned initiative and leadership in favour of conformity and mediocrity, and who are depressed and disillusioned with their own lives and society.
And he also goes on to explain eloquently how inspiring children with great works of Literature, but also Philosophy, History, Art and Mathematics produces a happier and more thoughtful person of character and integrity. DeMille asserts that the far reaching, creatively inspired person, by virtue of the Liberal Arts Education he proposes, is so much better placed to leave society (or industry, or indeed wherever s/he may choose to operate) a richer and kinder and better place; to be happier, more inclined to be unselfish and to wish to make a valuable contribution to society. A good companion piece to Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Education by John Taylor Gatto. Thanks, Amazon, for pairing them together for me.

Some good ideas, but the book made me uncomfortable a bit. First of all, I am not a Christian and the author clearly is. The Bible could never be our "national book." I have no problem with Christians and as a homeschooler, I come into contact with strong minded ones often and feel I am very tolerant of their beliefs. However, they alone do not make up our country and cannot impose the Bible on everyone. I think the author realizes this which is why he mentions the Declaration as a possible "national book."

Also, the author seems to be a big believer in self-education but then tells the reader to find a good college (his college) and pay the money to go there. Hmmmm. As a big believer in self education, I find college and its costs unnecessary and certainly will not be doing this.

If you are not a white christian homeschooler, this book and education philosophy may not sit well with you. However, we should read widely (more widely than the lists presented in the book with books from many more cultures for sure), we should try to inspire our children/students to want to learn, and we should discuss what we read.

Reread 2023: This was one of the first books on homeschooling I read (it may have been the first) and I remember loving it. Rereading it was a bit of a letdown. There are definitely great ideas in the book, especially the core idea of using classics rather than textbooks. My main problem with the book was that I kept feeling a superiority from the author; it felt like he had an idea of the ideal education and nothing else was good enough. While I love and respect classics, I know many people who are very educated and successful but haven't read a wide range of classics deeply. While I still think there are some good ideas in this book, there are now other books I would recommend over this one to new homeschool moms.

Original Review (2013): 5 Stars
A must read for parents, especially for homeschoolers. I love the basis of education being on books because if we can teach children to love books, they will grow up motivated and knowing how to continue their education and that will help them become more successful in all areas of their life.

Let me save you some time: people must ultimately educate themselves and the best way to do that is to read the classics and have a good mentor for inspiration and encouragement. Now you don't have to read it yourself!

I have to say this book has seriously inspired me. I've been so nervous to screw up homeschooling Rowan. But now I'm really looking forward to it. Not just because I think I can give him a great education, but that at the same time I will be getting an amazing education as well. I have to lead by example, read classics, and get my children interested in them. Most of what the author says makes perfect sense. Why shouldn't we learn in the same way the Founding Fathers did? I love that at the end the author gave an amazing list of books to start with and divided them for each age. Now I know what I need to get for Rowan to get started this year.

I didn't know when I picked up the book that there is some controversy regarding this man and his methods. At least it encourages similar things to classical and Charlotte mason philosophies. At most it advocates eleven year olds with no basic literacy skills. In the end I think it is as with every educational philosophy an opportunity to take what is valuable and let go of the rest. This is what I plan to do. Positives it made me think about are creating an educational environment for my young children as well as continuing a challenging education for myself that will prepare me for when they are older and help me to be a better instructor and well rounded thinker. I tend to shy away from exclusive formulas so wherever it claimed things as essential I tried to take with a grain of salt. Overall I think my end goal and the authors are the same. If we want our children to grow up into unique individuals, we need to allow them a more unique and personalized education.

Great food for thought here - children need to read the classics and they need a mentor to inspire them to educate themselves - that's the main idea. Simple concept, but he is adamant that the mentor (that would be me, homeschool mom!) must read these classics as well, both before and as each child reads them... I've not got a great track record with enjoying or appreciating the few classics I've read, but I'm willing to give it a try. Who am I to complain about more time spent reading?!

This book took me a long time to get through, though it's quite short, mostly because I found it annoying. I thought DeMille's points were poorly argued and I didn't really agree with most of it. I agree with a few of his broad ideas, but I find that he has either poor or vague practical advice on how to actually educate, day-to-day. I agree that classics are good and important, but I do not think they are the be-all and end-all of education. He seems to think that if parents read classics, they will automatically instill a love for classics in their kids and that they will know how to educate their children without any more practical advice. He also gives "read the classics" as to the answer to almost all educational questions. Want to teach your children math? Read classic math texts, then you will miraculously know how to teach your children math. DeMille thinks no real formal education should start until about age 8, which I also disagree with. My younger children love to "do school" and have learned a lot through formal education before the age of 8. They're also learning good habits and routines to help them with formal education as they get older. Demille suggests that you should "inspire, not require" in education. I think it is important to inspire kids, but I also think requiring kids to do hard things is an important part of education and life. I also think that his idea of basically leaving teenagers to their own devices and expecting them to want to study and research for many hours everyday is unrealistic as well as just plain wrong. Some kids may thrive on this, but I would suspect very few. I do agree with the need for mentors in education. I also agree with modeling a life-long love of learning to your kids. Overall, I was very disappointed in this book and fail to understand its popularity with some parts of the homeschooling population.