
Dumbing Us Down
The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
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Narrated by:
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Michael Puttonen
About this listen
Thirty years in New York City's public schools led John Gatto to the sad conclusion that compulsory schooling does little but teach young people to follow orders like cogs in an industrial machine. With over 100,000 copies in print since its original publication in 2002, this book is collection of essays and speeches and contains a description of the wide-spread impact of the book and Gatto's "guerrilla teaching".
About the author: John Gatto was a teacher in New York City's public schools for over 30 years and is a recipient of the New York State Teacher of the Year award. A much sought after speaker on education throughout North America, his other books include Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling, A Different Kind of Teacher, and The Underground History of American Education.
©2002 John Taylor Gatto (P)2012 Post Hypnotic Press, IncListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Parents who are deeply invested in their children's education can be hard on themselves and their kids. When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. Author Julie Bogart distills decades of experience - homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world - to teach parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they're in elementary or high school.
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Audio Version is Challenging
- By SAG Victor on 05-11-19
By: Julie Bogart, and others
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The Wild and Free Family
- Forging Your Own Path to a Life Full of Wonder, Adventure, and Connection
- By: Ainsley Arment
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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As parents, we dream of creating a magical childhood for our kids, yet it can be so easy to slip into autopilot. Ainsley Arment-- a mother of five, founder of the thriving community Wild + Free, and bestselling author-- is no stranger to the barrage of decisions, opportunities, and daily tasks that each day brings. But what Ainsley has discovered is that the magic of life isn’t found in the hustle and bustle of constant activity but in the intentional ordinary decisions of our days.
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Judgmental despite what the author claims
- By Jenna on 01-16-24
By: Ainsley Arment
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Unschool Yourself First
- A Parent's Gateway to Self-Directed Learning
- By: Mark Beaumont
- Narrated by: Patrick Smith
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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If you are considering the unschooling path for your child or know someone who is, this is the best book to get you started; in fact, this book was made specifically for you, the parent who is on the fence regarding this philosophy and method of education.
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Amazing
- By Kayla Sickler on 03-23-22
By: Mark Beaumont
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How Children Learn (50th anniversary edition)
- By: John Holt
- Narrated by: Matthew Kugler
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This enduring classic of educational thought offers teachers and parents deep, original insight into the nature of early learning. John Holt was the first to make clear that, for small children, "learning is as natural as breathing." In this delightful yet profound book, he looks at how we learn to talk, to read, to count, and to reason, and how we can nurture and encourage these natural abilities in our children.
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So many truths and treasures!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-20-19
By: John Holt
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Teach Your Own
- The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home
- By: John Holt, Pat Farenga
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2019, there were more than two million children being homeschooled. That number doubled during the pandemic and is now likely to continue increasing as more parents worry that school might not be the best place for their children to learn and grow. Teach Your Own helped launch the homeschooling movement; now, its timeless and revolutionary message of recognizing the ways children come to understand the world has been updated for today’s environment.
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Loved it
- By Megan on 01-19-22
By: John Holt, and others
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Unschooled
- Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom
- By: Kerry Mcdonald, Peter Grey PhD
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children need to be taught in order to learn.
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Not for parents
- By online shopper on 05-24-20
By: Kerry Mcdonald, and others
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Hold On to Your Kids
- Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers
- By: Gordon Neufeld, Gabor Maté MD
- Narrated by: Gabor Maté MD, Daniel Maté
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Neufeld and Dr. Maté explore the phenomenon of peer orientation: the troubling tendency of children and youth to look to their peers for direction—for a sense of right and wrong, for values, identity and codes of behavior. But peer orientation undermines family cohesion, poisons the school atmosphere, and fosters an aggressively hostile and sexualized youth culture. It provides a powerful explanation for schoolyard bullying and youth violence; it is an escalating trend that has never been adequately described or contested until Hold On to Your Kids.
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Very very disappointed
- By CristinaPG on 01-11-20
By: Gordon Neufeld, and others
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Modern Miss Mason
- By: Leah Boden
- Narrated by: Leah Boden
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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As a young mother and new home educator, Leah was overwhelmed by the breadth of available resources. How to know which to choose? What would best guide and inspire her children? Whose voices should she trust? That’s when she discovered the timeless work and words of Charlotte Mason. A groundbreaking and revolutionary voice in education, Charlotte breathed life and beauty back into childhood in a stiff archaic age, opening the eyes of parent-teachers and the hearts of students—and changing the future of home education.
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A gift
- By Amazon Customer on 05-10-23
By: Leah Boden
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The Enchanted Hour
- The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction
- By: Meghan Cox Gurdon
- Narrated by: Meghan Cox Gurdon
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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A Wall Street Journal writer’s conversation-changing look at how reading aloud makes adults and children smarter, happier, healthier, more successful, and more closely attached, even as technology pulls in the other direction.
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advice to take to heart
- By Brian on 04-30-20
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Teaching from Rest
- A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace
- By: Sarah Mackenzie
- Narrated by: Sarah Mackenzie
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Those who have made the decision to homeschool their children have done so out of great love for them and a desire to provide them an excellent education in the context of a warm, enriching home. Yet so many parents (mainly mothers) who have taken up this challenge find the enterprise often full of stress, worry, and anxiety.
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Very Catholicy
- By Jamie L on 05-15-20
By: Sarah Mackenzie
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Homeschool Bravely
- How to Squash Doubt, Trust God, and Teach Your Child with Confidence
- By: Jamie Erickson
- Narrated by: Jamie Erickson
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Many homeschool parents have a long-term relationship with self-doubt. "Did I make the right decision?" "Could someone else do this better?" "Am I robbing my kids of something by not sending them to 'regular school'?" What if there's a better way? Not a three-step technique or a shiny, new curriculum but a change in perspective that transforms the way you plan, teach, and homeschool?
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LOVE! read it multiple times!
- By Shalise on 03-26-21
By: Jamie Erickson
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Raising Critical Thinkers
- A Parent's Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age
- By: Julie Bogart, Barbara Oakley
- Narrated by: Julie Bogart, Nancy Linari
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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At a time when online media has created a virtual firehose of information and opinions, parents and teachers worry how students will interpret what they read and see. Amid the noise, it has become increasingly important to examine different perspectives with both curiosity and discernment. But how do parents teach these skills to their children? Drawing on more than 20 years’ experience homeschooling and developing curricula, Julie Bogart offers practical tools to help children at every stage of development to grow in their ability to explore the world around them.
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Mostly Self Contradictory Liberal Drivel
- By Jesse M. on 02-28-22
By: Julie Bogart, and others
What listeners say about Dumbing Us Down
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- James T
- 01-29-14
Do you want to pull your kids out yet?
Homeschoolers love this book. Why? It points out (and exaggerates and makes blanket stereotypical statements about) all the ills of public education. Public school education has its problems and in an ideal world we could all be tutored one-on-one by George Wyeth as Thomas Jefferson was. (google TJeD) Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. There are so many issues brought up by this book it would take a hundred volumes of the same size to discuss them all. What came first - the chicken or the egg? the breakdown of education or the breakdown of the family? This is a good listen. It will make you think...unless you can't because you grew up in a public school as I did. (sarcasm)
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Vladi
- 02-17-15
Thought provoking
But full solution still not clear. Free market is an easy concept to fall back unto, but, isn't this a main feature of our - as argued in this book - ailing society?
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1 person found this helpful
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- Orlando R.
- 06-10-20
Dumbing us down
Great book!
Gives a good insightful look into the short fallings of our school system. What we can do to better yourself and our children in the world of learning.
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- Scott&Kendra
- 12-27-23
The inconvenient Truth of public schooling. Break Away before it's too late!
I liked everything about this book, nothing to dislike! Everyone should read this book and decide to act upon it, don't let our kids continue to suffer!
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- Daphne B
- 01-01-20
Very enlightening
I liked how well rounded it was. It in no way condemned teachers themselves, but pointed out the inherit flaws of school in an accurate historic way. I loved the emphasis on more family time.
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- KB9OKB
- 10-11-22
Public Schools Exposed
Must listen for all responsible citizens. Exposes the real function of the public school system.
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- madeline hafner
- 01-30-23
A must-read for all
John Gatto has not only validated my assumptions of modern society and public school education, but he has done so with exceptional and exquisite writing. I will recommend this book to everyone I know.
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- jordan silvia
- 02-19-23
Most Important Book You'll Ever Hear
If education itself is the key to unlocking all that is beautiful in this world, this book will forever serve as the grand indictment against what western societies are intentionally doing to our children, with the goal of controlling us all. Gatto's case for sainthood.
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- Jill M
- 06-14-24
The revolutionary nature of clear problems
This book shakes at the foundations of the banking model of education and offers suggestions as to how to actually educate students, rather than training them to be mediocre consumer labor cogs in the global machine. We need to create thinkers not submissives.
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- Micah Greene
- 04-09-21
short yet meaningful book
packed with the meat of the information without all the fluff. great listen! being public school raised I couldn't agree more!
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