School Isn't For Everyone (and what you can do instead)

Heidi’s book offers a comprehensive guide through an experience that, for many families, can feel like free falling. Instead, with her rational and calming words, we are led through a thoroughly researched and reassuring journey, filled with practical ways to make it work or better yet, to help our children truly thrive. – Eliza Fricker, The Sunday Times bestselling author of Can’t Not Won’t

This book is a breath of fresh air for families , particularly neurodivergent ones, who know school isn’t working but don’t know what comes next. Heidi Steel writes with practical wisdom about learning without force, without curriculum, without the anxiety that so often comes with traditional education. Her approach centres the child’s natural curiosity and honours their unique way of being in the world. As a neurodivergent parent and professional, I recognise the relational foundation she builds throughout this book. The emphasis on acceptance, trust and co-regulation aligns perfectly with what neurodivergent children and families need to thrive. This is a guide for parents who are ready to question everything they thought they knew about learning and childhood.

– Alice Bramhill, Psychotherapist, Coach & RNMH, Unschooling Parent

Heidi Steel’s School Isn’t for Everyone is one of the strongest, clearest, mostforthright statements on what unschooling is all about that I have come across.I recommend it to anyone bold enough to consider an approach to life, forthemselves and their kids, that is free of the harnesses imposed by school or a school-like mentality.

– Peter Gray, Research Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and author of Free to Learn.A grounded, practical guide for anyone curious about unschooling and its power to nurture lifelong learning and family connection. The chapter on teens, screens, and socialization offers especially valuable insights for families navigating the teen years. – Lainie Liberti, author of Seen, Heard & Understood: Parenting and Partnering with Teens for Greater Mental HealthA knowledgeable companion for the road less travelled, Heidi Steel offers wisdom, encouragement and practical insight for anyone drawn to unschooling. Her words provide reassurance and inspiration to those taking their first steps, and validation to those already walking the path. – Alice Khimasia, Unschooler, TEDx Speaker and Advocate for the Right to LearnHeidi Steel’s School Isn’t For Everyone is a paradigm-shifting and grounded guide for anyone curious about a life without school. With warmth and wisdom, Heidi dismantles the myth that children need coercion to learn, and instead shows how trust, play, and connection can unlock potential and joy for the whole family. This book is a vital resource for anyone daring to imagine education beyond the system’s oppressive and outdated confines. – Artemis Bear, founder and director of The Garden and co-creator at Freedom to LearnHeidi’s many years as a teacher and as a home-educating parent, come together in this friendly and accessible book. School Isn’t For Everyone (and what you can do instead) feels like a supportive and reassuring conversation with a wise friend. – Esther Jones, author of The Parent’s Handbook to Unschooling YourselfLike the best kind of hug from a wise and sensible friend. Anchored in facts, experience and the true unschooling spirit of - here’s some juicy ingredients, now be free to explore and express! – Essie Richards, Coach and Host of Circle.

Heidi Steel (Author)

Heidi Steel runs the consultancy LivePlayLearn, providing support to families who need a different form of education. She set up the podcast Unschooling Conversations, a monthly webinar that delves into life and learning through an unschooling lens.