The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child's Education, a New Way to Homeschool

Updated with a new Preface

"Ainsley Arment has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in a grass-roots community that, long before social distancing, decided to reject mainstream schooling and rather educate within the family. . . . The Call of the Wild and Free, part memoir and part manifesto, encourages mothers who are considering home-schooling and those who are ready to give up . . . suggesting that parents are the most intuitive educators of their kids."―New York Times

There’s a growing movement of parents who are out to save childhood. Where our culture tells kids to achieve more, these mothers whisper: Slow down. Where schools push for performance through standardized testing, these parents whisper: Chase wonder. Where entertainment beckons kids to screens, the rivers and forests whisper: Come be wild and free.

Ainsley Arment saw firsthand the way traditional education was dimming the light in her son’s eyes. In an effort to bring back that love of learning, she decided to homeschool him and slowly watched him come alive again. This experience led Arment to start Wild + Free, a community of mothers who are blowing up the preconceived notions of what it means to raise and educate children at home. Wild + Free is a community focused on cultivating a love of nature, reading great books, and nurturing kids’ sense of curiosity, joy, and awe―the essence of a positive childhood.

Using these values as her guide, The Call of the Wild + Free shows parents how to make the world their classroom and implement the Wild + Free method in their homes, creating a fertile seedbed for each kid’s uniqueness and creativity.

Let’s answer the call.