Wiscasset Author’s New Book Highlights Student-Centered Learning Practices

Wiscasset author and educator Laurie Block Spigel released her second book, “Letting Them Lead: Adventures in Game-Based, Self-Directed Learning,” on Tuesday, March 19.

Spigel’s book documents her own experiences with putting students at the center of their learning experiences, as well as strategies and examples of curriculum that will leave a child excited to learn, and an educator excited to guide students through their educational journey.

“Letting Them Lead: Adventures in Game-Based, Self-Directed Learning” is geared toward educators, parents, and learners “of all ages,” according to Spigel.

Spigel’s experience in education began with her parents – her mother was a professor of education, and her father was a professor of comparative literature. Spigel said she became her mother’s teaching assistant at the age of 8.

“I grew up having conversations about progressive education with professors and with (my mother’s) students, who were always surprised that I was so aware and knowledgeable, but I was this avid reader. I read anything and everything, and so if it was lying around the house I read it,” said Spigel. “So nobody actually handed me books on education, but I read, ‘Teaching as a Subversive Activity,’ and ‘Why Do Children Fail?’ … I read all that stuff … Thinking I would never use it because I promised myself I would never become a teacher. And, wouldn’t you know, it was clearly what I was supposed to do with my life.”

Disappointed with the state of the public education system, Spigel utilized her vast knowledge about education and began homeschooling her oldest son, Kalman, when he was 9. A few years later, she also began homeschooling her youngest son, Solomon.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions I made in my life. I didn’t know anybody else doing it, and I had no support from family or friends,” she said. “We knew our kid was struggling in public school and private school, that he was having difficult experiences wherever he went in school, and he was super smart and an eager learner … Within two weeks, I realized it was the best decision, maybe, of our lives.

What started as simply providing her children an education through homeschooling became something much bigger than Spigel. While homeschooling her two sons in New York City, Spigel created a website, homeschoolnyc.com, as an informational resource for parents wanting to explore an alternative education for their children. She also began leading clubs and offering classes to groups of homeschoolers.

Popular courses taught by Spigel include a board game class, where children create board games based on something they are interested in learning more about, and a play writing class, where children are tasked with writing a play about something they are curious about. Not only do children learn typical math, science, English, and history skills through these activities, Spigel said, but they also learn skills applicable to everyday life, such as how to communicate effectively with others.

“I feel pretty lucky that they were memorable experiences for me and for my students … I thought, ‘Why should they do all this research or do all this writing and end up with something that never gets looked at again?’” said Spigel.

Through her work and support from peers, Spigel authored her first book in 2006. “Education Uncensored: A Guide for the Aspiring, the Foolhardy, and the Disillusioned,” is “equal parts memoir and guidebook,” according to Spigel, and includes her best teaching advice and a critique of the current public education system.

Spigel’s newest book is a continuation of her first book, she said, providing an advanced version of the concepts introduced in her first book.

Spigel said her goal is to publish a new book every year, as she still has much more to share in regard to her experience in alternative education.

For more information about Spigel and her work, go to laurieblockspigel.com.