Don’t Tell Me I Can’t: An Ambitious Homeschooler’s Journey is among the books that I always recommend first to parents and teens who are interested in homeschooling, especially unschooling.
This is a wonderful book, written by an unschooled teenager who was an unbelievably remarkable kid. Raised in poverty by disabled parents along with his autistic older brother, Kevin Cooper (who wrote online under the name Cole Summers) accomplished so much in his tragically short life.
Kevin’s autobiography was published when he was 14, just before he tragically died in a kayaking accident at a friend’s birthday party. The book details how he had accomplished so much as a rural child who would seem to have so few advantages.
As The Deseret News reported:
At 14, he had just published his autobiography. He was making plans to expand his 350-acre farm to buy up surrounding farms to convert to regenerative agriculture. He was saving money to build a house for his parents and another for his autistic older brother. He was polishing a movie script and a series of children’s books teaching business literacy for kids. He was looking for a celebrity to endorse his line of luxury toiletries made from the milk of his goat herd. He was breeding heritage turkeys. He was writing guest essays for notable bloggers higher up the political food chain. And, in his spare time, he had the task of grading the road to his farm using the John Deere tractor he bought new for himself for his 11th birthday.
In his memoir, Kevin wrote about how his father helped him learn how to teach himself everything he wanted to learn, from financial literacy via Warren Buffet videos to how to buy his own farm and remodel his new kitchen — all as a child.
From the publisher:
Cole is no stranger when it comes to rising to circumstantial challenges. Homeschooled and born into a poor rural family with disabled parents, he started his own farm by age 7. When he was 9 he purchased a 350-acre ranch, and when he was 10, a house. By the time he was 14, he’d forged a plan to tackle the environmental problems of industrial hay farming and aquifer depletion.
It would seem life has prepared Cole for this very calling. His journey through entrepreneurial unschooling has led him through an early path of conquering devastating setbacks on the way to his accomplishments. As you read his story, young Mr. Summers hopes that you find his writings equally eye-opening and inspiring for responding to your own challenges and calling in life.
In the last sentence of the book, Cole wrote, “As wild as it is to have done enough unique things by age 14 to be able to write an autobiography, the truth is, I’m still just getting started.”
This is more than a little heartbreaking, as readers know what would happen soon after. His book is a legacy for the rest of us though, showing how remarkable our children’s lives can be with self directed learning and how much they can accomplish.
Kevin’s voice throughout the book is motivational and uplifting. He gives a road map for how to find out any information you need, follow your dreams, do the work and make things happen.
While I don’t often call books “must reads,” I’d go so far as to say this one should be required reading for all homeschoolers, parents, teachers, environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and… well, everyone.
The loss of Kevin Cooper was a tragic one, but his memoir can help inspire the rest of us to carry on his visions and to give our kids the autonomy to make their own remarkable lives.
You can read Don’t Tell Me I Can’t: An Ambitious Homeschooler’s Journey through your local library or order it on Amazon (affiliate link) or through your local bookseller.
