Customer Reviews

Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book Of Homeschooling

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Do you remember what they taught you at school? Me neither. I learned to read very early on, mostly at home, and I still remember some math, but only because I balance my checkbook and know when I'm getting correct change at the market. All those years, isolated from the real world in the artificial environment of school, sitting at a desk all day with 30 of my same age peers, how was I to learn about what an actual life in the world is like, or about what I wanted to do with mine? I remember learning to take tests. Now I never take them. A lot of it was pleasant enough, some of it was not, most of it was boring, and somehow I never noticed that I was mostly wasting my time.

Now I know better having read John Holt, a sweet, caring man and a wonderful writer. He's radical, but he never rants. He persuades, gently, eloquently. He learns through years of careful, loving observation and by trial and error and he shares that with you in a way that makes it seem as though he's one of your oldest, most comfortable friends. He reminds you of what you went through in school. He makes sense. He's fun to read. And you know he's right as you read him, because we have all gone to school.

In this unofficial treatise for the homeschooling movement, John Holt, longtime private school teacher, maintains that the traditional classroom model no longer works and may, in fact, ruin kids for learning. He exhorts parents to challenge the conventional wisdom and be their children's teachers. You don't need to be a homeschooler to benefit from Holt's books; you simply need to care about children and education and to have uttered, if only once, "There's got to be a better way."

This is an totally new version of a classic book. Instead of the classic work of Holt, much of it is a 'commentary' by the new author.

I didn't like the 'new' version. I bought this to learn from Holt, not read someone's 'commentary." I grew frustrated that instead of letting me read what Holt wrote, there was a ton of the new author stating "Holt said in Teach your own...."

Also, I didn't like that Farenga cut out big chunks of the book. ie he decided that we didn't 'need' to know about the histories of court rulings, and in one instance took the parent testimonials that Holt had used in one section the original book and added 'more modern
testimonials."

I got so frustrated that I bought a used copy of the original from Amazon. I got it yesterday and have read almost all of it. The original is really great.

The 'new' version reads as if was written by someone who really doesn't like unschooling.

I would recomend the 'classic' version!

This single book completely transformed our family's plan for educating our child. After 3 years of perfectly normal, traditional (private and public) schooling, the light bulb went off and we are now embarking on the incredible journey of homeschooling. John Holt speaks such truth, and reminds us that all human beings are born naturally curious, wanting and able to learn. Imagine the potential of our world if each child spent 11,000 hours out in the real world, hungrily soaking up all that life has to offer, instead of sitting all day, being fed information to regurgitate with no apparent and immediate relation to their needs, their interests or their lives. Holt reminds us that "school" is a relatively new invention, and that earlier generations who could not only write exquisitely, invent, create, build and lead, were all schooled at home. Holt also helps every parent who has ever said "I could never homeschool my children" rethink the entire idea of being "the teacher". Rather, every parent can assume the role of "facilitator"... simply providing access, resources and examples... and watching the miracle of natural human development take off on its own. Take the journey. You will never look back.

As a teacher at a private school and a homeschooling mom, this book gave me a refreshing perspective on education and learning - both at a structured school and at home. The philosophy of John Holt was what I have read about from "unschoolers". I think it is important to consider whether we are motivating our children to learn or teaching them to spit back what we think is important. This book gave me much food for thought in that area.

In "Learning All The Time", Holt recounted the story of a teenaged African-American male who had been judged just short of illiterate getting up at a meeting at the end of a summer program, holding up a copy of the book "Why We Can't Wait" by Martin Luther King Jr. and demanding to know why no one had ever told him about that book. Having just finished this work of Holt's, I feel exactly the same way.

I began reading Holt because I have pulled my children from school and I want, if not guidance, reassurance that my increasingly unstructured path will work. Such reassurance is there in spades from Mr. Holt, and I love reading the sometimes very long letters that his readers sent to him. I want to know the varied details of other people's lives and how their children were involved in them. The stories are very different, but the "success" stories share a common thread: they all respect their children as if they are *real* people.

Very early in the book, Holt said that one reason people should have for unschooling their children is that they believe that they should be the ones raising their children. That struck a deep chord with me, as I know it must have for many other people. It was wonderful to have someone echo a sentiment I have had for so long but was never able to articulate before.

But I must admit, when I read this now, I am struck with a deep sense of sadness for myself. These words were written when I was in elementary school. Well, so much for my childhood and what could have been- at least I can give my children the opportunities I never had.

A previous reviewer complained about the revisions. I read an old version, so I can't comment specifically. I will say that it would have been a shame if the testimonials had been deleted, although updated ones would be welcome. However, I hope the legal information would have been updated. While it was very thorough- Holt was a master teacher, clarifying not only general legal strategies but also specific precedents- much of it must be dated at this point.

Even with dated information, this is a must-read book (and author) for any parents who want to make sure that their children continue their childhood.

I love this book. I found it very inspiring and empowering. Eases the burden of homeschooling and gives tools to a better education for your child. I highly recommend this book.

As I read about homeschooling, I found several references to this groundbreaking book. John Holt was an educator who traveled what has become a common path among educators. It starts with enthusiasm to teach, followed by the discovery that one is really good at it. The kids love you. Then, looking around, the educator discovers that the educational bureaucracy loves him a whole lot less than the kids do.

They don't trust him. First of all, he doesn't have a great deal of respect for established curricula, schedules, standardized tests and the other trappings of classroom education. A real teacher looks at each kid is an individual challenge, and does the best with every one of them. Administrators hate that. It is said that in France, a Minister of Education boasted that one any given November 5 he could walk into any eighth grade history classroom in France and know what was being taught. It seems that all pedagogues like that kind of control, and hate the maverick who would challenge it.

Teachers generally belong to unions. Unions demand equal pay for everybody, which they justify with the assumption that all workers are interchangeable. A teacher who is visibly effective and loved by his students is a threat to that comfortable assumption, and hence to the whole system. Only a few schools, mostly private or charter, can tolerate such personalities, and even then only up to a degree. I say this wryly; I taught private school after I retired, and only one headmaster out of ten was able to deal with the fact that I did it because I enjoyed it, and what he paid me did not give him control over my life. Thanks, David Schapiro.

Holt's book is dated. He devotes a great deal of it to strategies on how to beat the system, how to get your kids out from under compulsory education. In the second decade of the 21st century these battles have more or less been won. The failure of the public schools is so palpable, so widely recognized, that the school system will not put up a terrible struggle if you want to do it yourself. Also, the reasons which he so effectively advances for teaching your own kids are more generally agreed. Most of the concerns about homeschooling, such as the adequacy of the curriculum or the socialization of the children, have also pretty much been laid to rest. At least one generation of homeschoolers have gone through college now, and admissions officers generally like to see them. Still, I think you will find it worth having access to the chapter entitled "Common Objections To Homeschooling" to focus your own thoughts and to make your arguments to the grandparents, who may not understand.

The quarter-century since Holt's death has seen some major transformations in our society. Computers, and especially the Internet, have changed the way that everybody learns. Holt saw a bit of benefit in television. My personal judgment would be that the medium wasn't great even when he wrote, and it is worse now. I would attempt to keep kids away from television to the extent possible. And, in this day and age, I would add to that video games, mindless Internet surfing, Facebook, downloadable videos, music TV, and the thousands of other electronic distractions. In structuring a curriculum, I would recommend that parents read books on this electronic invasion, most particularly "The Shallows," which I also review. Read "The Dumbest Generation" for a litany of horrors of what is happening across the millennial generation, giving you all the more incentive to take control of your kids' education. And lastly, I would recommend the most persuasive book on taking control of your children's education, "An Underground History Of American Education" by John Gatto.

Don't read my review. Buy the book and read it instead. If you only ever puchase one book on home education, then let it be this one. John Holt is simply the best.

Reading the above reviews I am reminded of Mark Twain's acerbic observation on some other "reviewer's" work. He said something like: "I think it is far from right that these reviewers have offered such comments about the book without having read some of it!"
I find Holt's effort to be a weakly argued, strongly biased description of the state of public education. I am the son of a teacher, who was the son of another, and I count among my friends many other public educators, and without exception they are passionately interested in their work! I have heard the very words "I can't believe I get paid for this!", and other words expressing the same from all of these teachers. They care deeply for their students, and for the creative act of educating. So much of Holt's bald, unsubstantiated statements ring falsely. Do parents really assume and accept that their children are going to have spend the rest of their lives doing things they don't like, and so they might as well get used to it in school? No one that I know, and yet Holt concludes that "As long as such parents are in the majority, and in every social class they are, (and that last clause was italicized for emphasis) the schools, even if they wanted to, will not be able to.... " and "blah, blah, blah..." He also states: "Most of what I knew, I had not learned in school, or in any other schoollike "learning environments"... and he includes workshops, meetings, and seminars. Sounds nice, but if I look honestly at my own skill-set, a great deal of what I know I learned in school or other "school-like learning environments," and I include the ability to swim, and practice martial arts, and to read, write, and appreciate literature, to know and love the plants, the geology and animal life around me, and a variety of methods which allow me to perform my working in the field of conservation biology. Who with any insight can see a saddening majority Holt's statements in this book as anything other than the preposterous drivel that they are?! I am not wholly defending public education; we have been always been a passionate home-schooling family, but when we looked to Holt for insight we have largely been disappointed. Read David Guterson's book Family Matters twice instead of wasting time with Teach Your Own.