John Holt (educator) - From Homeschooling To Unschooling

From Homeschooling To Unschooling

After many years of working within the school system, Holt became disillusioned with it. He became convinced that reform of the school system was not possible because it was fundamentally flawed and began to advocate homeschooling. However, it would be pointless to simply remove children from the school environment if parents simply recreated that environment at home. He believed that "children who were provided with a rich and stimulating learning environment would learn what they are ready to learn, when they are ready to learn it". Holt believed that children did not need to be coerced into learning; they would do so naturally if given the freedom to follow their own interests and a rich assortment of resources. This line of thought came to be called unschooling.

Holt's Growing Without Schooling (GWS), founded in 1977, was the nation's first home education newsletter. He also set up John Holt's Bookstore, which made selected books available by mail order. This brought in additional revenue that helped sustain the newsletter, which carried very little advertising.

Holt's sole book on homeschooling, Teach Your Own, was published in 1981. It quickly became the "Bible" of the early homeschooling movement. It was revised by his colleague Patrick Farenga and republished in 2003 by Perseus Books.

In addition to home schooling, Holt also espoused many of the principles now taken up by the youth rights movement, including eliminating the voting age, and allowing young people to sign contracts and obtain employment.