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Teach Your Own: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home
The classic guide to teaching children at home for a new generation of homeschooling parents
In 2019, there were more than two million children being homeschooled. That number doubled during the pandemic and is now likely to continue increasing as more parents worry that school might not be the best place for their children to learn and grow.
Teach Your Own helped launch the homeschooling movement; now, its timeless and revolutionary message of recognizing the ways children come to understand the world has been updated for today’s environment. Parents and caregivers will discover how to John Holt's warm understanding of children and his passionate belief in every child's ability to learn have made this book an essential resource for over forty years to homeschooling families.
In 2019, there were more than two million children being homeschooled. That number doubled during the pandemic and is now likely to continue increasing as more parents worry that school might not be the best place for their children to learn and grow.
Teach Your Own helped launch the homeschooling movement; now, its timeless and revolutionary message of recognizing the ways children come to understand the world has been updated for today’s environment. Parents and caregivers will discover how to John Holt's warm understanding of children and his passionate belief in every child's ability to learn have made this book an essential resource for over forty years to homeschooling families.
384 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2021
49 people are currently reading
549 people want to read
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John Holt
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John C. Holt - Nonfiction, Parenting & Families
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
For other authors of this name, see:
John C. Holt - Nonfiction, Parenting & Families
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 5, 2023
I can't say anything more worthwhile about this book that isn't a direct quote, so here goes:
Education is an important element of civil society but it has become a sedentary institution serving much more as a gatekeeper for employment opportunities instead of enabling active learning for students. Both in person and online education continue to operate on the assumption that by exposing all children to the same information at the same time they will learn it.
John Holt believes that children want to learn about the world, are good at it, and can be trusted to do a very little adult coercion or interference.
Most people don't like or trust kids, and people who are suffering and see no way out of it often want others to suffer.
Learning is as natural as breathing, and healthy people do not need to be motivated externally to do it! We, and children, can simply do things and learn from them.
Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery.
The amount of sustained attention, love, one gives to a practice depends on the amount of control the practitioner has in the process. School takes all control away from children. This feeling of suddenly not being able to trust one's own memory is common enough, and above all when one is anxious.
What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent--in the broadest and best sense, intelligent--is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialists, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them.
When schools or teachers use "tried-and-true" methods that everyone is used to--that is, rote learning, drills, and the like--and these methods don't work, as they usually don't, the public is willing to let the schools blame the students. But when a school or teacher uses a method that people consider new and it doesn't work, the public blames them. So the rule is, to avoid trouble, stick to the old methods, evenif they don't work.
Intelligence is not the measure of how much we know how to do, but of how we behave when we don't know what to do. It has to do with our ability to think up important questions and then to find ways to get useful answers.
August 20, 2024
If not read for the homeschooling part, there are still plenty of great insights on the importance of informal learning and beyond.
July 28, 2025
Valuable reading for anyone interested in understanding or considering homeschooling. I especially enjoyed the chapters addressing legalities of homeschooling and how those who feel threatened by the future of schools because of the growing homeschool movement can band together and benefit together in communities.
This is a newer edition of a book written by John Holt in the 80’s. Sometimes it was tricky keeping up with the switching commentary of the updated contributing author.
The chapter on learning disabilities/ difficulties was the only portion I felt was lacking as it doesn’t address any challenges beyond children struggling with dyslexia.
This is a newer edition of a book written by John Holt in the 80’s. Sometimes it was tricky keeping up with the switching commentary of the updated contributing author.
The chapter on learning disabilities/ difficulties was the only portion I felt was lacking as it doesn’t address any challenges beyond children struggling with dyslexia.
July 1, 2023
I found the first few chapters to be the most enlightening. Several platitudes that I grew up believing are challenged. Such as "Children are our future." He says, "Education has become the illusory fix for all of society's ills...Generations of graduates have yet to fix poverty."
Our obsession with "learning" is strange if you think about it. No other society was as obsessed with learning and how to learn.
Learning things that aren't important to us builds character-except that we don't remember what isn't important to us, and time is wasted.
On the quote "A student is not a vessel to.be filled but a lamp to be lit." John says, their lamps are already lit, we have to quite blowing them out.
Young children are extremely capable at learning from their environment.
John Holt's three types of discipline:
1. Discipline of Reality-if you play a wrong note you know whether you got the result you wanted or not
2. Discipline of culture-Children sense the cutsoms, agreements, and networks that surround them and naturally want to be a part of them.
3. Discipline of Superior force-there will always be things that we need to protect children from, but we should only use this force to protect life and property and teach children the reasons behind our actions.
Control over one's learning makes it easier to retain information-intrinsic motivation cannot be manipulated in others. You can't force it, you can only facilitate it.
Education is primarily about relationships
Compulsory schooling is an infringement on the rights of children. We wouldn't like it if we were forced to spend 6-8 hours of our day doing what someone else wanted us to do.
College isn't a magic passkey. You need to know what doors open with a specific degree and whether you want to go through that door before you decide to pursue that degree.
Enjoy your time with your children and the rest will follow.
"What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent-in the broadest and best sense, intelligent-is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialist, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them. It is foolish to think that through "education" we can have a society in which, no matter how low may be the quality of work, the quality of learning and intelligence will remain high. People with dull and meaningless jobs are hardly likely to lead active, interesting, productive lives away from those jobs. They are much more likely to collapse in front of the TV set and take refuge from their own dreary daily life in a life of fantasy, by imaging for a while that they are one of those rich, beautiful, sexy, powerful, laughing, fast-moving successful people on the screen.
What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools but that is isn't a school at all. It is not an artificial place, set up to make "learning" happen and in which nothing except "learning" ever happens. It i a natural, organic, central, fundamental human institution, one might easily and rightly say the foundation of all other institutions. We can imagine and indeed we have had human societies without schools, without factories, without libraries, museums, hospitals, roads, legislatures, courts, or any of the institutions which seem so indispensable and permanent a part of modern life. We might someday even choose, or be obliged, to live once again without some or all of these. But we cannot even imagine a society without homes, even if these should be no more than tents, or mud huts, or holes in the ground. What I am trying to say, in short, is that our chief education problem is not to find a way to make homes more like schools. If anything, it is to make schools less like schools."
Our obsession with "learning" is strange if you think about it. No other society was as obsessed with learning and how to learn.
Learning things that aren't important to us builds character-except that we don't remember what isn't important to us, and time is wasted.
On the quote "A student is not a vessel to.be filled but a lamp to be lit." John says, their lamps are already lit, we have to quite blowing them out.
Young children are extremely capable at learning from their environment.
John Holt's three types of discipline:
1. Discipline of Reality-if you play a wrong note you know whether you got the result you wanted or not
2. Discipline of culture-Children sense the cutsoms, agreements, and networks that surround them and naturally want to be a part of them.
3. Discipline of Superior force-there will always be things that we need to protect children from, but we should only use this force to protect life and property and teach children the reasons behind our actions.
Control over one's learning makes it easier to retain information-intrinsic motivation cannot be manipulated in others. You can't force it, you can only facilitate it.
Education is primarily about relationships
Compulsory schooling is an infringement on the rights of children. We wouldn't like it if we were forced to spend 6-8 hours of our day doing what someone else wanted us to do.
College isn't a magic passkey. You need to know what doors open with a specific degree and whether you want to go through that door before you decide to pursue that degree.
Enjoy your time with your children and the rest will follow.
"What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent-in the broadest and best sense, intelligent-is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialist, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them. It is foolish to think that through "education" we can have a society in which, no matter how low may be the quality of work, the quality of learning and intelligence will remain high. People with dull and meaningless jobs are hardly likely to lead active, interesting, productive lives away from those jobs. They are much more likely to collapse in front of the TV set and take refuge from their own dreary daily life in a life of fantasy, by imaging for a while that they are one of those rich, beautiful, sexy, powerful, laughing, fast-moving successful people on the screen.
What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools but that is isn't a school at all. It is not an artificial place, set up to make "learning" happen and in which nothing except "learning" ever happens. It i a natural, organic, central, fundamental human institution, one might easily and rightly say the foundation of all other institutions. We can imagine and indeed we have had human societies without schools, without factories, without libraries, museums, hospitals, roads, legislatures, courts, or any of the institutions which seem so indispensable and permanent a part of modern life. We might someday even choose, or be obliged, to live once again without some or all of these. But we cannot even imagine a society without homes, even if these should be no more than tents, or mud huts, or holes in the ground. What I am trying to say, in short, is that our chief education problem is not to find a way to make homes more like schools. If anything, it is to make schools less like schools."
May 8, 2024
Let’s start with the good:
A lot of assumptions are challenged, our modern ways of doing things are questioned and an approach that’s way more respectful towards children is offered. I appreciate that the writer offer concrete tips to help new homeschooling parents (even though it’s more than halfway through). I like his call to stop praising children for every little thing they do, to just exist with them without stressing them out constantly. I mostly appreciate all the stories he shares from around the US on how parents made homeschooling work for them. It really shows different perspectives and ways of doing things.
However.
The idea pushed in this book is that kids do not need to be taught directly by adults. That they will learn to read when they’re reading and do math without help. That adult stop the curiosity of children. I don’t think this to be 100% false, but i also don’t believe it to be true. That kind of education as been done before and some of the kids ended up not knowing how to read even well into adulthood. I wish there was more of a nuanced approach to unschooling with this book.
The writer also mentioned is disbelief towards dyslexia. Saying he doesn’t think it really exists and that professional are just pushing it for money. He then goes on to look down on experts and claim that as soon as a kid mix their letters, we label them and send them to special schools that won’t help them. Oof.
A lot of assumptions are challenged, our modern ways of doing things are questioned and an approach that’s way more respectful towards children is offered. I appreciate that the writer offer concrete tips to help new homeschooling parents (even though it’s more than halfway through). I like his call to stop praising children for every little thing they do, to just exist with them without stressing them out constantly. I mostly appreciate all the stories he shares from around the US on how parents made homeschooling work for them. It really shows different perspectives and ways of doing things.
However.
The idea pushed in this book is that kids do not need to be taught directly by adults. That they will learn to read when they’re reading and do math without help. That adult stop the curiosity of children. I don’t think this to be 100% false, but i also don’t believe it to be true. That kind of education as been done before and some of the kids ended up not knowing how to read even well into adulthood. I wish there was more of a nuanced approach to unschooling with this book.
The writer also mentioned is disbelief towards dyslexia. Saying he doesn’t think it really exists and that professional are just pushing it for money. He then goes on to look down on experts and claim that as soon as a kid mix their letters, we label them and send them to special schools that won’t help them. Oof.
February 25, 2025
This was a re-read! I'm glad I read it again, so I could be reminded of what's truly important in our homeschool...and why we're homeschooling in the first place.
July 1, 2021
The words of one of the earliest proponents of homeschooling, John Holt were profound. In 1981, his book, Teach Your Own was no doubt considered controversial, now it is almost prophetic. Holt, a former public-school educator himself began to look at how children are educated, the rigid and unbending world of “schooling” and encouraged parents to do the unthinkable, take their children out of school and educate them at home. And so began the homeschool movement, that thirty years later has become almost mainstream.
While homeschooling one’s own children is not uncommon these days it was until 2020 still considered, “odd” or “different” in some communities. Those of us raised in public schools could not fathom what having our children at home all day would look like and how any normal parent could emulate the learning environment of a school. According to John Holt, we don’t need to. He encourages learning by exploration, by doing, and by encouraging a child to do more of what they are good at. His theory is that they will learn what they need to as they need to.
Test scores, if you consider them important, have proved his theory is correct. There is little difference in the scores for homeschoolers vs. public school educated children and if they are disaggregated in specific ways homeschool children excel. Test scores don’t measure the maturity, depth of thought, or love of learning in a child. If you talk to children from both groups, you will find homeschoolers have some strengths public school children do not. In some ways, our factory model takes away from natural growth. Holt emphasizes these things in his book.
The pandemic that wrecked school schedules and upended public education still echoes. Amazingly children learned at home for at least a year in some places, longer in others. The effects of this year have been profound. Parents are homeschooling now in record numbers; many more are planning to and others considering the option. After witnessing firsthand, the rigid, boring, unrelatable lessons from public schools, examining textbooks that are fraught with error and bias, seeing their children bored and glassy-eyed from computer lessons, parents are now looking for viable options. Homeschooling and various hybrid options are now everywhere and the support systems for parents who choose this option are springing up nationwide.
A good place to start the journey for parents who are considering homeschooling is with this new updated edition of John Holt’s work. The new edition due out in September 2021 has been updated since the pandemic. It contains work from his magazine, no longer in publication but once a support system for parents, and new information from co-writer and collaborator of Holt’s earlier work, Pat Farenga. Since Holt’s death in the 1980s Farenga has led much of the work to encourage and assist parents with homeschooling.
If you are beginning the thought process of homeschooling your children or working with those that do, I strongly encourage you to read this book. You will find the encouragement of someone with similar ideas and theories about children and how they learn. You will find answers to questions that you have about the whole process of homeschooling and should find relief from the issues that are causing you pause and stress.
Public school has a place in our society but it can learn much from the homeschool movement. If you are a parent that has children in public school and are not interested in homeschooling your children I also encourage you to read this book. It will stir something in you regarding schooling and have you thinking about many things you have not previously questioned about your own education and that of your child. If you are a public-school educator explore the thoughts and ideas presented by Holt and others, they will make your classroom a better place for all children. I consider this an important book for all interested in learning either at home or institutionally. It is as profound and timely now as it was in 1981. #TeachYourOwn#NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
While homeschooling one’s own children is not uncommon these days it was until 2020 still considered, “odd” or “different” in some communities. Those of us raised in public schools could not fathom what having our children at home all day would look like and how any normal parent could emulate the learning environment of a school. According to John Holt, we don’t need to. He encourages learning by exploration, by doing, and by encouraging a child to do more of what they are good at. His theory is that they will learn what they need to as they need to.
Test scores, if you consider them important, have proved his theory is correct. There is little difference in the scores for homeschoolers vs. public school educated children and if they are disaggregated in specific ways homeschool children excel. Test scores don’t measure the maturity, depth of thought, or love of learning in a child. If you talk to children from both groups, you will find homeschoolers have some strengths public school children do not. In some ways, our factory model takes away from natural growth. Holt emphasizes these things in his book.
The pandemic that wrecked school schedules and upended public education still echoes. Amazingly children learned at home for at least a year in some places, longer in others. The effects of this year have been profound. Parents are homeschooling now in record numbers; many more are planning to and others considering the option. After witnessing firsthand, the rigid, boring, unrelatable lessons from public schools, examining textbooks that are fraught with error and bias, seeing their children bored and glassy-eyed from computer lessons, parents are now looking for viable options. Homeschooling and various hybrid options are now everywhere and the support systems for parents who choose this option are springing up nationwide.
A good place to start the journey for parents who are considering homeschooling is with this new updated edition of John Holt’s work. The new edition due out in September 2021 has been updated since the pandemic. It contains work from his magazine, no longer in publication but once a support system for parents, and new information from co-writer and collaborator of Holt’s earlier work, Pat Farenga. Since Holt’s death in the 1980s Farenga has led much of the work to encourage and assist parents with homeschooling.
If you are beginning the thought process of homeschooling your children or working with those that do, I strongly encourage you to read this book. You will find the encouragement of someone with similar ideas and theories about children and how they learn. You will find answers to questions that you have about the whole process of homeschooling and should find relief from the issues that are causing you pause and stress.
Public school has a place in our society but it can learn much from the homeschool movement. If you are a parent that has children in public school and are not interested in homeschooling your children I also encourage you to read this book. It will stir something in you regarding schooling and have you thinking about many things you have not previously questioned about your own education and that of your child. If you are a public-school educator explore the thoughts and ideas presented by Holt and others, they will make your classroom a better place for all children. I consider this an important book for all interested in learning either at home or institutionally. It is as profound and timely now as it was in 1981. #TeachYourOwn#NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
January 29, 2023
4.5 stars! This book is great for a general introduction to homeschooling/unschooling. I really appreciated that it was the work of a pillar of the homeschool movement, John Holt, but has been helpfully updated by Pat Farenga for post-pandemic times.
We've already committed to unschooling and have read a lot of classic John Holt, Peter Gray, and John Taylor Gatto books and I was therefore pretty familiar with a lot of what this book said regarding how children learn and why school doesn't fit with that. So, I guess I wouldn't as highly recommend for someone who already knows why they're on this journey, but would *highly recommend* for someone dipping their toes in the water and exploring this as an option for them.
There were several great points I'll paraphrase below but another definite plus to this book was the *excellent* appendixes at the end: a bibliography, curriculum suppliers, helpful private schools to partner with, homeschooling groups/resources by state/country, learning materials, and opportunities and activities. I think I'll probably end up purchasing this book for those resources alone, especially the bibliography--all the book recs I could ever dream of in a few pages!
Some of my favorite memorable points:
- There isn’t something wild and precious in children that needs to be protected from the world. Them fitting in isn’t destroying their goodness, and it isn’t beating some kind of badness out of them. They are simply born ready to fit in, take part, and do right—to do as we do.
- What children need isn’t more and better curricula but access to the real world, time and space to think and process their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them. Guidance to get where they want to go, not where we want them to go.
- “When I abdicate responsibility for structuring my own time, a certain moral strength seems to be lost as well.” We take the thinking and decision-making process away from school children so they don’t develop the skills to use time wisely and well. Also interrupts their flows.
- Most important thing a creature can ask is “What is worth thinking about” and when someone can’t decide that for themselves, they become less observant, resourceful, and adaptive. Less intelligent.
- Intelligence is how we behave when we don’t know what to do. Thinking of important questions and useful answers
- It is perfectly reasonable for children to think of the pic of a P on the page as standing for a P-shaped object with an existence of its own, an object that can be picked up, turned around, etc (regarding why it isn't a big deal when a child writes a letter backwards--it's only logical when considered with everything else they know about representing things on paper, namely pictures)
- Child wanted to study whales, dad said a person who would study them is a marine biologist but you could also study whales as an artist, musician, sailor, ecologist, naturalist, and so on
- Homeschooling frees children from learning the one “best” way of doing things or the “best” of this or that for children, from subjects only being taught in a particular order
- Learning is not an activity separate from the rest of life. Children (everyone, really) can learn the most and best when they have access to interesting things that matter, things that challenge ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of others. It's not about being in a place set aside for the soul purpose of "learning"
We've already committed to unschooling and have read a lot of classic John Holt, Peter Gray, and John Taylor Gatto books and I was therefore pretty familiar with a lot of what this book said regarding how children learn and why school doesn't fit with that. So, I guess I wouldn't as highly recommend for someone who already knows why they're on this journey, but would *highly recommend* for someone dipping their toes in the water and exploring this as an option for them.
There were several great points I'll paraphrase below but another definite plus to this book was the *excellent* appendixes at the end: a bibliography, curriculum suppliers, helpful private schools to partner with, homeschooling groups/resources by state/country, learning materials, and opportunities and activities. I think I'll probably end up purchasing this book for those resources alone, especially the bibliography--all the book recs I could ever dream of in a few pages!
Some of my favorite memorable points:
- There isn’t something wild and precious in children that needs to be protected from the world. Them fitting in isn’t destroying their goodness, and it isn’t beating some kind of badness out of them. They are simply born ready to fit in, take part, and do right—to do as we do.
- What children need isn’t more and better curricula but access to the real world, time and space to think and process their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them. Guidance to get where they want to go, not where we want them to go.
- “When I abdicate responsibility for structuring my own time, a certain moral strength seems to be lost as well.” We take the thinking and decision-making process away from school children so they don’t develop the skills to use time wisely and well. Also interrupts their flows.
- Most important thing a creature can ask is “What is worth thinking about” and when someone can’t decide that for themselves, they become less observant, resourceful, and adaptive. Less intelligent.
- Intelligence is how we behave when we don’t know what to do. Thinking of important questions and useful answers
- It is perfectly reasonable for children to think of the pic of a P on the page as standing for a P-shaped object with an existence of its own, an object that can be picked up, turned around, etc (regarding why it isn't a big deal when a child writes a letter backwards--it's only logical when considered with everything else they know about representing things on paper, namely pictures)
- Child wanted to study whales, dad said a person who would study them is a marine biologist but you could also study whales as an artist, musician, sailor, ecologist, naturalist, and so on
- Homeschooling frees children from learning the one “best” way of doing things or the “best” of this or that for children, from subjects only being taught in a particular order
- Learning is not an activity separate from the rest of life. Children (everyone, really) can learn the most and best when they have access to interesting things that matter, things that challenge ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of others. It's not about being in a place set aside for the soul purpose of "learning"
January 7, 2025
Everything that would’ve been helpful I already knew (I.e. play to children’s strengths, to treat children with respect, to teach with dry material and then assessing with anxiety-producing tests is not conducive to optimal learning, etc). And everything else was completely idealistic, while at the same time, completely cynical.
He goes way overboard in stating that basically children should receive no instruction from adults. Everything they want to learn they will learn and the rest isn’t important. No.
While I do believe that kids are “wired to learn” they are not wise enough to understand why a vast variety of things are worth knowing. Part of our job as teachers is to motivate kids to learn things that don’t come naturally for them, because they are just as important in creating well-rounded, relatable, and resilient members of society (fellow family member, colleague, friend) as deep-diving into a few things is for developing individuality.
While I do believe that children are wonderful and made in God’s image, I believe that kids are born sinful not angelic specimens, which we ugly grown-ups must try not to corrupt with our insight, knowledge, experience, encouragement, and culture. Mankind will always fight against authority, but only when we can humble ourselves and agree to be led and mentored do we reap the benefits of other peoples’ expertise and guardianship.
I love the idea of project-based learning and interest-led learning, and I know that engagement plays a large part in retention BUT if my children aren’t exactly thrilled that I am teaching them to clean their own room, write a paragraph, or learn to multiply it’s not because I am a bad parent or teacher. It’s because I love them enough to teach them that work is part of life. The world doesn’t revolve around them. They won’t always get to do whatever they want. Nobody does, nor would it make them happy if they did. We can do hard things. And that’s an important lesson to learn.
He goes way overboard in stating that basically children should receive no instruction from adults. Everything they want to learn they will learn and the rest isn’t important. No.
While I do believe that kids are “wired to learn” they are not wise enough to understand why a vast variety of things are worth knowing. Part of our job as teachers is to motivate kids to learn things that don’t come naturally for them, because they are just as important in creating well-rounded, relatable, and resilient members of society (fellow family member, colleague, friend) as deep-diving into a few things is for developing individuality.
While I do believe that children are wonderful and made in God’s image, I believe that kids are born sinful not angelic specimens, which we ugly grown-ups must try not to corrupt with our insight, knowledge, experience, encouragement, and culture. Mankind will always fight against authority, but only when we can humble ourselves and agree to be led and mentored do we reap the benefits of other peoples’ expertise and guardianship.
I love the idea of project-based learning and interest-led learning, and I know that engagement plays a large part in retention BUT if my children aren’t exactly thrilled that I am teaching them to clean their own room, write a paragraph, or learn to multiply it’s not because I am a bad parent or teacher. It’s because I love them enough to teach them that work is part of life. The world doesn’t revolve around them. They won’t always get to do whatever they want. Nobody does, nor would it make them happy if they did. We can do hard things. And that’s an important lesson to learn.
March 3, 2022
5 ⭐️ - Book 5 of 60 for 2022's reading challenge
John Holt was a true pioneer of the homeschooling movement since the 19070s and 1980s. Long after his death his body of work is still groundbreaking. I learned of him from a podcast where the homeschooling parent a public school teacher of more than 10 years took her kids out of school and jumped into unschooling after reading his book.
A longtime private school teacher he maintains that the traditional classroom model no longer works and may, in fact, ruin kids for learning. He encourages 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. If you've asked yourself, at least once, "Is the current way we educate really the best way?", grab a copy of Teach Your Own *updated in 2021 with pandemic references.
Holt 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.
John Holt was a true pioneer of the homeschooling movement since the 19070s and 1980s. Long after his death his body of work is still groundbreaking. I learned of him from a podcast where the homeschooling parent a public school teacher of more than 10 years took her kids out of school and jumped into unschooling after reading his book.
A longtime private school teacher he maintains that the traditional classroom model no longer works and may, in fact, ruin kids for learning. He encourages 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. If you've asked yourself, at least once, "Is the current way we educate really the best way?", grab a copy of Teach Your Own *updated in 2021 with pandemic references.
Holt 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.
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May 17, 2022I believe this book will be thought-provoking for anyone who has even mild interest in homeschooling or unschooling, or for anyone questioning the efficacy of the American education system. It felt very similar to Wendell Berry's "The Unsettling of America", but instead of being about agriculture, it is primarily about education and how human beings learn. Holt seems to present ample evidence and good arguments for other forms of school beyond the "public or private?' decision. Since the pandemic, I think many parents have questioned how effective our current education system is; Holt opens the readers eyes to other forms of education & suggests we abandon the 'one size fits all' approach. I found myself very intrigued by many of his ideas and many of the stories from parents. This is a book I will return to as my children reach schooling age to aid in my decisions surrounding their education.
Thank you to netgalley for providing a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to netgalley for providing a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 14, 2024
The introduction made me excited to read this, but it was a bit of a let down. If you're into unschooling, this will be more enjoyable fuel for the fire I guess. My biggest problem is probably that my background in in linguistics and he spends a considerable amount of time talking about how children acquire language when immersed because no one is forcing them to and everyone around them is supportive and not judging them. False! As both a linguist, and someone who has spent considerable time abroad, I can tell you that part of the reason children learn languages without an accent is because children are brutal about teasing and correcting one another.
I also really disliked the premise that children should stop studying a whole subject because it's unenjoyable. Why not explore ways to make that subject interesting and enjoyable rather than removing the subject wholesale? But that's more an argument against unschooling than this book specifically.
I also really disliked the premise that children should stop studying a whole subject because it's unenjoyable. Why not explore ways to make that subject interesting and enjoyable rather than removing the subject wholesale? But that's more an argument against unschooling than this book specifically.
August 18, 2023
If the topic interests you, I recommend reading it.
This book discusses how children learn, what homeschooling and unschooling are, how the school system gets it wrong, and ways to do better for your children.
This is anything but a one size fits all. That’s largely the school system approach. This is a discussion on how to support children in ways they learn and want to learn, and lots of anecdotal evidence of the many benefits of this approach.
It also discusses laws around compulsory schooling and practical suggestions for those interested in homeschooling their kids.
For my part, I’m encouraged to engage with kids (mine own and others) in a totally different way. In fact, I want to learn differently myself - getting back to the joy of exploration without fear.
This book discusses how children learn, what homeschooling and unschooling are, how the school system gets it wrong, and ways to do better for your children.
This is anything but a one size fits all. That’s largely the school system approach. This is a discussion on how to support children in ways they learn and want to learn, and lots of anecdotal evidence of the many benefits of this approach.
It also discusses laws around compulsory schooling and practical suggestions for those interested in homeschooling their kids.
For my part, I’m encouraged to engage with kids (mine own and others) in a totally different way. In fact, I want to learn differently myself - getting back to the joy of exploration without fear.
September 30, 2021
This book is a great resource for those who are considering homeschooling at all. It gives great information, great data, and a look at how the public school system is letting us and our children down. As someone who worked as a teacher in a public school, I have seen first hand the problems there and how this system does not work for every child. Homeschooling is the answer. I will recommend this book to all of my friends who are considering their options for their child's education, and will turn to it myself when the time comes.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
August 3, 2022
Great way to dip my toes into the school of "unschooling." I was moved by the idea of kids guiding their learning and education with the perspective that life is short and we should be able to choose how we want to live it! The illustrating examples of kids and families taking this approach was helpful. Maybe it's just my mind craving structure but I am left still wondering how to actually carry out this type of homeschooling without being the homeschoolers that just don't do anything. This was a fun and relevant read though for anyone wanting to homeschool or even trying to support child led learning outside of school.
July 4, 2023
I lost interest in this book. I listened to it on CD (super old school!), so I have no idea what chapter I stopped on. I don't recommend listening to this as an audiobook. It's impossible to know which of the authors is actually "talking" during the book.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book, but when it just became lots of stories from parents about unconventional parenting and it's amazing results (some seeming somewhat unbelievable) I got pretty bored.
This book is very idealistic, which a lot of people may find encouraging. I'm too cynical for that now though. I might try an older original John Holt book in the future just to try to figure out all the hype about John Holt.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book, but when it just became lots of stories from parents about unconventional parenting and it's amazing results (some seeming somewhat unbelievable) I got pretty bored.
This book is very idealistic, which a lot of people may find encouraging. I'm too cynical for that now though. I might try an older original John Holt book in the future just to try to figure out all the hype about John Holt.
December 31, 2021
🔥🔥🔥👍🏻👍🏻
Fire! Two thumbs up! Great book. Very encouraging for those who are looking to support their children’s learning and development. How, why, where! Even has up to date and relevant legal advice should you be worried about that or live in a state or country that isn’t homeschooling/unschooling friendly.
It’s not a long read/listen (I listened to it on Audible, pleasant narration) at all and has been updated since the pandemic so also has timely insight for those struggling with virtual learning.
Trust children! Happy reading!
Fire! Two thumbs up! Great book. Very encouraging for those who are looking to support their children’s learning and development. How, why, where! Even has up to date and relevant legal advice should you be worried about that or live in a state or country that isn’t homeschooling/unschooling friendly.
It’s not a long read/listen (I listened to it on Audible, pleasant narration) at all and has been updated since the pandemic so also has timely insight for those struggling with virtual learning.
Trust children! Happy reading!
September 20, 2024
Great as an audiobook, well read, got through it in under a week. Diverse insights.
Note for listeners: There are multiple authors in the text, that of John Holt, and Pat Farenga, who has managed the Growing Without Schooling (GWS) publication legacy since Holt’s passing, and revised this edition; as well as letters from the GWS reader community. Requires this context, memory, and focus at times, to note whether it’s the words of John, Pat, or a letter writer (although the latter is always introduced as such).
Note for listeners: There are multiple authors in the text, that of John Holt, and Pat Farenga, who has managed the Growing Without Schooling (GWS) publication legacy since Holt’s passing, and revised this edition; as well as letters from the GWS reader community. Requires this context, memory, and focus at times, to note whether it’s the words of John, Pat, or a letter writer (although the latter is always introduced as such).
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October 23, 2021Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Home Schooling by John Holt and Pat Farenga is an informative and intriguing read that parents who homeschool should read. This book is a great resource for those who are interested in homeschooling. Teach Your Own is full of great information, great data, and a look at how the public school system is letting our children and us down.
September 5, 2022
What a beautiful and inspiring book. "Teach Your Own" has made me think not only about my son's education but also about my own career and our life in general. Only very exceptional books make you look at everything from an entirely new perspective.
A most inspiring and practical read for all parents, not only those interested in homeschooling.
A most inspiring and practical read for all parents, not only those interested in homeschooling.
June 22, 2024
This book is an encouragement to any parent wanting to educate their children and to become lifelong learners in their passions. John Holt makes it clear that everyone has intelligence; it is the educators who are responsible to allow each child to find their passions and to become a facilitator in allowing them to pursue them to the fullest, to study their interests and master them.
August 2, 2024
I’m sure in 1981, when this book was written, it was an eye-opener as home education didn’t have as much traction as it does today. Sorry to say, I found this book far too outdated to be helpful. There’s just so many other books about education that I would read before this one, including some of Holt’s more recently written books.
July 13, 2024
Lovely book filled with thought-provoking ideas, great tips and resources. I wished I had read this book when I started homeschooling my kids. It’s a great resource if you’re just starting! But also an enjoyable read for veterans hs.
March 10, 2022
Full of education insight.
December 14, 2022
Many games and activities teach and practice school subject in a fun way. ie baking, games.
December 25, 2022
If you’re even slightly interested in home schooling, this is such a great book. It’s thought provoking and has a lot of interesting facts and information.
March 28, 2023
Good introduction to homeschooling and unschooling.
August 26, 2023
Overall good. I felt like the most impactful information was as at the very end of the book.
September 27, 2023
Excellent, I loved it!
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