John Holt (1923 - 1985)
John Holt, a teacher, is best known as the “Father of Unschooling”, based on his views of education that called for radical reform of the American education system during the 1950’s - 1970’s.
His work evolved from teaching, to recognizing that the current educational system needed a change, to realizing that change was not likely to happen, to encouraging parents to help their children to break free from the “system”, to finally embracing homeschooling as a way of life. He believed that children learn best in a free evironment, and that they should have the freedom to follow their own interests because therein lies the best education.
His books, which expound on his theories of child development and educational retention, have become some of the most influential in alternative educational circles.
They include:
- How Children Fail
- How Children Learn
- What Do I Do Monday?
- Escape from Childhood
- Freedom and Beyond
- The Underachieving School
- Instead of Education
- Never Too Late
- Teach Your Own (Holt’s only book directly about homeschooling)
- Learning All the Time (Published post-humously)
In 1977, after embracing the new homeschool movement, he started Growing Without Schooling, making it America’s first magazing about homeschooling.
[...] - John Holt, Father of Unschooling, is [...]