Product Description

John Holt, in this his last book, clearly demonstrates how children begin to read, write, count, and investigate the world without being taught. Learning cannot be coerced, he maintains; indeed, it is "as natural as breathing." "A capstone to his ten books on education."--The New York Times Book Review.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28708 in Books
• Published on: 1990-01-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780201550917
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
If John Holt had his way, today's primers would be replaced with the large-print edition of The New York Times, cursive handwriting would fade into disuse, and talking "cutesy-wootsy" to children would be considered a criminal act. This highly opinionated former teacher and original thinker spent the last half of his life challenging widely accepted classroom practices. The author of 10 books that concentrate on early child development and education, Holt is widely considered the father of the modern-day homeschooling movement because he grew to believe that schools stifle the learning process. In this, his final book--compiled by colleagues from drafts, letters, and magazine essays written by Holt before he died in 1985--he strings together his own observations and philosophies to show how young children can be encouraged to learn everything from reading and math to music and science.

Holt's thoughts carry the power of common sense. One of his pet peeves: the silly, nonsensical rules of phonics drilled into schoolchildren today. One of those adages, found on the walls of many an elementary school classroom, goes, "When two vowels go out walking, the first one does the talking." Holt points out that two pairs of vowels in the sentence violate the rule. This is not only confusing to some children, but simply "dumb," he complains. He dismisses picture books and primers, with their small, simple vocabularies. In their place, Holt urges parents to expose children to the Yellow Pages, warranties, letters, ticket stubs, and newspapers--the print trappings that adults rely upon for everyday life. Holt's call for context amid learning is delivered in a sensible, delightful writing style. He even includes several graphics and number games that can easily be used at home. Anyone who comes in contact with a small child would benefit from--and enjoy--reading these last words from a man who clearly adored and remained mesmerized by children and their inquisitive minds. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

From Publishers Weekly
A leading figure in school reform who died in 1985, the author professed that "children learn from anything and everything they see." According to PW , "Holt's ideas , which have been successfully, though not widely, tested, empower parents and should make them wary of structured early schooling as they make use of this excellent resource."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Since the 1960s Holt has been an active, well-published ( How Children Fail, 1964; How Children Learn, 1967 ) supporter of the theory that "children are natural learners" whose learning is subverted by the conventional, structured methods in public schools. This new treatise, published posthumously from his notes (Holt died in 1985), presents again his basic premise--"learners create learning." Each child will learn in their own way and in their own time according to their needs. It is the responsibility of the parent/teacher to provide an environment for children to master the "greatest intellectual skill of all"--"figuring out what you don't know or aren't sure of." With explicit examples, Holt demonstrates his techniques in reading, writing, discovering scientific principles, and developing a love of music. Many of the examples have appeared in Holt's newsletter for homeschooling advocates, "Growing Without School." Holt's final work reiterates his disdain for the constricted nature of schools, but it should be read by all concerned about educational reform and accountability.
- A.R. Huggins, Memphis State Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The book that started it all for us
I read an article about 15 years ago in Parade magazine about the Colfax family and the homeschooled sons that they sent to Harvard. This got me interested in homeschooling any children I might have one day, but my fiance (now my husband) disagreed. So I began on long, slow process of picking up books at the library about homeschooling and leaving them in convenient spots such as the bathroom, for him to read. This book is the one that convinced my husband that homeschooling was a viable and intelligent choice for our family.

Filled with marvelous insights about children and how they learn, their initial love of learning and their later dread of it, this book explains why children's love of learning must be cherished and treasured. It is a wonderful book, for homeschooler and institutional schooler alike.

The myth of education, the truth about learning
In clear, direct language, Learning All the Time describes the crucial difference between learning (making sense of the world)and education (being forced to digest and regurgitate what someone else dictates). Without vitriol, John Holt exposes how our children are harmed more than helped by institutional schools. He shows how all children are natural and gifted learners and how educational systems frustrate and fracture their innate curiosity about the world. His insights, ideas, and experiences show how to support children as they teach themselves. I wish I'd had this book when my child was born.

Any parent would find this inspiring!
I admit it: I am in love with John Holt. I realize that he's deceased, and I am happily married, but it's ok because my husband is falling in love with him too. We are both sad that we didn't get an opportunity to hear him speak when he was alive. Thank God he wrote so many books.

We started by reading "How Children Learn," and then moved on to "How Children Fail," at which point we decided to read everything this man has ever written. We're working on it.

"Learning All the Time" is a fascinating book. In it, John Holt, a former schoolteacher and eventual homeschooling advocate, discusses how kids learn and how adults relate to them. Most of us adults don't give kids enough credit for how much they want to learn and how much they CAN learn, at earlier ages than we would have dreamed possible. He challenges everything we've been taught about the allegedly short attention span of very young children, and, since we have the privilege of observing such children in our home on a daily basis, we can see that he is right!
His philosophy involves making interesting learning materials available to kids and avoiding the two extremes of (a) frustrating them by pushing them into areas where they don't have aptitude or interest; and (b) limiting them by underestimating just how much they can learn, and how fast. Basically, he really LIKES children and respects them as human beings.
John Holt was trained as, and worked as, a teacher in the 1950's and 1960's. The more time he spent in the classroom, the more he came to believe that traditional methods of teaching were wasting a lot of children's potential and failing to keep their attention.
He has a tremendous respect for children. He has a lot of insight into the fact that many adults don't understand, respect, or, quite frankly, even like children.
We have applied his philosophy with our own young children, with delightful results. For example, neither of us are fluent in Spanish, but my two-year-old and I are learning it together. I resist the urge to "play teacher" in favor of learning alongside my child, and I am amazed at how much she is able to learn and retain. We have also used his approach towards potty training. When we resisted pushing, our daughter took ownership of the process. Sooner than we would have thought she would, she announced to us that she was a big girl and didn't want to wear diapers. A few weeks later (we expected that it would be many months), she announced that she would not be wearing diapers at night either. She has been true to her word! These are just small examples of how we have asked ourselves, with a little irony but in a mostly serious fashion, "What would John Holt do?" Generally, the answer is to be real with our kids, offer as many learning opportunities as we reasonably can, and pay attention to what they are learning -- and marvel at them.
In the book, he gives concrete examples of kids who could easily have been considered failures in a "cookie cutter" classroom situation. In Holt's opinion, even many kids who are considered learning disabled would do just fine (or at least much better) if they were allowed to reach their potential without an excess of testing and time-wasting "learning" activities.
Holt's writing has influenced us to seriously consider homeschooling our children. Even if we don't, I think that our parenting is being enriched by his approach, and I would recommend this book to any parent or educator.