Subtlety

Unschoolers tend to believe that the most important issues of our lives deserve our personal attention, and that our personal attention, in turn, is naturally drawn to what is important—if it’s not schooled out of us. John Holt had precious little tolerance for easy answers—for curricula which would automatically make us healthy, wealthy, and wise; for experts who grew frustrated when asked for examples; and for Big Science Business Government who wrested from people their ability to educate, feed, or physic themselves.

Thoughts on Unschooling and Religion

John Young writes, "John Holt wrote comparatively little on religion per se, . . . However, I think his occasional comments on the matter enrich our understanding of unschooling, especially as the topic of religion comes into play."

Children's Rights, John HoltPatrick FarengaSeptember 29, 2017John Young, unschooling and religion Comment

Over-Prized Productivity

. . . If I could have given myself one piece of advice when I was a child, it would have been: “If you happen to make your mark by doing what you purely enjoy, then fine. But never do what you fail to enjoy for the sake of making your mark.” . . .

Unschooling, Anthologized

John Young, a twelfth-grade English teacher, recently contacted me about The Norton Reader, which he uses in his classes and that first introduced John Holt’s thoughts about education to him years earlier. Mr. Young mentioned that Norton was no longer using Holt’s article and he was disappointed in this development . . .

John Holt GWS