John Caldwald Holt(Home Schooling)ED 530 Theorist Presentation

Spring Semester 2010Marianne Ostrowsky

Background • Born on April 14, 1923 in New York City• In 1943 graduated from Yale University with degree in physics• He “stumbled’ into the classroom from a suggestion from his

sister.• Spent 11 years on a classroom observation project with Bill

Hull in Boston. • These findings were the foundation for his first 2 books, How

Children Fail and How Children Learn• He was a sought-after speaker and supporter of school reform• He was a visiting teacher for the education departments at

Harvard University and the University of California, BerkeleyImage source:http://www.holtgws.com/johnholtpage.html

Background continued• He felt he failed at reforming the school system and then

became an advocate of homeschooling• In 1977 founded Growing Without Schooling, the nation’s first

homeschooling magazine• Teach Your Own, was published in 1981– became the "Bible" of the early homeschooling movement– was revised by his colleague, Patrick Farenga, and

republished in 2003• He wrote several more books about education theory and

practice, including alternative forms and many social issues relating to the education system.

His Theories• Believed that children love to learn on their own terms but

hate to be taught.• Children – strive for teacher approval or the “right” answers many

times using ‘guess-and-look’ strategy watching the teachers face and reactions

– fear wrong answers and avoid challenges– learn how to survive in school without understanding the

ideas– were frightened, timid, evasive, and self-protecting in a

formal classroom

His Theories continued• Holt realized school children were not failing academically

because they weren't attending public school but rather because of the schools themselves.

• He believed the learning environment at home needed to be different than the school’s environment, not replicated.

• 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.

• He sought to show a model of the learning process a child goes through and how he believed public schools were stifling that process with their modern and mass education.

• “Learning is as natural as breathing”

His Theories continued• "father" of the term unschooling – Differs in methodology, curricula and grading methods

• Children learn through their natural life experiences– including child directed play – game play – household responsibilities – social interaction

• Children learn by their own motivation on their own terms through discovery

Homeschooling today• In 1980, home schooling was illegal in 30 states. • It became legal in all 50 states in 1993• specific state laws constitute a patchwork of regulations.• About 1.1 million students were home schooled in the U. S. in

the spring of 2003, up from 850,000 in the spring of 1999• the percentage of the school-age population that was being

home schooled -- increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 2.2 percent in 2003.1

1U.S. Department of Education, NCES, 1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003 (Washington, DC: NCES, 2004).

National Center for Education Statistics

Table A-6-2. Number and percentage of school-age children who were homeschooled, by reasons parents gave as important and most important for homeschooling: 2007

Reason

Important1 Most important

Number Percent Number PercentA desire to provide religious or moral instruction 1,257,000 83.3 540,000 35.8A concern about environment of other schools2 1,321,000 87.6 309,000 20.5A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools 1,096,000 72.7 258,000 17.1Other reasons3 485,000 32.2 216,000 14.3A desire to provide a nontraditional approach to child’s education 984,000 65.2 99,000 6.5Child has other special needs 315,000 20.9 55,000 3.6Child has a physical or mental health problem 169,000 11.2 31,000 2.11 Respondents could choose more than one reason. Percentages are based on a population of 1,508,000 homeschoolers.2 Such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure. 3 Parents homeschool their children for many reasons that are often unique to their family situation. “Other reasons” parents gave for homeschooling include family time, finances, travel, and distance. NOTE: Homeschooled students are school-age children (ages 5–17) in a grade equivalent to at least kindergarten and not higher than 12th grade. Excludes students who were enrolled in public or private school more than 25 hours per week and students who were homeschooled only because of temporary illness. For more information on the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), see supplemental note 3SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2007 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES).

References

• Holt, John. How Children Fail. New York, NY: Perseus Publishing 1982. Print• Holt, John, and Patrick Farenga. Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of

Homeschooling. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press 2003. Print• Cambridge Forum Speakers 1970-1990 J

ohn Caldwell Holt http://www.harvarsquarelibrary.org/cfs/john_calswell_holt.php

• History of the Homeschool Movement: Trends and Growth in a Push for Homeschooling Acceptance Globally http://homeschooling.suite101.com/article.cfm/modern_homeschool_movement#ixzz0eOyP8L0A

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Caldwell_Holt• U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,

Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2007 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES).