The Legacy of John Holt

The legacy of john holt contains sixteen portraits of a radical teacher and writer whose ten books and work influenced schoolteachers and homeschoolers to help children learn in their own ways.written by friends, colleagues, and homeschoolers who knew holt personally, this book sheds new light on a unique person in american education, one whose work continues to inspire today's homeschooling, unschooling, and alternative school movements around the world.people who knew holt from his college days until his death share stories and details about him that bring his quiet but forceful personality to life for readers and present his ideas about children and learning as part of their own lives, not just theory. review "john holt's writings continue, even today, to inspire many families to look for ways to allow their children to take control of their own education, whether in home-based learning ("unschooling") or in democratic schools where children control their own learning. for those who have read holt's books and been inspired, this book is a great supplement. in the words of people who knew him well, it describes holt as a compassionate friend, who really cared about people and especially about children."</br>dr. peter gray, author free to learn"so many of the voices that we now need desperately to hear seem to have faded in the media-celebrity din: paul goodman, ivan illich, john holt, to name three who told the raw truth about modern education. perhaps their relative obscurity today is because they were not empire-builders, gathering disciples, but old-fashioned prophets, letting the chips fall where they may. this new collection of testimony from those who knew john holt well suggests still another explanation. here we see how influence grows not by the establishment of reputations, but by inspiration</br>to pursue one's own truth, bestow one's own gifts. this is a heartening realization in our dark times."</br>taylor stoehr, author of changing lives: working with literature in an alternative sentencing program and the paul goodman reader farenga began work at holt associates in 1981 and became publisher of growing without schooling magazine in 1985, when holt died, until 2001, when it ceased publication. farenga continues to write books and articles about learning outside of school, as well as speak at and organize conferences and seminars about homeschooling, unschooling, and holt's ideas. he also appears on national television and in the news as a homeschooling expert.carlo ricci is a professor of education and currently teaches in the graduate program at the schulich school of education, nipissing university. he edits and founded the journal of unschooling and alternative learning and has written and edited a number of books on education topics.