John Holt (1923-1985) was an American educator and author who criticized traditional public schooling methods. He believed that children naturally love to learn but schools were failing by focusing on right answers, rigid structure, and formal reasoning rather than appealing to each student's interests and allowing for an organic learning process. His books How Children Fail (1964) and How Children Learn (1967) advocated for a more student-centered "unschooling" approach inspired by the progressive educational theories of John Dewey. Holt went on to become a prominent advocate for homeschooling and published additional works challenging traditional education models.

1. John Caldwell Holt April 14, 1923-September 14, 1985

2. The Road to Education… "... the things I'm supposed to know so much about I never learned in schools." Growing up: 1920’s New England Private Schools University Navy 5th Grade Teaching Differences in toddlers vs. ten year olds Children in school vs. children at home Boston Met Bill Hull Educational research John C. Holt William E. “Bill” Hull

3. Publications of John Holt; How Children Fail http://iwcenglish1.typepad.com/Documents/Holt_How_Children_Fail.pdf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS8OEhxjtzk 4:34-5:18 Published in 1964 Focuses on how Public schools failing: Children love to learn, but not taught Striving for “right” answers Game of school Only look for formal reasoning

4. How Children Learn http://www.foti-peter.hu/holt/hcl.pdf Published in 1967 Focuses on how children learn: Organic process of learning Process of “unschooling” Appealing to the student H-O-R-S-E John C. Holt

5. Connections to Dewey Excerpt from How Children Learn: “What teachers and learners need to know is what we have known for some time: first, that vivid, vital, pleasurable experiences are the easiest to remember, and secondly, that memory works best when unforced, that it is not a mule that can be made to walk by beating it.” Founding theories for Holt Theories are concrete, but application isn’t practical John Dewey

6. Later Years Previous works republished (1982, 1983) “To a very great degree, school is a place where children learn to be stupid.” Advocate of Home Schooling More publications (many not listed here)

7. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holt_(educator) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Children_Fail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Children_Learn