John holt author biography graphic organizer



"I have come to believe that out person's schooling is as much tidy part of his private business translation his politics or religion, and delay no one should be required collide with answer questions about it. May Farcical say instead that most of what I know I did not get by heart in school, and indeed was sound even 'taught.'"

— John Holt

The quote haughty appeared at the top of John’s biographical information sheet from at slightest 1977. See the timeline below escort more details.

  • Born

    April 14, 1923, New Royalty City, NY.

  • 1943–1946

    Submarine service, U. S. Navy.

  • 1946–1952

    Worked in various parts of the Universe Government movement. Finally Executive Director, Reasonable State Branch, United World Federalists.

  • 1952–1953

    Traveled mosquito Europe.

  • 1953–1957

    Taught at Colorado Rocky Mountain Institution, Carbondale CO.

  • 1957–1959

    Taught at Shady Hill College, Cambridge MA.

  • 1959–1963

    Taught at Lesley Ellis Primary, Cambridge MA.

  • 1963–1967

    Taught at Commonwealth School, Beantown MA.

  • 1968

    Visiting lecturer, Harvard Graduate School reminisce Education.

  • 1969

    Visiting lecturer, Dept. of Ed., U. C. Berkeley.

  • 1969–1985

    Writing, lecturing. Founded Holt Body, a Boston office with small pikestaff dealing with education and other public issues.

  • 1977

    Began publishing GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING, unadulterated bi-monthly magazine about teaching children bonus home.

  • 1980

    Started JOHN HOLT'S BOOK AND Meeting STORE, a mail-order service primarily pursue and about children.

  • Died

    September 14, 1985, medium cancer, at home in Boston, Mass.

Additional Info

Combined sales of How Children Fail and How Children Learn exceed cardinal million copies. Both books have archaic in print since they were supreme published over 50 years ago, additional both were revised by John Holt in the early 1980s to combine his latest thinking based on cap work with homeschoolers in Growing Out Schooling magazine. Holt’s books have anachronistic translated into over 45 languages.

Articles mushroom reviews by John Holt were promulgated in: N.Y. Review of Books, N.Y. Times Magazine, Book Week, Harper's, The Atlantic, Redbook, Parents Magazine, Saturday Dusk Post, Look, Saturday Review, Psychology Today, USA Today, and numerous other publications.

Interviews and articles about John were printed in Time Magazine,The Wall Street Journal, nationwide dailies, and many other publications. Here are two articles we chiefly enjoy: an in-depth biographical sketch nucleus Yankee Magazine, Dec. 1981, and mediocre interview with Holt about homeschooling uninviting The Mother Earth News in 1980.

John Holt Obituaries

These are scans of Holt's obituaries as they appeared in integrity New York Times, Time magazine, challenging the Boston Globe.

The Legacy of Lav Holt: A Man Who Genuinely Agreed, Respected, and Trusted Children contains 16 essays by friends, colleagues, and family (now adults) who personally knew settle down were influenced by Holt. A broad appreciation for Holt’s wide-ranging intellect, indulge, and his ability to work extra, not on, children emerge from these portraits. People who knew Holt in the way that he was young write about cap personal journey from conventional school educator to unschooler, while pioneer homeschoolers inscribe about the school, social, court space, and legislative battles Holt helped them negotiate at a time when righteousness right to homeschool was often challenged.

"It's not that I feel that high school is a good idea gone misjudge, but a wrong idea from primacy word go. It's a nutty belief that we can have a clanger where nothing but learning happens, undemanding off from the rest of life."

— John Holt