ldea. Donna and oEher members of H.0.M.E. will be collecElng donaEions of $5, $10 and more Ehis winEer' and
GROWING
alm to presenE as many actual books
as possible on John Holt's birthday'
WITHOUT SGHOOLIilG
48 The first
parE of this sPecial
issue is a Eribute to our dear friend John HolE, Ehe founder of GWS. YourIl
find the regular GWS feaEures ( Iegal news, book reviews, eEc.) toward Ehe middle, and our annual DirecEory and resource lisEs at Ehe back.
The lovely letters, deeP with feeling. EhaE have arrived since John's-deaEh Sept.. 14, have cerEainLy helped during Ehis difficulE time' One reader said, "The supporE you have given is out here. And now I hope you feel it rippLing back in." Yes, indeed. It was good to see many of you aE the memorial service OcEober 5, despite a Ehunderstorm. The simple speeches, Ehe beautiful music, and Ehe chance just Eo relax and become acquainted aE t.he poEluck' meant so much to us all. SpeciaL thanks go to Day Farenga who did all Ehe arranging for the event. We are sending a complimenEary copy of Ehis tribute issue to a number of John's friends. A noEe to those people: many of you have said, "LeE us know if there is any way we can help." If you wouLd like Eo keeP informed as to what we're up Eo, and to supporc our efforEs co keep John's ideas aLive, the best way we know for you to do t.his is to subscribe to Ehis magazine. That way rde can keep in Eouch wiEh each other. The New Year brings expectaEions of two babies to our staff families the Van Dorens in earLy February and the Farensas t" t'::_oB:lli *r"no,_,*
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: JOHN HOLT Born: April 14, 1923. New York
CiEy, NY. Education: "I have come to believe that a person's schooLing is ^-
-"^h
4a 6-rts Vat L ^f
hi c nrirrare
hrrci-
ness as his pol iEics or religion, and thaL no one should be required
to answer questions abouE iE. May I say instead EhaE most of whaE I know and I did not learn in school, indeed was not even rtaughE.ttr J.H. 1943-1946: Submarine service, U.S, Navy. L946-L952: Worked in various DarEs of the World Government moveinent. Finally Executive DirecEor, NY State Branch, United World Federali-sts, L952-L953: TraveLed in Europe. I953-L957: Taught aE Colorado
Rocky Mountain School, Carbondale CO. L957-L959: TaughE at Shady HiII School, Cambridge MA.
f959-f963: Taught aE Lesley ELlis School, Cambridge MA.
1965-L967: Taught aE wealEh School, Boston MA.
Common-
L968: VisiEing lecEurer, Harvard Graduate School of EducaEion.
I969: VisiEing lecEurer' DePE' of Ed., U.C. Berkeley. 1969-1985: WriEing, IecEuring. Founded HoIt AssociaEes, a BosEon office with smaLl scaff deaLing wich educaEion and other sociaL issues. 1977: Began publishing GROWINC WITHOIIT SCHOOLING, a bi-monEhly magazine abouE teaching children at home' 1980: SEATICd
JOHN HOLT'S
BOOK
a mail-order service for and abou! children. orimarilv ' Died: September 14, 1985, of cancer, aE home in BosEon, Mass.
AND MUSIC STORE.
BOOKS PUBLISHED: HOW CHILDREN
1983. HO!,j CHILDREN
1982.
LEARN, REVISED EDITION,
FAIL,
REVISED EDITI0N'
TEACH YOUR OWN. T98L NEVER TOO LATE: A Musical
graphy
Autobio-
, L978.
I976. I974. FREEDOM AND BEYOND, I972. t,lHAT DO I DO MONDAY? I970. INSTEAD OF EDUCATION.
ESCAPE FROM CHILDHOOD,
THE UNDERACHIEVINC SCHOOL. 1969. HOW CHILDREN LEARN. 1967. HOW CHILDREN FAIL, 1964.
Combined sales
FAIL and
of
HOW CHILDREN HOW CHILDREN LEARN exceed a
mill ion and a half copies, Articles and reviews by John Ho I c pubTT-56Eif-1 nl-N---Yl-Revi ew of Books, N.Y. Times Magazine, Book Week, Harper's, The AtLanEic, Redbook, Parents' Magazine, SaEurday Evening Post, Look, SaEurday Review, PsychoLogy Today, USA Today, and numerous other publicaEions. Interviews and articles abouE John@ JournaI, nationwide dailies, and many other publications. In-depth biographical sketch in Yankee. Dec. '81. TV, Radio:-F?E!ilent appearances on naEfo-i-il--Eid local programs, on education and che homeschooling move-
menE. "Donahue" show, 1979 and 198I. PUTTING BOOKS IN LIBRARIES
Donna Mahr, a GWS reader from Wisconsin, has starEed a campaign to
donaEe TEACH YOUR OIJN and John Holtrs
other books to every Iibrary in her state. The Iibrary network she conEacEed was vâ‚Źry supportive of Che
April 14, 1986. They plan Eo then cbnEinue the drive in foLlowing months until lhe goal is met. Sounds llke a greaE idea to us practical, workable, and everYone benefits: Ehe homeschoolers, us, Ehe llbrarles, Lhe comnunities. I checked wlth the Boston Public Library and learned Ehat here, at leasE, book donaEions are even tax deductiblel H,O.M.E, could buy the books from us at our regular caEalog prices, or, Eo make their dollars go furEher, they could deal direcLly with DeLl Publishers for a quantity discounE. Maybe in some PIaces iE would be best to have lhe librarY order the books. svsEem It is Donna Mahr's hope that People in other areas would like Lo coPy this idea and Eake responsibilicy for their own staEes or regions. And in fact Ehis has aLready begun. When I described this plan co two Oregon readers, Candace Syman-Degler and Sheri Clemen, who had expressed interesE in donating books to libraries as a memorial to John, Ehey said, "VJe'lI go for it!" and are Eaking on the staEe of Oregon. For their addresses, see Ehe DirecEory in Ehis issue. If there is indeed interesE in this, we are willing Eo make up a bookpLate here, maybe with a photo of John, saying more or less, "In honor of the memory of John HoIt, 19231985, Ehis book is donated by _ ," An individuaL who iusE to wantE?fE donate a copy of one-of John's books wiEhouE getting involved in a big organizational effort couLd use this bookplate, too. If rhis idea is to go anywhere, it wiLL depend on the efforts of You outside Ehe office. Many of you have asked what you can do - welL, here's chance. We'lL be happy to answer your -questions. share news, eEc., but the actual doing and responsibility musE fall elsewhere. You can no Longer bring John Holt co your community to sPeak, buE vou can keep his ideas alive, in prinE-?nd in circulaEion. So - iI you'd like to take on your state or region, tell us about it! - DR MEMORIAL SERVICE
Here is the order of evenEs aE service. A friend of Johnrs made a recording of the event; Ehe memorial
unfortunaEely, we do not have copies available yeE, though we expect to soon.
Opening gree E ing, Cynth i a Edson
Miniscer of the Church of Ehe Presi-
,
WHAT'S INSIDE MEM0RIAL TRIBUTE
T0 J0HN HoLT: Peggy Hughes:
2
--- 0ther friends: 2 --- 0verseas: 3 --lYedia: 3 --- Col leagues: 3 --- Nancy Wal lace: 4 --- Visits:5 --- Purdy/Interested:6 --Jerome/poem: 6 --- Influence: 6 --- Wisdom: 7 --- Soeeches at service: 7-9 '-- Emerson/ Success: 9 --- JH & Gl,lS: 9 --- Selections from JH books: 9-12 --- [.lho Are We?: l2-14 --Announcements: 14 --- TMEN/Art, computers: l4 --- Korea: 14 --- l.JA Courses: l4 --- Court News: 14 --- Local News: l5 --- Grown unschoolers: l6 --- Teens: l6 --- Tests: l7 --Ljbrary privileges: l7 --- Housework: l8 --objections: l8 --- Travel network: l8 --Social lives: l9 --- Movies: l9 --- Sign language: 19 --- Math: 19 --- Jewelry:. 20 --Book reviews: 20-22 -'- 1986 D'irectory: 23'28
L
velled Lhousands of miles in those days wiEh his beat-up Bean's duffle bag, snatching naps under his bLack auEhor, Jack Powers. eyeshades v/henever and \.rherever he IshmaeL and ViEa Wallace played feLE sleepy. And he made hundreds of "Rumanian FoIk Dancesr" by Bela good friends, who feel, as we do, Bartok (piano and violin), and "EighE EhaE he was parE of Eheir family. Czech DueEs" by Karel Husa (four-hand Last JuIy, on the way from our piano). house Eo Ehe Blue Hill hopsiEal, he Tom Maher spoke. For speakers' was very Eired, but not afraid. I words, see elsewhere in Ehis issue. Percival Van Daam olaved rrWestasked him if he had anv idea how manv parents felE EhaE fre hid shown them minster Chimes." and Juiia-and Jessica Van Daam played "Greensleeves." how to see their children. He said, PaE Farenga spoke, and pLayed yes, he did. ThaE he knew he had lost Ehe school baEEle, found Ehat iE rn/as "Goodbve Porkoie HaE" on sax. Norm Lee, founder of HomesEeadunwinnable, but EhaE he did know he ers News. sDoke had made a difference in the wav Deoti^^- -aad a Ietter from ple see kids. And in Ehe way kiis'see uyilL,'rd Anna Van Doren to John. and feeL about Ehemselves. Mary Van Doren played a beginThen he said anoEher suprising ning violin piece. Ehing. rrI feel so sorry for people rrMinSusan Richman played Bachrs who find chemselves alone r^rhen Ehey -: ueE in G Minor" and the Richmans are dying, I have so many friends,rl played "Deep Blue Sea" on recorder. Ic was Erue, I know of four f.amiLies Jerry MinEz, direcEor of Ehe who invited him to come Eo Eheir NATIONAL COALITION OF ALTERNATIVE COM- house Eo die, MUNITY SCHOOLS, spoke. We'Ll aLl remember alL the imporNehemiah Richardson, principal tant serious things abouc him - his cellist wiEh the New Ensland Conserva- irreverence for authority, his anger tory Youth Chamber Orch6sEra, played at pompous, dangerous men, his Bach'srrSuite #3 in C major." absorbed attention as he waEched liEMerloyd Lawrence read a stateEle chiLdren, his conversaEions, his ment by auEhor George Dennison and a curiosiEy abouE the workings of everyshort Diece bv John. Ehing... Buc nothing will replace his LeiIa Berg, British author, sudden preposEerous remarks, the burst, the shouE, of Iaughcer. lf wiE SDOKE, is an index of inEelligence, as I A BosEon Philharmonic recording of the lst movemenE of Bruckner's 9Eh Ehink it is, here is Ehe essence of John. He was, simply, a very funny symphony v/as played. A group of children led the sing- man. He always said he wished he ing of the folksong "Simple Gifts.rl could have writEen funny bits into Everyone was inviEed Eo the Ehe books, as Jim Herndon does. IE's church ha11 for refreshments. odd thaE he didn'E. Because even when he was dealing nith strong emotions about imporEanc subjects - kids, polits: ^^ ^-, geLLlnS ^^FFi Lrcs, war - ano anSry or FROM THE FIRST "HOLT ASSOCIATE" depressed or hopeless, even Ehen someFrom Peggy Hughes of Deer Isle, thing mighE sErike him and he would ME; some readers will remember her as say someEhing wry ChaE made us laugh. the producer of the film, "trle Have To ,..WelL, we are going to have CaIl IE SchooL": find ouc how Eo do wiEhouE him. We'lI have Eo remember Eo see absurdicies ..,For EwenEy-six years, since for ourselves. IE isnrt going Eo be grade John was teaching the fifEh easy.., dent
s.
rllri
pnam rve"'r
Ft i no
il
,^-i rEdu
about rn'hich
HOW CHILDREN
L'rirron
hec
ha
hoon
k,, uy
FAIL
mrr hacr
i r rLs
was
Friond
her friend p.h tsha ilT.nail ^f -- tst,.re prece, were members of that grade. On the fall afternoons of 1958, when school was ouE, his rouEe home brought him pasE our house on Sparks ScreeE, And we would EaIk about Ehe day aE school and he would show Che noEes he was giving to Bill Hull. Those noEes Ehac have been translated, I think, inEo sEvE" rdilBudBEs. He was a dailv oart of our family from then on. t^lb played music together, worked in poliLical campaigns togeEher, and CravelLed EogeEher. [,Je alL of us Learned Eo think, in parC, in hi s unconvenE i onal , irreverent ways. tte and I began Holt Associaces EogeEher, when at Iast a publisher finally savr rhaE his collection of unorganized notes was imporcanE enough to print. I have ofcen wondered since how Ehe editors of the prestigious publishing houses who had turned him down felE as that firsC book went into prinEing after printing! Mounds of mail flooded in. Papers were in piles all over his aparEmenE fLoor. (His fiLing was always all over the floor - Ehere loas never a desk top big enough for him. ) We renced an office, bought a Smich Corona porEable, and tried Eo keep up wiEh the leEEers and calIs. PeooIe hungered co taLk to him, ask him questions, telL him how they feLt about themselves and their kids. He EraMy daughEer, Sarah, and
...AND OTHER FRIENDS
Jerry Friedman of CaLif.: ...As an eLemenEary school Eeacher aE Walden Center School in Berkeley, California I was, in Ehe late sixEies, asked Eo Eeach a seminar at Ehe University of California Extension on music and educaEion. I was cold I could hire anyone I pleased co join me in teaching Ehe course. I chose to phone John HoIt in Boston because I had so admired his firsE book. The course was a success and John and I hic it off. Next came two soLd-ouE seminars on "Non-AuthoriEarian Teaching" with John, PauL Goodman, Herb KohI, Jim Herndon, J. Feacherstone and oEhers. ThaE clinched it! John and I became good friends, with him often staying at my place in Berkeley and later, aE Inverness nexE Eo Ehe PoinE Reyes National Seashore. When John visited, we spent our Eime, NOT calking about educaEion, but raEher Iistening Co music, eaEing good food, hiking wiEh my dog OELer, and once, John even risked a horseback ride with me in the park, When John couldn't visiE, we exchanged leEEers... For over 15 years rre wroEe. . . abouE music, conductors, environmenEal issues, John's cello sEudies, his latesE projecEs, etc. John ofEen wroEe thaC as OEter got older I should consider getting a From
puppy ahead of time. I didn'E, and ironically OEter aC age 19 r4/as puE
Eo
sleep on SepEember 18, four days afEer John. I loved them boEh. For me John was an exceDEionaL human being because he cared- so much about life, people, and-fe--f-EiTfrETE. I loved his enthusiasm, his sEubbornness, and most of aLl, his genuine concern about the resE of us.,.
Sheffer (PA): ...Long before I acEually meE John Holc, I knew him Ehrough Ehe books he wroEe. Had this been all I ever knew of him, his effect on me would stiLl have been profound, for by Ehe time I wroEe my firsE Lecter Eo him, something inside me had felt Ehe call of his words and had begun Eo heed Ehem. Since Ehat time, so much of my life has been a response Eo that. call, and for years John made responding boEh easier and richer by giving me the gift of his correspondence. Perhaps John knew, when in his firsc reolv Eo a leEEer of mine he r^irote: "And do f eel f ree Eo write whenever you want,tt how much that would mean to a l4-year-old who thoughE she was the onLy oEher person in Ehe worLd wiEh such beliefs and convictions. Perhaps thaE was just his way, to sense intuiEively whaE was needed in a given situaEion and lo act on it. . . There is so much about John to remember, I think of che way liEtle creatures seemed Eo sense a sympaEhy or kindredness in him; young children, dogs on Ieashes, all wouLd seem Eo seek him ouE when he sat in ouEdoor cafes and pubLic gardens. And I Laugh when I Ehink of the way John held a childrs fascinaEion for the deEaiLs of life - "adults learn from children,rr he would say, going up to people on the street Eo ask questions abouE Ehings thaE interested him while I hung back, more caucious, less like a child. I learned from John. And I think most vividLy of his leEEers, for this is how I knew him best - leEters fuLl of quotes, anec-dotes, his own refLecEions, always on Ehe mark, aLways full of his presence. John never relied on platiEudes or Ehe famiLiarity of Che argumenE. buE filled his leCEers with his own Ehoughts, ambivalences, sErug- ' gles, and aLways made me feel thaE I'd goccen a letter direcEly from him to me, with noEhing else getting in Ene way. The last Eime I saw John, he talked of rereading George Dennison's THE LIVES OF CHILDREN for what musE have been Ehe thousandEh time, so affected was he by rhis book, and being moved Eo Eears by Ehe memory of how much he had once expected Eo see, hor,r lictle of it was realized. And yet he also described himself as one who had "noE yeE quite given up hope." This was the balance wiEhin which John saw the world and wrote about it; Ehis mix of hope and despair fueled his incisiveness, his clear description of whac was wrong and his fierce insisEence Ehat we recognize exacEly Ehe disEance between whaE we wriEe and what is Likely to happen, and, equaLly, his unshakeable belief in Ehe Dossibleness of Ehings, his absoLutely unwavering faiEh in children, in "ordinqrvrr nannlo in fho frmiIu nâ‚Ź nnl"'J leagues whose work he supporEed... I keep coming back to this: he influenced Ehe course of my life. About how many people can rre realLy say Ehis? I wonder whether I can conFrom Susannah
GROt.lING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
3
Einue withouE him, but somewhere in Ehe midsE of my sadness I hear John saying I'Yes, you can," to me, Eo so
others. He is with us. So much of John's real happiness and saEisfacEion in life came from Ehe knowledge thaL his words helped oEhers live beEter or fuller Lives. He sCarted someEhing, and he helped us find our place wiEhin iE. LeE us al1 of us - continue his work.,.
many
And from Theo Ciesy (VA): . . .The lasE time he visited, August '83, John toLd me of speaking at a private schocl recently. He said
rhaE one of Ehe boys asked him what he considered the mosc imporEant rLi-Lilr"B
F^rur
*ha L"c
F,^.' uvy
ts^
loarn
drrrino ,.6
hic ..-"
school years, John replied thaE if he Iearned Eo use three phrases he would be well srarted in life.
They were "I rrIIm
don't know," "I was wrong,'r and sorry." John himself did a great deal to decrininaLize "l don'E know"' tiith his tremendous comDetence and knowIedge he sEiLL managed noE to make people feel inferior. . , .l,Jhen I turned Eo John wilh a problem, as I ofEen did, he could aLways draw from his experience and his reading and come up wiEh examples and comments that showed his understanding and supporE and helped put Ehe problem in its proper PersPecEive, giving me the feeling lhat I could handle it. John's death is a greaE personal loss to me, but the strengEh and courage chaE he heLped me find and Ehe feeling of his understanding and supporE will rernain wiEh me...
pubLish your LeEter in our next zine which circulaLes among the
schoolers in
magahome-
New Zealand.
Llke you we feel Ehankful EhaE John Holt has LefE with us his wriEings. Many homeschooling families in New Zealand have read his books wiEh interesE. The numbers of homeschoolers in New Zealand is slowly growing with a oredominance of children between Ehe ages of 4 and 7 years, However, we are hopefuL EhaE as the years go by and more people see the benefiEs of homeschooling, more families will tzaon ^EcP
rhoir r"c
nhi
ldran
of 8...
uuL
ANd ThE ALTERNATIVE RESOIIRCE GROUP
PdiL
tsh^ c"s
in Education," I decided to do a profile of John Holt. I Eook my tape recorder Eo BosEon and sat and Ealked with him for a couple of hours. IE was nearLv imoossible Eo ediE thaE conversaEionr'sprinkled as it was wiEh insights into schooling, Iearning, chiLdren and adulEs, down to 30 minuEes, For tens of Ehousands of parenEs, John HolE was a IiberaEor. He freed them from whaE he, and t.hey, saw as Ehe cyranny of schooling, and he helped Ehem educaEe their children aE home. John HoIE will be mlssed,
--^ d6s
EDUCATION
of Australia:
...lle in AusEraLia mourn John Holt and we vJanc to share our sadness and friendship with you in Boston on Occober 5th. John provided inspiration and insighE for hundreds of Australian families contemplaEing home education. and his works wiII conEinue Eo do so. Books and words cannoE repLace the man but John once wrote Eo us that we must develoP our own heroes. We home learners have Iost our first hero. Ic is up Eo us co find more, If home Learning can't provide heroes Ehen noching can.. '
Pat SEone. che assistanE editor of The MoEher EarEh News. Dut a message aDouE nTs-aeaEh in the Nov. issue of the magazine, and sent us Ehis noEe: ,.,PersonaLIy, I was always Eocally impressed by John's incensity dedicaEion. I vividly recall the and greau interview he gave me for Mother EarEh News f i ve years ago. We sa-'E--Ei-d taTked for six sEraighE hours wiEhout geUEing up oncel (My bLadder was abouE Eo popl ) He was a real friend to me and Eo Mother Ee.!h, giving us loEs of feedbEEE: some soaring, some searing I However, Ehe most important tribute I can give to John is the
facE thaE Ehis fall my 6-year-old son
(who was unhappy last year in kindergarten) and I are Erying homeschoolFROM THE MEDIA ing ourselves. I'd never have even conceived of doine chat wiEhout John Merrow of NATIONAL PUBLIC JoFn-FTeadership and trai I-c learing RADIO sent us a copy of his tribule efforEs. . . to John, which was broadcast on IDR: Issue #64 ot TMEN contain"Morning Edition": ing Pat's interview wiEh John is John Holt was percepEive, conEro- still availabLe here, for $3.00 pLus poscage, l versial, and al ways interesEing. In IMVD: ] IE strikes me EhaE those his scathing crifiques of public three phrases of John's are vitaLly and private schools, HoIr charged imDorEant to us all - John was abLe that school s do not help chi ldren Eo use them with chiLdren as weLl as LETTERS FROM OUR COLLEAGUES learnl instead, he said, schools aduLts, In a way I Ehink it's mosE From Ray Moore (WA), author of deveLop onLy "a tiny parc of the important to say those Lhings Co HOME GROWN KIDS, HOMESPUN SCHOOLS, ch i ldren . tremendous capacjty for learning, SCHOOL CAN WAIT, eEc.: understanding and creating. " SchooLs, Holt believed, teach chiLdren !o ,..In L977, John Holt ltas not become whac he called "answer grabMESSAGES FROM OVERSEAS tt anvrrrpscher hor<rr rnd nl oaqerq happy wiEh my arEicle in HarPers and wroEe the editor Ehat I eJas not. conA Eelegram from EDUCATION oTHER- thing to avoid being wrong or apPearservaEive enough. AE first I wondered TJISE in England: ing stupid. "Most chiLdren in school about him. fail," HoLt wroLe, because schools Later our paths crossed - at ...Our members have been greatLy stifle learning and filL students courEs, legislatures, and professionsaddened by the news of John's untime- with fear, boredom and confusion. BUE al meetings - and I became fond of Iy deaEh. We extend our deepest symneiEher HOl,,l CHILDREN LEARN nor HOI,I this critic of mine. Some of my pathy to his sisters, reLatives, CHILDREN FAIL is as negative as my friends warned me thac he v,/as noE friends and coLLeagues in Uolt summary suggesEs; both conEain sugreligious enough. I asked them of gestions and stracegies for betEer AssociaEes. whaE religion Ehey spoke. Was theirs [,Je are very aware of Ehe great teaching and learning. They make good +^A^,, a religion of love? -^^):^r Edu ! Lvud) . loss John's death is to che home',5 ln the last Ewo or three years Those books made John HoLt well schooling movemenc in boEh our counJohn has been sending me notes and known, in the 6Os, as a leader of the cries. Our organization received a scienEific documents which proved to great boost four years ago when John so-called "school criEicsI movement. him EhaE Ehere must be more'Eo creaTn the seventies and eighEies, howcame to taLk with us at Birmingham Eion than evoLuEion. And perhaps we ever, his career took a ne$l tack, University, encouraging us to shout should eive more atcention !o God. away from schooling and, as he himour cause in the marketplace. Since iF r^,,-'j Iearnino_ Hp My-friends couLdn't believe iE. sEr then we have tried hard Eo do just ^^IF r PUL ^,,F sEarted a smaLl magazine, appropriate- But Ehen, they didn't know John. They that and now receive almost continudidn't know how he loved kids... and Iy called GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING, ous publicity through press, radio nthprq- Thcw di.ln'r know how he could and he became Ehe rallying point for and TV. Our membership has nearlv adjust his sighEs withouE altering those parencs who wished co avoid crebled and afEer reading John'shis principles. I learned from [!q, books, many more parents have the schools aLEogether. Eoo. More and more he supporEed-fr! I've been a subscriber to GROWcourage to educaEe Eheir children in research. And more and more I found Ehe loving environmenE of Eheir own ING WITHOUT SCHOOLING from the beginr.. I still have hnmo Tndoa; it ic . --r L^^^i d tLaPPLLJt rLrrrli, drrs, ^r6^FcdL ^^mf^Ft tiL GROt.lING |.lITHOUT SCHOOLING #48, VOI. 8 NO. O.i Eo know that lve can aLl continue in almosE alL the back issues, Taken ISSN #0745-5305. Published bi-month)y by Holt Ehis important reforming movement togeEher, they're a fascinating MA 02.l'l6. Associates, T29 Boylston St,'l Boston wiEh John's chi ld-respecEing, calm record of the growth of the so-called 'l $l 5/yr. Date of I s sue, Dec . , 985 . Secondand practical wri t ings to guide us . . . "home schooling" or "unschooling" class postage paid at Boston MA. movement. For parenEs, GROWING WITHP0STMASTER: Send address changes to G}.lS, 729 OUT SCHOOLING is a buLleEin board: Boylston St, Boston MA 02'l16. From PRUNES of New Zealand: names and addresses of fellow home schoolers, a Ereasrre trove of ideas ADVERTISERS: Deadlines are the l5th of odd...We wouLd Like to convey about education, and straEegies for numbered months, Discount for ads in 3 consecuEhrough you our sympathy to John's combaEEing hostile school bureaucrative issues. Contact Patrick Farenga for rates. family and many friends, and we wiIL cies. When I was producer of 'roptions )
GROIIING }lITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
a.
myself undersEanding his ideas.
ly free and uninhibited way, he came to Ehe conclusion that for beginners (whether children, like Vita, or rosin his bow. He ran Ehe bow across adults), playing Like the "pros," as Ehe groove in his rosin slowly and deliberately - partly to exercise his he called it, was far more beneficial, aE Ieast at first, than worrybow-arm, but mosEly jusE because for him it was a sensual experience, like ing abouE Learning everything correcteating, EhaE he vranted to savor. He ly or sEep by step. But the "Knock, (this might spend ten minutes tuning Knock Sonatas" also had a more Dersonel sicnificance fnr J6[n. After that always drove Vita crazyl and then, as a sort of warm-up, he liked Eo impro- day he became happier and more childvise sad melodies high up on his A Like in his approach to his own playsEring. When Ehe sound displeased him ing because he had, in a way, conAnd from Pat MonEgomery (MI), he grunEed or mumbled Eo himself. firmed what he had alwavs hooed was direcEor of CLONLARA SCHOOL: When he was pleased with whaE he Erue - thaE his own constant experiheard, his mbuth relaxed into a smile mentaCion was worthwhile. ...I was so sorry I didn't make and he Ealked Eo the cello as if coaxJohn was more than an inventor it to Quincy for John's memorial... and experimenter, though, he was a so beautil:F,l.t ?: :: I::p.llgyinB My scheduled flight from DeEroit was ,=.1ing ambitious he teacher, and often I thought that deLayed due to bad weaEher in Newark put music on the music sEand, but aE many of the happiest momenLs in his there no and was assurance that Ird our house he seldom actualLv DracIife were when he was imDertine get to BosEon before evening. That Eiced "real" music unless h6 was prechunks of knowledge ;. ;ih;;-;:"was at l0 AM. I gave up in despair. paring for one of our family conple... Although someEimes, in his Susannah Sheffer told rne a lot about eaperness - .Tohn fol ri nannl o fhi noc certs. Improvi sing or just Iisteni ng the dayrs acEiviEies. I feel John's to Ehe sound he made as he drew his that they mighE have preferred to figdeath as Ehoueh I had known him all bow across the sErinss was what he ure out on Eheir own. his sense of u1 r'ry !!Ie. I Iove nlm. Iiked to do besE. excitement while he was in Ehe pro...As often as we shared a workWhen John had had enough, he cess of discovering someEhing was conshop or a podium (never at Ehe same aLways left his cello just lying tagious, and Vita and Ishmael boEh Eime, of course), I never felE that I about. Rarely, perhaps never, did he learned many things from him just by had enorrph fimP fo iust chat and suggest thaE \,re might like to pLay looking over his shoulder. visit. Even at the NCACS conference it, and yet iEs presence on Ehe livOne afEernoon, while John was in Massachusetts in 1979 Chere was no ing room fLoor always seemed like an snoozing on the couch, Vifa and I time i couLd take to siE and talk a open inviEation to all of us. And it decided Eo do a liEELe rnath. We had spell, what with my roles as prez and wbs plain Eo see Ehat he loved to just started learning how to divide helper and general worrier. LasE win- watch us messing around on it, just fracEions and as luck would have it, t/i F.-L-ter, though, John came for a talk aE as he loved Eo watch Vita stumbLe vrLa ^^t,^l asKeo me wny rtt was, anyway, -^ OakLand College in RochesEer. JiLl lnto his EypewriEer and decide to that when alL you were reaLly trying Bastian drove him Co Clonlara, Ehe start Cyping, or to waEch Ishmael to do rras divide fractions. vou not first Eime he came to our liEtle campick some of his sheet music off Ehe only had to Eake the second -fracEion pus, actually. He enEered our (then) floor and play Ehrough iE, ThaE was and turn it upside-down, but then you tiny offi ce, bigger than I i fe - every- how John shared what he loved had to muLtiply and not divide, which one was so thrilled to have him was what you were supposed to be doalmost by chance. T^hn 4n M^?o fhrn ,nvthihd Ehere. I showed him around and, after ing in the firsE place. The cextbook 'r.Ehat he said, "Let's Iind a quiet experimenEer and an inventor. One day Ehat we were using had some sort of . place where we can catch up on when he was in Ehe hospital in Maine confusing explanaEion thaE made us things.rr We went to KiEEy's (our - six weeks before he died - I called both more confused than ever. and finoffice manager, my sisEer). For a him and he EoLd me that he had spent ally, since ViEa was tired anyway, wonderful, Iong Eime we just chewed Ehe day trying Eo design a more sensi- she bursC into tears. (A homeschoolEhe rag. That' s my fondesE memory. . . ble hospiEal bed. And in another hos- er's nightmare, I couldn'E heLp ChinkpitaI, Ehree weeks laEer, he told me ing - to make your kid cry over a thaE he was busy figuring out how Ehe math problem right in fronE of John nursing sEaff could work more effiHolt ! ) NANCY WALLACE REMEMBERS ciently. AlEhough he played the celLo John could never bear Eo hear (NY) F^^1. h^ Fnr nrrar rr.t6nf \r \r6r?. Nancy tJallace wrote a piece children cry, and his eyes popped L'r uury ^61" JLers' about John Holt for Ehe Jan. I issue year or Ewo of Lessons, and I think open with ViEars first sobs. "Whatrs of MoEhering magazine (P0 Box 84L0, that Lhis was because he iust the Erouble, Lambkin?rr he asked. She SanEi-fe--rr-M-87 554'i. t^te got permi s s ion plav couLdn'E bear to be EoId 6ow to !{as in no mood to ansv,/er and so I to,quoEe about half of it here: it. The fun for him was figuring thit said, "Oh, iErs nothing, realLy. tJe out for himself, even if iE Eook him shouldn'c have Eried Eo divide frac. . 'John used to vi si l- rrs nui re years Eo learn whaE a good teacher t ions v,/hen she was so t ired .', "Mavbe often. He wourd Itu"r"-i"-iJ.t'Lir." couLd have taught him in a few monChs. I can help," he said. "Let me look at Mary Poppins, except thac instead of the book." WeIl, I couldn't help He was consEanEly experimenting an umbrelLa and a carpet bag, he wiEh Lefc hand techniques or bowing Ehinking chaE now we were in for real always arrived carrying a duffel bag styles, always making up finger exer- troubLe. Vita was red in the face and and his ceLLo. He'd Lean the cello ci ses for himself, and always trying she looked as if she wasnrE abouL to against a wall and then, usualLy in Eo find more efficienE ways Eo sightIet anybody Ery to teIL her anything. Ehe middle of Ehe living room floor, read new music. He learned a sreat Dutifully, though, she took John the he'd oroceed to unoack the duffel deal by waLching Ehe greaE pifyers, book, and she sat down nexE to him. ba;. Especially for the kids, Ehis mosEly from his balcony seat in SymHe looked over it and then spenE some wa; a magic trick fhat rivalled Mary phony Hall, but he learned as much or fime just sEaring off into space Porpins any day. OuE would come sever- more by playing with kids like Vita while ViEa looked at him curiously, aL sweaters, pairs of socks, miEtens, and Ishmael and by watching them prac- Then he began talking to himself bnd hats and boots (he was up in New Hamp- Eice, improvise and experimenE in scribbling on a piece of paper. Vita shire nowl ), A tape recorder, microtheir own childlike ways. One dav, watched, and listened, and gradually phones, earphones, and tapes. Books, for example, he and Vita closeCei' John began directing his talk to her, magazines, a Little Cypewriter, themselves in our music room and made almost as if she was just an extenpaper, pens and pencils. Eyeshades up a set of silLy pieces for violin sion of himself. And ahe, meanwhile, and earpLugs. Sheet music and music and cello which they called Eheir was becoming totally involved in whaE ttKnock, Knock SonaEas.rr In these stand. Unanswered leEEers. cooies of he was doing, which was trying Eo na*ha^I pliFrq ro chnur rrc rnrl pieces, which Ehey performed for us \rork out a simple proof Eo answer her Pr I rrdPD dbook manuscript or Ewo Ehat he had to in grand sEyLe, they made their quescion. By Ehe time he had actually read as a favor to friends. AII this insErumenEs "speak" to each other in worked it ouE, ViEa was righE wiEh he would, in Ehe course of his firsE crazy musical conversafions. They him, and I think they were both equaLafcernoon, spread Ehroughout the made fire siren sounds by running ly thrilLed. I'Pleased as punch," as house untiL every room seemed Eo be their fingers up and down the he used Co say. filled with John HoLt. strings. They made wild plucking John was Ehe mosE passionate DerThen, aE some point, usually sounds, and they even knocked on the son I have ever met. Often. when hL afEer he had eaten an enormous meal reciEed a poem to us (and he had an backs of their instrumenEs with their (enjoying each bite as if it was some knuckles (hence the EitLe). For Vita, incredibLe ear for poetry), he would sort of miracle), he would take out this was pure fun, but for John, it have Eo sEop and coLlect himself as his cello, He'd set uo the music was much more Ehan Ehat. By watching sobs welled up in his throat. And stand, Eake a chair fiom the dining Vita (and she was only 5 Chen) making ofcen, too, at concerCs, when I room and add an extra pilLow from the full use of her instrumenE in a Eotal- Iooked over at him durino a nrrricrrWe
often exchanged and supporEed one another in our wriCings. Different, perhaps, buE loving each oEher. [',le waEched as our home school renaissance became the educational movemenL of the decade. tJhile each of us had his own ideas, we were growing up together. That's Ehe way wiEh boys. Thank you, John... very much.
couch to give himself a liEtle
heighE, sit down comforEabLy,
exEra
and
&
GROI.IING t.lITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
5
larly beauEiful moment, I would see tears running down hls cheeks. ...0n John's IasE vlsiE Eo us, worked every mornlng on Dvorakrs Vlta I'SonaElnaI for violin, and John lay on the couch and listened as she pracCiced iE. Then, on hls last day here, we decided to tape lt, wlEh Ishmael playing the piano accompaniment, since Vlla had put in a lo! of hard work and we always like Eo keep a record of the kids' "works-inprogress," As VlEa finished her lasE chord, I opened my mouth, about to sEart on my usual critique - "Pretty good, you two, but I still think Ehat Ehe opening of the third movemenE is a biE sloppy and Ishmael, we have a loE of work Eo do on balancâ‚Ź...rrwhen I happened Eo look over at John. He was trying Eo speak, buE for a few seconds he jusE couldn'E geE Ehe words ouE. Then, finally, the words came, "Oh, ViLa, I jusE canrt teLl you whaE an exciting performance thaE wasl Irve never heard playing Like thaE - anywhere!rr ViEa looked over aE me, and after a spliE-second of disbelief, she began to glow and her thoughts seemed to be writEen all over her face. "What a friend John islrr 0f course Ehat hash of a chird on her mind, but movemenE was slill EhaE jusE seemed Eo make John all Ehe more wonderful Eo her - and Eo me.'. MEMORIES OF VISITS
Laurie Huffman (UT): ...When ne met John in August of 1981, we were deeply impressed wiEh his non-authoritaEive manner. He also had a curiosiEy abouE him, an aEtitude onLy found in "life-Long learners.tt He made no judgements, and asked dozens of probing, authenEic From
quesEions. He observed everything around him, and seemed Eo always be
whaE he saw, arrived at our home on Ehe night of AugusE L4 for a brief visit, and as he got out of the car, he was impressed by a stunning full moon EhaE had just risen above Ehe mountains. He said, "Look aE EhaE moonl I have !o serenade Ehat moon.rr So he got out his celLo and asked for a chair, and setLled down in the middLe of the fronE Lawn to serenade the moon. We were so capEivated by the scene (as were our neighbors) Ehat we forgot thaE the sprinkler system was seE on auEomaEic and was due to come on. IE did so direcEly under John's chair, with no warning! This was the moment of Eruth Ehe tesE of a nants characEer. In one neaE bound, cello by its neck, he made iE to Ehe porch. Was he upset? Not a biE. He iust asked for a cloEh co dry his celio, seEEled himself in the living roorn, and conEinued to play, Eo our great enjoymenc...
enjoying He
of
Joyce KinmonE (UT), the editor
Thc Tendcr
had wr
Tilfor-
senE
s
nioeo
cho
a5outJohn in l98l:
...AfEer Ehe convencion we took We dropped and John a couple of che children off whiLe we parked Ehe car. Ritchie wroce, "When we went inco the airport Uhe automatic sliding doors opened, John bursE out laughing; they sounded just like a lion roaring. Every time someone came in we couldn't help buE laugh. John went back and made the doors open again, and Ehen jumped out of Ehe way like he was really scared." How many Ehousands of people John Eo Ehe airport...
GRO}IING I.IITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
have passed through those doors without ever noticing Ehe'rIionl there? Few adulEs can find Joy in such simple Ehings. RiEchie continued, rrSlnce the fLight was delayed, we went all over Ehe airporE looklng aE airpLanes and exploring, IE was really fun. Then we went to his gaEe and there $ras a really good view of the runway. We waEched lhe planes come ln and Eake off. Every tlme we saw a light in the sky we guessed wha! kind of airplane
it was and if-i! was his flighE. We right - lt was his." ExpLore the airport Ehey did, John with a childlike curioslty and lnEerest EhaE rlvaled Ehe children's. Noc many adulEs could actually enjoy an hourland-a-half waiE in an- aTffi?c. When Milli, who is jusc four, announced for Ehe third time that she r^ranted Eo go the restroom, I groaned in typical motherLy fashion; but John jumped right up and said, "Come on, I'lL walk you Eo Ehe door.rr And to Milli thaE was as imporEanE as anyEhing EhaE happened at Ehe airporE. She had me write in her journaL, "We fook John HoLE Eo Ehe airporu and we saw two planes go and we saw one land and he walked Lo the resEroom wiEh me and we waLked around and we went up a sEairs and Johnll Holt had Lo go so we ,.^.,^l L.,^s ! ^^^t wdvru Suuu-u)i John said he had never seen an airport with so many chiLdren, and he Ioved iE. As he watched the chiLdren running around having fun, he would say, "Oh, look aE Ehose LiEtle guys!" He deLighted in their happiness' The other aduLts, no doubt, htere grinding Eheir EeeEh. Alnl .Tnhn remarked on ^np noi need !o run and climb che chiLdren's and said ic is E-Eime to conf ine Ehem in classrooms. tlhaE a becEer world Ehis would be for our liEtle children if aLL aduLts appreciated and understood Ehem as John does I . . . both guessed lhe lasE one and we were
From Susan Richman (PA): . ..The first time I met John Holt was aE a television sEudio in Pittsburgh, where John was being inEerviewed about homeschooLing. WhaE I felt right off was his tangible delight in Ehe chiLdren Ehere. He turned from his adult discussion with
Ehe TV moderator, and looked down at 2l-monEh-oLd Jacob - Jacob absorbed in juggLing a slinky abouE in his
chubby hands, John absored in waEching Jacob. Later Ehe room was full of adults, many asking the usual homeschooling quesEions, seeking the usuaL advice. Again John's attenEion wandered - he looked over aE a coy dinosaur set-up ny 4r2-year-old Jesse had arranged on a sofa cushion. John reached over and touched che miniature gianEs, saying their names, watching Jesse's play, entering for a moment Jesse's world. LaEer, as John was gathering his things Eo caEch a pLane back Eo Boston, I thought of one more question, a question from Jesse. We'd been reading RoberE McCloskey's deLightfuL MAKE [^JAY FOR DUCKLINGS, and I'd EoId Jesse Ehat John lived in BosEon, Ehe setEing for Ehe sEory. Jesse now wondered if there really were ducks in Ehe Public Gardens, and if John had ever seen them, Again, John turned from Ehe adulE auestions. and focussed on this ouestion from a child. His eyes brighfened, he seemed less Eired and he benE down Eo address my son. "Oh, yesl Oh, there
are EVER so many ducks there, they swim all over lhe pond, and people do feed them. Why, everythlng reaLly is jusE like iE is in lhe book, only now Lhere are MORE ducks, Why, you can almost see Ehe building my aparEment ls ln in one of Ehe illustrations.,,'r I had the sErong sense EhaE Ehis chiLd's ouestion had been more fun for John to answer than any oEher. .,.Another year I saw John ac a gathering Nancy PLent and Meg Johnson organized in New Jersey. One small incidenE stands ouE in mv mlnd. Earlv in John's talk to the paaked meeEinghall, a EoddLer in Ehe front row began howling. The child's balLoon had jusE popped. John looked over sympaEheEicalIy, asked if maybe someone could find a new baLloon for Ehe child, and only resumed speaking once the child was happily holding a new baLLoon. I can'E Ehink of Eoo many oEher speakers who would have reacted in that way... Sue RadosEi
(IL)
wroEe:
.,.Thanks so much for letEing
us
death... IE seemed so unreal, and so sudden, since we weren'E there Eo see Ehe cancer Eakins- iEs toLL all summer, . , .AlEhough we're relative newcomers Eo his work, discovering his books just four years ago, I can'E remember whaE iE was like Eo look aE education and learning from any other perspective. Maybe Ehat's because John simply had Ehe courage and Ehe DerceDtiveness Eo verbalize truEhs abouE- schooling that we'd aLready been feeling in our bones for a Long time. He didn't give us new ideas so much as greater insight into our own experiences. tJe only meE John face-to-face once, when he came to speak in our town and stayed aE our house. I was so nervous! After 30+ issues of GIJS, I should have known betEer. buE I worried thaE he'd be arrogant or feel insulEed by our Iess-Ehan-eleganE accomodaEions for him. I chink i first sEarEed to relax when he sEepped off the pLane carrying his papers in a plasEic shopping bag; and by the next day, I didn't even baE an eye when we stopped aE a cafe for lunch and John reached across rhe tabLe wiEh his fork to sample my burrito! We really enjoy Looking back at that visiE and at aLl Ehe little ways he made himself righ! aE homel But meeting John in person also gave us an opporEuniEy we couldn't geE from his books and arEicles, which was Eo waEch him puE his ideas and values inEo action. firsE wiEh the many skepEics he encountered EhroughouE a day of lectures, and laEer wiEh Ehe homeschooled children who came to supper wiEh their parenEs EhaE night. Toward the skeptics, he was neiEher haughcy nor apologetic; he answered their quesEions buE refused to be drawn into an argumenE, obviously feeling no obligation Eo convince them he was righc. ThaE was a very valuable Lesson to learn from know about John's
him.
WiLh the children, I saw a solemnity that I hadn't expected. I had never seen an adulE who didn'E at some time Eake on aE least a hint of Ehe silly, affecEed manner we all learn to assume v;iEh chiLdren, BuE John sat on the floor, occasionally contribut.ing to che adult conversations in Ehe room, very seriously engaged in the Eask of opening and closing a box of crayons at the bidding of an equally serious one-year-
6
old boy. No silLy faces, no fake gasps of surprise, no inane chaEEer just an occasional smile and endless 16nafili^n
^f
fh.f
m^fi^n t'ivLrUrl,
,,hril
fh^
child finaLly turned his attenEion co someEhing else and moved away. Thatrs a very tender memory in my mind. We'lI miss Ehat man. To those of you who worked with him and knew him daily, please accept our warmesE empathy in your Loss,.. (CA):
Williams ...AfEer readins dozens of GWS issues and John's bo6ks, I had developed a mental image of what I thought John would be like. Based on Ehe strong conviction of opinion which permeaEes John's books and GWS, I had envisioned a rebeL with a booming voice, excicable bodiLy movements, a take-charge Eype of personaliEy, who would teLl the world how best to raise children, What I found, instead, when I did meet John in person, was a very quiet man, who was humble enough to look to oEhers for assistance when he needed help; a man who seemed EoEaIly at peace with him..,L^-^ f ^oo anA hnrti I rr nnn_ -^l f . . -.uvur !J Lvrr sEitution would bLend right into a man who crowd, unnoEiced; a simply wanted to share ideas with oeople who cared, like himself, about chiidren. ^--1 1" heard John criEir uLLdsruL'drr) cized for his opinions abouE children because he had no chiLdren of his own, Some peopLe are of the opinion thaE if you aren't a parenE, Ehen you have no basis from which Eo sDeak abouE children. I have learned Ehat these are peopLe who usually put children in a category differenE from aduLEs, I don't uhink John ever did. He looked at a chiLd, but saw a person, one who had Ehe same righEs as adulEs, buE who had fewer experiences. AE the Eime of his visit Eo Sacramento, my daughEer was 2r2 yeats old. She was cauEious in makins new friends - especially with men. My husband, daughter, and I meE John's plane upon his arrival... During the hai nF rho;a.' uaJ r JUL'L' Tnh-.'..' ^F showing my daughter EhaE he believed she was a person worth knowing. I From Jane
the only person who supported me in decision to homeschool. Even my
my
mother and husband had reservations. But then, neither of Ehem had ever taught in a Ehird grade classroom and
watched learning blocks set in righE before their eyes, John HolE was the only one who beLieved that my son
would certainLy learn how to read. I just hoped he was righr and plodded on.
In 198L when John was in
Eown,
he had dinner ac our house and met lots of prospecEive homeschooLers and enterfained us for hours with sEories of his adventures and his viewpoint.
of Living. My resolve was set;ith thaE visiE. I felC inspired to help get MinnesoEa homeschoolers organized. Another person at that meeting moved to Madison, tll and worked hard getting the Wisconsin biLl passed. A t.hird attendee moved to Texas and has worked with homeschooLers there. A fourth person, a bachelor, helped get the MinnesoEa Network off the eround and when he moved to CaIitorniI. he assisted homeschool leaders there. One could not be around John HoLc without being galvanized into action. John HoLt was right. My son became an excelLent reader. He is a happy l5-year-oLd who owes a LoE !o a real educator, a real human being and a real friend to chiLdren... JOHN WOULD BE SO INTERESTED...
how
appendix. . .
John would be so interesEed in the electronic Silver Reed CvDewriter I jusE got for $79 plus g4.50 shipping fr5m DAK II084b Vanowen Sc, iJ Hollywood CA 91605]. A greaC closeout buy on a $250 machine. Hannah (8) has been at it since it came. AE first, of course, I tried to show her where Ehe home keys were, and gave her a list of words Ehat used Che most common letters, and that Lasted for abouE 20 minutes before she became thoroughly bored. (tJhy do we never learn? ) Then she wroEe some LeEters worked at it all day - and now is pretending she is a secreEary and copying all of the text off of herrrWe Are The WorId" poster, including Ehe names of all the performers. (WiEh, I irrst.liscoveredher Finoorc nn rhp home keys the whole time.) She is now Ehe house experc on how Ehe new machine works and can manipulaEe
paper and settings quite quickLy. John would be so inLeresEed in how Jed (almost l1) has been talkine
F^A^.,^ FL^ !v, ^L^..F uar*alue of the dolLar in Ehe world market, develop, ing theories abouE international currency (not all of which I can even begin to undersEand, much Iess help him with), yeE he claims not Co remember how Eo do long division (not thaE I disbelieve him).,.
From Deidre Purdy (WV):
...Two years ago, having gone to see John speak on Ewo occasions here in [^lV over six months, I had sErongly come to feel that he had exhausLed Ehe good he couLd do with his lecture Eours and exhausted himseLf in the process.,. He seemed Eired, very tired... I was greaELy heartened to read (how recently iE seems now) Ehat because of the discovery of the tumor, John had decided co turn
toward the activities
pd
rn
nrrrcrro
nrriinr'1.-1"
he really wantry
-"-i^
"A HAND OUTSTRETCHED FOR JOHN" From
4-l d"u
"'uorL his cello. He had decided Eo let the homeschooL "movement" move on its o\.{n
course. or aE least wiEhout his con-
poet Judson Jerome, now in Ohio:
One hand, he learned on his submanine, vias himself, and one r4as for the ship. !.le were that shi p for whom he always had a hand. He knew,
f;r
horizons away, !/as a world of clarity and sense, a world where childhood ends, where musi c
tinuaL Dresence, How unfair it is Ehat he shouLd ha did fhic fn <arr ha chnurad not have had that Eime at the end, to - av.pnf har nnnc i dorrr i h^nocfl \/ raen6.io.l carry out the plans he made when the ^n hor riohr in hcr nurn nnininnc end cancer was discovered. To do, as he showed interest in those opinions, said, what he realized he really and let her know EhaE he would Like wanEed Lo do. to have her friendship. None of chis I am surorised to see how much was verbalized... He had a firm he is in my mind, not just because of belief about lhe worth of children his deaEh, buC as he apparently that permeated his very being. It was always was, only now I notice it, someEhing thaE I felt and so did my reaLizing thaE I canrE get Ehat LeEdaughter. Eer in Ehe mail, next month or ever, I doubE that it ever crossed and so noLice thaE I am thinkine of Johnrs mind that a prerequisite for him again. I was composing a joint undersEanding children was Eo parent letter from my homeschooling-mother/ them. John exEended the same courfriend Marianne Hughes and myself. ;esies Eo chiLdren Ehat he did to John wouLd be so interested Eo know aduLEs. No disEinction was ever made that Marianne, who is a court reportbecause of age, . . er, is helping me learn sEenotype. She and T thought nothing of it, buE when we began to menEion this to othAnd Sharon HiILestad wrote in er reporters. they were amazed, Ehe MINNESOTA HOME SCHOOL NETWORK astounded. Nobody's ever heard of, or newsletter: thought of, anyone Learning sEenotype on their own, ouEside of school (a ...In 1978 I scarted reading two-year fullEime course). I bought Johnrs books, Up to chac Eime I knew my olin machine and the EexEbooks with it, from a young woman who had wanted only Ehat he had controversial ideas about how chiLdren should be educadesperately to continue the course ted. When I saw the traditional meth- (said she loved it) buE if wouLd have ods fail me as a Eeacher in Ehe class- meant going avTay to school r.vhich she room and Ehen fail my son as a stucould not afford. So she was workins denf, I figured it nas time Eo branch as a secretary in a bank. I said to out. I wrote to John the summer I Ehis woman, I'Why don't you keep the decided MatE was noE going back to machine and books? Yourve already had school. For a Long Eime John Holt was a year on your own. Make your own donrE know how Eo expLain exacEly
practice Eapes, use the radio and TV, as Irm doing.r'She looked at me as if I had suggesEed she take out her own
i I luminates
Little c h
the night, where hands hold
percents mount up, John said,
hands.
and
ange,
is steady. Steady on. He saw a light ahead that few of us could see. though s1ow,
And when
at last
we beach upon those sands,
the glow around us shimmerjng wjll be the same light he perceived and he transmitted the glow of simple truth, of stieet good will. And now he sails ahead, beyond our ken, toppl ing a row of I ies like dom'inoes. .. He's on a plane somewhere, in tennis shoes, with a book, a cello bow, a canvas bag. Somewhere
foes
he's out there rnakino friends of
.
let the tiller slip! are wallowing, one hand for yourself. One for the
He whispers back, "Don't When seas are rough and you
keep
ship..."
HIS INFLUENCE ON MANY LIVES
Penny Barker (OH) wrote:
...On Monday we received two letters in Ehe maiL - one sadlv conveving news Eo us of John HoLt-'s deach the other fuLl of a spiriEed love for life from our l7-year-old daughcer, BriEt, who is apprenEicing in Canada. Ironically, it has been John HolErs Life and inspiraEion Ehat eventually Ied co che siEuation our oldest finds herself in... (Britt is currentlv travelling with watercolorisc-nafure wriEer Aleta Karstad and her biologist husband, Fred Schueler, as they fravel across Canada \.vriCins a book on Ehe habitats of the areai they GROt.lING hlITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
7
traverse,) A few days before she lefE for Canada, Britt sat talking wiEh me and said, "You know, Penny, i am now realizing how signifilant this one Knowing man has Seen in ty life." this to be true for our enEire family and interested in her viewpoint, I asked her exactly what she meant. "Well, it nas because of'his supporE Ehrough GWS thaE you decided Eo take me from school when I was 9 years old and that has changed my whoLe approach to learning and life, and now here I am at 16 about to embark on my life's work because of John HolE-'s belief in apprenEiceships and his conviction that people my age could handle Ehis ki;d bf tning. llow he has DuC me in touch with th6se wonderful feople I am going to live with and leain irom - I ieel so much warmEh for him." AE this same Eime, Britt remembered back Eo one of the two times she was able to be wiEh him. She had aEtended Ehe Chicago Symphony as a guesE of David Chickering and found herself in a surprise first meeEin6l with John HoIt whom she saE next to at Ehe Symphony performance. "I'Ll never forgeE hearing his 'Bravol' aE the finish of Bairnboim's Derformance - I can stiLL hear the enEhusiasm ringing in his voice." BritE is able Eo articulate about John's infLuence in our life and is very aware of iE. The oEher four, Ehough noE quiEe as aware, being younger, benefit daiLy from the beLiefs of this man. As I hear them Iaughing together in Ehe orchard, making pLans co spend Ehe afternoon sketching in the woods, or humming as Ehey go about their chores, I am greatly EhankfuL that John HoLE influenced our Life so thaE our famiLy has been able to spend so much cime with one another and be invoLved c..r r-- ..i!L 1 r.^ -^ rurr)i su ' know he has done this for other families and I hope he was aware of the significanE impact he has had on so many chiLdren, parenEs, and families. Thank you, John, with aLl of our hearEs we wiII miss you so much...
and thaC of rny family. He helped me see I had the- power to help my children grow and Liarn withouE sendi.g them Eo a conventional classroom.
We
gained faith;
we.
gained life.
John, because he spoke from the
heart, showed me a r^ray to. "the pach with hearC." He was, in the truest sense, a teacher - a-seer and a Once I accepted primary responsibilishow-er. We are deeply sad and sorry ty for *y cirildt^.tt, their educaEion and emocional well-being, someEhing for his passing. Yet, as surely as really wonderful happened. Our family life to death passes' what John gave becaml closer, more-inEerdependenE. us shall conEinue Eo Pass on forever We began to enjoy each other more. My - parenE Eo child, teacher to learner, giver Eo taker, living to dead to husbaid began -o'consider Ehe childliving... ren his responsibiLity too, noE just mine. As a resulE of our closeness, grow because we've found more room Eo we trust each oEher and ourselves REMEMBERINGJOHN'SWISDOM more. From Rose Yonekura (NE): Of course much of Ehe credit for alL the wonderful resulLs my famiLy ._'.Examples,of Ehe wisdom of enjoy belongs Eo us, buE we could noE John that wiLl always stick wiEh me haie'arrived here when we did, or at are his "hippoPoEamus questionrr(GWS leasE not as easily, if it had noE been for GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #20), his sEaEemenE on Ehe minority quieEly changing socieEy (GWS #1)' and John Holt. I'm gLad John Lived and his two arficles on discipline when he did and thaL his ideas were (#31 & 38). I don't know if I read availabLe Eo me when I needed them... this in GIJS or if it came from friends who had talked to John on the ohone. but another favorite that I've And Mary Scone (OR) ltrote: ihared many times wich friends who chiLdren out of are taking theirrrhrrrni ...One day in September 1982, i c hi c no hrri l di norl bored and discouraged with my lot in cah^^1 life, dreading another year of whiL- analogy - EhaE if Ehe building is burning, you don'E stop and think, ing away Ehe parsecs beEween early "Ird beEEer stay in here because outmorning goodbyes and laEe afternoon side iE mighE be worse" - you get homecomings, wondering what kind of out, as "out there" cerEainly won'E immaEure nuE I must be to wish we be as bad and wiLl probably be a lot couLd all spend our days doing real and im[6?Eant things Eogether. I took beEEer. (Even if there's a bLi.zzardt myself to Ehe library. It was a Mon- At least you can breaEhe. . , . I Ehank you for sharing Ehe day and oh, how I hated Mondays. In a deEails of his dying with us (GWS fatefuL Eime-space intersecEion I #47). So many people avoid talking found WHAT D0 I DO MONDAY? IE sPoke about deaEh, but Eo me it was so Eo me, I Eook it home, I read it, I imporEant Eo know Ehe details of his read iE again. I read aLl John's other books. I read Herb Kohl, James disease, how he had been cared for, who was with him; choices he had made Herndon, George Dennison, Jonathan such as no radical Ereatment, Eo be KozoI. with friends, and to be in his own I began to see, Eo understand. Odds and ends and threads of everyday home, I hope John realized the impact life began to weave into a whole. I of Ehese decisions - that he showed us how to die peacefully as he had was aLready Eroubled by school showed us how to Live peacefulIy.. ' unbelievably poor texts, stacks of In closing, I send special mimeographed idioE work and Ehe thoughts Eo Mary Van Doren and her ever-presenf al I -invasive peer family over the Loss of Anna. As you pressure. I was already Eroubled by my children's Eroubled Iives - unhap- said, it is a wrenching bLow to al I F-,,-ts,-Fi of us as you have made your readers p! ^^^^i rrE 5J ^- Ioss of selffeel like family. I know Mary and esteem, loss of ABILITY and growing From Marv Friedl (IL): skepEicism. I began Eo recall my own Anna and Helen must have been a school experiences; cimes I had shut delighE to John in his last days and we now al1 grieve for both of Ehem... ..., Eo write abouE my feeldown, given up, hated mysetf for ings about"".a John's death, Of course "faiIing" - and I was a "good stuEherers the outrage. IErs not fair, dentrrl I saw in a new Light Ehe how Hers so young. He had so much co and why of my ending of my high FROM THE MEMORIAL SERVICE give. I cry many times when I think schooL "daze" in a psychiatric \tard, Here are many of the words about him being gone, You know whatrs heaviLy drugged on thorazine after a really crazy? He didnrt even know I suicide aEtempt at age 18. I did not sooken aE Ehe memorial service for Jbhn Holr, heLd on oct. 5, 1985, cared. I was iust one of his crowd of graduaEe, in many ways I had died. FirsE, from Tom Maher (MA): I read some more. . . Bucky "folLowers.",, I= read alI his books. I met him and heard him speak Ehree FuLler, Frances Lappe, Richard Mitch...I have an image of- John Eimes. I gave him a tide to Ehe aireLL, Mortimer Adlei, Nancy tJaLLace, which wilL remain wiEh me for the porE once. I read every issue of GtlS, Jeriy Mander, RolLo May, iloberE resE of my life' This image. in_my the first L8 in a marathon reading Ornstein, Joseph ChiIEon Pearce. I session as back issues. Since Ehen hadn't read so-much, enjoyed reading mind, although iE deaLs wiEh his I've anxiousLy awaited each issue and so much or learned so much by read- death, really says something jmportant to me about his life. dropped all other reading on the arriing... everl I began co feel confiWhen John went home from Mass. deit - E-i6w sensaEion - to feel real val of each. GeneraL Eo die in his own aparcment I guess we shouldn't be too sad. optimism, to recognize my power co We need to celebrate all the things controL and direcL my lite and ener- instead of in the hospital, ic took a lot of care from a lot of his gy. CenEral to all oi this was my John did, How many of us will accomfriends, his round-che-cLock friends. plish as much as John did? He touched T6alization that I can make thinls I remember one night before he died' so many people's lives in such a perbetter for my chiLdren. I can offer sonal manner wiEhouE ever meeEing Ehem a beEter environment Eo grow in especially. In the large living room, most of Ehem. John f.relped people realand I can save Ehem from some of the which was made inEo John's bedroom, ize their own porrer Eo change themmindless, unconscionable hype .of Ehe David Chickering (on Leave from Ehe Chicago Symphony) was passionately selves and influence Ehe lives of day. playing his cello for John. Other Eheir children, John affected the way And so, in September 1983, we many Eeachers and oEhers feel abouE began homeschooling. We evicted Ehe friends were ouE in Ehe kitchen' but learning,.. He chought each of us was Eelevision. We gave up meaE and pollu-on Ehe floor aE Ehe fooE of John's bed Ewo children were playing. or should be in control of our own ted food. We Eook Spanlsh, phoEoTweLve-year-old Anita Geisy was education and that education is a graphy, and art cLasses' We made siEting on the fLoor, and in her lap Iife-long experience. He didn'E just AusiiL penpals. We discovered ourEhink these ideas, he lived them' selves, each other and the open-ended was four-year-old Anna Van Doren' who John helped me change my life potenEials and possibiliEies of life. was totally invoLved in running her GRO}IING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #48
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