About John Holt

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"I have come to believe that a person's schooling is as much a part of his private business as his politics or religion, and that no one should be required to answer questions about it. May I say instead that most of what I know I did not learn in school, and indeed was not even 'taught.'"

— John Holt

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The quote above appeared at the top of John’s biographical information sheet from at least 1977. See the timeline below for more details.

Timeline of John Holt

  • Born

    April 14, 1923, New York City, NY.

  • 1943–1946

    Submarine service, U. S. Navy.

  • 1946–1952

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

  • 1952–1953

    Traveled in Europe.

  • 1953–1957

    Taught at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Carbondale CO.

  • 1957–1959

    Taught at Shady Hill School, Cambridge MA.

  • 1959–1963

    Taught at Lesley Ellis School, Cambridge MA.

  • 1963–1967

    Taught at Commonwealth School, Boston MA.

  • 1968

    Visiting lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

  • 1969

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

  • 1969–1985

    Writing, lecturing. Founded Holt Associates, a Boston office with small staff dealing with education and other social issues.

  • 1977

    Began publishing GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING, a bi-monthly magazine about teaching children at home.

  • 1980

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

  • Died

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

Black and white photo of an older man in a light-colored suit jacket, shirt, and tie, standing outdoors near a building with large windows and stone walls, holding onto a railing.

Additional Info

Combined sales of How Children Fail and How Children Learn exceed two million copies. Both books have been in print since they were first published over 50 years ago, and both were revised by John Holt in the early 1980s to incorporate his latest thinking based on his work with homeschoolers in Growing Without Schooling magazine. Holt’s books have been translated into over 45 languages.

Articles and reviews by John Holt were published in: N.Y. Review of Books, N.Y. Times Magazine, Book Week, Harper's, The Atlantic, Redbook, Parents Magazine, Saturday Evening 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 particularly enjoy: an in-depth biographical sketch in Yankee Magazine, Dec. 1981, and an interview with Holt about homeschooling by The Mother Earth News in 1980.

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John Holt Obituaries

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

The Legacy of John Holt

The Legacy of John Holt: A Man Who Genuinely Understood, Respected, and Trusted Children contains sixteen essays by friends, colleagues, and children (now adults) who personally knew and were influenced by Holt. A deep appreciation for Holt’s wide-ranging intellect, humor, and his ability to work with, not on, children emerge from these portraits. People who knew Holt when he was young write about his personal journey from conventional school teacher to unschooler, while pioneer homeschoolers write about the school, social, court room, and legislative battles Holt helped them negotiate at a time when the right to homeschool was often challenged.

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Book cover titled 'The Legacy of John Holt' featuring a group photo of a man and six children, with the subtitle 'A Man Who Genuinely Understood, Trusted, and Respected Children'.

"It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It's a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life."

— John Holt

Photographs of John

A black and white photo of a group of young boys in matching sports uniforms, posed with crossed arms around a basketball, in front of a brick fireplace with two pillar-like structures, in a vintage style.
A group of sailors and young men posing on a submarine. Lieutenant John Holt, fresh out of college, is standing on the right.
Black and white photo of John Holt , around 1981, standing on a small set of stairs outside a building, leaning on a handrail.
John Holt joking, holding his cello like a violin.
John Holt sitting outdoors with his knee bent, wearing a sweater over a collared shirt.
John Holt standing outdoors, holding a glass.
John Holt tuning a cello in a living room with large windows and houseplants.
Donna Richoux, Peggy Durkee, and John Holt at the Holt Associates office on Boylston St. in Boston.
A color photo of John Holt working in his office.
A black and white photo of a family of five standing and sitting outside a house with white siding, in front of an open door. There is a woman sitting on the ground with a soccer ball nearby, and two children standing on the porch. An adult man leans
A black-and-white photograph of John Holt standing indoors in front of a wall with text that reads "HOLT ASSOC., INC. GROWING SCHOOLING." The man is wearing a suit jacket, a shirt, and a patterned tie, and has a serious expression.
John Holt playing cello with his string quartet in a classroom.
John Holt sitting in a brown armchair with a young girl on his lap, in a room with wooden bookshelves and patterned wallpaper.
Black and white photo of John Holt, dressed in a collared shirt and tie, wearing a textured blazer, looking down thoughtfully.
John Holt giving a radical commencement speech at Wesleyan University, 1970.
John Holt at a podium, speaking with one arm extended outward, against a curtain backdrop.
A large group of people gathered on a beach, sitting and standing while listening to John Holt speak. Author George Dennison is seated to Holt's right.
Author John Holt, resting his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful.
John Holt explaining something to four children watching intently.
John Holt petting a large dog outdoors next to a house.

Interviews With John

A collection of interviews with John Holt. The collection includes an Interview with Teri Gross on Fresh Air, 1983, National Public Radio, an Interview about A Nation At Risk on WBOS, Boston, and John Holt interviewed by David Freudberg for Kindred Spirits Radio, April 11, 1985.

For the David Freudberg recording, this is the raw interview tape that Holt owned, not the final broadcast version. It covers lots of political and educational reform ground about homeschooling, including Holt's thoughts about the influence of the religious right wing, are homeschoolers abandoning schools, unqualified parents teaching their own, and much more.

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Interview with Teri Gross on Fresh Air, 1983, National Public Radio

John Holt Interview, part 1. Fresh Air with Teri Gross, 1983
John Holt Interview, part 2. Fresh Air with Teri Gross, 1983

Interview about A Nation At Risk on WBOS, Boston

A Nation at Risk: Part 1, Interview with John Holt on WBOS
A Nation at Risk: Part 2, Interview with John Holt on WBOS

Interview with David Freudberg on Kindred Spirits

John Holt interviewed by David Freudberg, part 1, Kindred Spirits Radio, April 11, 1985
John Holt interviewed by David Freudberg, part 2, Kindred Spirits Radio, April 11, 1985

Videos With John