A review by brentmayberry
How Children Learn by John C. Holt
4.0
This book was a challenging read for a self-described know-it-all. My wife and I plan on homeschooling our children, so it's going to be so much fun explaining the world to my bright-eyed little ones, right? Except Mr. Holt says that if I do, I run the risk of crippling my children's desire to learn.
The tough part is, I believe him.
I went through school pretty much as a robot...learning stuff, repeating stuff on tests, then forgetting stuff. And even though I love to learn, in school, I got so, so tired of jumping through the hoops.
I want my kids to really enjoy learning, to make knowledge their own, to treasure wisdom. Mr. Holt has convinced me that the best way to do this, as the major premise of his book, is to let children direct their own learning. An involved parent works best as sort of a facilitator...answering questions, providing demonstrations when necessary, figuring out where a child can best find the information she's looking for.
I plan on reading this book again just to figure out better what my role as a parent would be to help my children learn.
The tough part is, I believe him.
I went through school pretty much as a robot...learning stuff, repeating stuff on tests, then forgetting stuff. And even though I love to learn, in school, I got so, so tired of jumping through the hoops.
I want my kids to really enjoy learning, to make knowledge their own, to treasure wisdom. Mr. Holt has convinced me that the best way to do this, as the major premise of his book, is to let children direct their own learning. An involved parent works best as sort of a facilitator...answering questions, providing demonstrations when necessary, figuring out where a child can best find the information she's looking for.
I plan on reading this book again just to figure out better what my role as a parent would be to help my children learn.