How Children Learn

By John C. Holt

Book Overview

This enduring classic of educational thought offers teachers and parents deep, original insight into the nature of early learning. John Holt was the first to make clear that, for small children, "learning is as natural as breathing." In this delightful yet profound book, he looks at how we learn to talk, to read, to count, and to reason, and how we can nurture and encourage these natural abilities in our children."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0201484048
• ISBN13: 9780201484045
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Parents MUST read this

There must be a thousand books out in the world for parents right now. How to do this or that with your baby/toddler/child, OR How to get your baby/toddler/child to do this or that. From pregnancy through college there is a guide for every problem, or perceived problem, that you may possibly have. How Children Learn, though, is not a guide. It is simply a demonstration, through the journal of John Holt, that children are smart and know how to learn, from the moment they are born. He shows that by giving children the space and freedom they need to explore things that interest them, we allow them to develop thinking skills. We allow them to figure the world out, learn that things work in certain ways, and that the world is generally a predictable and benevolent place. Holt shows through his experiences that not only do we not need to force children to learn, or to teach them much, but that teaching (and especially coersion) are counterproductive to learning.It would be impossible to explain in a short space the thinking behind How Children Learn. By sharing his experiences, Holt shows us about children, not educational philosophies or theories. Get this book and read it. It will change the way that you think about children and learning forever.

This book could save you a wasted education

If I had read this book in college I would have saved myself so much agony in learning about children. After I read this book: I started to learn about children. Forget the terminology; forget the theories - take a look at children and learn how they learn. While reading the reviews posted here, I realized that this is the perfect gift for expectant parents.

I wish John Holt were still around.

The only thing that disappointed about this book was learning that the author is deceased, so I couldn't tell him how moved and inspired I was. I was the converted, already strongly leaning towards homeschooling when the time comes, but this book gave me insights that have changed how I interract with my 10 month old daughter, to my own great joy. How refreshing to read the words of a man unafraid to admit his errors and his regrets. His compassion also moved me, sometimes to tears. This book is be a validation for any one who needs one, of the choice to homeschool. It is an eye-opening inspiration for a parent seeking greater understanding of their toddler. This book, and the "companion volume", "How Children Fail", should be required reading for education legislators, and given out with diaper packets in maternity wards. If you have a first edition, get the latest one with Holt's further thoughts and self-critiquing updated commentary.

An eye-opening look at intellectual life in early childhood

I discovered "How Children Learn" when my own children were already on their way to their teens. I wish I'd had it when they were born, or soon after. John Holt opens our eyes to the absolutely astonishing efficiency with which pre-school children learn so many things. And he does it without any of the language of "educationese," the gobbledygook that so often clutters books about educational issues and makes them opaque and unpleasant tasks to read. Everything he says is immediate, concrete, and down to earth, drawn from specific observations of particular children, working effectively to learn whatever interests them. This is a book that I regularly now give as a gift to my friends when they become parents for the first time. I know of no other that will fill THEM with wonder over the ensuing five years or so, as their children learn to come to grips with the world.