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chicken lady
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| Posted: Jan 21 2007 at 6:28pm | IP Logged
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Has anyone read this book of John Holt? What was your impression. I picked it up last night at Half Price books, and I am really enjoying it.
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Jan 21 2007 at 6:51pm | IP Logged
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One of the most important books on education ever written. I don't agree with Holt on everything, but his observations of school kids is spot on in How Children Fail.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 21 2007 at 6:54pm | IP Logged
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I've read it but it seems like ages ago - let's see, my oldest who is now almost 19 was about 4 at the time. I read lots of John Holt and Thomas Armstrong at around that time. So can't remember the specifics about that particular book.
I didn't start homeschooling at the beginning. It was obviously on my radar-screen and I had several friends who were, and deep down I knew it would be a good thing for my sons, but I was fighting it. I really didn't think I wanted to do it. So the first two went to school for a couple years before we brought them home. Holt and others really had an influence on forming my thoughts about and philosophy of education both while they were in school and when we finally started homeschooling.
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Willa
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| Posted: Jan 21 2007 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
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It's wonderful, Molly. It taught me a lot.
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Willa
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Chari
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| Posted: Jan 21 2007 at 11:39pm | IP Logged
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I always avoided this book as something I didn't NEED,,,,,,,,,since I already knew my kids were never going to public school. Why do I need to know what's wrong with the public schools? I went to the same schools Molly did......maybe worse  , MINE were in Los Angeles City!
So, Willa................WHAT did you learn? Do *I* need to learn it, too? And, if I read it, will I know more, just like you
What's enjoyable about it, Molly?
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Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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SaraP
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| Posted: Jan 22 2007 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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I've been gobbling up John Holt books lately. How Children Learn is also well worth a read.
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Willa
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| Posted: Jan 22 2007 at 10:52am | IP Logged
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LOL, Chari; maybe you DON'T need it. I have to talk myself into things you already know intuitively
It was about using the "wrong" kinds of teaching methods and how kids react. I particularly remember reading the section about fifth grade math students that would make perfectly ridiculous math errors because they were taught some formulas that made absolutely no sense. It wasn't that they were dumb -- it was because they had never seen WHY you make denominators equivalent before you add or subtract fractions, for example. They were simply told this was how you did it.
It also talked about answer-guessing, where the student glances up at the teacher's eyes and hazards a guess as to the right answer, changing quickly if he sees the teacher's eyes change...
There is a tone of complete indignation, not at the children but at the system that makes them degrade themselves this way.
It SO hit home because at the time I had a child who was doing these very things, and it wasn't his fault -- it was MINE. I was pressuring him and rushing him. Sigh!
You probably never did things like that -- I remember how you took one look at 5 year old Anne with her pile of workbooks and then put them all away and went out into the world. But I struggled with Seton for a whole year and a half with a child that was SUCH a wrong fit for Seton particularly at that age level.
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Willa
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Chari
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| Posted: Jan 23 2007 at 12:03am | IP Logged
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WJFR wrote:
LOL, Chari; maybe you DON'T need it. I have to talk myself into things you already know intuitively
You probably never did things like that -- I remember how you took one look at 5 year old Anne with her pile of workbooks and then put them all away and went out into the world. But I struggled with Seton for a whole year and a half with a child that was SUCH a wrong fit for Seton particularly at that age level. |
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Hmmm........maybe I will just check out YOUR copy (you still have yours?) when I visit you next.......And, see if I want to read it.
While you have the memory correct  ...Anne was actually 7 yrs old, and we were on our 2.5th year of OLVS program ......so, while we never suffered through public school, we did suffer through someone else's program
Blessings,
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Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Topic: Why Children Fail....
