How children fail
by John Caldwell Holt, JOHN HOLT · first published 1964
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argued from experience of schooling, it explains how children learn to fail and the perverse incentives behind it; recommended as a starting point for parents, educators, and anyone rethinking how people learn.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A series of informal memos describing how typical grade-school pedagogy suppresses a child's innate desire to learn, leaving the child frustrated, confused, and fearing failure.
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…Instruction and The Underground History of American Education. Charlotte Iserbyt: the deliberate dumbing down of america. Ivan Illich: Deschooling Society. John Holt: Anything at all, but particularly How Children Fail and How Children Learn. ---------- Besides Sudsbury schools, there's several other alternative school models: anarchistic free schools and democratic schools. Look those up, as well. Ultimately, what…
on “How Does This Not Blow Your Mind?” ↗…more sophisticated representations of mathematics than most children get to play with. Games are great learning tools. One of favorite games for teaching mathematics I learned about from John Holt's book How Children Fail (originally published 1964, which I read in 1971 on the advice of my school's assistant principal). The twenty questions game asks children to find a number from 1 to 1,000,000 by asking twenty yes/no…
on “Algebraic and calculus concepts may be better way to introduce children to math” ↗…to win points, and within that environment “thinking” is wasteful and disincentivized. (See also: Lockhart's Lament https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament...., the heart-breaking How Children Fail by John Holt, etc.) Gowers also had a couple of posts on a very different way of teaching mathematics: https://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/how-should-mathemati... https://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/a-trip-to-watford-gr...
on “How Old Is The Shepherd? (2013)” ↗…school or a simulation of it. The majority of homeschoolers in America do it for religious reasons, though you can find secular homeschooling groups in every city. Some resources: How Children Learn and How Children Fail by John Holt. The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto (online) https://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/SevenLessonsTaughtI... Dumbing Us Down and Weapons of Mass Destruction by John Taylor…
on “Ask HN: Planning for Parenthood” ↗How Children Fail by John Holt http://www.amazon.com/Children-Fail-Classics-Child-Developme... The Nature of Paleolithic Art by R. Dale Guthrie http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Paleolithic-Art-Dale-Guthrie/dp...
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗…be a part of? My views on this topic are derived in part from my own experience, but they have also been shaped a great deal by the writings of John Holt. For those who are interested, I'd recommend How Children Fail as a great book to start with; it has really been influential in my thinking about education and the nature of school.
on “How My School and District Failed its Students” ↗Mindstorms by Seymour Papert How Children Fail by John Holt These books literally changed what I was doing with my life. Both are about how children (and thus people) learn.
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗John Taylor Gatto is really worth reading. I also highly recommend "How Children Fail" by John Holt. It's one of those books that I keep thinking about, even years after I first read it.
on “Teachers must ditch 'neuromyth' of learning styles, say scientists” ↗…incentives. You can recover your innate curiosity and ability to learn. If you went through typical schooling you have to give yourself permission to learn on your own. I recommend John Holt’s books How Children Fail and How Children Learn, and Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich.
on “Ask HN: How did you learn to learn?” ↗…through it, or maybe drop out, possibly learning some useful information and skills, but too often just wasting a lot of time. You might look into Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich, John Holt’s books How Children Fail and How Children Learn, and Grace Llewellyn’s The Teenage Liberation Handbook. John Taylor Gatto, a former Teacher of the Year, wrote this great essay The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher about school: https://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html
on “How will high school look like in future?” ↗…school-age children. For anyone interested in the difference between learning and school/education, and some alternatives such as homeschooling: Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich How Children Learn and How Children Fail by John Holt The Six Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto: https://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html
on “A Theoretical "Case Against Education"” ↗…books you need to use. I have found its best to focus on doing things that are enjoyable and create a love of learning rather than thinking about syllabus. A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart and How Children Fail by John Holt are well worth reading. Things like memorising times tables and long division do not matter. No one uses handwwriting much in adult life (although it does still need to be legible for exams).…
on “Ask HN: Best Books for Homeschooling?” ↗…accounts of unschoolers with feral kids who can't read. That happens too but not the norm in my experience. If you haven't already found them, get John Holt's books, especially How Children Learn and How Children Fail. Also Grace Llewellyn and John Taylor Gatto. I liked the book Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich.
on “Homeschool to college interview with four students” ↗…year, Gatto became very influential in early homeschooling movements. Parents or potential parents interested in education and schooling might also want to read Maria Montessori, and John Holt's books "How Children Fail" and "How Children Learn." We as a species actually know quite a bit about raising children, socialization, and education. I think we get duped by our surrounding society and government institutions…
on “Homeschooling hits record numbers” ↗…education taught me to value getting the right answer. (It also taught me to value prestige, prizes, etc.)" And of course many people receive an education like that. Qureshi credits John Holt's book How Children Fail http://www.amazon.com/Children-Fail-Classics-Child-Developme... with opening his eyes to a different view of education. (The same book was recommended to me by my junior high assistant principal in…
on “Things I Despised About My Education” ↗