how children learn... a very useful book for parents and teachers

1. John Holt
A man with deep insight, an extra
ordinary reflective teacher, close observer and an
author of 10 influential books translated into 14
languages.
How children learn
More than 1 million copies sold and
influenced generations of teachers and parents to
make the schools and homes both better place for
children to learn and enjoy their childhood.
Through this great piece of thought he
tried to make us realized that
• Childs learning is not just storing some
information in the hard disk of a
computer.
• It is not like a behavioral modification
occurs in dogs ,pigeons ,cats and rats as a
result of classical of operant conditioning.
• It is far beyond that and cannot be
measured through artificial intelligence
testing like Wechsler Intelligence scale
for children and Bender Gestalt test.

2. • How human, the supreme creature learn
to talk, read and reason.
• How we adults can support, enhance and
facilitate their innate learning abilities.
• How schools are playing a negative role
in damaging the real learning processes.
Revised edition, book of 9 chapters, 303
pages is a unique collection of the author’s
reflections and close observations based on
one to one interaction with children on daily
basis as a teacher, a family member and as a
family friend.
Getting letters from many parents
about their children in a magazine “growing
without schooling” is also supporting this
fact that,
Children are innate and gifted learner and
learn without being taught.
They learn better when they learn in their
own way for their own reasons.
In talking, reading, writing and
many other things they do, children are
perfectly able if not being hurried, corrected
and tested.

3. They have the
ability to correct themselves after noticing
their own mistakes, but this ability affected
under pressure and anxiety induced by
adults. school’s challenges which should
serves as a power stretcher becomes threats
because of criticism , comparisons and even
punishments which gives them the message
that “it is beyond their power and they start
under estimating themselves”.
All they need is Trust and
Respect after Love. give them the sense of
their own worth.
Talking more about correction
which seems to be the mildest form of
punishment for me , kills the skills of self
correction and self checking . feeling of
shame , occurs as a result of correction
paralyzed the thinking , so how can the
child compares and correct himself.
He said ,

4. “we do not
need to learn more about the brain , as an
organ in order to make schools better
.pleasurable experiences are easiest to
remember and memory works best when
unforced.”
I think if we want to undo the
negitive things experienced by the previous
generation ,
We must read this book. To
make the child hood of the next generations
more pleasurable, healthy and fruitful.