39. Pat Farenga and johnholtgws.com

In today’s episode, we get to spend time with Pat Farenga from Boston, Massachusetts. Pat grew up in New York and eventually ended up in Boston for postsecondary studies. After completing his Master's degree, and with the challenge of finding available work in the early 1980s, Pat ended up working at a bookstore in Boston. Unbeknown to Pat, this bookstore was below the office of John Holt, one the most influential figures for the modern unschooling and homeschooling movements. When John Holt died in 1985, Pat became the publisher of the well-known homeschooling newsletter, Growing without Schooling (GWS), and president of Holt Associates. More recently, Pat has finished preparing all 143 issues of GWS and has made these available online. Mr. Farenga is an unschooling father of 3 daughters, an accomplished pianist and saxophonist, and he is a prolific writer, best known as the author of The Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling (1998) and Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling (2003). During our conversation, we discussed many of the unfortunate problems with the conventional school system and how it is designed to stifle curiosity and the love of learning. We also talk about how homeschooling and unschooling allow families to escape the arbitrary benchmarks that plague schools and their students. This episode is of interest to all who are seeking an alternative to conventional schools, and we are given access to many resources to help us improve education and lifestyle.

Connect with Pat Farenga
https://www.johnholtgws.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/Johnholtgws
Books
Deschooling Society
Instead of Education
Teach Your Own
How Children Fail
How Children Learn
In Search of Excellence

Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_(magazine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svWynGm

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