Growing Without Schooling (GWS- Online) - Magazines for Homeschool Educators

GWS is the work of John C. Holt and homeschooling's early pioneer families. It is now made available exclusively by Home Education Magazine.

Introduction to GWS issues online

Posting issues of Growing Without Schooling magazine (GWS) online is exhilarating to me, and a bit sad. Exhilarating because I am excited that a new audience of children and adults will be able to read these issues almost exactly as they were published nearly thirty years ago. Sad because their posting achingly reminds me of the loss of my friend and mentor John Holt, and because they mark a fascinating period of my own life that is now considered “historic.” Just writing that makes me feel old, if not historical.

At the time I didn’t think I was part of any historical record: I was just a young man gaining office and publishing experience, wielding an Exacto knife and rubber cement to get out the next publication John wanted to do. But after a year of working with John, I realized how important and unique GWS was and I “was hooked.” Looking back, I also realize how lucky I was to work with Peggy Durkee, Donna Richoux, Tim Chapman, and all the volunteers who helped bring out the materials Holt produced then. With John, these diverse personalities produced one of the foundations of the homeschooling movement. John couldn’t have done it without their generous assistance.

Likewise, bringing these issues to the Internet is a group effort. I am using old hardware to find materials that were saved on magnetic tape, single-sided 400K disks, and Olivetti word processing floppy disks to recreate the back issues, so we will be posting the issues according to their ease of retrieval rather than as a chronological project. The Hegeners, Mary Nix, and their assistants are patiently formatting and posting the issues as I pull them out from the archives. I hope to post issues that have been out of print the longest first. If you want to actually own and hold an issue of GWS in your hands though, you can still purchase a few original back issues of GWS from www.FUN-Books.com .

Many groups that are founded by strong individuals tend to dissolve quickly once their founders die. Holt Associates/Growing Without Schooling continued for another sixteen years after John Holt passed away. I could not have continued publishing GWS without the considerable expertise of Susannah Sheffer, Day Farenga, Ginger Fitzsimmons, Randi Kelly, Mary Maher and a host of part-time and volunteer workers that would take pages to mention by name. I see our efforts as a testament to the strength of Holt’s ideas, to each Holt Associates’ passion to continue and expand his work, and to a growing awareness that what Holt was writing about is truly worthwhile in its own right. Indeed, as I write this in 2006, nine out of ten of Holt’s books are currently in print, more than were in print when John was alive! Interest and appreciation for Holt’s work continues to grow, and I am honored to be able to share these early issues of GWS with you. I hope they inspire you to consider other ways to help children learn and grow in our society besides sending them to school.

Patrick Farenga President, Holt Associates Inc. www.holtgws.com