Pat Farenga

Pat Farenga
Born	Patrick Farenga New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupations	Writer Educational activist
Known for	Advocating the modern homeschooling movement
Children	3
Website	Personal website

Patrick Farenga is an American writer and educational activist. ^[1] He is known as a leading advocate of the modern homeschooling movement which started in the 1970s. ^[2]

Life

Born in New York City, Farenga worked closely with homeschooling leader John Caldwell Holt on his Boston-based magazine, Growing Without Schooling (GWS). ^[3] After Holt's death in 1985, he took over as publisher of GWS and president of the parent company, Holt Associates. ^[4]

Farenga is a prolific writer, and has authored or contributed to many of the other educational publications by Holt Associates. He has written articles for numerous publications including Mothering, Paths of Learning, Home Education, and The Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society. ^[5] He contributed chapters to The Encyclopedia of School Administration (1988) and A Parent's Guide To Homeschooling (2002). ^[6] Among his works, Farenga is perhaps best known as the author of The Beginner's Guide To Homeschooling (1998) ^[7] and Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling (2003). ^[8]

Though GWS ceased print publication in November, 2001, and his own three children have grown to maturity, Farenga continues to write and edit educational material, and remains an active homeschooling advocate and consultant.Farenga has three children which he unschooled. ^[9]

External links

• Personal website Archived 2013-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
• A Listing of Information on Farenga and His Engagements Holt Associates/GWS
• Learning In Our Own Way Learning In Our Own Way: About Pat Farenga
• An Article on Unschooling By Pat Farenga
• A Preface for Articles in the Journal of Alternative Education By Pat Farenga
• GWS YouTube channel

1. "A new chapter in education: unschooling". NBC News. 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
2. "The Disinformation Campaign Against Homeschooling". Reason Foundation. 2020-05-04. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
3. "Pat Farenga". Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
4. "Growing Without Schooling 40". Issuu. 1984-08-01. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
5. twainausten (2024-07-29). "John Holt & Pat Farenga Teach Homeschoolers How to Learn". Capturing the Charmed Life. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
6. "pat farenga". be you. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
7. Farenga, Patrick (2000). The Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling. Holt Associates. ISBN   978-0-913677-17-9.
8. Holt, John; Farenga, Pat (2021-09-28). Teach Your Own: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN   978-0-306-92620-4.
9. "Pat Farenga". Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Retrieved 2026-01-27.