Ben Hewitt began writing for magazines in his twenties. He is now the author of four books that have explored food (The Town That Food Saved and Making Supper Safe) and consumer culture (Saved) and the unconventional education of his two young sons on a rural Vermont farm (Home Grown). ~Updated below for 2015 book Nourishing Homestead
Ben comes to Bear Pond Books on Tuesday, October 21st at 7:00 pm to talk about Home Grown and an approach to education that he explains this way:
"Both of our sons are educated at home in the context of a life-learning process known colloquially as unschooling. It is our belief that contemporary, institutionalized American educational expectations create “childhood deficit disorder” and do not allow for full maturity of mind and spirit. For both our boys and ourselves, we place a strong emphasis on connection to and appreciation of nature, and allow for as much unstructured time as possible. We do not own a television."
You can also read about the unschooling perspective in these recent articles by and about Ben and his family:
- "A Cabot Family Makes the Case for 'Unschooling'" by Kathryn Flagg (Seven Days)
- "These Kids Grew Up with the Woods as their Only Classroom" by Audie Cornish (National Public Radio)
- "We Don't Need No Education" by Ben Hewitt (Outside Magazine)
Ben lives with his sons and wife Penny on a 40-acre farm in Cabot that he purchased in 1997. We're excited to welcome Ben again to Bear Pond Books - come out and enjoy the discussion on October 21st! This event is free and open to the public.
February 2015 Update: Ben Hewitt's new book The Nourishing Homestead, written with wife Penny, takes a creative and instructive look at growing food on small plots of land. Designed to inspire the current (and next) generation of homesteaders. Here's some of the press around this book:
- Interview with Ben Hewitt on the Beauty that Moves Blog
- Review & Interview on the Vomiting Chicken Blog
- Book Review of Nourishing Homestead in Seven Days