National security tied to "made in USA"

Makes you wonder... what were they thinking? Between the balance of payment deficit, which is like having an open wound through which our children's future is bled, and the loss of American jobs and creative intelligence in the workforce, how in the world did they think it was OK to lose our manufacturing sector? And now they suddenly notice what they've done! We know better than to expect anyone to accept responsibility for it.

Those who actually make things have been pointing this out for years, and actually doing something about it.

Today at in the Clear Spring School wood shop, the first, second, and third grade students finished their trains with the second and third grade students shown in the photo above.

Watching as a parent you notice when children are engaged in doing real things beyond classroom memorization and worksheets. Even if your child is shy and inexpressive in words, the objects he or she has made invite conversation. By observing the things a child brings home from the wood shop, a mother might see the growth of her child moving from the easy to the more difficult, the known to the unknown, and the simple to the complex. She might even see things like growth in confidence and creative imagination. She might notice these things and giver her child praise, thus reinforcing the partnership between home and school.

Second grader Oakley told his mother that he wants to build a desk. He says he knows how to do it. He just needs some materials. His confidence is impressive. In the wood shop he applies himself with diligence. Two of the things that a parent witnesses in a child are growth of ambition and growth of confidence. Can you see how craftsmanship and the arts might provide an easy and direct means of assessment to revitalize our nation's schools? I will, in my spare time, set things into a "Beaufort scale of educational excellence". You are welcome to help. An interesting point is that the same relational scale applies throughout a child's education. In other words, you won't need a whole battery of standardized tests, each intended for specific grade levels when every parent and teacher is trusted as a witness of growth. And there is no stopping point in the development of craftsmanship.

My train making students asked, "Can we take these home today?" And it is important that children have that kind of feeling about their work.