salt and pepper...

salt and pepper boxes.

I'm wrapping up photos and text for chapter 4 which consists of salt and pepper shakers and similarly designed boxes, all made by using a forstner bit to hollow the interior space. I plan to have 2 or 3 more chapters done in the next 3 weeks.

In addition, our 3rd Oneway lathe will be delivered at Clear Spring School tomorrow. It is exciting to make this sort of program upgrade. The Oneway lathes are more robust, and will therefore be safer for classroom use. This new lathe will also allow me to retire one of the Jet lathes put into operation in 2001.

I have a simple question. That we learn best when we learn something hands-on is nearly a no-brainer, not meaning that the brain is not involved, but that it is so deeply enmeshed in learning that its operation is seamless and unflawed. We can all think of times when we were so deeply involved and what we remember from it. And yet, when it comes to teaching our kids, we ignore the role their hands might play in effective learning. Does that make sense?

The purposeful integration of the hands in learning is the key to efficiency. But how do we lure educational policy makers to engage in revolution? Of course the key is to take matters into our own hands, for the hands offer primacy among the senses.

"The ground of this business is, that sensual (sensuous) objects be rightly presented to the senses for fear that they not be received. I say, and say it again aloud, that this is the foundation of all the rest; because we can neither act nor speak wisely, unless we first rightly understand all the things which are to be done and whereof we have to speak. Now there is nothing in the understanding which was not before in the senses. And therefore to exercise the senses well about the right perceiving of the differences of things will be to lay the grounds for wisdom and all wise discourse, and all discreet actions in one's course of life, which, because it is commonly neglected in schools, and the things that are to be learned are offered to scholars without their being understood or being rightly presented to the senses, it cometh to pass that the work of teaching and learning goeth heavily onward and offereth little benefit." – Comenius

Washington Post:  New research suggests nature walks are good for your brain  In the past several months, a bevy of studies have added to a growing literature on the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. That includes recent research showing that  short micro-breaks spent looking at a nature scene have a rejuvenating effect on the brain — boosting levels of attention — and also that kids who attend schools featuring more greenery  fare better  on cognitive tests.

Make, fix and create...