wheels and things...

I'm going to start my first, second and third grade students on a project building toy trains and hope the larger project with engage their interests for at least a couple weeks. All but one of my students at the lower elementary age level are new to the school and are presenting a bit of a challenge for me.

So this morning I'll go to a handle factory in Missouri and get a bunch of round wood scraps, that I use to make wheels of various sizes. I get the scraps for free and in a quick trip can gather what will be at least a year's supply.

The objects shown in the photo are tally sticks, used as memory devices to record numbers of things. Human intelligence has never been an inside the head thing, and yet, in American education we treat it as though it might be. Heads are purposely crammed with useless and meaningless stuff, and then measured to determine the success or failure of the operation.

Over the past two weeks, we had no feral hog activity surrounding our hog trap. But last night we had 4 new pigs show up, having just moved into the area. The trapping of feral hogs may be a thing we will face on our property for years to come.

We might instead:

Make, fix, create and lure others into learning likewise.