at this point

I have the Governor's Quality Award bases ready for gluing, sanding, and finish. Those tasks will wait for my return from my box making class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.

The bases are simply trial assembled without glue at this point to check to see that all the parts fit, and that the miter joints are tight.

 I leave for Indiana today. The car will be loaded with boxes, tools and supplies. The boxes are to lead students through a design exercise and to serve as examples. We learn best through  concrete examples, and the process of design is needlessly abstract without examples to study and learn from.

And so, once again, I remind my readers of the principles of Educational Sloyd. Start with the interests of the child, move from the known to the unknown, from the easy to the more difficult, from the simple to the complex, and from the concrete to the abstract. These same principles apply to effective learning in all subjects. Few academics would acknowledge they might learn something from industrial arts.

For that reason I'll carefully explain that Adolph Diesterweg was the source of inspiration for the principles of Educational Sloyd. Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Diesterweg ) was not specifically an advocate for manual training, but as an associate of Friedrich Froebel was one of the philosophical influences that Cygnaeus drew upon in the formation of the Finnish Folk Schools. Diesterweg was a prolific writer, with his most notable works being on the role of the Volksshcule (folk school) in the promotion of democracy. As with Friedrich Froebel's Kindergartens, the Kaiser shut Diesterweg's schools down, too. Progressive education and an intelligent populace are inconsistent with the aims of militarism and authoritarianism. In a top down militarist society, you cannot have people who think for themselves and are willing to stand up to fascist inclinations.

Make, fix, create and encourage others to learn likewise.