at the top of the slide

While I was teaching at Marc Adams School of Woodworking last week, I told my students that Kindergarten was the learning model we would attempt to follow. Each student would be learning at the their own pace and through play.

When asked about the Kindergarten I attended, I remembered St. Mary's Kindergarten in Memphis, where they had an indoor slide and sandbox. Walking into St. Mary's was like finding one's way to a joyous place.

For woodworkers intent on learning, that's what MASW (and other woodworking schools) can feel like. Lining up at the table saw was like lining up at the top of the slide, and saying to one's peers, "watch this!" For some dirty reason, school administrators and politicians decided that school must not be fun. I challenge that foolishness. I hope you will, too.

The photo is from an old book, Jean Lee Hunt's Catalog of Play Equipment from 1918 that helped teachers understand that children with some adult supervision, can make their own dangerous but wonderful playground. Join me at the top of the slide, and watch this...

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning likewise.