Friday, November 09, 2007

If you walk on a pathway in the woods, you notice the worn area where other feet have traveled before your own. There may even be the foot prints left in soft clay. If you follow that path for the first time, at each side is undifferentiated green. Being able to recognize the difference between the path and the green can be enough knowledge to carry you to your destination. And yet, who would not be awakened to greater curiosity? There are scents, sights, sounds and textures that stimulate your attention. There is a sequential quality to the experience, providing an organizational framework for ease of remembrance. You start at one end and journey to the other. It is best to travel with a trusted friend and mentor who can share the names of things, and point out relationships between things that you can examine and explore for yourself. In time, the variations in the path and the forest are revealed to you both in name and comprehension... an infinite revelation of simplicity and complexity.

Here we have the beginnings of school. The ideal school and learning environment.

Next we are joined by others and we walk in town. We see people at work and in activities that seem strange to us. But again, the trusted friend and mentor helps in the naming of things and description of relationships that we can observe and study for our own understanding. There are scents, sights, sounds and textures to awaken curiosity, and a sequential quality that unfolds, revealing life in a manner in which it can be remembered and explored.

Do you get the idea here? Any questions so far? It is another beautiful day in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. The kids at school have been playing dodge ball at recess. The teachers stand by as referees. Cheering for each. You would have to come see for yourself to fully comprehend the essential qualities involved.

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