senses and motor based learning...

The box in the photo at left is maple with finger jointed corners. I've not yet applied the Danish oil finish. It was begun as a class demonstration in the use of the Gifkins Jig, and I finished it today by adding a lid and base. I think you can see why I might love making boxes. The design possibilities are endless.

From the very earliest days of educational theory Comenius had noted that children learned through their senses and by doing. Their activities were the driving force of their learning. Since that time, things have become complicated by structured education. Children are assigned by their managers based on evaluations and objectives outside the interests of the child to teachers and placed within classrooms and while those who sit and listen well, may survive the ordeal, many who squirm in their seats do not last with all their natural confidence and curiosity in tact.

That can be where woodworking, physical education and the arts come in. A significant and somewhat surprising portion of the human brain is allocated to the sensory data collection and subsequent manipulation by the human hand concerning physical and cultural realities. That we fail to make use of this natural alliance between the hands and learning is a tragic mistake.

So while educators attempt to get a grasp on education reform, the secret right before our very eyes lies within our grasp.

Today in the wood shop I am making boxes for fun and boxes to fill holes in my inventory. I am also attempting to write a few pages of material to hand off to an agent who I hope will lead me closer to publishing a book about hands-on learning.

Make, fix and create...