happy mothering day.

This is mother's day in the US and for many, the tradition is to buy cards or flowers and take Mom out to mother's day brunch. In some nations, the original idea was "Mothering Day" which celebrated the ideal of mothering as much as the mothers themselves. Comenius was the first to formally recognize the mother's role as the child's first teacher.

... all children, rich and poor, high and low, boys and girls, were to be educated. Instruction must begin in early youth and follow the course of nature. For this purpose, he outlined an ideal scheme which extended from the birth of the child to the age of twenty-four years.

He outlined his ideal school arrangement as follows:

1. The Mother School would last the first 6 years of a child's life. 
2. The primary school would would then follow from ages 6-12. 
3. The "Latin School" would occupy the ages 12 to 18. and the 
4. University would carry forth from there with research and specialized study in various fields of science and the arts.

You can see that in American education we've roughly followed Comenius' arrangement with the exception of Mother School, which we've neglected entirely. In Mother School, the  mother and father with a thorough understanding of child development, and assisted in carrying out their sacred tasks would help the child:

lay the foundation for all that he is to learn in the later life. He is to be given simple lessons in objects, taught to know stones, plants, and animals; the names and uses of the members of his body; to distinguish light and darkness and colors; the geography of the cradle, the room, the farm, the street, and the field; trained in moderation, purity, and obedience, and taught to say the Lord's prayer. In the first school the mother is to be the teacher.

Instead, mothers, particularly poor mothers, are required to farm their kids out as early as possible so they can become economically employed. In the US, child development is rarely studied in school, and child care workers are often poorly equipped to serve in place of real mothers.

So instead of taking mothers to brunch as a token of our esteem, we should empower them with the time and knowledge to fulfill Comenius' ideal. A whole system of mothering schools across this great land would be ideal. In mothering schools, mothers (and fathers) would encourage each other in the care of their kids and become educated in the principles of progressive child development so that we might better care for each other and develop a citizenry better capable of caring for this planet.

In my wood shop, I've installed lining in the bodies of my Ukulele's and have been sanding the tops and bottoms flat for the backs and tops to be glued in place. You can see an array of slightly variable shapes and sizes in the photo above.

Make, fix, create, and extend to others the love of learning likewise.