on the dangers of holistic thinking.

One of the things that Friedrich Froebel hoped to instill in children through his kindergarten method, he called by the odd German term Gliedganzes, which meant member-whole. The idea was that a child was both an individual and a member of larger communities consisting of human culture, human economy, and the natural world, including all aspects of nature. So instead of simply teaching children to read and write, he devised a system in which the child would be introduced as an active force within the larger framework of human life.

Froebel's first gift consisted of small colored woolen balls, symbolic of larger things, and larger relationships.The illustration by Lucy Fitch Perkins encapsulates the idea that Froebel had in mind.

Can it be any wonder that the Kaiser decided to ban Kindergartens from all of Prussia? He wanted a system of education that would indoctrinate students and shape them to fit the will of the state.

Holistic thinking can be a danger when corporations choose to exert power. For instance, if we see ourselves as isolated from the things happening around us, we have no sense of our own power (or responsibility) to stand in opposition to corporate stupidity, or the machinations of evil force.

In my shop, I've been cleaning. In the school, shop, I've been cleaning in preparation for ESSA classes.

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