Home again.

I had a great time in St. Louis with the St. Louis Woodworker's Guild. The weather seems to be a thing they've gotten used to as snow on the streets did nothing to deter attendance for the class. Unfortunately, I was too busy to take any photos. We had a nice discussion of design. I made sleds and two kinds of box. With around thirty in the class, it was difficult for folks to to get a close-up view. We really do learn best when the work is in our own hands. Fortunately, most of those attending had prior experience in woodworking to serve as scaffolding for an understanding of my techniques.

I admit to getting carried away with telling about Educational Sloyd and Kindergarten. But woodworkers are hands-on learners, and we must unite against the stupidity of those who think that academic style learning is something more than cheap. Yes, you can crowd tons of folks in a college lecture hall, while you pay a professor to stand up front delivering dry stuff while the students not-so-surreptiously check their facebook accounts to see who likes what. Colleges and universities can make big money thus.

Hands-on learning, on the other hand, offers more valuable and more cost-effective, world-changing results.

This weekend members of the Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists began installing the bluebird houses my students made at our Lake Leatherwood City Park.

Make, fix, create, and increase the likelihood that others learn lifewise.