number 7

I sent out number 7 of my weekly newsletter, Woodworking at home with kids. I welcome feedback, and you are welcome to subscribe if you are not already receiving it. This week I'm exploring paper box making as a way to increase proficiency of hand and mind.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

making do...

The Shiloh Museum in Springdale, Arkansas has an online exhibit, Make Do, appropriate to our times. While we are waiting for the next Amazon cardboard box to arrive, we might consider making a few things for ourselves.

Friends Dustin and April Griffith and their home made of shipping containers is included in the exhibit. Another good friend Darla Gray-Winter has her box guitars featured in the exhibit.

 https://shilohmuseum.org/project/make-do/

May we hope for better days to come in which we all are motivated to engage in cooking, making, and making-do from the things we find around us. There is a nice video showing how to make a simple box from a cereal box. Just think about how much wonderful material is thrown out from our homes each day.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

Wissenshaft, kentniss and seen that.

In the German language, knowledge is described in two forms, Wissenshaft, and Kentniss. Wissenshaft refers to knowledge passed along, accumulated and expressed second hand and Kentniss refers to knowledge gained directly through experience. If you have any practical experience in the real world and have gained skill as a result, you may know the difference between the two, and the way in which one reinforces the other.

There's another form of knowledge held by the youtube learner that we can call "seen that." Unlike wissenshaft which most often requires reading skills, youtube learning allows you to jump from one thing to another in a passive manner. I'm trying to understand whether that's better or worse. If youtube learning leads to non-youtube doing, that could be a good thing.

I'm reminded of a student years ago who insisted as I tried to introduce a new technique, "I know that." His comment seemed dismissive, so I asked him to show me what he knew, for surely there's a difference between knowing something about something, and knowing how to actually do something. There's a difference between the virtual world and what we can call a virtuous world. In one, we pretend to do stuff. It's likely harmless. In the other we find ways to be of service to each other.

Yesterday I applied a second coat of Danish oil to about 25 boxes. They'll get one more coat and then at some point be distributed for sale. I also applied another coat of Danish oil to the bathroom bench.

Make, fix, create and assist others to learn lifewise.

what's up?

This morning I'm on the cover of "What's Up," an entertainment insert in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and I was featured in the lead article about the White St. Walk, a craft show that I participate in each year here in Eureka Springs.

The White St. Walk was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the Democrat-Gazette was kind enough to create a "virtual" White St. Walk with several local artists. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/apr/26/hip-to-be-square-white-street-walk-arti/

It's not the same as being able to visit safely with friends. We look forward to next year.

Today I'll take advantage of lovely warm, dry weather to apply Danish oil to boxes and the small bench.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

a small ash bench

I've been making a small amount of progress each day on a bathroom bench. It will be a place to sit as you get dressed, and is made of ash. Today I'll drill holes in the legs for the dowels that will attach the base to the top.

It has some subtle features. The stretcher that stabilizes the legs is tightened through the use of wedges that will be pounded in place from the top and underside and glued. The leg sections are tapered toward the top, to make it appear just a bit lighter, but without sacrificing width and stability at the base.

The top is shaped to feel more inviting.

The parts from which the angled legs were assembled were cut from a single 12 in. wide board, as was the top. The angled legs add just a bit more stability to the structure, as they are shaped to stand on their own, even when disconnected from the bench.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

number 6 Newsletter.

Yesterday I sent out newsletter number 6, Woodworking at Home with Kids. https://mailchi.mp/22efc5500a7a/number-6-woodworking-at-home-with-kids

This one is about making a Sloyd trivet. I've prepared the materials for distribution to Clear Spring School students on Monday.

The expanding trivet (my own design) is a modification and enhancement of the fixed size trivets shown in Gustaf Larsson's book Elementary Sloyd and Whittling. The kids like it because it can be adjusted and played with after assembly. It demands accuracy in the alignment of parts.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

developing heart...

You may have wondered about the difference between sapwood and heartwood. Sapwood carries nutrients and water between the roots and leaves, while the dense heartwood cells fill over time with solids that give the tree greater strength and decay resistance.

Sapwood is generally a lighter color, and is therefore thought less attractive by some. Others are intrigued by the contrast it offers in the design of work. In situations where decay is possible, like in building wooden boats or outdoor furniture, it should be avoided.

These days, many trees are purposely grown so fast for a profit that heartwood has too little time to fully form. This leads to wood of lesser quality than the woods of old.

Note in the illustration that there's springwood in which the tree grows quickly forming new rings, summerwood that's more dense, followed by winter in which little growth takes place.

With the pandemic and social distancing, it may seem we're stuck. Is this winter still? Or are we poised for fresh growth? We are in strange times, indeed. You'll note in the drawing that not all years of growth are the same. And yet, we can feel assured that growth is relentless. We will get through these times together.

Like the heartwood in the tree, we, too, take time to form and to have strength. These difficult days will build us, and make us strong. Be safe, Stay well. Take special care of each other.

Make, fix, and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

It's Earth Day...

It is Earth Day and the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1970. This is a time to be thankful for whatever natural environment we have left, and to do more than plant a few trees in remembrance of what we've lost.

I have clear memories of the first Earth Day. I was a senior at Hastings College in Nebraska, and a very small number my friends and I gathered along a small drainage ditch in a field. It was the most close-to-natural spot we could find. We said a few words as we stood together, the gist of which was that the Earth and its natural world should no longer be neglected, but should instead be preserved. It was clear to us that man was making a mess of things and that from that Earth Day forward, we (mankind) would do a better job of preserving things.

I can look at these intervening 50 years with disappointment.

A friend had told me that while everyone was concerned about saving the earth, the earth would take care of itself, and that the people should worry that if we don't take care of the earth and all life upon it, it would be the people that suffer. Welcome to 2020. Is this a year to learn from our past and gain a clearer view of what's to come? Can we learn at long last to live in greater harmony with the Earth and its wonders?

Let's hope.

Make, fix, and create. Assist other in learning lifewise.

a small bench

Today in my home wood shop, after finalizing a design with my wife, I'm beginning work on a small bench. It will be a place to sit while getting dressed and will replace a five board bench from my book on Making Rustic Furniture that will be moved to another spot.

The new bench will be made of ash. The angled shape of the legs will give it a great deal of stability and strength.

I'm also putting lift tabs on the lids of boxes to make them easy to open, and preparing more materials for my students to continue woodworking at home. Due to the Coronavirus, things in the shop and life in general are moving at a leisurely pace.

I hope my readers are well and staying safe.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

Uncoddleing the American mind.

Circumstances have a way of bringing us back to reality, and even though we might find comfort in a retreat to the safety of our digital devices, that both distract us from real things, and remind us of them. There are real dangers out there. There is no real ease in the real world, even though we may find temporary sequester from it. Stock all your closets with toilet paper, and that still doesn't mean you won't run out of it at some point.

David Brooks in the New York Times write an OpEd, "The Age of Coddling is Over, Learning what hardship has to teach us."  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/opinion/coronavirus-medical-training.html He talks about the rigors of med school and of science education and how doctors are trained by the rigors of their educations, not to run away from danger, but toward it. And if you are paying attention to what's going on around the world, and not just gaming your life away, you no doubt feel some great sense of gratitude for those willing to put their own lives on the line in defense of others.

The world is changing. Normal is no longer a word that will fit. We are attempting to distance from each other and band together in safer, smaller groups. And perhaps the age of coddling our children is over. And perhaps truly caring for them would have been best handled by giving them real work to do, in service to family, community and friends, thus preparing them, as does med school, and the army, to take risks and to rise up.

Is it possible that sequestering children from reality to make their lives safe, also coddles their minds? Current circumstances suggest that we can no longer do that.

The large Froebel blocks on the Clear Spring School campus have been idle for weeks.When they are in use you see children lifting and moving them and arranging them to the limits of their strength.

I've been using the wood shop there to drill a few holes in preparation for student at-home work. These days will come to an end. Children will return to work and play. But where's the testing and tracing that needs to be put in place first? So far, not so good.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

volume 1, number 5

Today I sent out Volume 1, Number 5 of my newsletter, Woodworking at Home with Kids. In it, I offer useful information for both kids and adults, including two quick videos on wood grain, how to read it and how to understand it.

I've known for a long time that all kids need to have hands-on learning experiences that schools in general no longer supply. So the burden of education falls on parents and grandparents to offer creative experiences that the children's schools ignore. If you are not receiving the newsletter, you can sign up for it here: https://mailchi.mp/254bebc7494e/woodworking-at-home-for-kids-volume-1-number-5

It's interesting what the Covid-19 virus is doing to our nation's schools. On the one hand, teachers and students are being forced online, despite the warnings that screen time is actually a disruptive force in child development, that leads to depression, anxiety, childhood obesity and additional serious effects. On the other hand, the usual testing regime that takes place this time of year have also been disrupted, requiring universities to find other models for accepting students in place of the usual ACT and SAT test scores which never actually measured anything that important in the first place.

It is time to be acutely aware of our own and each other's needs for mental health. Researchers have noted that symptoms of depression and anxiety are alleviated when we are busy and feel a direct sense of agency and control over our own lives. Our hands have the power to reshape our emotions and our feelings about ourselves and our surroundings. Never has it been more important to be doing real things that offer some service to each other. This applies to both children and adults.

In my own wood shop I find a sense of comfort in preparing tools and materials for my students to make things at home. Be safe, Stay well!

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

a walk in the woods.

Yesterday my daughter Lucy and I took 42 of her New York high school students on a visual walk in the woods outside out home. We were accompanied by our dogs Beepers and Rosie and walked the area that Lucy used to play in as a child. The students now know just a wee bit about Arkansas, a bit abut the forest ecology and a bit about a life that's far different from their own.

In my woodshop and in the studio at the Clear Spring School, I've been making parts for students to use at home, and that will be packaged for distribution next Monday. I also plan to work on boxes today for the time when the economy eventually opens back up.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

Risky play

There is a new brief video trailer on "Risky Play" from Match Frame Creative that features some of our Clear Spring School Students at work in the wood shop. https://vimeo.com/407691540/5ac4085efd

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

podcast

The Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow released a podcast interview with me on their website. I want to thank Chad Gurley from the Writer's Colony for allowing me to tell my story. We tell stories in the hopes that we may be of some use to each other. The interview is part of a series of podcasts the Writer's Colony is doing to address the question, "how are artists and writers dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic?" We all are making changes. You can find the podcasts here: https://www.writerscolony.org/podcast/

My own podcast is here: https://www.writerscolony.org/podcast/episode/c859c9e2/featuring-doug-stowe

Today I delivered wooden squares and nails to the Clear Spring School to be picked up and used in at home lessons. I've been attempting to develop an on-screen tutorial about using the free 3D modeling program Sketchup to build a Lego block. I keep making mistakes as I've been attempting to run through the entire process without needing to edit. In the wood shop I have lots of boxes to sand and finish. With shops closed, and retail buying curtailed, I make things for the pleasure and necessity of doing work.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

enough already!

We are beginning our second month of being socially distant, and it takes its toll. The folks at the grocery store seem stressed and cautious, and we all will welcome better days. Those days will come.

I'm working in my own shop to get kits made for my student's parents to pick up next week, and the week after and I'm working on a youtube tutorial on how to use Sketchup to make a Lego block. The value of that is partly in learning a useful design program, and also in learning to follow explicit instructions to a "T." A small typing error, inputing the wrong dimension, being off by a fraction of a millimeter will not create a Lego block that fits other Lego blocks.

When we are no longer so distant my students and I will be able to print their Lego blocks using the school's 3D printers.

Keeping busy allows me to cope.

My newsletter for woodworking at home with kids Volume 1, Number 4,  went out yesterday and explains the use of the square. My shop made squares are ready for parents to pick up at school on Monday to continue at home learning.

Kids are being pushed into more and more screen time and while our internet devices are helping us all to cope, in the long term we need to be doing real things.

There's an arts initiative to support artists that shows promise: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/coronavirus-recession-wpa-arts-programs-wellness-style/index.html

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

Make something for a friend.

During our "social distancing, " we might feel lonely and missing our friends. It's ironic that our woodworking tools that some think of as dangerous, are actually less dangerous to us than hanging out with friends.

In any case, making art can ease the troubled heart. It's therapeutic. And it's done best when you can hold your friend and friendships in mind. Think of someone you miss and make something for them. You'll feel much better, I guarantee.

The Eureka Springs School of the Arts, and the Good Shepherd Humane Society have teamed up for a wonderful fund raiser in honor of our furry friends.

You can donate your skills as artist or develop your skills as an artist and participate in this worthwhile event. If you have a furry friend you love, you can have its portrait done by an artist or aspiring artist for the low price of $15.00. The picture shows an example. For more information, follow the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/829233694231543/

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

Rosie Edition

I've published a new woodworking at home for kids newsletter featuring the woodworking of Rosie. https://mailchi.mp/83ee29cae77d/woodworking-at-home-with-the-the-students-from-the-clear-spring-school-rosie-edition I hope it is useful to you.

You can subscribe through the link above.

This afternoon I participated in a recording of  podcast for the Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow. I'll let you know when that podcast is available for your listening pleasure.

Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning lifewise

Using a square

Using a square.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

a simple demonstration of wood grain

This is a simple demonstration of wood grain and its effects in working with wood.

the making of masks.

A friend and blog reader Tim Holton sent me a link to his own blog that mentions a thing he'd read here last year about the "fabric of community." I urge you to read it because it's a beautiful piece that concerns the making of masks. https://www.holtonframes.com/blog/they-maintain-the-fabric-of-the-world/

If it's N95 masks that the medical community needs, what place is there in that for the home-made? Have you wondered? Here in our own town of Eureka Springs many are making fabric masks in a project led by local clothing designer and teacher at the Clear Spring School, Mark Hughes. You can see Mark's video tutorial through this link. https://youtu.be/kSNppV1RArg There is joy in feeling of service to others that I hope all come to know.

It's recommended now that we all wear masks when we go out, but is there a place for hand-made masks in hospitals? I learned from Tim Holton's post that some in the medical community are wearing hand-made masks over their N95's. They give a sense of identity and recognition to the faceless heroes of our Coronavirus catastrophe. They also protect the important N95's from being discarded due to becoming soiled.

That they are made with love should say enough.

Stay well.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

Narrative

I heard back from a reader who began using Paper Sloyd with his stuck at home kids. Matt said,

"The ‘lesson’ was a success, despite initial grumbling. Once the kids decided for themselves that they could make the project theirs by customizing things, they were all over it. Attached is a photo."

Thanks Matt, for sharing this. I've been reflecting on the narrative qualities of wood, that: "where there's a knot, there had been a branch" and how much we are like trees. They tell their stories. We tell ours, even though we often tend to take the easy way out, by using our words, rather than mind, muscle, and hands. It makes a difference how we think of narrative. Is it only human jabber, or is it connected to deeper human experience? One difference between trees and man is that trees don't jabber.

This coming week I have a podcast with the Writer's Colony in Eureka Springs, so I've also been reflecting on the difference between how-to writers, and those who dwell upon fictional subjects. This is not to disparage other forms of writing which also require effort and imagination, but we how-to writers are held to the bonds and boundaries of the real world, and in that are empowered to bring real change to real lives. A child writing a note to Nana to fill an envelope carefully crafted from paper offers a small example of our work.

Make, fix, and create. Assist others in living and learning lifewise.

attempting to be brief...

As I've been attempting to convey lessons in woodworking to the students and parents at the Clear Spring School, I'm beginning to realize that I need to be brief. Many (even parents) will not read what I write, as reading has become hard for us in our twitter age.

Even with the corona virus slowing us down and giving us more time to read we seem to have lost the knack for long sentences.

But it's difficult for me to be brief on a subject I love so much and that's so deeply entwined in human culture to the point many don't know that it's there.

Wood and the attempt to make useful and beautiful objects from it are foundation blocks in human civilization.

So for those who don't like to read so much, I offer the following about the kits that Clear Spring School parents will pick up for their kids beginning Monday by arrangement with their core teachers or head of school.

1. A labeled and finished sample of an Arkansas hardwood. The students are to  use the internet to learn more about the tree and the uses of its wood, then draw a picture of the tree or write a poem or observations about the tree.
2. A block of 2 x 4 spruce (a common building material). Count the annual rings and give thought to how long it took to grow in comparison to their own lives.
3. A sanding block with which they are to work on the 2 x 4 block, sanding to compare results, across and with the grain.

While we are in some difficult times, look at the spaces between the annual rings and notice that not all are not the same. Trees, too, grow through difficult times, and that the rings go on, tells us that we, too, will grow on to better days.

With the sanding block, I offer this warning to kids. Only use it on unfinished wood. Using it on other things will get you in big trouble.

I'll try to lay out assignments more simply in my future mailings. If you want to receive those mailings, use this link. https://mailchi.mp/74d5ecb639e1/woodworking-at-home-with-the-clear-spring-school-volume-1-number-3

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

number 3

I just sent out the number 3 newsletter Woodworking at Home with Kids. https://mailchi.mp/74d5ecb639e1/woodworking-at-home-with-the-clear-spring-school-volume-1-number-3 There are millions of kids out there, suffering from social distancing that would benefit from woodworking, a better understanding of wood and a greater respect for craftsmanship. You can help by passing the newsletter along to parents, grandparents and teachers.

If you want to subscribe, click on the link above. It offers the opportunities to subscribe, view earlier editions, and have the page translated into a language of your choice.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

an easier link

A friend, Kim Brand sent an easier link for folks trying to download the Paper Sloyd book than from my drop box account.

https://papersloyd.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Paper+Sloyd.pdf

This will be useful for those attempting to make use of my emails about woodworking at home with kids.

https://mailchi.mp/3c1d8e02c351/woodworking-with-the-kids-at-the-clear-spring-school

Viewing the email online you can subscribe, download the previous message, and thanks to google also view translations in a wide variety of languages, so world-wide, parents and children can benefit from stay at home woodworking exercises.

I received this lovely quote from Marsha:

"Behind the visible surface of things is the infinite ocean of possibility. Its waves are so beautiful and inviting. "What a wonderful world," Louis Armstrong sings. What a wonderful life, in which the playful waves in the cosmic ocean dare you, tease you, and play a game of hide and seek with you, all the time hoping that you will catch one and turn it into a beautiful poem, a painting, a song, or a wonderful act of human kindness." — Lothar Shäfer - Infinite Potential - What Quantum Physics Reveals About How We Should Live

I am reminded that we are interconnected, and perhaps that offers some consolation in challenging times. We can dwell upon our separateness and suffer the pain of isolation, or we can feel (even while sequestered) that we are not alone.

As I work alone in my shop, am I alone? There are tools there in my own hands that others have designed and crafted or that were passed down to me. And from my simple shop, there's a flow of ideas and forms that can be placed in service for others. And the woods! May I tell you about the woods? I'm overwhelmed thinking about that, so the subject will await another day. Wood will be the subject of my next news letter. You will have to subscribe to receive it.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

Volume 1, number 2

I just sent out volume 1, number 2 of my newsletter series, Woodworking at home with the kids at the Clear Spring  School. https://mailchi.mp/3c1d8e02c351/woodworking-with-the-kids-at-the-clear-spring-school If you use the link, it will allow you to subscribe and to view the first in the series if you missed it.

The photo shows an original first edition of the book Paper Sloyd along with a "wall pocket" and  a hand crafted valentine I found saved in the book.

Make, fix, create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

a review

I sent a review pdf of my new Guide to Woodworking with Kids to a very dear friend in Sweden, who had been my guide and host at Nääs, Sweden, the home of Educational Sloyd.

Though quite elderly, Hans Thorbjörnsson, wrote the following:

"Your creation Guide to Woodworking with Kids is a remarkable creation. You have brought The Teacher's Handbook(Salomon's) ... and The Theory of Educational Sloyd into the 21st century - in a much better version. Lots of photos of high quality, very instructive and filled with interested children. Drawings so easy to understand that even Rosie can use them. And best of all - your text caracterized by your passion for educational sloyd and it's good fruits, especially the co-ordination between hands och brain, Wisdom of the Hands.

"The models are adapted to children's and young students'interests, much better than Salomon's dusty ones. Carl Malmsten - remember his criticism - is applauding you from designers' heaven.

"Educational sloyd and good woodworking are most essential in our digital time. You have done your best and I feel happy to have seen it happen before I close my eyes."

Hans, a historian and teacher, had written books about Educational Sloyd and Nääs. When I met him, he was the curator of Otto Salomons library at Nääs and he has been my correspondent for years as I've delved into the history and methods of Educational Sloyd.

In his note Hans makes reference to Carl Malmsten, a Swedish designer craftsman who had been at Nääs, and later became James Krenov's teacher, and through that had a tremendous effect on American woodworking. Malmsten had caused great dissention at Nääs, as he tried to bring Sloyd forward into the 20th century. His ideas and ideals of fostering the child's creativity and responding more directly to the interests of the child were not well received at the time.

In my own shop, I'm working on designs for a bathroom bench, and preparing lessons for my next newsletter.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

a simple new look...

A simple new look. I've been making some boxes with veneered panels glued into the top. Some were left with too large a gap surrounding the panels, so my fix has been to put a fresh veneer on the top. I like it and hope you do also. Now final sanding, the installation of a lift tab on the lid and the application of an oil finish will bring these to completion.

A friend in Finland wondered about how to sell boxes for a price that reflects the effort required to make them. He mentioned living in an Ikea world in which everything was made cheap. But making is not just making. It's learning, and it gives shape to the feelings we have about ourselves. It's therapy in hard times, and gives us the ability to cope with difficult circumstances. As we pursue growth of skill, we influence those around us to do the same. And if we want to live in strong communities, we must encourage each other to do as follows:

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

an invitation

My first newsletter about woodworking with kids went out this afternoon. You are welcome to invite others to subscribe. https://mailchi.mp/cef1b62cd29a/woodworking-at-home-an-invitation

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise

an insatiable desire to make things.

This video about the  woodworking of Russ Zeitz. https://youtu.be/Hz4maPRwVCc came to me from Lee Valley. Russ says, "You will never get bored if you start making things." Russ describes his "insatiable desire to make things."

In the meantime, I'm just getting ready to send out the first of my woodworking with kids emails to the parents of my Clear Spring School kids. To subscribe you will have to send me an email. It will offer tips for parents of students grades K-12 but also may be useful to woodworkers in general.

Stay busy, stay well.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in living likewise.

moment to movement

What do our hands offers learning? Some research has shown that we learn science more effectively (and it's remembered) when we learn hands-on, even when less breadth of material is covered.

I suggest a revolution in schooling to make use of concrete learning to a greater degree than we do now. The covid-19 epidemic is likely to divorce learning even more from concrete learning unless we can figure out how to become a channel for propelling kids to get off their digital devices and into the real world. Many years ago, a friend had suggested to me that my brains are in my hands, and that threw me for a loop. I realized he was right, and over the years became aware that was not only true for me, but for most others as well.

I would urge all teachers and all students, even those in academic subjects to thoroughly examine their own learning experience sand particularly those a-ha life changing moments that brought them to an extreme interest in a particular subject area, and assess how deeply their hands were engaged at the time. Were they doing something real, were they out in a real place, and did they connect what they were learning with actual real world experience? I believe effective learning for all of us, must involve engagement in reality. And where the hands and mind are equally engaged, the heart follows. 

This is what I try to write about in this blog. So let's see how we can build this moment into a movement. There's a real world out there folks. Let's examine it hands-on and learn from it, and build a better world from what we've learned.

In the meantime, I'm working on boxes and trying to figure out how to get tools and materials distributed safely to our kids. Thanks, Dana,  for the ostrich. You can discover such cool things when you're paying attention to wood.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

new Woodworking with Kids newsletter

During this time of crisis, and with kids out of school for the time being, I'm looking for ways to keep out students engaged, and also to help other woodworking teachers to do the same. So I'll be using mail chimp to help me to send weekly newsletters to student's families offering projects that can be done at home.

If you want to subscribe, I'll need your name and email address, which can be sent to me at douglasstowe@gmail.com The first issue of volume one will be sent in the next few days. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The photo shows wooden squares recently glued up and "squared," for student use. These will be sent home for our students to use and learn from. They are like the ones we use at the Clear Spring School, but these will be theirs to keep.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

path to learning

Scott Bultman has launched a podcast based on the interviews they conducted with over 100 educators from across the US. You can join in here: http://www.pathtolearning.us I was one of the educators interviewed for the History of Kindergarten documentary film project https://youtu.be/MXolv_XGL8E and some of our Clear Spring School kids will likely be included. I'll try to let my readers know when my own interview will be released.

We seem to be facing a revolution on all fronts, and I hope the Kindergarten model of learning can play a role in what comes up in education and in life.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

self-sequestered

Today we begin our second week of being self-sequestered in our homes, maintaining a safe distance from others and figuring out how to move forward. I've finished a brief article for American Woodturner magazine that will appear in a future issue. I've also set up a small photo booth to take pictures of boxes so that I can list them for sale on Etsy.com

All of our teachers, students, parents and families are adjusting to new circumstances. So we are feeling our way. I talked to my sister Mary in Lincoln, Nebraska where schools are also closed for the time being. They are being told by administration to go lightly in their expectations and in assignments for home learning. What the kids need most will be assurance and support.

My wife an I and many others are lucky to live in a nice home, and to have managed to avoid poverty. We were able to stock up on supplies. This is not the case for many and there will be extreme, devastating effects. Can we not, as a nation with such wealth, make certain that the least among us are offered security of food, security of home, security of health and freedom from fear? It seems that since FDR, the two parties have answered that question in different ways.

In the meantime, the Republicans are working on a bailout for American corporations. The Democrats are working on a bailout of the American people. If we soon weather this crisis and put it behind us, the folks with big money will be making Wall St. bounce back, while folks in the street will will continue to face devastation for years.

There's a tendency in the news to present the stock exchange and what happens in it as "the economy." Let me assure you that the economy is much larger than Wall St. It includes the nurses and doctors that go to work each day to care for our sick. It includes the grocery clerks who struggle to provide curbside service and are there to make certain that in our sequestered state, we eat. Yes, it even includes boxes made in a very small woodshop and placed Etsy. And it includes teachers now struggling to find new ways to keep their students engaged and learning.

Make, fix, create, care for others by taking good care of yourself.

on the square

Yesterday I began making tools to send home with our kids in busy bags to keep them learning while being sequestered in their homes. So we start with the square.

The square and the geometry it entails is fundamental to modern civilization. In woodworking, square cuts and square edges allow parts to be well fitted to each other. And with the use of the square to examine the world that surrounds us,  perhaps we and they will note a few things of interest. I will present some exercises using the square as lessons to the kids.

With two of the the Educational Sloyd precepts in mind, Start with the interests of the child, and move from the concrete to the abstract, the square presents and opportunity for learning. For each student to have a tool of his or her own, will excite interest. Each square is a concrete object with which to examine abstract concepts.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

paper sloyd

Paper Sloyd was written by Ednah Anne Rich and published in 1912.  I just finished scanning it, arranging it and uploading it so that you can download, enjoy and make use of in the stay at home education of kids. I added my own article about paper Sloyd from Woodwork Magazine published a number of years ago as I was reintroducing Sloyd to American woodworkers. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9htq977pigw8wbc/papersloyd.pdf?dl=0

So why is this important now? Kids are stuck at home and parents are wondering what to do about it. Kids need to continue learning and we know that hands-on is better by far than being stuck at a computer all day. Academic third-party learning and hands-on discovery-based learning each refresh and nourish the other.

Paper Sloyd was a means to prepare very young students for later lessons in woodworking. It involves accurate measuring, and the ability to follow instructions. Unlike origami, the outcome instead of being merely decorative is useful. The projects are arranged to take advantage of how kids learn, moving from the known to the unknown, from the easy to more difficult, from the simple to the complex and from the concrete to the abstract. It also engages and develops spatial visualization, that will later be important in finding success in math. But just because the book shows very young children at work, does not mean that older children and adults would not learn from it and enjoy it.

The tools of paper Sloyd are scissors and ruler, both of which should be available in most homes (at least I hope so!) Only paper is required to make the models from the book which offers three years of paper folding lessons. I prefer to use card stock for most of the projects, to make them more lasting, but lighter paper can be used.

Even if you never use this book, the way projects are laid out is instructive as it illustrates the way that lessons were laid out in woodworking Sloyd. When you've learned the lessons from one project, what you've learned will make the next just a bit easier and the instructions just a bit more clear as you build skills in a sequential and natural manner.

A student favorite from the book is making paper pinwheels as shown.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

make a wish, make a list...

Years ago, a friend who had spent WWII in China had told me that the Chinese symbol for crisis and the Chinese symbol for opportunity are the same. And so, what do you want to learn, and what do you want to develop that you can during a time of being sequestered from our normal reality.

Kelly McDonough, director of the Eureka Springs School of the Arts has always wanted to knit socks. So with a new knitting kit in hand, and her dad crafting some lovely new needles, she's ready for some days or weeks, working at home.

We need a way that we can share what we're learning, so I suggest visiting the ESSA facebook page and sharing with others in our arts community. If you do, and even if your results are not what you might hope for at first, you'll likely find encouragement and support from others facing the same challenges. https://www.facebook.com/EurekaSpringsSchoolOftheArts/

Decide what you've always wanted to learn. Make a wish for it, and that you find a way for it. Make a list of what you need. Do some careful shopping if you must. Or think about things you already have in your home that might help. As a friend Paul Ruhlman suggests, "Do what you can with what you have." But don't forget to share with others.

If you don't have any ideas, go to my blog, Wisdomofhands.blogspot.com There you'll find years of ideas from my teaching at the Clear Spring School and from my time teaching adults in woodworking clubs and schools and through articles in various woodworking magazines. Spool knitting is a great way to occupy and excite children's hands. I plan to supply knitting spools to our students at the Clear Spring School. https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2013/09/this-day-in-css-wood-shop.html

In the meantime, and as an example from the blog, you might wonder about your hands. Did you know that wearing a single glove on one hand or the other can actually change the way you think? https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2012/01/estrangement-from-whole-self.html

In thinking about Kelly knitting socks, I'm reminded of a pair of gloves I bought in Helsinki from a woman who knitted fingerless gloves while talking to me in a market. How can a person's hands be so smart? As proof, I have a pair of her gloves in my coat pocket.
https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2008/10/at-some-point-soon-i-hope-to-get-into.html

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

unprecedented times

I have been reading my friend Charles Templeton's new first novel based on his actual experience as a crew chief on a CH46 tandem lift helicopter in Vietnam. Boot-A Sorta Novel of Vietnam is now available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Boot-Sorta-Vietnam-Charles-Templeton-ebook/dp/B085DCYQM8/ His is an amazing story about the incredible idiocy of war and the young men thrown into Vietnam. Post war, Charles became a lifelong teacher and educator, who has become a beloved member of our own community. His novel has been in the works for years, and is a very good read. He and I feel towards each other that we're brothers, so to read his book is a very good thing.

I'm also led to compare those days when our nation was torn apart by war, with these days when we are at war with a deadly virus and led by an administration that for weeks bent over backwards to assure us that all was OK and everything is under control as the deadly virus spread undetected and undetectable through every state. In the meantime the invasion of the Covid-19 virus is nearly complete. Unlike a nation torn apart by war, this is actually worse. It's a war that we don't send young folks off to fight. It's here and it's a war we are left to fight ourselves.

In war young innocent men and women are sent away into battles, returning with scars that are often unseen but that have deep effects on their lives and their families and communities. In this case, we have the opportunity to rise up and stand of defense of each other, and the oddest thing at this point is that we protect each other by hiding out until test kits are actually delivered and we are assisted with tools to fight the deadly disease.

One of the challenges in all this is to keep our heads on straight and our spirits up. One of the tools that's proven to be successful for that is to engage our hands and hearts in meaningful creative work. Yesterday I spent some time cleaning my office and sanding boxes. Today I hope to continue in the same vein. Reading is another good thing, as I proven to myself through my enjoyment of Charles Templeton's book.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

under control?

My wife and I have self-sequestered in our home with our dog, Rosie. I hope all are taking Covid-19 seriously and are doing the same. In 2001, I was one of the founding members of the New England Association of Woodworking Teachers, NEAWT.org. While wood programs throughout the US were closing, that association for mutual support was proposed and has persisted to this day.

Now members of NEAWT are sharing ideas about how to continue offering hands-on learning to their student while their schools are closed. We will persist, and grow. A great friend from that group, Paul Ruhlman, shared the following:

I got some remote teaching ideas while jogging this morning.

1. Lloyd Kahn just came out with a book, Half Acre Homestead. Lloyd goes way back as one of the principles of the Whole Earth Catalog and later a founder of the Shelter Institute and related books including Dome Book One & Two. His core philosophy is "Do what you can, where you are with what you have." A good philosophy for these times. There is a great 25 minute video of what he is up to at: https://youtu.be/z6kPzMSvdDA

After watching the video, I will be asking my students to come up with a project using things they find around the house. I will be asking the kids to come up with a project using materials and tools found around the house. They get extra credit if they write up the project so that they can share it with their classmates.

2.The artist Alexander Calder is a huge influence in American Art. He is best known for popularizing the mobile. One of my favorite pieces by him is the Circus. During the depression he made circus animal and human figures using mostly wire, scrap wood, and wine corks. He packed his miniature circus in an old suitcase and went to various neighborhoods and put on circus performances for kids and parents. Charging just a penny, it helped him make it through the Depression. There are tons of videos of his work. I’ll let you choose. I will be asking my students to make a piece inspired by Calder, either a mobile or another piece from materials found around the house.

3. I will be asking my students to put together a hypothetical optimum tool kit if they had a budget of $250, using Home Depot or Lowes. Students have to say why they would choose particular tools. You or the students can vote on the best student submission.

4. Cabaret Mechanical Theatre is a great source for mechanical sculpture ideas. I have included a link to sculptures made from food you probably have at home. They also have great mechanical sculpture ideas made using wood. I often make prototypes using cardboard from cereal boxes and toothpicks. A great exercise in creativity and mechanical problem solving. https://cabaret.co.uk/making/making-automata-with-food/

This is just a start. "Do what you can, where you are with what you have."

We will get through this.
Wishing you the best.
Paul Ruhlmann
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

You can find other ideas on the woodworking teacher website http://www.woodworkingteachers.com/ and at NEAWT.org

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise

getting ready

I'd planned to be at ESSA today to get ready for my 5 day Viking Chest class. I have a very large table stacked with parts, all planed and ready for joints to be cut. Staves are cut for forming coopered lids, but all the parts will be put in storage for now as we make adjustments due to the coronavirus, Covid-19. My class is being postponed to a later date. Fortunately, the students come from our local area, and with luck, we'll be able to find  better, less dangerous date.

Is it too soon to be sequestered from the dangers of the disease? With no testing yet available, despite the administration's claims that millions of test kits were being sent out, we are operating in the dark, and we dare not take the risk of our students getting sick with this potentially deadly disease.

I'm also attempting to get my head around my own coronavirus response. How can I keep my Clear Spring School students engaged in learning? What tools and materials do they have in their homes? Can we supply some? Woodworking and crafts are ways to cope, and to build mental health resilience to stress.

Make, fix, create. Keep healthy in mind and body by learning lifewise.

What to do...

With schools closing across the US due to the coronavirus Covid-19, some folks being asked to work at home, there being a shortage of necessary supplies and having been a near complete failure of leadership at the top of things, it appears that the US and the world are headed toward recession.

In 2008 as we were heading into our last great recession, we had a daughter in college, and a mortgage, and I wondered whether my business would survive. Remembering what folks did to survive in the great depression, I pulled lumber from my barn and began making tables which I then managed to sell. The effects were profound.

If I'm sequestered due to the Covid 19 virus and the threat of spreading this deadly disease, and if I'm able, I'll be in my shop, attempting to make beautiful and useful things to outlive my own life.

One of the hazards as we face these times is that of loneliness and depression. One direct way to deflect those feelings, even when alone, is to get busy with a creative life. Let's take whatever time we're given to learn something real, to master something we've wanted to master, to make something that we know will be of service to others. The byproduct of all that crafting will be that feelings of powerlessness in the face of adversity are put aside, and joy can be found, even when not in the company of others.

Today I have more materials preparation for my next week's class in building Viking Chests. The photo shows the hardware that students will be making themselves.

Make, fix, create, and find joy in learning lifewise

Spring break

Today I will prepare stock for my class in making a Viking chest. The wood is white oak, and the hardware will be hand forged under the guidance of master blacksmith Bob Patrick. The class will begin Monday and we are taking extra precautions concerning cleanliness of tools and shop due to the threat from Covid 19.

After today students at the Clear Spring School will go on an extended spring break while we prepare for the Corona virus's eventual effects on our own community. These are scary times. And the reasons for fear are quite real, though as a friend Kari in Norway reminds us, "we are not afraid."

With the Federal government having failed in its response, it appears that people in small communities all across the US will step up and care for each other.

I was surprised last night to see the supermarket shelves completely emptied of toilet paper.
Paul Marsden, a consumer psychologist at the University of the Arts London, explains the psychology of panic buying of such things as toilet paper as “retail therapy” — where we buy in an attempt to manage our emotional state. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/heres-why-people-are-panic-buying-and-stockpiling-toilet-paper.html

“It’s about ‘taking back control’ in a world where you feel out of control,” he said.

There are other ways to feel in control during troubling times. Crafting objects of useful beauty provides what psychological researcher Kelly Lambert describes as  providing"effort driven rewards." Some experts have suggested we find ways to "hunker down" for three months. There may be ways we can rise up instead.

The photo shows my prototype Viking Chest with hardware hand forged by Bob Patrick.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.

A simple skill builder

Yesterday I planned for my elementary school students, grades 1-4 to build skills in measuring, marking and nailing. The lesson was planned as follows: First I showed a youtube video on the use of a tape measure. Even kids who think they know how one works, quickly learn that there's more to it than they knew. https://youtu.be/9caqSJ4sN8Y  "Why does the tip wiggle like that?" is a question even many adults do not know the answer to.

Then I passed out tape measures so the kids could examine what they'd seen on TV. After the kids had measured all kinds of things in the room, I passed out lengths of 2 x 4 in. lumber, asked the students to make a mark at 5 inches, and then use a square to draw a straight line across. The next challenge  was to drive in nails along the line they'd drawn.

The project was a good skill builder, as it kept the students engaged for the full period and even the youngest exhibited growth. It didn't answer the question: "What are we making today?" but that was OK and the kids were joyful in their work.

In addition to teaching this week at the Clear Spring School, I'll be spending time at ESSA to prepare for next week's adult class, making Viking style chests.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

parthenon

As I've been working with my editors to finalize my Guide to Woodworking with Kids, I've been going through years of photo files and finding interesting things. The model of the Parthenon as shown was part of an exercise in geometry and in making a blocks set representing ancient Greek architecture. Looking back, it's amazing to see how many interesting things we've done.

In addition to a collection of photographs and projects I have an interesting collection of old books on the manual arts.

T. W. Berry in his book The Pedagogy of Educational Handicraft, 1912 wrote about the general school effect of manual work.

"Children who are dull at literary work are very generally bright when engaged in manual work, and this interest in what is done, stimulated by its attendant success, is reflected in all the School work. The accuracy and neatness of execution and artistic embellishment demanded in Handicraft is imitated in School work generally, so that the moral effect is very great. The variety of work, both as regards materials and nature of models, tends to make a pupil adaptable to varying circumstances, but always aiming at a high artistic finish to a useful article.

"Not only is the direct influence of manual instruction great but the indirect is even greater. The correlation of studies widens the interest, inculcates the spirit of co-operation and interrelationship, and enables the pupil to express his thoughts not in words only but in models, which necessarily demand precision, thus developing a most useful habit."

Woodworking is not alone in reaching the depths of the child. In fact, when schools make a sincere attempt to connect education with real life by doing real things, children become more deeply engaged. When they've become more deeply engaged, they learn at a faster pace and to more profound effect. Is this rocket science, or do you get it, also? Can you draw conclusions from your own life as a learner? I suspect so. Please tell us about it.

T.W. Berry's book mentioned above is one that I got while my daughter was at Columbia University in New York City. I was contacted at a librarian at Teachers College, who when tasked with throwing out old books on the manual arts, could not stand for them going to waste. She would take them to my daughter's campus mail box so they would be there for me to take home when I would visit New York. As a result, I have a rich collection. It feels as though I was entrusted through special circumstances to play a role in all this.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

tonight's spring fling

Clear Spring School's annual Spring Fling fundraiser is being held tonight from 6-9 PM at the Holiday Island Country Club 1 Country Club Drive, Holiday Island, Arkansas. The event features dinner, dancing and a silent auction of art and services. It is our most important fundraiser of the year. Join us.

Want to share a box making experience with your very best friends? At the Spring Fling you can bid on a box making package for four in the Clear Spring School wood studio. If you win the bidding war I'll guide you and three friends in each in making a box or two. https://www.facebook.com/events/country-club-dr-eureka-springs-ar-72631-united-states/clear-spring-fling-auction-2020/408151589964214/

This week I've been going through another round of edits on my Guide to Woodworking with Kids. The book is scheduled for release in May. A how-to book comes into being through collaboration, and I'm grateful to be working with professionals that I've known for a long time and worked with on other projects. What we're making will be a very good book. Whether it sells may be up to you.

Yesterday, with steps finished for the outdoor classroom, I found students in it playing school. Some were on the benches while another lectured at the blackboard. That assures me that real teacher led classes in it will be coming soon. There are lots of simple little things that need to be done, but with lovely weather, we're making progress.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.

construction

During the housing crisis from 2008 that lasted well into the next decade, around 10 million families were evicted from their homes due to foreclosure. So what happened to those homes?
A story in the New York Times tells how those homes were snapped up by newly formed companies owned by investors seeking to win big money at rapid rates by taking advantage of the crisis in home values. They were able to buy houses at a fraction of their value and then rent them out at high market rates. The great recession was one of the largest transfers of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy elite in American history.

That transfer of wealth continues as middle class folks pay high rents to wealthy investors who snapped up foreclosed homes. You can read about it here: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/magazine/wall-street-landlords.html

My fifth and sixth grade students have been helping finish the outdoor classroom that has been in the works since fall when cold weather began to intrude. They took turns driving screws and hammering nails. The blackboards are now up and ready for paint. We plan to add small tool cabinets at each end where simple hand tools can be kept for student use.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise

wash your hands...

When my mother was a young woman there were three choices for a career. My mom chose to become a teacher and an older sister Marge became a public health nurse. And so as we face a potentially catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic I need to make mention of nursing as one of the important hands-on activities essential to society and to every small community in America. We pray that the pandemic is not as severe as it threatens to become.

Warmer weather offers some hope to delay the spread of the disease, but if things proceed as they did during the flu pandemic of 1918-1920 in which between 40 to 100 million died, there will be a lull in the summer months and a dramatic reappearance of the spread of the disease when the weather turns cold.

This brings me to my point. Nursing is one of the underrated professions. In this blog I've failed in the past to make this important point. Craftsmen make. Nurses make well. We can make their job easier by washing up and wiping down. We are facing a time in which the bravery and intelligence of the nursing profession will need special recognition. Let's start now.

Make, fix, create, make well, and assist others in learning lifewise.

Seymour Sarason

Seymour Sarason compared teaching to a performance art. In the classroom, the teacher stands in front of class and engages the students attention, or at least makes the attempt to do so. But unlike a musician, or a theatrical performer, the teacher gets little or no direction to improve performances, and no rehearsal time.

He or she is judged from outside the classroom based on whether or not order is maintained. The teacher's power over his or her students is the basis upon which administrators and fellow teaching staff judge the teacher's effectiveness, and yet when it comes to kids, intellectual engagement is more often expressed by an enthusiasm that would be adjudged intolerable in many schools. So one can see that administrators and policy makers would like to find some way to measure teacher performance without having to put directors and stage managers in every class.

Seymour Sarason had maintained a rather dark but realistic view that every attempt at reform of public education would fail and so far he's been proven 100% right.

The charter school movement takes a spitwad approach. Throw a bunch of new ideas (that are really old ideas) in the form of charter schools (most of which follow a single not so new formula and most of which are intended to turn a profit) against a wall, and see which sticks best. Sarason, on the other hand, suggests that the secret to effective schools may have more to do with how we train our teachers for collaboration within and between classes, training them to draw forth from students their deepest engagement.

His thoughts are a deep well, and should be read by all who might take an interest in the subject of school reform. With between 40 books and 60 articles, getting to know Sarason would be a monumental task, but for the book I'm reading, the Skeptical Visionary, edited by Robert L. Fried

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

planters

My first through 4th grade students finished their planter boxes this week as you can see in this photo of student work lining a classroom window.

On the home front, we've reached the end of an era. About 5 years ago our yard and gardens began being overrun and destroyed by feral hogs. With the help of a friend, and having been offered no help from the state, we began the process of trapping, killing and removing them ourselves.

We are grateful that the State Fish and Wildlife Commission has finally become involved. Today I took down our trap, knowing that we are no longer alone. Fish and Game's high tech traps are far more effective.

Make, fix, create, and adjust schooling so that all children learn lifewise.

a new favorite

I take photos of the Clear Spring Students at work in the woodshop, and occasionally a new one shows up that serves particularly well to illustrate a particular value of woodworking. This is one, showing intense concentration. It also shows the development of skill. The idea of a child with a sharp knife might frighten some. But the boy is proud of his work.

Make, fix, create, and adjust education so that others learn lifewise.

Beginning to make foot stools

Yesterday my high school class began making foot stools from white oak. Two inch thick white oak will be used to make the legs. To get familiar with the wood and the processes of traditional woodworking I passed out hands planes so the students and their teacher could get their muscles and minds into the work.

My lower middle school students glued up blanks  from cherry and walnut to begin turning plates on the lathe, and my elementary school students finished planters to used for starting a garden.

My assistant Curtis took a scrap of white oak home from making legs for the footstools. He and his sons counted over 100 annual rings.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.