Morning Post Again

Here I am writing early in the morning again, to the sounds of spring.  Peepers from my pond, rain dripping from the trees, the rooster crowing, the sump pump cycling on and off, and the wood stove creaking in the living room.  Also my computer humming and my head humming with memories of more than 30 years of April mornings.  

I'm sitting looking at the wall above my desk, which is mostly empty except for  an outline of the parent handbook, a list of projects I am working on (6 in all), and my small collection of pictures and notes.  Somehow the dripping sound of wet eves and the rooster (for me one of the most evocative sounds in the world) are making me feel nostalgic about the many years of living here, over 30 now.

At the very top of the wall is a torn and yellowing scrap of paper, with  a phrase written in brown ink. The words are "the exercise approach to Learning Things."  The handwriting, which I would know anywhere, is that of my partner.

 I've been thinking about him and about how much of what I do and say now came originally from him.  Most of his ideas were developed during the late eighties and nineties, in long silent nights of feeding the fire, thinking, and writing notes in little notebooks just like the one this scrap was torn from. The fields of neuroscience and education have just begun to catch up with his ideas.   So here is an interesting list - ideas, insights, and exercises developed in this little house that have now become the core of Third Way teaching and that are slowly coming into the mainstream. (Very slowly indeed)

• The exercise approach to Learning Things.  The art of practicing.
• Try talking to children without asking them questions. It changes everything.  
• Scanning and Pattern recognition are fundamental thinking skills and the key to powerful reading .  They can be practiced and learned. 
• Pointing and Naming - an exercise to develop attention and focus in young children.

In the next few weeks, I am going to explore these four points in more detail. 

So things haven't changed that much.  The rooster photo from my last post was taken over 20 years ago.  This photo was taken the day before yesterday. 

 

Comments

[Allen]

I'm trying to remember when I had enough years on me to start being nostalgic. I guess it was a combination of my advancing years, but more importantly, the people in my life who were a big influence having passed away.

[Peggy Reimann]

You are right. People who were important dying is the core experience. Somethink I never thought about at all until the last ten years. Peggy