Learn to circumnavigate your world by clock and fist

I went to school in an age where teachers had rules and fierce expectations: you learn your multiplication tables without using your fingers; and you learn how to read and write by reading and writing a lot. Turns out, the more you read and write, the better you get at it. Consequently, the more you know, the more you want to know.

All teachers need to do is to entice kids past the point of “I wish this book wasn’t this long” to “Wow, I wish this book would go on forever; what else is out there?” Once this happens, it’s simply a matter of hanging on and fueling the fire. (The same applies for math: algebra, trig and calculus are really hard, but get kids past the point when it starts getting exciting and they become invincibly smart!) Most students, teachers and parents give up before they reach that tipping point because the pain of learning looks unhealthy.

Education is not a “guest services” proposition, and parents and students are not “customers.” Education is not a “business” and students aren’t “products.” That is the part of education we need to quit. These days, the average kid can’t count change, can’t remember a phone number without speed dial, and can’t write a simple thank you note because we are catering to what he wants rather than what he needs. We’re using technology as mortar, not the bricks.

I want our kids to be able to know enough about the world around them to be able to circumnavigate the world by clock and fist* without getting killed and without going off course. This is at once a primitive exercise, yet it requires a boatload of knowledge and reasoning ability. I think that is a good proficiency standard.

The Stars by Clock and Fist written by Henry M. Neely. It was first published in 1956 and is out of print, so if you can find a copy, buy it.

Also, this is not just one more “when I was your age old man rant.” This is foundation stuff. This is “work your brain” stuff. If you read it as an old man rant, enjoy the apocalypse when they crowd us all into cities then shut off the water and power. You really should know how to do more stuff than being able to summon an Uber. Really. The world is very big, incredibly cruel outside of civilization and your survival should not be dependent on the life of a battery. That’s on you.