whittling and listening

I've spent the morning listening to the supreme court hearing about presidential immunity, and at the same carving a rocking chair back. The carving it more satisfying. This is the second to near completion.

A couple questions come to my mind brought forth by the arguments. First the president is protected from violating the law, by being surrounded by lawyers whose advice he either accepts or rejects. When he rejects their advice he risks violation of the laws of the United States that his job is to protect. 

Secondly, if one was to agree with the argument of total immunity offered by Trump''s attorney, as crazy as it is, a president would have the right to ask his military to assassinate his political rival, if he had reason to do so. An example might be that his adversary is a clear threat to our democracy which many consider to be the case.

Make, fix and create.

MakerEd

I have an article in MakerEd published  today by my friend Dale Dougherty. You can read it here: https://open.substack.com/pub/makered/p/celebrating-friedrich-froebels-birthday?r=bil7r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

It is a celebration of Froebel's 242nd birthday, his contributions and our need that education stop ignoring him.

Make, fix and create... 

carved rocking chair back

This is the first of 3. The textured background offers a soft focus.

Make, fix and create.  Assist others n living likewise    

                                                                                                                
 

Happy Birthday Mr. Froebel

Friedrich Froebel, inventor of Kindergarten was born on April 21, 1782 so if he were alive today, he would be 242 years old. His ideas, having grown out of favor are still young. In the early 1840's he was walking over the crest of a mountain pass with fellow educators and proclaimed, "Eureka! I know what to name my youngest child! Kindergarten!" A garden of children. It was a place in which children would be offered the right conditions for their growth, growing from patterns inherent within.

Gliedganzes was a term that Froebel combined from two German words glied meaning member and ganzes meaning whole. Advocates of progressive education talk about the education of the whole child... that education should not only be concerned with teaching a child to read and do math, but to also to become engaged as a creative member of society.

Froebel's odd word gliedganzes was devised to show simultaneous concern for both directions education must proceed at exactly the same time. Froebel's gifts were designed to illustrate this. For example, the gift number 3 consisting of a cube shaped box, containing a smaller cube composed of 8 small blocks illustrates that while each cube is complete in itself, it is also a member of a larger form, just as the child itself is a complete whole and is a member of  larger forms. 

The purpose of Kindergarten was to help children discover their own unique characters and capacities and simultaneously discover their interconnectedness with family, community, human culture and nature.  These may seem divergent, but are actually brought together in Froebel's concept, gliedganzes.

Happy Birthday Mr. Froebel.

You've not been completely forgotten. This video should be widely shared. https://youtu.be/qC91n3Yl80w

Use of Froebel's gifts

 This is worth watching.

Observe this

The New York Times published an article this morning referencing research by Kelly Lambert on the positive mental health effects of working with your hands.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/well/mind/hands-mindfulness-typing-writing.html?ugrp=u&unlocked_article_code=1.lU0.jH_T.T3I5pEcz28za&smid=url-share

If you try it, observe this. Take a stick and a knife and whittle. Note that each stroke of the knife offers evidence of effect. Cumulative observed effect provides evidence of your own power, even in such simple things, offsetting the sense of powerlessness that's associated with depression.

Before carving rocking chair backs, I lay out a simple pattern using a small template, then sketch in stems and leaves connecting. Quite simple. The finished carving will  require only 4 chisels.

Make, fix and create...

Rocking chair backs

I'm in the process  of making rocking chair backs. I used templates to create the symmetrical design, and then after cutting to shape using the band saw, used an angle grinder to smooth and further shape. I'll design the carving next.

If you've been following progress in my shop you'll see the new mini woodworking bench finding a good use.

Make, fix and create...

Student absenteeism

Letters from educational experts to the New York Times were written in response to a report about post pandemic absenteeism in schools.  

Of course part of the solution as one letter pointed out is that students need to be engaged in doing real things. That's a no brainer. And the reason kids are determined to use digital devices in schools, even when they're not allowed, is that connection to the internet provides a bit of escape from boredom. Student time ought to be valued more than to subject them to endless hours sitting at desks doing mind numbing stuff.

In my shop, I'm nearly ready to carve the backs for the toddler sized rocking chairs I'm making. Clamping them together took a great deal of pressure, concerning me that I don't have all the angles of the various parts just right. Fortunately I'm not going into production full time, but simply revisiting a project from the past.

In the photo, the assembled chair, not yet with back and slats is resting on the rockers, with the mortises for the legs to fit yet to be cut.