EDUCATION

Much of what passes for education is memorization of historical dates and places, significant people and events of ages past.

Real education is awareness, developing methods for self-expression and creativity, enhancing self esteem and connecting with being part of an amazing glorious universe.

Dates, times, places and symbols of our ancestors are fine but it is not the essence of education.

Education involves the nurturing of spirit and staking the claim, "I am a part of the universe."

Rudolf Steiner, Maria Montessori and many others acknowledged the uniqueness of every human being by allowing them the freedom to discover their world.

Just as a child learns to speak before it reads, a child needs to be given the opportunities to express itself with music, art, drama and dance.

Education is a process in evoking our creativity - singing, merry-making, celebration of life... fantasy/reality... a cosmic dance of infinite diversity. The arts: painting, sculpture, design, tapestry, texture, color, light, music, voice, hand, whistles, and feet - meditation, chanting, praying, playing with breath, alive-n-ing, creating, wondering aloud and in quiet together.

Feeling safe in the dark, lighting our own spark - from the inside out.

Education is encouraging fascination - "twinkle, twinkle little star how I wonder what you are..."

Do we know any more about those "little stars" as adults then we did when we were kids?

Well, we know that they are not little - every one of them is millions of times bigger than our earth. Our Milky Way galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars. Each one of those stars is a sun brighter than our own. The number of stars in our visible universe is 10 followed by 21 zeros.. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Education is inspiring awe and wonder.

Names and places, facts and figures have their place - just as these zeros hold their place.

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000... it's beyond belief.

What values do we wish to inculcate to our children.

We wonder why there is so much suicide and violence in our young people today.

What lessons have we taught? Are we teaching? What does our media/entertainment spectrum reflect of our intentions and priorities?

The media is us

The future is us.

We are in and on this planet together ... 5.5 billion of us travelling on "space ship earth" at an average velocity of 107,000 km per hour.

 Bucky Fuller

Each day covering over a million miles in our solar orbit.

What games do we want to play now that we are here?

Education is deciding on what games to play... learning from

each other, discovery, and creating.

Young children need to learn with the older ones. Putting many children of the same age level in one class with a primary adult as teacher fosters competition. Having older children present allows the younger ones to emulate the older ones and the older to teach the younger in a less competitive environment. For a five year old, a ten year old has knowledge, an adult authority and an elder wisdom.

All life is for learning. We are here to grow, to nurture and learn from each other and our environment. The creative tools of the arts, literature, meditation and sciences assist us in our development as a species... and contribute to our sense of purpose in the universe and inspire us to wonder. "Our dreams of perfection are the bridges that carry us into the realm of pure ideas."

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA