The Ojai Post

Thanks for this wonderful presentation.

I'm not sure how to proceed. I just spoke to Tyler at the thread Datamoshing but have not as yet received an answer as to whether I can comment and under what conditions.

You also may have considerations about my commenting which I am not aware of. In the absence of more precise information I will proceed with caution. If you delete this I will understand and harbor no ill feelings; and I will save it at one of my wedsites. I may not be sensitive to the political, social, economic or other pressures you all operate under.

I love this man and what he says. He reminds me of John Gatto's ideas. I'm 69 and was raised "in the system" to the max. I'm trying to get free now and appear to be disturbing the peace as a result.

My son just turned 16 and has been raised so far very differently from myself; with many misgivings I plugged him into the system this semester at Ventura College where he is taking intermediate math (a far cry from dancing ala Ken above but I applied some pressure to get him to take a safe subject and he's already indicated that next semester he's going to take something HE likes). Other than going to a pre-school at a Ventura public school (with a sweet wonderful teacher), a Montessori school in Holland (where he once knew Dutch) and a Waldorf one in Ireland (where he once knew Nature) when he was 6 and 7 he has not been in the educational system until now, other than being tutored in a home by a woman (Zeta) where he ended up teaching younger kids in exchange for tuition.

He has been more or less "no-schooled," partly due to my deficiencies. However, on his own he has built his own house (which I now use because he's on to other things), made movies with his numerous friends, got a black belt in Akido, does six things at once while listening to music on this (his MacBook which I have to get up early to use before he and my ex wake up) is quite independent and shows no fear of the world which was and still largely is one of my more determining personality traits.

At present he and his numerous friends are into "war games" air-soft style which I totally disagree with but do not have the power to preclude. I don't know how he's going to turn out but I fear for his future in this world I have helped to create. There's not much I can parent any more other than providing a motorhome (although spending half his days and nights away from it) and money so I've got to hope for the best.

I love the Post for the creativity Sir Ken talks about but am fearful of late that I may end up being banned or severely restricted. I think I'm a nice guy but I seem to bug others to no end.

It would be lovely to have a Waldorf school in the Ojai/Ventura area! Check out this link if you are not familiar with Waldorf Education. It is truly wonderful!

http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/02_W_Education/skills.asp

I am pretty sure my 10 years of catholic school did nothing for my creativity. This is what led me to Open Classroom in Ventura. We love this school. The philosophy is to honor and protect the desire to learn by teaching out of the classroom. We go on more field trips per year than most. Where the children get to see things first hand. We made a trip to the Ventura Mall recently and the children learned fractions while dividing up a CA Pizza from the Kitchen. Tomorrow we go out the the Hansen Land conservancy to learn how to map our land. We go on camping trips throughout the year where they learn Chumash Indian traditions eat chia seed, weave baskets, tie dye shirts and make applesauce from the trees at Camp Arnaz. I am garden coordinator at Open Classroom. We grow vegetables in our garden to be offered to our parents every other week, after the children have sampled them of course. Obviously I am speaking of elementary school kids and your son is in his high school years. But the idea of protecting curiosity and encouraging creative exploration is being put into effect at my son's school.

I am pretty sure my 10 years of catholic school did nothing for my creativity. This is what led me to Open Classroom in Ventura. We love this school. The philosophy is to honor and protect the desire to learn by teaching out of the classroom. We go on more field trips per year than most. Where the children get to see things first hand. We made a trip to the Ventura Mall recently and the children learned fractions while dividing up a CA Pizza from the Kitchen. Tomorrow we go out the the Hansen Land conservancy to learn how to map our land. We go on camping trips throughout the year where they learn Chumash Indian traditions eat chia seed, weave baskets, tie dye shirts and make applesauce from the trees at Camp Arnaz. I am garden coordinator at Open Classroom. We grow vegetables in our garden to be offered to our parents every other week, after the children have sampled them of course.They learn to sew, they are making the costumes for this years play! The middle schoolers will be visiting the Santa Clara River bottom to learn about reforesting. They will gather seeds to be started in our green house and later to be replanted into nature. Obviously I am speaking of elementary school kids and your son is in his high school years. But the idea of protecting curiosity and encouraging creative exploration is being put into effect at my son's school.