LEARNING

       In my last post I was talking about free range kids to the extreme. We not only visited vacant houses but explored every aspect of the land. If it was there, we investigated and played. We explored.

       In the 1950's where I was raised, the whole area was surveyed by seismic . As with many things in that age there were no regulations. The holes were drilled and piped. When the shot was fired the crew left things as they were.

     I remember as little boys watching the seismic crew from the school yard and just waiting to go over to the well and drop pebbles down the well. We liked to hear the pebbles drop off the pipe walls as the pebble went down the well.

   I've often used this sound as one of the descriptions for learning.

  When we learn something new it influences most other things we have learned. Coloring takes place. Things are added to what we already know.  The more we know, the more we gain from new material.

    I had the  privilege to teach a boy who was  to become the top pediatrician in Canada. After most things were said, Bruce would giggle. Things were going around in his head as he soaked up new material and it influenced material he already knew.

    The giggle was a little annoying at the time but over the years when I understood the learning process better, the giggle made sense.

      So I guess I learned something by dropping pebbles down the well.