Thank you, Max. Today is my 4-year old's second day of school. He's never been dropped off anywhere with anyone besides family until yesterday (although it wasn't a "drop-off"). I have several friends who homeschool their children, and although I considered this a viable option for the first several years of my son's life, I have decided to do it this way, gently, with a Montessori program down the street from us and see how it all goes. It's very difficult because I am also extremely critical of education, vaccines, and just the idea of school. I see it as an arm of a grotesquely dysfunctional society, stratified upside down with crazy priorities in place. If I chose homeschool, I'd be essentially mimicking an imaginary "village" that is not at all in place. I'd be supported by my son's dad and other mother's who are already stretched thin, and whom many I struggle to relate to due to different class backgrounds. I wouldn't have the bandwidth to write, engage the larger community, do activism, etc, which I think is invaluable for my son to see modeled for him. I want him to see his mother engaging the world beyond our little home. Although many lovely souls are doing homeschool, the interpersonal realities of groups of mother's I've experienced to be like an adult version of the sorority's I avoided in college. This isn't talked about and is also something I'm particularly sensitive to. The "group think" and competitive "supermom" antics can feel oppressive.
May we live again with our young, elders, dying, newborns, mothers, fathers, grand-parents, cousins, non-blood related, child-free, initiated teenagers, and all the Earth communities in co-creation, regeneration, and peace. May there be true community and collaboration for our days with Earth. It will never be a utopia, but it can get a hell of a lot better than this!
Thanks for sharing that story, Erica. I feel the loss of the village, too. I was just talking with my cousin's partner the other day. He's from a small rural area in the UK, near Cheddar. We talked about the enclosure of the commons and the forced proletarianization of what had previously been a village-based subsistence economy in that area. It's fascinating to hear about from someone who grew up in what was essentially the prototype for modern capitalism. The loss of the village came with so much harm to those communities. And we're still paying the price, now.
I'm so dreading the start of the school year as my 10 year old daughter is excitedly awaiting it...I seriously could not be more unhappy. I hated 6 grade through high school, in an all white wealthy area of Connecticut as they were the most painful, being dark skin Native to presently so-called Colombia after I was robbed from my Family and then adopted by a very now Trump LOVING family. And I was not adopted out of love but so that my very white parent's could check off yet another box off their to-do list of what success looks like. Today I'm no longer speaking to them due to the latest in a long string of their friend's harming me...and now my young daughter. I finally for the first time in my life am having to keep set up boundaries and maintain them for good as my mom acts like a plow and runs me over a thousand times over until I cave in. ..and ALWAYS do until now...only with the help of a really good therapist.
Anyway back to being unhappy about my child returning to school...not My choice either for her to go to school by the way as my ADOPTED mom called DCF on me and made her return to school. She has returned to school and loves it...main reason is because we are heavily discriminated against as I'm dark skin...although my daughter thankfully is MUCH lighter skin and fits in a little better but not much. She only has one real friend who she rarely sees as the parents like others discriminate against us so rarely does she get a playdate....I can go on and on but I won't as I imagine you probably get the gist.
Point here is I've read just about every piece leading native scholar, Steven Newcomb, has written and with my own experience since I've been in school and how the school system including the parents have treated me is the reason I could not dread my daughter's first day of school approaching very quickly and I don't know what to do about and therefore very sad and disturbed by it all and all the poor other children who are subject to it.and loath it just as much as me as I do feel for them. I have not edited this so please excuse my venting.
Hi Helena — no need to excuse. Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm sorry, it sounds really hard. I hope your daughter is having a better experience. I don't have kids myself, but I have young nephews who are just beginning to go through the school system now. So far, their experiences have been mostly positive, but they're still really young, and I know they're going to experience difficulty and probably racism (they're mixed). Wishing the best for your daughter, and all the other young ones growing up now. It's a really challenging time.
Wonderful essay, Max. I have one friendly amendment to make about how the Mohawk treat children as 'miniature adults.' I am sure that does not mean they talk to them beyond their developmental capacity to understand. Adults who talk to their young children using abstractions or generalizations are wasting their breath and confusing/frustrating their audience. As you point out, we should let them (protectively) experience things, but without the explanations. The consequences of their choices will be apparent to them.
Nicely presented, Max, the two schools of learning. Another aspect of nature as teacher is what myself and some others i know consider a specific, a kind of spiritually guided and physically manifested experience or 'thing'. For example, during the eclipse in April i stood between two trees that are very close to each other in the yard. The birds where chattering and i heard a bird call i had never heard before, white-throated sparrow. Then in early August when i was fasting the day of mid-Summer, in the same small space between the trees there was a blue jay feather. Some might say just coincidence yet to me it was a clear message of that feather meant for me to find and put to use wisely, and perhaps a 'thanks' for the peanuts the jays love.
The world is more complex and mysterious than most of us give it credit for; the wounds done to us by the teaching of a linear, mechanistic worldview of the universe are deep.
Good followup, Max! Yeah, allowing for the mystery is a key thing and takes a lot of work, in my experience anyway, to unravel the tangles. One of my go-to word roots about linear to which i added some comments: reg- “move or direct in a straight line, rule”... linear thinking and the alphabetic A to Z, ruled by Reichs, the German word for “empire,” meaning “kingdom, realm, state,” also, “riches” and known more colloquially as “the ruling class.” This is the very aim of empires, to keep you in line, while they hoard the loot.
Outdoor education is wonderful for the students AND the teacher! I loved teaching for School for Field Studies, and then doing field courses as a university professor. Nothing compares to being in nature around wild creatures to comprehend how magnificent life truly is.
"Liberalism’s incessant focus on education as the solution to social problems channels endless streams of idealistic young people into the school system, where they are almost inevitably broken by endless bureaucracy and 50-hour work weeks."
They are also frequently hired and then laid off and then rehired as a "long term sub" - no benefits, all the responsibilities of a full time teacher at about 1/4 - 1/3 of the pay. I quit after three students and a teacher were shot and killed at the high school across the street.
Love this Max! Keep up the great work :)
Thank you, Max. Today is my 4-year old's second day of school. He's never been dropped off anywhere with anyone besides family until yesterday (although it wasn't a "drop-off"). I have several friends who homeschool their children, and although I considered this a viable option for the first several years of my son's life, I have decided to do it this way, gently, with a Montessori program down the street from us and see how it all goes. It's very difficult because I am also extremely critical of education, vaccines, and just the idea of school. I see it as an arm of a grotesquely dysfunctional society, stratified upside down with crazy priorities in place. If I chose homeschool, I'd be essentially mimicking an imaginary "village" that is not at all in place. I'd be supported by my son's dad and other mother's who are already stretched thin, and whom many I struggle to relate to due to different class backgrounds. I wouldn't have the bandwidth to write, engage the larger community, do activism, etc, which I think is invaluable for my son to see modeled for him. I want him to see his mother engaging the world beyond our little home. Although many lovely souls are doing homeschool, the interpersonal realities of groups of mother's I've experienced to be like an adult version of the sorority's I avoided in college. This isn't talked about and is also something I'm particularly sensitive to. The "group think" and competitive "supermom" antics can feel oppressive.
May we live again with our young, elders, dying, newborns, mothers, fathers, grand-parents, cousins, non-blood related, child-free, initiated teenagers, and all the Earth communities in co-creation, regeneration, and peace. May there be true community and collaboration for our days with Earth. It will never be a utopia, but it can get a hell of a lot better than this!
Thanks for sharing that story, Erica. I feel the loss of the village, too. I was just talking with my cousin's partner the other day. He's from a small rural area in the UK, near Cheddar. We talked about the enclosure of the commons and the forced proletarianization of what had previously been a village-based subsistence economy in that area. It's fascinating to hear about from someone who grew up in what was essentially the prototype for modern capitalism. The loss of the village came with so much harm to those communities. And we're still paying the price, now.
Love this article Max. While I work with kids in nature, I definitely miss teenagers in the wilderness.
They're pretty fun!
I'm so dreading the start of the school year as my 10 year old daughter is excitedly awaiting it...I seriously could not be more unhappy. I hated 6 grade through high school, in an all white wealthy area of Connecticut as they were the most painful, being dark skin Native to presently so-called Colombia after I was robbed from my Family and then adopted by a very now Trump LOVING family. And I was not adopted out of love but so that my very white parent's could check off yet another box off their to-do list of what success looks like. Today I'm no longer speaking to them due to the latest in a long string of their friend's harming me...and now my young daughter. I finally for the first time in my life am having to keep set up boundaries and maintain them for good as my mom acts like a plow and runs me over a thousand times over until I cave in. ..and ALWAYS do until now...only with the help of a really good therapist.
Anyway back to being unhappy about my child returning to school...not My choice either for her to go to school by the way as my ADOPTED mom called DCF on me and made her return to school. She has returned to school and loves it...main reason is because we are heavily discriminated against as I'm dark skin...although my daughter thankfully is MUCH lighter skin and fits in a little better but not much. She only has one real friend who she rarely sees as the parents like others discriminate against us so rarely does she get a playdate....I can go on and on but I won't as I imagine you probably get the gist.
Point here is I've read just about every piece leading native scholar, Steven Newcomb, has written and with my own experience since I've been in school and how the school system including the parents have treated me is the reason I could not dread my daughter's first day of school approaching very quickly and I don't know what to do about and therefore very sad and disturbed by it all and all the poor other children who are subject to it.and loath it just as much as me as I do feel for them. I have not edited this so please excuse my venting.
Hi Helena — no need to excuse. Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm sorry, it sounds really hard. I hope your daughter is having a better experience. I don't have kids myself, but I have young nephews who are just beginning to go through the school system now. So far, their experiences have been mostly positive, but they're still really young, and I know they're going to experience difficulty and probably racism (they're mixed). Wishing the best for your daughter, and all the other young ones growing up now. It's a really challenging time.
.hank you for doing such important work. Lucky kids.
Thanks, Rob!
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you.
I'm glad you think so, Belinda 🙏🏼
Great post and really nice photography
Thanks Kollibri!
Wonderful essay, Max. I have one friendly amendment to make about how the Mohawk treat children as 'miniature adults.' I am sure that does not mean they talk to them beyond their developmental capacity to understand. Adults who talk to their young children using abstractions or generalizations are wasting their breath and confusing/frustrating their audience. As you point out, we should let them (protectively) experience things, but without the explanations. The consequences of their choices will be apparent to them.
Definitely, John.
Nicely presented, Max, the two schools of learning. Another aspect of nature as teacher is what myself and some others i know consider a specific, a kind of spiritually guided and physically manifested experience or 'thing'. For example, during the eclipse in April i stood between two trees that are very close to each other in the yard. The birds where chattering and i heard a bird call i had never heard before, white-throated sparrow. Then in early August when i was fasting the day of mid-Summer, in the same small space between the trees there was a blue jay feather. Some might say just coincidence yet to me it was a clear message of that feather meant for me to find and put to use wisely, and perhaps a 'thanks' for the peanuts the jays love.
The world is more complex and mysterious than most of us give it credit for; the wounds done to us by the teaching of a linear, mechanistic worldview of the universe are deep.
Good followup, Max! Yeah, allowing for the mystery is a key thing and takes a lot of work, in my experience anyway, to unravel the tangles. One of my go-to word roots about linear to which i added some comments: reg- “move or direct in a straight line, rule”... linear thinking and the alphabetic A to Z, ruled by Reichs, the German word for “empire,” meaning “kingdom, realm, state,” also, “riches” and known more colloquially as “the ruling class.” This is the very aim of empires, to keep you in line, while they hoard the loot.
Outdoor education is wonderful for the students AND the teacher! I loved teaching for School for Field Studies, and then doing field courses as a university professor. Nothing compares to being in nature around wild creatures to comprehend how magnificent life truly is.
I completely agree, Dusti.
"Liberalism’s incessant focus on education as the solution to social problems channels endless streams of idealistic young people into the school system, where they are almost inevitably broken by endless bureaucracy and 50-hour work weeks."
They are also frequently hired and then laid off and then rehired as a "long term sub" - no benefits, all the responsibilities of a full time teacher at about 1/4 - 1/3 of the pay. I quit after three students and a teacher were shot and killed at the high school across the street.
Wow, Heidi. That's so horrible. I didn't know that happened to you. And you're totally right.
I've added a postscript sharing another small story from the world of outdoor education.