WORLD AS A SCHOOL

 If I knew I had 10 minutes to live, and I had no concern for being judged, criticized or being marginalized and made wrong by others, what  would I want to say, publicly, out loud, freely? I mean after I have hugged and kissed and said goodbye to all those close to me, what would I want to  say about life?
 
 I’ll pretend I have only ten minutes now. So, I say this: “Find a  creative, loving, kind, open, respectful way to teach children the things  they want to know more about.  Delete the hierarchy of rank and authority  between children and adults. Just let that overseer authority go.  Transform school buildings to meeting rooms for creative and uncreative  people in the community to gather and offer to children exactly what they
want to learn.
 
 Get rid of tests and grades and all those tools that require fear,  competition, and comparison – separating me from you, and by their very  nature, imply children need to be coerced to learn, explore and wonder  about things. Make available to all children, experiences, people and  teachings that hold the world open, that inspire and transcend all perceived  limits.

If it is skateboarding, help them build one from scratch.   Help them make a cartoon book. A video movie. A tree house. A real house. Let them be around adults that meet them equally, are kind, have a sense of  humor, and can hug freely. Take a long bike trip. Allow reading to come naturally as it will.   Reading and math aren't difficult.  Handling the fear, tension and beliefs about reading and math are.
 
 I’d add, “Go to another country, another neighborhood, another person whose color and language is different, and say hi. Just say hi.