On Sat, 31 Jan 2004, David T. Lewis wrote:

> You are on the right list for the kinds of student you have in mind,
> but you should also be aware that Squeak is being used for some very
> innovative educational purposes for younger kids. See www.squeakland.org.

When I picked up the Squeakers DVD, which shows BJ Allen-Conn's work with
Squeak, I also picked up a couple of copies of their "Powerful Ideas for
the Classroom" book.

Just curious: has there been any effort to "market," so to speak (in the
sense that one markets something free) Squeak to the homeschooling
population? (My wife and I don't have kids yet, but when we do we plan to
homeschool. My wife taught 7th and 8th grade French for three years, and
then went into tech support to get good pay and respect... after she left
teaching she started researching homeschooling.)

I've read every one of Alan Kay's essays on the squeakland.org site. I
doubt he intended this, but if you really put together his arguments, they
form an incredibly powerful argument for homeschooling, which emphasizes
personal exploration of ideas on one's own timetable. Homeschoolers tend
to be all about "getting their hands dirty" - i.e. if you want to learn
how to make pots, you don't really get far by reading about making pots,
or even by watching someone else make pots. You won't really get anywhere
until you stick your fingers in the clay - and I think Squeak could be
characterized as a "Clay of Ideas."

When I showed my wife the Squeakers video, she said two things that really
struck me:

1) "Wow, if someone had taught me math _that_ way, I would have really
gotten into it!" (she historically hated math in school, all the way
through)

2) "They could NEVER have done that at a public school like the one I
taught at." That was in reference to the gravity experiment - she said in
disgust that at the school she taught at, one could never get permission
from the various powers that be to do such a thing. In particular, there
was a kid who stayed writing down his obervations once the experiment was
over. My wife said that at the school she taught at, and probably most
public schools, someone would have been screaming at the kid to get his
butt inside along with all the other kids according to schedule.

It seems to me that what lets Squeak take hold in BJ Allen-Conn's world is
the philosophy underlying the Open School that she teaches at. In a world
of public school mediocrity, particularly in the realm of math and science
- which Dr. Kay so eloquently exposes in his essays and in the speeches
I've seen on line - a world strangled by things like the No Child Left
Behind act (i.e. Every Teacher Screwed Over Act) - the power of Squeak
will have trouble taking hold.

Sorry, I got a bit overexcited there... it's just so thrilling to find
people so dedicated to creating new educational experiences to share ideas
with. I was very glad to meet Mark Guzdial, who was the first person I met
at Tech that I could seriously sit down and talk about these issues with.

- Aaron

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Dr. Aaron Lanterman, Asst. Prof.       Voice:  404-385-2548
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