permaculture

["Kenneth Benway" <ken@arcadiandesign.org>]

Jenny,
        This sounds like a great idea! Both domain names really sound
great. Have you begun a curriculum outline as of yet? How might that
look in the context of a Permaculture framework? By that I mean what are
the zone zero (core courses) for early childhood? Zone two
curriculums..... Perhaps the schooling could somewhat be analogous to
the natural processes of human development. Starting in the womb and
gradually expanding and growing outward until we facilitate the full
creative potential of the human spirit.
        Before you set up your website please let me get back to you
with the name of a hosting service that is supposed to have some
powerful tools built in to maximize your web presence and traffic
potential. I can't remember the name of the company at this time but
will send you the link as soon as I get it from my friend that told me
about it. He has been investigating the best web hosting services out
there for several months and swears this is among the best if not the
best.
        We have a 14yr old daughter who insists on remaining in the
public system (social butterfly) as she enters her first year of high
school. In retrospect I wish we had stayed on a home schooling path with
her but economic constraints made it difficult. 
        This fall we are going to try what the county calls "virtual
schooling" which is internet based. She has already started to play
around with it this summer and is going to try it first semester in the
fall but insists that once a slot opens up in her school of choice (more
demand than class rooms) she will go back to be with some of her
friends. It is our hope that she will become so excited with the
internet approach that she will just forget about the idea of going back
to the state run corporate school building. The web courses interface
with many clubs and groups that are related to different courses in the
curriculum. They put field trips together and coordinate transportation
etc. 
        I will keep you updated if you are interested in how she adapts
to this new learning environment. It could just be some feedback for
your project, you know, field notes from the laboratory of life in the
real world of education. 
        Anyway I am very excited about hearing how your efforts unfold. 
Education is an area that often gets overlooked (other than design
course content) in a Permaculture discussion other than Waldorf or
Montessori and a few others. I think the time has come for someone to
synthesize the best of them into a comprehensive teaching approach that
evolves from the Permaculture dynamic.
Best wishes,
Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jenny Katz
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:10 AM
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [permaculture] greenschooling

Hi all--

I've been playing around with something I'm calling "greenschooling"-- 
education in the permacultural mold, which is to say: environmentally  
based, but taking nature as structure and model rather than just as  
subject matter. Greenschooling, in other words, is education that  
grows the awareness of learning (and living) in relationship. All  
knowledge, of course, as I don't need to tell you permies, exists in  
relationship; the patterns of "knowledge" and "truth," like the  
patterns of "tree" or "zone one," emerge as a relationship between  
knower and known, between self and environment, between fact and  
context.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with these ideas. I'd be  
homeschooling, but my ex-husband says no, so I'm trying to see the  
gift in that and develop something greater--a solution that benefits  
not only my own two kids (ages 6 and 10) but also helps other  
families, too. I'm interested in developing a series of simple  
techniques (awareness techniques, maybe) that anyone, of any age,  
could implement at any time to increase his or her understanding of  
these patterns, these relationships. I don't want to create a new  
curriculum; instead, I want to shape a lens for understanding the  
indivisible classroom--the curriculum that the world is presenting us  
at all times. It's easy to see and feel the connections when we're in  
the garden or in the woods; harder to do so during math class or the  
dentist appointment. But they're no less valid, and no less present,  
in math class. I want to try and figure out some ways to make this  
clear.

I'm gonna get a website up soon, either at greenschooling.com or at  
indivisibleclassroom.com. If anyone has any suggestions of great  
resources or great people, I'd love to hear...

yours,
Jenny in Connecticut
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