"Deconstructing appliances teaches the concept that something is knowable." - Gever Tulley in his TED Talk called "5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do."
The idea that something is knowable seems to be a given, doesn't it? We can learn anything, in theory at least. But why doesn't it feel that way when my dishwasher breaks? Why do I immediately look up the number for my appliance repair guy rather than look up dishwasher schematics?
Surely I could look it up, I just haven't tried. But why haven't I tried, I ask myself - here I am, an experienced home schooling mother raising three semi-free-range children, on a mission to teach them that anything is possible and by standing on their heads the view is usually more enlightening, if not a heck of a lot more fun. So what's getting in between me and a working dishwasher?
I've been conditioned to believe that some things just aren''t knowable, and Gever Tulley, founder of The Tinkering School near San Francisco, is set on changing that. He believes that the more kids know about their physical world and the more ways they can interact with it, the better humans they grow up to be. Even if, or maybe especially if, danger lies ahead. Watch his TED Talk called "5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do."
So, what are your kids going to light on fire today?