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authorSacha Chua <sacha@sachachua.com>2021-12-02 12:26:23 -0500
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# Discussion
+- Q1:  Would you say that the Montessori philosophy follows a \"verb\"
+ based methodology, where an abstract action is performed on an item,
+ without locking the action to what the item can support, like an
+ Object-oriented language would do? 
+ - e.g.  \`throw(rock)\` instead of \`rock.throw()\`, i.e. a
+ function in a global namespace, instead of a function belonging
+ to an object?
+ - A: i\'d like to think about this some more, but honestly i think
+ its a bit of both? there\'s certainly some things I can think of
+ that are more like \`rock.throw()\`\... Here are the things you
+ can do with these materials, and that is it. On the other hand,
+ I\'ve certainly seen inventive uses of educational materials
+ that follow more of a \`throw(pencil)\` type of thing.
+ - The philosophy is highly observation based, so I\'m thinking
+ about the difference of something like \`Child::new.learn()\` vs
+ \`learn(some-child)\`.  In this case I do feel like the \"verb\"
+ based methodology is more appropriate. We need to stop and
+ observe a child, to notice what is driving them, what they\'re
+ responding to, and where they are in their abilities. Depending
+ on our observations, we may offer different kinds of input. Its
+ certainly much less like \"oh i have another Child object and I
+ need to have them do x, y, z\" in order to get to point B.
+ - I hope this somewhat answers the question. I\'ll keep pondering
+ :)
+ - Thank you, I guess some children favour one method over
+ another, but it\'s not as black and white as I initially
+ thought. Thanks!
+- Q2: How old do you think childen need to be to start exploring with
+ Emacs?
+ - A: Children 0-6 are in a phase called the \"absorbent mind\". It
+ is this miraculous superpower that children have to absorb
+ everything around them. The ability to learn language is
+ probably the most obvious example. So, if children can interact
+ with Emacs, they can start exploring it. Of course, as a text
+ editor, basic literacy is pretty important.  I personally have
+ not tried teaching young children Emacs, but I believe with the
+ right kinds of interfaces, it could be possible.
+- Q3: How to let my kids exploring Emacs?(No need to answer this.
+ It\'s simillar to Q2)
+ - A: Great question! Much of the early childhood Montessori work
+ is highly tactile. Abstract concepts are embodied in physical
+ objects. One example is the \"binomial cube\" which is a set of
+ blocks that demonstrates (a + b)\^3. Children know nothing about
+ the math behind it, but by interacting with it as a tactile
+ puzzle, something about the math concept behind it, the
+ abstraction, is available to the child and their absorbent mind.
+ - That is to say\... perhaps there are ways to bring Emacs into
+ the physical world for the very young. I\'ve been fantasizing
+ about some kind of \"physical lisp\" where young children can
+ interact with a sort of physical programming language. I don\'t
+ have a lot of concrete ideas on how to get young children
+ exploring Emacs, but I  do believe it is possible.
+ - For older, literate children, I believe simple things that give
+ instant feedback are a great way to encourage interaction. Being
+ able to do something like (set-cursor-color \"orange\") and see
+ it work at your finger tips is amazing. I believe that a well
+ prepared set up where M-x is easy to access and you get some
+ kind of completion to show you what you can do would go far. 
+ Even ielm could be useful. Children are not nearly as afraid of
+ a command prompt as some grown ups are. They come to it with
+ much less preconceptions on how it should be used.
+ - I would like to think more about this, as giving children the
+ opportunity to experience Emacs feels critical these days, when
+ they may be forced into using much non-free software just do do
+ their school work.
+- Q4: How big of an impact does the environment have on the children
+ that you teach?
+ - A: the environment is huge. giving children a prepared space
+ where everything is accessible to them, down at their level, the
+ correct size, etc, it can lead to amazing things. When I worked
+ with 1.5-3 year olds, I remember telling people it was like
+ managing a restaurant where my employees were toddlers. I could
+ work with a group of children to get food served into properly
+ sized dishes, beverages poured, ceramic plates and glass cups
+ set on the tables, napkins folded, and so on all finished in
+ time to get everyone down for lunch before we had major melt
+ downs.  This would not be possible in a normal grown-up
+ environment. 
+ - I\'m not sure i said this in the talk, but the environment is an
+ active process on all of us, not just children. the 0-6 year
+ olds (and beyond) are absorbing so much from the environment
+ that we simply filter out. i think this is important to consider
+ for new emacs users. I tend to filter out a lot of things that a
+ new user may pick up and stumble over.
+ - To re-emphasize: the elements of education are The Learner, The
+ Guide(s), and The Environment. Montessori focuses on the
+ Prepared Environment, in order that it can be the most effective
+ for the child\'s ability to become an independent, self-realized
+ person.
+- Q5:Do you have a good reference for the Montessori principles
+ (actually any nice book ref)?
+ - A: I\'d like to find a more modern resource, I\'m sure they are
+ out there. Much of my experience was direct hands-on classroom
+ time.  I\'ve read much of \"The Absorbent Mind\" which really
+ lays out a lot of the observations Maria Montessori made of the
+ young child, 0-6 years old.  The other book I\'ve studied is
+ \"The Secret of Childhood\".  I would like to stress though, a
+ lot of the knowledge in Montessori is very very similar to
+ traditional knowledge. When I was learning more about Lakota
+ culture and parenting, I was finding that Montessori was
+ expressing much of the same thing. Any resource (book, human,
+ whatever) that respects children as whole human beings is worth
+ paying attention to. Another author I\'ve enjoyed is Aletha
+ Solter, who writes about parenting.
+- Q6:How do you think Emacs could improve re: Montessori Principles
+ (if at all)?
+ - A: My main takeaway is that we should acknowledge the three
+ elements of learning: The Learner (user), The Guides
+ (contributors), and The (Prepared) Environment. Each user coming
+ to Emacs is an individual with their own mix of internal drives
+ (human tendencies) that compel them to learn and experience.
+ Everyone that is a contributor to Emacs (whether in code, on the
+ web, or in chat) acts as a Guide in the environment (whether
+ they know it or not).  The Prepared Environment could be
+ considered how the application is set up for users.  I think
+ there is room for a friendlier Prepared Environment, though I am
+ always amazed at what I can discover where the self-documenting
+ feature helps me out.  Interactive tutorials teaching one how to
+ learn how to learn Emacs would be tricky, but I think some
+ interesting work could happen there!
+ - Another principle is \"control of error\", meaning, when you
+ fail at something or make a mistake, it should be obvious, and
+ hopefully the correction of the error should be obvious as well.
+ This is hard to do in a huge software environment like Emacs,
+ but I think there could be some work done in this regard. I\'m
+ reminded of Racket\'s beginning student languages, which make
+ error messages more human focused and less computery is a good
+ example.
+ - I think the community could also improve as Guides. I have
+ certainly had many pleasant interactions with Emacs users, but
+ sometimes you run into things like \"RTFM\" or \"read the
+ source\". While I don\'t disagree, it can come off as elitist
+ sometimes. Many new users are afraid to read source, or have
+ found a manual but still don\'t understand. We certainly want to
+ encourage independence, so offering techniques like \"have you
+ tried M-x describe-function?\"  is better than just answering
+ outright. Sometimes we need to take a moment and understand the
+ Learner we\'re working with. Maybe they aren\'t ready for \"read
+ the source\". I could keep writing, but I think I need to wrap
+ up. Anyone should feel free to email me to talk more! perhaps
+ i\'ll try doing some writing about it. 
+- Q8: What was the presentation mode you used?
+ - A: org-tree-slide - <https://github.com/takaxp/org-tree-slide> -
+ i love using this package because i can practice and edit my
+ presentation at the same time.
+
+Feedback:
+
- having studied in a school which founded by following Montessori Philosophy, I can relate <3
- Love the emphasis on creativity!
- Such a cool talk