This is the story of a 15 year old boy who built all of the electronics necessary to implement and sustain an FM radio station in his region of Sierra Leone (West Africa). His radio station revolutionized the way his community connected with one another. M.I.T. invited Kelvin to visit for a few weeks to work in their labs, with their students. Please watch the video, then ask yourself a few questions.

What if he weren't a prodigy? What if, instead, he were simply a person who cared about his interests because he saw how they could benefit society, and pursued those interests in the face of inevitable, repetitive setbacks and obstacles. What if we were to stop looking for prodigies, and were to instead start looking for ways to support one another in our interests? What if we then shared those interests with the rest of society? Just imagine what sort of lives children raised in that society would live. I can not provide that for everyone in the world, but I can do my small part to provide that for the people in my life. That is the idea behind unschooling, and why I hold it so dear to my heart.

Schoolchildren can also learn complex subject matters on their own, researchers find

Schoolchildren can also learn complex subject matters on their own, researchers find

Logo

I love computers. They are wonderful tools for everything from word processing to socialization. Even as a little kid from the '90s I recognized their potential. I knew it was just a matter of time before we had video calling, small laptops, handheld tablet computers, and virtually everything else we could imagine at our fingertips. No, at that time I did not see how crucial things like spell check would be in my life, but it didn't take me long to recognize how much I needed them. I wouldn't be blogging without it.
Many of my earliest memories from when my family lived on the shores of a lake near Little Rock Arkansas are of my many attempts to make little computers or cellular phones out of printer paper or cardboard, glue, tape, paperclips, and staples (I actually made one about 11 years ago that had a striking resemblance to the Apple iPhone...). I wanted to build my own computer, write programs, and just play around with technology.
Then I went to school. I remember learning time and time again in grade school that I was bad at Math. I figured this out from my grades, my teacher's attitudes about Math, and the numerous times thought all of Elementary and Middle School that a teacher, or parent, or friend, or random person tried to comfort me with "It's ok that you didn't get a good grade on your Math test, you're just not good at Math."
I'm sorry for not finding that a very motivating pep talk, but if the purpose of modern education (be it public or private) is to inspire me to develop a passion for Math than I don't think I'm the one who failed.

Here’s my main point:

I was interested in computers, but thanks to the way school taught me to hate math, I put that passion on the back burner for years. And there it stayed until just a few weeks ago.



I was sitting in the Tutoring and Writing Center at my College where I get one General Elective credit towards my AA degree by helping students with English, or whatever else they may need. It was my first day, and as it was very slow I had time to work on some Student Employment applications, check my email, play around on Facebook, and eventually, I found LOGO - Math Playground - Don’t you just love that little turtle? Anyways, I actually programmed on another site that I couldn’t find again, but I got the turtle to make a little flower! Playing with LOGO programming online felt great because I was able to apply & explore some ideas from mathematics that I had covered in classes, but never given much thought.

Here is what I programed:

Isn't it a nice little flower? My mom said it reminded her of a poinsettia.

For an skeptic, here is the program itself:

pencolor red
lt 70

fd 50

rt 50

fd 50

rt 130

fd 50

rt 50

fd 100

lt 50

fd 50

lt 130

fd 50

lt 50

fd 50

lt 40

fd 50

lt 50

fd 50

lt 130

fd 50

lt 50

fd 100

rt 50

fd 50

rt 130

fd 50

rt 50

fd 50

pencolor white

lt 25

fd 20

lt 180

fd 40

lt 180

fd 20

rt 90

fd 20

rt 180

fd 40

rt 180

fd 20

pencolor green

rt 135

fd 150

lt 135

fd 60

rt 35

fd 60

rt 145

fd 60

rt 35

fd 60

rt 162.5
fd 80

lt 180

fd 80

hideturtle

I guess play has revitalized my intrinsic love for math, technology, and learning.