In this model, I’m (quite happily) making heavy use cross-part references in the assembly.  I caught onto that concept by reading the Top Down Design Overview at the SolidWorks website.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/RubberBandGunPerspective

Ever shop based on hunger, rather than diciplined restocking?

Ever want to have an inventory of groceries at your house, so you don’t have to run to the store for everything?

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Our objective is to keep consistent inventory levels of common products around the house, so we never run out of things that we should have on hand.  To that end, I’ve been adding some basic household inventory tracking data to the Home School software.  It has (or will have) the following features:

• Areas — places that you store products (freezer, basement shelves, kitchen, bathroom, etc…)
• Items — each “thing” that you want to keep in a given area (flour, sugar, toothpaste, etc)
• Units — lbs, each, bottle, roll, case, etc…
• Min Quantity — minimum amount to have on hand
• Max Quantity — max quantity to have on hand
• Check every [] days — how often should this item be checked?

From that data, you will be able to pull the following information out of the system:

• All items and current inventory levels
• Graphs of inventory levels over time
• Which items (sorted by area) need checked now
• What needs refilled (eg, the container of sugar in the kitchen, from the big bags in the basement)
• What needs purchased (40 eggs, 24 rolls of TP, 10 lbs of sugar)

You will be able to pop on, print out a list of items that need inventoried, and hand it to the kids with a pencil and clipboard to go about filling out how much there actually is.  Excellent math practice, especially if you deal in raw units like oz, lbs, quarts, etc… — the students will have to add/multiply/convert the units that are on the items they are counting.

For Example, you could specify that you want 4 bottles of dish soap around, or 96 ounces of dish soap around.  The difference is that they will need to multiply 24 oz per bottle * 3 bottles on hand = 72 ounces — time to buy another bottle.

Here are some early screen shots:

For every activity, you can attach an unlimited number of images.  They are stored in the database with all of the other data, so it’s easy to backup.  Also, I am using ImageMagick to resize them into various preview sizes for quick speeds while working with them.

I used uploadify to power the image uploader and ImageMagick to resize them into preview sizes.

Here is a screen shot of the list page:

And a screen shot of the details page:

Naturally, the topic of Log and portfolio came up needing solved.

Having been home educated as a child, I recall the massive effort it took to remain organized enough to be able to assemble a really good portfolio at the end of the year.  Also, the log book needed to be throughly kept to provide record of education activities.

Here is a brief list of items that need improved:

1. Portfolios typically are assembled at the end of the year, which requires a lot of effort.
2. There is only one copy of a portfolio.
3. They are a bit kludgy, having a mix of all sorts of media (photos, papers, art, etc…)
4. They are not searchable
5. They are not sortable
6. They are not printable
7. They are not email-able
8. They are not backup-able
9. They typically show only the “best” work, by virtue of what they are (depends on the assembler)
10. They are separate from the log of the actual activities
11. Etc…

Well, after a lot of here and there, I decided we needed a database.  So my wife and I designed a database that would handle a number of aspects:

1. Multiple Students
2. Subjects as required by law
3. Projects that are a part of schooling
4. Activities and Events
5. Dates
6. Summaries
7. Descriptions
8. Scanned documents
9. Photographs
10. PDF files

The ultimate goal is to be able to send off for a printed book with the above content, and turn that into the school district.

I thought that a web interface would be appropriate.  So here is where I am at after a couple days of tinkering around…

If anyone expresses interest in seeing more of this, post a comment.

Thanks!

http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/everything.html

• Learning is focused on K-12, plus an additional 4-8 years of college.  Then what?
• The academics themselves have taken a front row seat.  At best, academics should be a tool to learn the things you need in life.
• What is the main point of general education?  Whatever a competent adult needs to live an effective and productive life should be the main goal of non-specialized education.
• This has little to do with many of the subjects that are so extensively taught, and much to do with subjects that are not little taught.

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The saying “begin with the end in mind” needs applied. If you were to ask the typical person “why kids go to school”, you would get many varied answers.  Some legit, and some stupid, but I guess there would be little consistency between answers.

If you told the average adult that they need to spend the next 16 years of their life, 40 hours per week, doing a job that does not pay, doing things that they do not want to do, and having no physical end result… what would they say?  That is 1/5 of the average human life, and regardless of what you are doing, there had better be a really good reason for it.

Every learning activity should have a “end in mind”.  I think a lot of kids are also confused about why they are put through so many grueling tasks, when they have more interesting things to do.  Let’s break it down into basics…

• Learn to Read -> so you can learn and understand things
• Learn to Write -> so you can communicate with others
• Learn Arithmetic -> so you can “figure” problems out
• Learn History -> so you do not repeat the bad parts
• Learn Government -> so you can be an effective part of it
• Learn Language -> so you can communicate more widely
• Learn Science -> so you understand life around you
• Learn Physics -> so you can keep your car on the road
• Learn Accounting -> so you can handle finances in all areas of life
• Learn Management -> so you can handle the projects life gives you
• Learn Attention to Detail -> so you do not drop the ball in life
• Learn Health -> so you are able to maintain a healthy body

And so on…

If the learning is not producing the correct end result, then why waste huge amounts of time and money and life?

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There need to be fundamental changes in the way leaning is handled.  Anyone with experience should know that experience cannot be taught, that experience is valuable, and that experience comes only with doing.

Therefore, the goal of education should be to impart experience.  In doing this, bookwork should be reduced, and practical projects should be emphasized.  The end goal being to impart enough experience in enough areas that the student can live life without making the huge blunders that so many people have made.

But once “graduated”, this process of learning should not stop.  In our culture, I am not aware of a place where diverse and experienced people gather to teach to those who wish to learn.  Such a mechanism was outlined in two excellent books (IIRC): “The Man who Counted”, and “The Richest Man in Babylon”.
Quite frankly, the distinction between “student” and “adult” is a flaw in the way our culture thinks.  Learning should never stop, neither should structured learning.

You can force a horse to water, but not make him drink.  You can force a child to school, and not make him learn.  And even if you do force him to learn, you will diminish his desire to learn.  Everyone is different, headed to a different path in life, and their education should reflect that.  But the best thing one can learn is the art of leaning itself.

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In summary, I would like to see:

1. Free learning centers where wise people gather to pass their knowledge and experience on to willing ears who hear.
2. A culture that promotes the above, values wisdom, and makes learning a center of culture (rather than TV, for example).
3. Parents who teach the above, teach their children, and form a belief in their children that learning is valuable and to be sought.  Instead of school M-F.
4. Only part time teachers, teaching the things they heavily practice in real life.  Engineers teach math, writers teach writing, editors teach spelling, historians teach history, accountants teach accounting, scientists teach science, doctors teach health, etc…
5. People are certified in their knowledge of general areas + specific areas by the successful execution of a challenge, teaching, or test that is a real life project, or if not, as close as possible.  Similar to how Doctorate programs are currently structured, but much more diverse.

Following such an excellent general education, colleges could be far more focused on specialized knowledge needed for different fields.

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While much of this may be difficult to achieve in our current culture, there are aspects which I have implemented already in our school program.  My 3rd grader writes a real letter on real paper to a real person every day (bank teller, store owner, librarian, machine shop owner).  This has several side effects:

1. it builds his reputation
2. it teaches him to read, write, and spell in a very practical way
3. it teaches him to communicate
4. it blesses many people

Likewise, the students needed flashcards so they could memorize the arithmetic tables…  Rather than purchasing them, I had them create the cards themselves.  Many good effects:

1. Very effective learning
2. Penmanship
3. Organization
4. Diligence and Patience
5. A physical “end product” of their education

I have specifically focused extensively on reading and writing under the premise that: “if they can effectively communicate, they can learn anything.”

Comments?