OH, THE THINKS YOU WEREN’T THINKING!

A Book About Learning (Not School)

by The Einzige

Did you know there are two kinds of Know?

It’s true! Yes it’s true! Let me tell you. Hello!

There’s the Know that you WANTED, the Know that you CHASED,

The Know that you grabbed with your hands and your face!

You wanted to know how the bird-things could fly,

So you watched and you wondered and looked at the sky.

You wanted to know what was under that rock,

So you lifted and peeked (and got bit—what a shock!).

That’s Know Number One. That’s the REAL kind of Know.

That’s the kind that you get when you’re FREE and you GO.

But THEN...

Oh, but THEN came the Building (so tall and so gray)

Where they said “Come inside now. We’ll teach you today.”

And they sat you in rows (yes in rows, very straight)

And they said “Here’s your Know— and you’re already late!”

They gave you the Know about things you don’t care for.

The Know about boxes and dates you’re not there for.

They tested your Know every week, every day!

“How much Know do you have? Write it down! Right away!”

And the Know that you WANTED? The bird-fly? The rock?

“That’s not on the test,” said the Room with the Clock.

That’s Know Number Two. That’s the SCHOOL kind of Know.

That’s the kind someone PUTS there like seeds that won’t grow.

Now here is the thing that they hope you won’t see:

The first Know is YOURS. And the second? Not free.

The first Know, you OWN it! It lives in your brain

Like a fish in the water, like thunder in rain!

The second Know? RENTED. It sits there like stone.

You can say it on tests but it’s never your own.

You’ll forget it by Tuesday (or Wednesday at most).

It was never alive— just a Know-kind-of-ghost.

“But WAIT!” say the Teachers, the Deans and the Docs,

“Without US and our Buildings, they’d just play with rocks!”

And I say: YES! EXACTLY! That’s how the thing starts!

Playing with rocks is the BEST of the arts!

A child sees a puddle and HAS to know: WET!

A child sees a climb-thing and climbs it, you bet!

The knowing is IN them, the wanting-to-know.

You don’t have to plant it. Just let the thing grow!

“But WHAT ABOUT READING?” I hear someone shout.

“And numbers and science and—what’s it about?

How will they learn it if not in our Schools?

With our Tests and our Grades and our Very Good Rules?”

Here’s a secret (don’t tell): Kids learn when they NEED.

When the Know helps them DO things, they beg you to read!

They’ll pull at your arm for the books and the numbers!

“Show me! Teach me! I need this!”— no threats and no slumbers.

But make it a CHORE? Make it “Do this OR ELSE”?

Watch them hide all their wonder way back on the shelf.

See, SCHOOL is like WORK (and now here’s the trick):

Work says “Do what we tell you or else you’ll be sick,

Or hungry, or homeless, or left all alone!”

And School says the same thing in teacher-ish tone:

“Learn this or you’re STUPID! Learn this or you’ll FAIL!

Learn this or your future is grimmer than jail!”

But WORK isn’t DOING. And SCHOOL isn’t KNOWING.

They’re both the same trick: Make you scared of not going.

Real Doing is PLAYING with things until—POP!

— something happens, you made it, you didn’t want to stop!

Real Knowing is PLAYING with thoughts until—ZING!

— you suddenly GET it, that wonderful thing!

So here is my message (I’ll say it out clear):

LET CHILDREN BE CHILDREN.

THERE’S NOTHING TO FEAR.

The Know that they need? They will find it. They will!

Just give them the world and a little goodwill.

Don’t test them and grade them and rank them and score.

Don’t tell them their wonder is wrong anymore!

That wonder’s the ENGINE, the fire, the spark!

Without it they’re stumbling alone in the dark.

You were BORN knowing how to want-to-know things.

You were born with the wonder a butterfly brings.

Then they told you: “Sit DOWN. Here’s the stuff you should know.”

And your little flame flickered and started to go

Smaller and smaller and smaller and then...

Some of us lost it. We won’t find it again.

But SOME of us didn’t! Some kept the fire lit!

We hid it and fed it and wouldn’t submit!

We learned what we wanted in spite of the School.

We followed our wonder (they called us the fool).

And now? Oh, and NOW? We still play! Yes, we do!

We’re learning like children— and SO. CAN. YOU.

So put down this book (yes, this book, put it down!)

And go find a question and follow it ‘round.

Don’t ask for permission. Don’t wait for a test.

Just WANT something badly and give it your best.

That’s Knowing. Real Knowing. The kind that’s your own.

The kind that’s ALIVE— not a rattling bone.

The End

(or really, The Start)

◊ᴹᴱᴹᴼᴿʸ⁻ᶜᴼᴹᴾᴸᴱᵀᴱ