Pixar
Chumono
Just wondering , why don't they teach Bonsai at school ? With Global warming etc.. this is a subject that children should learn
Why don't they teach Bonsai at school ?
- Thread starter Pixar
- Start date
Njyamadori
Chumono
Why don’t they teach fishing , dancing , yoyoing, and all other hobbies ?? Also how much I wish they had bonsai in my school it would be weird being the only student for it
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
It seems like schools are, in fact, offering many horticultural learning opportunities.. even at our little rural Public High School (second poorest county in Wisco) has a greenhouse and gardening classes. To offer anything MORE specific, seems like a mis-use of resources.
Also gotta remember that the thing with electives and whatnot is, you have to be ahead or at the least, you have to be on course with your credits. I took a BUNCH of weird classes... even in High School.
Also gotta remember that the thing with electives and whatnot is, you have to be ahead or at the least, you have to be on course with your credits. I took a BUNCH of weird classes... even in High School.
Pixar
Chumono
We had horticulture as well , but that was just grown vegetables etc....
Maybe if they made it more specific ( like grow you own Bonsai Tree ) giving them a real example , students would be more interested
Maybe if they made it more specific ( like grow you own Bonsai Tree ) giving them a real example , students would be more interested
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
I agree.. definitely WOULD be awesome. It would be tough acquiring resources and funding for specialized horticulture.. would the money, for supplies and teacher salary and water/fert/any electricity come FROM the horticultural budget... orrrr..
One COULD apply for a grant...
My best suggestion is START with a petition.. then one would apply for a grant, IF enough interest could be generated. Because I don’t think any department would be willing to split/share their funding. And if you’d ask the school board, they’d say, “We already provide horticulture.”
Places with a LARGE and varied population would have more success.
Possibly encourage students to start small interest clubs.. bonsai-related.
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
First comes core curriculum. There are always people complaining that kids cannot read, write or count well enough without allocating more time to electives that may or may not be useful later in life.
Then there are non core subjects and there are hundreds of demands from vested interests that their particular interest be included in school curriculum. There are only so many hours in a school year so only a certain amount of things can be included.
Finally, if you can succeed in getting your bonsai classes approved, you need a teacher with the skills and interests to take the class. Chances are there will only be one teacher with the interest and/or skills in maybe 100 schools so getting the classes running may be challenging.
I know we have a couple of teachers on B'nut who have been trying to work out a way of including some aspects of bonsai in classes for the kids they teach but they will be few and far between and many obstacles to overcome before it actually happens.
I've done a few sessions for kids at the local primary school as part of their second language (Japanese) classes but that's a far cry from a course in bonsai.
Then there are non core subjects and there are hundreds of demands from vested interests that their particular interest be included in school curriculum. There are only so many hours in a school year so only a certain amount of things can be included.
Finally, if you can succeed in getting your bonsai classes approved, you need a teacher with the skills and interests to take the class. Chances are there will only be one teacher with the interest and/or skills in maybe 100 schools so getting the classes running may be challenging.
I know we have a couple of teachers on B'nut who have been trying to work out a way of including some aspects of bonsai in classes for the kids they teach but they will be few and far between and many obstacles to overcome before it actually happens.
I've done a few sessions for kids at the local primary school as part of their second language (Japanese) classes but that's a far cry from a course in bonsai.
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Bonsai is not an environmentally friendly hobby at all.
I drove 60 miles for a tree last week. A tree that had been transported at least twice, six times that distance.. Which is now sitting in soil mined in different places, shipped, mixed, bagged and sold, shipped again.
I feed it organic nutrients. But I did have to spray it with insecticides.
It will end up in a clay pot with clay mined from elsewhere, fired in a kiln that doesn't use the excess heat or CO2 for anything.
All in all I have 6 meters of aluminium wire on it right now.
Not really justifyable climate-wise. Yes, it's a tree. But out of all the trees in the world, bonsai are the ones with some of the lowest carbon uptake in the world simply because we don't allow them to ever grow to their full size potential, and we bring them to classes and back and some of us even use soil mined at the other side of the globe.
I'd rather see kids visit the woods and learn something about it. Our school had a veggie garden and we went to the annual 'plant a tree day' events.
I do believe schools can do better in teaching about plants and biology. But bonsai doesn't seem to be the right subject for that.
TN_Jim
Omono
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
My Clay friend and I where talking the other day about how much ridiculousness surrounds this industry of fake pottery, shipping dirt and materials from here and there, wasting so much energy, with "potters" trying to be "excellent" with stuff they wouldn't have access to if it wasn't for these giant (failing?) supply chains.
Anyway in perusing the topic, it's clear that the best of the best potters(mostly antique), are the ones who make products from the clay underneath their feet, using fuel from the surrounding land to fire it.
I think the exact same thing happens with bonsai. The closer your material, the better it can become.
It's almost as if the sin of greed rampant in these industrial endeavors is what makes this so.
It's foolish we do this. Global is only sustainable Locally! That is why we are being screwed currently as a global society. Everything is too upside down with funny money that never existed, but the energy exerted is the same.
This balance is severely off! We've been paying for this energy with money that doesn't exist!
Anyway....
Far as Bonsai in schools....
When the school system itself is properly reformed, a Bonsai from k-12 for every student would be more informational than a lot of the BS they learn now!
Sorce
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
Bonsai class doesn't push radical social theories.
AZ Newb
Sapling
@AZbonsai did a very successful Summer Bonsai Academy at the school he teaches at. See the thread below:@AZbonsai, did you have some kinda of bonsai school curriculum or am I just completely imagining this??
Summer Bonsai Academy
The Summer Bonsai Academy is taking shape. Mesa Public Schools beefing up their summer school programs with Art, PE, Music, and a Bonsai Academy at Johnson Elementary School in Mesa, AZ. 3 week program. School starts tomorrow. Bringing in the trees today. Now you have to remember it is a...
Mara of dragon clan
Mame
Bonsai is a marathon hobby- with growing seasons spoken of as mere "days" - meaning that you kind of look at the whole year as one day for a tree.
Studying trees to gain appreciation of bonsai might be useful for a broader application.
My sister who is 4 yrs older than me requested a masterclass of horticulture because she noticed i could just "tell" the right course of action to guide a tree back to vitality. I told her it was a culmination of almost 200 + hrs of self study and direct feedback from a growing season. This didnt quite deter her but she recognized that what seemed effortless as a result of much effort.
So even a class based on that principle is more broadly applicable.
Bonsai and feng shui also go very hand in hand. A tree in the wrong location will always wither. And a big part of having a tree is the effects it gives to a location. Not knowing one and only the other wont result in anything substantial but knowing how the two corelate gives an enriching life experience.
Studying trees to gain appreciation of bonsai might be useful for a broader application.
My sister who is 4 yrs older than me requested a masterclass of horticulture because she noticed i could just "tell" the right course of action to guide a tree back to vitality. I told her it was a culmination of almost 200 + hrs of self study and direct feedback from a growing season. This didnt quite deter her but she recognized that what seemed effortless as a result of much effort.
So even a class based on that principle is more broadly applicable.
Bonsai and feng shui also go very hand in hand. A tree in the wrong location will always wither. And a big part of having a tree is the effects it gives to a location. Not knowing one and only the other wont result in anything substantial but knowing how the two corelate gives an enriching life experience.
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