Farm School blog posts
In search of freedom and independence, and big bangs
Outdoor life, or, How to have an old-fashioned, dangerous summer
How can you resist “the Anarchist Cookbook of the nursery”?
Retro-progressives of the world, unite
New for dangerous girls and daring boys
Other blogs:
The Borderline Sociopathic Book for Boys post introduces The Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys
The Dangerous and Daring Blog for Boys and Girls
Lenore Skenazy’s blog Free Range Kids (not to be confused, by the way, with the nifty and dangerous home schooling blog Free Range Academy)
Websites:
Make Magazine and Maker Faire (where the motto is “Build, Craft, Hack, Play, Make”)
TedTalk “Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do” by Gever Tulley ofThe Tinkering School, a summer program to help kids ages seven to 17 learn to build things; the talk comes from Tulley’s book in progress, Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do
Recommended books, some for adults and some for children, from the Farm School shelves and wish lists
The American Boy’s Handy Book by Daniel Carter Beard (do yourself a favor and get the Centennial edition published by Godine, with the lovely foreword by the late Noel Perrin)
Shelters, Shacks & Shanties: And How to Build Them by Daniel Carter Beard (also with a foreword by Noel Perrin
Field and Forest Handybook: New Ideas for Out of Doors by Daniel Carter Beard
Camp-Lore and Woodcraft by Daniel Carter Beard
Boat-Building and Boating by Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter Beard’s Online Books
Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger
Woodcraft and Indian Lore by Ernest Thompson Seton
Two Little Savages by Ernest Thompson Seton
Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition (Dover Value Editions) by Robert Baden-Powell
Boy Scouts Handbook: The First Edition, 1911 (Dover Books on Americana)
Canoeing with the Cree, the late reporter Eric Sevareid’s account of the expedition he, then 17, and 19-year-old friend Walter Port embarked upon several days after graduating from high school. The boys paddled 2,250 miles in an 18-foot canvas canoe, from the Mississippi River at Fort Snelling to Hudson Bay.
The Boy Mechanic, a four-volume series by the editors of Popular Mechanics, reprinted by the good folks at the Canadian woodworking and gardening institutionLee Valley, which also offers the reprint Boy Craft
Another, one-volume, version of The Boy Mechanic, this one subtitled “200 Classic Things to Build”
Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices by William Gurstelle
The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery by William Gurstelle
Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior’s Guide to Building Projectile Shooters by William Gurstelle
Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against by Ulrik Pilegaard and Mike Dooley
Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture by Robert Bruce Thompson
Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders: From Novice to Master Observer by Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson
Mad Professor by Mark Frauenfelder
Manual Of Formulas: Recipes, Methods and Secret Processes by Raymond B. Wailes (Popular Science Publishing)
Lee’s Priceless Recipes: 3000 Secrets for the Home, Farm, Laboratory, Workship and Every Department of Human Endeavor compiled by Dr. N.T. Oliver, from the Classic Reprint series section of the Lee Valley Tool catalogue
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments, available free online as a PDF file and a bit torrent file, and for under $30 as a reprint from Lulu
The How and Why Wonder Book of Chemistry by Martin L. Keen, illustrated by Walter Ferguson, published by Grosset & Dunlap, 1961, part of The How and Why Wonder Book series; out of print but worth looking for
Mr. Wizard’s 400 Experiments in Science, by Don Herbert and Hy Ruchlis; and don’t miss Mr. Wizard on DVD, especially the episode where he electrocutes the hot dog. Danger at its finest!
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
Watch Yourself: Why Safer Isn’t Always Better by Matt Hern
Miscellania:
The Canadian classic film Song of the Paddle (1978); “Outdoorsman Bill Mason, his wife, and two children set out on a wilderness canoe camping holiday. In this film, the art of canoeing is more than technical expertise; it becomes a family experience of shared joy. Along the way there are countless adventures and much lovely scenery, including the Indian rock carvings of Lake Superior.”
Remember: BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WON’T DROWN.
Filed under: Books, Chemistry, Childhood, Children's Books, Courting Danger, Craftsmanship, Education, Fun & Games, Home Education, New Books, Outdoor Education, Physics, Science, Secondhand, Woodworking |
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