"You must interview this school! Every Bay Area maker I have invited, American experts and teachers who are familiar with hands-on education are highly recommended.
Brighorks, which was converted from the abandoned Manazi factory, is completely different from the school we imagined. In a spacious and ordinary classroom, there are many tables, chairs, furniture, cubicles, attics and so on. Either teachers and students "hand-made" or children's finished products on special themes. Even the corner of climbing wall was made by ourselves.
Brighorks' school motto is "Everything is interesting and everything can be made. So students not only use paper and pen, but also use real tools, real materials and real questions to learn.
In the carpentry room, eight-year-old Laura is almost as tall as an electric grinding wheel cutter. But she put on goggles and earmuffs, and confidently and steadily cut a piece of wood into the size she needed under the huge cutting noise. We can't believe it. Isn't this ... too dangerous?
"I'm not afraid at all, because I've used this cutting machine for twenty times, and the teacher is around, so I feel very safe. Laura, like other students in Brihawks, learned to use electric drills, cutting machines and many tools that we can't safely name to complete our projects from the age of six. The wooden stool that she usually sits on with tenons instead of nails was her work when she was six years old.
Huang jianbin
"Children's abilities are much stronger than we realize, and the key is whether we provide them with such opportunities," said Gever Tulley, the founder.