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Professor David Naugle from Dallas Baptist University :

Once upon a time, but not that long ago, a there was a backwoodsman who lived and worked in a very isolated forest where he chopped down trees with an axe for a living. One day the woodsman bumped into a fellow from the city who took him into town to a hardware store and the city slicker showed him device that he said would increase his productivity and profit a 500%. He said if you normally chop down five trees in one day, with this new thing, you will chop down fifty. So he bought it.

The woodsman could hardly wait for the next day to arrive. As soon as the sun was up, he was out in the woods whittling away at his first tree. He worked and he worked, and he sweated and sweated. But by lunch time, he had only made it half way through one tree. He thought to himself, 鈥渢his afternoon, things will go better.鈥� By the end of the day, however, he had only chopped down two trees. Normally he could take care of five. Frustrated, disappointed and even angry, he resolved to work even harder the next day. But the results were pretty much the same. So were the emotions.

On the third day, he thumbed a ride into town, and went to the hardware store where he had gotten this new fangled device that was suppose to help him be so much more productive, and asked to speak to the manager. He told the manager that this thing he got from them didn鈥檛 work and that it wasn鈥檛 any good.

So the manager asked to see it, examined it carefully, checked its chain, made sure it fit snuggly on its guide, examined the fuel mixture and level, and its moving parts. Everything looked fine. Then manager said to the woodsman, 鈥淪tand back and I鈥檒l test it.鈥� The woodsman, unsure about what he meant, obeyed nonetheless. The manager pulled the starter cord with a jerk and the device made a loud, roaring noise: voovoom, voovoom! The woodsman, shocked at what he heard, yelled out in surprise: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 that noise?鈥�

You see, the device was a chain saw, but woodsman didn鈥檛 know what it was or how it worked. He had a great new tool, but he didn鈥檛 know how to use it. Since he didn鈥檛 know anything about the tool or how to use it, all he experienced was frustration, difficulty and discouragement in his work at felling trees. Similarly, if a plumber doesn鈥檛 know how to use his wrenches and pliers, he鈥檒l have a very hard time fixing a leaky faucet. If a carpenter doesn鈥檛 know how to wield his hammer and saw, he will find it very difficult to build a house. So it is for many students and school. If don鈥檛 know how to use their intellectual tools, it鈥檚 terribly hard to learn and get an education. As a result, education and schoolwork is nothing but difficult, frustrating, and discouraging. Because we have lost the tools of learning, going to school and trying to learn is just about as painful as a root canal.

Naugle then relates, 鈥淎bout 60 years ago, a woman named Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) recognized this problem and in 1947 wrote one of the most important essays on education in the 20th century titled, 鈥楾he Lost Tools of Learning.鈥欌��

One of the best things you can do for your child鈥檚 education is to read Mrs. Sayers鈥檚 essay. Just Google 鈥淭he Lost Tools of Learning,鈥� and it will be easy to find. Why does 91原创 exist? The problem and solution Dorothy Sayers articulates in her essay gives the answer. What do you need to know to help your child succeed in his or her education? Again, I can鈥檛 urge you strongly enough to go get this essay and read it.