Learn Nothing Day

It's a holiday for unschoolers, and gosh, do we ever need it!

June 13, 2009, blog post by Kelly Sturman/livingjoyfully
Mark your Calendars

__________
Backup copy in case that one disappears:
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July 24th is Learn Nothing Day!

It's a holiday for unschoolers, and gosh, do we ever need it! That old adage "you learn something new every day" is so true! We are learning all the time...

"You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn"

~Alanis Morissette, "You Learn"

Don't we deserve a day off? ;-)

So, with the holiday just six weeks away, we are going to have to think hard to figure out how to take a day off from all this non-stop learning! Obviously, we can't go anywhere; we'd see something new or meet someone new and then we'd learn something. So, we'll have to say at home. But stay at home and do what?

Let's see... maybe we could just sleep the day away? No, that won't work! How many creative ideas arise from dreams? Lots! That opening guitar riff to the Rolling Stones' song "Satisfaction"? It came to Keith Richards in a dream. Likewise, Paul McCartney woke up one morning with the melody to "Yesterday" floating around in his head. Here is a list of some other songs and stories, including The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and also Frankenstein, that came to artists while they slept. I'm sure the list is not all inclusive!

Okay, so sleeping all day is too risky. Hmm... maybe we could "zone out" in front of the ol' "boob tube" for the day? Ah, no; that won't work. 'Cause "boob tube" is a misnomer; there is really so much to learn from watching television. Even if we carefully avoid all the "educational" channels, even if we steer clear of the game shows (where we might pick up a fact or two), even if we try really hard to find something incredibly insipid and or asinine, there remains a very really risk that our brains are bound to make connections between what we are watching and what we already know. That's what brains do. The next thing you know, we will be thinking creatively, and having ideas, and learning. Uh-oh!

Okay, maybe we could play games all day? Hmm.... well... we can't play Boggle or Scrabble or Scattergories or Upwords or Malarky. Mad Libs is out. Ditto Monopoly, Clue, Statego, Battleship, Othello, DaVinci's Challenge, Mastermind, chess, checkers, Go, card games of any sort... Heck, even Jenga requires strategic thinking.

Video games, maybe? Lots of folks say those rot your brain! But wait. Even those folks admit that video games can improve eye-hand coordination. Kinesthetic learning. DRAT! And the truth is, many video games teach so much more: reading, writing, typing; goal setting and problem solving. Economics, both micro and macro; history; mythology; science and technology; geography and mapping skills... and and and on it goes. Looks like we'll have to avoid video games, too, on Learn Nothing Day.

Well, golly gee! This is really going to be a challenge! It's a good thing we've got six weeks to plan; we're going to need it. How can you go a day without learning a single thing?

But seriously...

For more on what can be learned from watching TV and playing video games; these are just a sampling of the many articles out there discussing the benefits:

From The New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/05/16/050516crbo_books

From CNN:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/technology/games_change.fortune/index.htm?%20section=money_technology

From Wired:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1

From Discover:

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/brain/video-games

From Live Science:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/081003-school-games.html

Real and imagined languages

GERMAN:

Erster Internationaler Welt-nichtslerntag

translated by Bea Mantovani, who also contributed Mandarin:

CHINESE:

Just for fun:
Mandarin Chinese (I hope you can read the characters, I wrote it in
phonetics next to it just in case.)
第一国际无会日 (di yi guo ji wu xue ri)
(not 100 % sure this would sound great to a native ;-)

SAMOAN:

O le aso e leai se mea afia.

emmy tofa

HINDI, KANNADA, MARATHI

From Hema A. Bharadwaj in Pune, India:

It's "Aaj kuch mat seekho". Meaning "don't learn anything today" in Hindi.
And in Kannada it is "Evat enoo kali byadaa"
and in Marathi it i s "Aaz kaahi shikoo nakaa"

LOLSPEAK:

Learn Nothing Day translated into lolspeak:

dai wut bees fur lernin nuttin

http://icanhascheezburger.com/
http://lolcats.com/

but no klikn doze linx on dai wut bees for lernin nuttin! humorz be
notoryus fur sneekin inta yuz brainiaks and makin yez lurn stuffiez.

Joyce

KLINGON:

ghoj pagh jaj
(If someone would like to expand on that or correct the grammar, that would be fine. Nancy Wooten is not fluent in Klingon, but did the best she could.)

OP:
I've translated it into the "op" language I used as a kid: Lopearopnop Noptophopinopgop Dopayop

(add "op" to every consonant (including "y" whether it's used as a vowel or consonant).

Robin B.
(Ropobopinop Bop)

O Dia de Nao Aprender Nada

PORTUGUESE:

"O Dia de Nao Aprender Nada "

Alex Polikowsky, Ambassador to Unschoolers (if any) in Portugal and Brazil

That last comment was written in 2008, and now in 2014, there are MANY unschoolers in Portugal and Brazil!

Several things have been translated, and there is a video with subtitles, mostly done by Marta Pires and Alex Polikowsky. Traduções em Português de algumas informações sobre o "unschooling".

El Dia de No Aprender Nada

SPANISH

The first translation was "El primer Dia Internacional de Aprender Nada", but later Barbara wrote this:

My translation spurred some internal disagreement (as so many do) about the use of the double negative in Spanish: Part of me still wants to call it "El Dia de NO Aprender Nada", as that sounds more natural, while my initially submitted contribution was "El Dia de Aprender Nada" as a more literal "Learn Nothing" day translation, which to me has some philosophical connotations (not just that we would try NOT to learn that day, but that by "learning nothing" we would be somehow "learning about nothing" if you will, which I realize is contrary to the intent of the holiday :) but still struck me as meaningful in context. So, my disclaimer is, for a purist, the transilation "El Dia de No Aprender Nada" might be more appropriate.
—
Barbara Perez

La Prima Giornata Mondiale del "Oggi non si impara"

Chi pratica l' "Unschooling" (ovvero, l'apprendimento naturale ed autonomo) ha bisogno di una vacanza. Quando qualcuno chiede se fanno scuola famigliare anche durante l'estate, loro rispondono sempre di si. Quando qualcuno chiede se mai prendono una pausa dall'apprendere, loro rispondono di no.

Ed è molto tempo che questo succede.

Il 24 Luglio, 2008 sarà la prima (e forse l'ultima) Giornata Mondiale dell' "Oggi non si impara", una vacanza per chi fa "unschooling," anche se può essere celebrata da chiunque lo desideri.

Per i cittadini dell'Utah la Giornata dell' "Oggi non si impara" sarà celebrata il 25 di Luglio.

Italian translation by Melissa Dietrick and family. Thank you!

Learn Nothing Day pages in English and in French.

La Journée Sans Rien Apprendre

Programme préliminaire
pour la première célébration internationale de
« LA JOURNEE SANS RIEN APPRENDRE »

Les unschoolers ont besoin de congés. Lorsqu'on leur demande s'ils s'instruisent en été, ils répondent "oui". Lorsqu'on leur demande s'ils se reposent parfois de tous ces apprentissages, ils répondent "jamais".

Et cela fait bien longtemps que ça dure.

Le 24 Juillet 2008 sera la première (et peut-être la dernière) journée annuelle "Sans rien apprendre" pour les unschoolers, bien qu’elle puisse être fêtée par quiconque le désire.

"La Journée Sans Rien Apprendre" (Learn Nothing Day) sera célébrée le 25 juillet dans l'Utah (les citoyens de l'Utah sauront
pourquoi.)"

Plus sur unschooling, en français (More about Unschooling, in French)

Translation by Sylvie Martin and Jeanine Barbé, with the help of Bea Mantovani
and the offer of more help by Anne Mills. Thank you all!

DISCUSSION about the word choices:

"La Journée Sans Rien Apprendre" is a fully translated page here

There were some problems with translating "void in Utah":

Sylvie wrote:
"With Jeanine, we had difficulties for the word : VOID. I think we understood.. is it like "Day off" ? If yes, it's "jour férié" in french."

Sandra:
Sylvie, it's like that day is not allowable, or is not applicable, or is cancelled out in Utah for the 24th. (It's because they have a big state holiday that day, Pioneer Day, and it's all about celebrating the history of Utah.)

Anne Mills wrote:
Whooo that is a tricky one ;-)

I would offer "pont" but not entirely sure, as it is in French the meaning of a day off that allows to connect with the pending week end.
Otherwise I dunno.

Bea Mantovani wrote:
I would write: "La Journée Sans Rien Apprendre" sera célébrée le 25
juillet dans l'Utah (les citoyens de l'Utah sauront pourquoi.)

or maybe

...sera exceptionellement célébrée le 25 juillet dans l'Utah...

or something like that

Bea
ps: I like "sans rien apprendre"! I was thinking it could be translated "la journée où on apprend rien" but that sounded kind of awkward... It's not easy translating "learn nothing day" in another language. lol (that might make it hard to learn nothing for people who speak several languages... what if they start thinking about how to translate the name of the holiday? lol)

Learn Nothing Day (2008)

This is duplicated from my own blog here http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2008/07/learn-nothing-day.html (where it has eight comments). The top image is a link.

The dog is Fergie.

Rather than make new posts, I'm just going to add to this as the day goes on.

11:30
The mail came, and just reading the cover of The Smithsonian magazine, I learned something. I put it down until tomorrow.
An mp3 player came from Hong Kong. The packaging and instructions are always interesting on those. I put it aside for Marty to look at later. It's for our Saturn, which has a tape stuck in the tape player and only radio besides that, but this will work in there and we won't have to buy a new car stereo.

The Estey Organ newsletter came, and I was reading through because I'm in correspondence with someone who wants to buy one and I don't want to sell mine. The museum they're working on in Vermont, where the organs were originally made, has several Junior Organs, they say (the kind I have). Maybe they'll sell one to this guy.

Back to trying not to learn now.

12:03
The Radical Unschoolers' Network is new, and fun. I knew how Holly had answered the three requisite questions, but today I saw Marty's:

what does "radical unschooling" mean to you?
    What does "Marty Dodd" mean to you?
how long have you been unschooling or homeschooling?
    since i stopped going to school
names and ages of children
    i don't know, i haven't met any of 'em yet

Holly was member #123 (good number) and she wrote:
what does "radical unschooling" mean to you?
    I don't report the news, I just make it.
how long have you been unschooling or homeschooling?
    Never really counted.
names and ages of children
    Keith is 52 and Sandra is 55 (7/08)

~~http://familyrun.ning.com/~~ (gone, now)

1:30-3:00 lunch with Kirby and Katie Gist, at Pars where Marty was working.
Loved the waiter, Julian. Talked to him about unschooling because we had our Learn Nothing Day shirts on. He bragged up Marty behind his back. I gave him some URLs and he gave me his e-mail. We checked before we left to see whether he was working Saturday; he isn't. I came home and e-mailed an invitation to the party Saturday.

That wasn't much learning. Good session for the day.

4:45 Keith called for a ride from work. Problem with motorcycle handlebars. Drove the 15 miles or however far to Honeywell. Keith drove back, and on the way we stopped and unloaded old computers and some stuff at Goodwill, which Kirby and Katie and I forgot to do.

5:30 or so Keith has bright idea to go back to Honeywell and fix his bike. I didn't take a book. It took an hour. The sun was beating down on rocks and parking lot. I walked around looking for volcanic river rocks in the bought-and-delivered rocks in the divider islands at the parking lot. Found 30 or so. Kept coming back to put them in a towel in the backseat of the car. I was feeling sorry for myself, and sorrier for Keith, but wasn't learning much.

7:00-7:30 or so, followed Keith home slowly. When we turned into our neighborhood his tailpipe fell off. We came home, he got other tools, I offered him a ride back, but he said he should walk off the frustration. No learning for me. I came to look for more blog posts on Learn Nothing Day and found some really good ones. Learned that learning doesn't stop. (No, I already knew that.) Learned that one poor child hates Learn Nothing Day. That made me sad. I never meant to make anyone unhappy.

Came in and Marty asked me how to spell "science" in French. I said the same, but pronounced differently. He didn't like the answer; I said "Google language tools." They already had a translation page up. He was putting duct tape on the sides of his project, and writing "science" in Japanese and Russian on different sides.

8:00 more or less, helped Marty with his "Science Project." Learned he and Kirby spent $40 on Everclear and fruit juice to make punch for the party. They let me taste it with a straw and it tastes honestly very good. It's in a five gallon water cooler, and I helped clear out the back fridge enough to hold it. Put a deep pie pan under it just in case it leaks a bit.

Marty said that some states ban the sale of Everclear because it's basically moonshine, and too strong. He said it was banned in New Hampshire and California--six or seven states altogether. I did not know that. Learned something. DOH!

8:45 called Hotel Albuquerque to see what time they start serving breakfast. Tomorrow is Ramona King's birthday and we always go to breakfast early on her birthday to celebrate together. She lives a few hundred yards from the Hotel Albuquerque and they open at 6:00. Perfect. But I need to go to sleep pretty soon to be clever and charming that early. Keith wakes up at 5:00 a.m. anyway, but with the motorcycle compromised and the van in the shop since Tuesday, and Kirby in town, what will be driven by whom tomorrow has not been decided. I need a Ramona carriage about the time Keith goes to work is all I know.

Marty doesn't work tomorrow, so there's his vehicle. Kirby has a parade of friends through so there are some vehicles. We'll do okay.

10:00
Holly is off at a swimming party "with schoolkids." She wore and Brett wore their Learn Nothing Shirts the other day. Brett and Kirby are playing Halo. Marty was texting when I went in. I took a picture of them in their shirts, and Marty took a photo of me in mine.

ALL DAY I waited to see if anyone would notice and comment on my unschooling page being gone. If it was mentioned anywhere, I missed it. I'm going to restore it now and go to sleep, but if anyone wants to see what they missed, it's here:
http://sandradodd.com/learnnothingday/cover, but today it was sandradodd.com/unschooling.
[Note in a later year... That page used to have soft, floaty words that said "Learn Nothing Day" scrolling slowly by, while Pachabel's Canon played. Sometimes old routines like those are not supported anymore. Bummer! :0) ]