…that in Osaka Japan, in a non-descript school my life would change forever.

My name is Eaton Donald, I was 27 years old, living in Osaka and wanting to learn to speak Japanese.  I had already been to 4 other schools, none of which were a good fit for me.  Despite that, the desire to learn remained strong.  I can still remember walking into a small school called The Center for Learning and meeting a woman named Fusako Allard.  Nothing really stood out about the place or Fusako and I nearly left the first meeting, however, I decided it was at least worth a try.

I soon came to learn that the school, the teaching approach, and the materials used were very different.  I can remember thinking, why don’t these teachers help me more, why don’t they give me answers, why do I have to get everything perfect before moving on to the next thing, why isn’t there any homework…  I can also remember arriving at class at 9:00AM and then being repeatedly stunned and shocked that it was 12:00PM – no break time, no mental strain, no boredom and almost no perception of the passage of time at all.

Most importantly my competence with spoken and written Japanese progressed very quickly.

I was intrigued by this methodology and wanted to learn more.  I asked Fusako one day to tell me more about their teaching approach and she walked me over a bookcase and handed me The Science of Education and told me: “Why don’t you start with this.”  Over the next 18 months I read over 25 of Gattegno’s books and around 30 of his papers.

I am 43 years old now, and I am still reading Gattegno.  I have read and re-read his work several times over.

In 2008 I set forth the goal to bring the Science of Education to your home, classroom and community.  I hope you follow us through this blog as we discuss issues, problems, opportunities and solutions in education.

Sincerely,

Eaton Donald

President