Why clay?

For the dyslexic, creativity is an essential part of the learning process.  Mastery requires creativity.

We (dyslexics) only learn those things which we, ourselves create.  If we create something in the form of memorization, that is what we have - something memorized.  If we create something in the form of understanding, that's what we have - understanding.  But, if we create something in the form of mastery, it becomes a part of us, it becomes a part of our intellect.  When something is mastered, it becomes a part of our thinking process.

When we memorize something, or when we understand something, we have created it mentally.  In other words we have created mental pictures or mental sounds for the thing.  When something is mastered, it isn't just created mentally, it must also be created in the real world.  Creating mentally, inside ourselves, the best we can come up with is understanding; it requires creating it outside of ourselves to master it.

The question is: how can we master a word?  We can't get on it and ride it around.  But we can create it in the real world.

When we make the concept of the word in clay, what we are doing is creating that concept in the real world.

When we create the concept of the word in clay, and then add what the word looks like and what the word sounds like, we have created that word in the real world.  That word is mastered.

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