Read. Learn. Build skills that serve.

Teach yourself

Your learning belongs to you. Here are some places to start in Fayetteville.

Read

• Your library. Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library, 306 Elk Ave. N. Books, librarians, the second-floor Genealogy Room, and the free Tennessee Electronic Library. See Your library.

Learn

Here's one way to go looking:

1. Notice something.
2. Ask a question about it.
3. Find it. Try one (or more):
• a library book
• a librarian ("Can you help me find out about...?")
• a primary source: an old letter, map, photo or newspaper
• a person who knows: a shopkeeper, a farmer, an elder. Ask kindly, and be fine with "not right now."
• your own hands: try it and see
4. Write it down in your question notebook.
5. Teach it to someone else.

Then do it again.

Places to practice: My question notebook · Square Detective · Ask a shopkeeper · Ask a farmer · Ask a librarian.

Three tries with our own town

Iron columns on old storefronts.
Notice: Some old storefronts have thin metal columns between big windows.
Ask: Why iron? Why so much glass?
Find: A National Park Service guide says: "The ready availability of architectural cast iron after the 1840's helped transform storefront design as architects and builders began to experiment using iron columns and lintels at the ground floor level." And: "Cast iron storefronts could be selected directly from catalogs, which began to appear in the early 1850's." (NPS Preservation Brief 11)
Your turn: Which buildings on our square have iron columns? We haven't checked each one. Go look: a magnet sticks to iron (the same brief notes iron is "magnetic"). Ask a grown-up first, and be gentle with old paint.
Teach: Show someone the magnet trick.

How deep to plant a bean.
Notice: Seeds come in all sizes.
Ask: Does a big seed go deeper than a tiny one?
Find: UT Extension: "A general rule of thumb is to plant seed at a depth that is two to four times their diameter." For beans it lists "1 to 1½" inches. (The Tennessee Vegetable Garden, W346-B)
Try it with your hands: Plant three beans: one shallow, one at 1 inch, one deep. Which comes up first?
Teach: Show a friend your results.

How a shop got started.
Notice: A shop on the square has been there a long time.
Ask: How did it begin?
Find: Look for a printed story first (the library's Genealogy and Local History room, old newspapers, the downtown Main Street website). If you'd like to ask the owner, use the Ask a shopkeeper card, go with a grown-up, and pick a quiet moment.
Write and teach: Tell your family the story at supper.

Build skills that serve

• Odd jobs. Raking, watering, walking dogs, carrying groceries, and a job ledger to keep. See Odd jobs.
• Spot a need. Look for what's hard, slow or forgotten, then try one small idea. See Spot a need.
• Grow something. A bucket, some dirt and a sunny spot. See Grow something.

In his own words

Frederick Douglass, in his own book, on practicing his letters anywhere he could: "my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk." (Gutenberg #23)

My question notebook

Print the question notebook (PDF, 1 page), or copy this:

I noticed: ______
My question: ______
Where I looked: ☐ library book ☐ librarian ☐ old letter/map/photo ☐ asked someone kindly ☐ tried it myself
What I found (in one or two sentences): ______
Where I found it (title, page, or who told me): ______
What I still wonder: ______
I taught it to: ______ on (date): ______

← Learn from our shops and farms