Abecedarian
From the Latin "abecedarium," an alphabet or a primer; a table or book containing the alphabet; the first rudiments of anything.
The Abecedarian is a personal dictionary; a place for putting key words and problem words, a way to challenge the misuse of words; a place to put the words which we love, textured with memory and experience.
​
It is intended for an inclusive educational community.
It is a dictionary of human feelings in which young people become "a speaking person."
It is a hypertext book about urban youth and their participation in an alternative education program.
It is a book about words and the stories they tell us. It concerns the life-drenched places learning and teaching occur: in schoolyards and parks, around kitchen tables and in classrooms. It is a docupoem about the lives and world views of urban youth. It honors a population blessed with multiple intellligences and diverese cultural traditions.
​
Finally, the Abecedarian, is comprised of odes, in a manner Neruda proposed: of elemental things, of being and becoming a human citizen and the historical energy of people with shared convictions who have exercised the responsibilities of democratic living.
​
​