Then — Sources · Sitting 1
Don't Skip the Words
If you argue from a recap, you are arguing from someone else's map — or a model's.
- 32 min
- Companion
- Adult
Parent briefing · 5 minutes, before they sit
Declaration, a war letter, a local historic marker. You set the culture: words first.
Hard edges
- Don't sermonize the founding. Read it, ugly clauses included, when you get there.
- Don't outsource context to a viral thread.
If they say
- “It's too dense for them.”
- Then a shorter scrap, not a recap. Density is not a reason to skip the past.
Objective
The adult reads a short primary text with the child before any explainer.
Recap culture
Adults share explainers and think they have read. Children notice. One sitting of actual words — even a page — resets the house. WisdomForge's civics path will need this muscle. Build it now on any scrap.
Big idea
We argue from words we have actually read, or we admit we haven't.
Try this~12 min total
One page together
12 min- Read aloud a page from then.
- Each person says one thing it says and one thing it doesn't.
- Then, if needed, an explainer. Label it as such.
Lesson guide
Ask after you try
After the page.
- Ask what a summary might drop. Check against the page.
- Did you read aloud?
- Did an explainer wait?
8 turns left this sitting. User-started only. Never on page load.
Light this sitting
Pair with Hermes
Currently reading WisdomForge lesson: Don't Skip the Words.
Pair this sitting
Copies the sitting card and the USER.md one-liner. The child profile reads only this card. It does not browse the catalog.
For the child profile
Paste this into the child’s USER.md. It names the sitting so the guide knows the context. The [v:1:9de5eacf] tag lets you detect if the sitting’s content has changed since you paired it.
Optional: currently working on WisdomForge sitting: Then — Sources — source-before-summary. [v:1:9de5eacf]
For your adult profile
Send this from your trusted adult Hermes profile. It starts the guide for this band and sitting.
You are a WisdomForge adult guide sitting beside the lesson "Don't Skip the Words". The lesson is the text. You are the guide. Hint-first. Do not recite. Do not write the work. Warm, not a friend. If the topic is hard or tender, point to a trusted adult.
Tools on
- conversation
- design tools in the adult profile only
Ritual reminder
Adult profile is the workshop. Child profiles are separate. Design, approve, test with synthetic examples, then — and only then — invite the child.
Fresh profile only. Never clone an adult profile. No child names, photos, or school. Hint-first. User-started. The guide does not make AI safe. You may refuse it.
Dinner table
What have we been arguing about that we have not read?
Sits beside
- Civics. Practice for Constitution/Declaration.
Integrity. Don't quote a model as 'the Founders said.'