Knowledge by Observation and Participation

In this essay I will proceed to explain my knowledge of three topics of interest, gardening, budgeting money, and time management. Also, I will depict how I have come to have knowledge in these areas. Was it knowledge by participation, knowledge by observation or knowledge by participation and observation?

In my spare time I love to get my hands dirty by gardening. There is nothing like putting your hands into the warm moist soil. I really enjoy starting my own plants right from the seed. I start with small soil cups, or you could use paper egg carton, and I fill each cup with good rich soil. Next I make a hole using the handle end of a spoon. Drop in about three seeds, not all will take usually, and cover with the surrounding soil. When I have my cups complete, I put them in a plastic bakery container. I prefer the ones that you buy cookies or pastries in from your local grocery store. Putting them in these containers creates a green house effect. Then, I place them in a window that gets full sun. Within 3-5 days you will see your plants have started to grow. The knowledge I have of gardening is from participation.

Budgeting money is something I have learned from both participation and observation. My husband and I both keep to a budget each month. We have decided to keep separate bank accounts so all of our money is not together. In order help maintain our individual budgets we split the bills according to salary size. Since he makes a bigger salary he pays the main bills for our family. I watch him pay the bills each month and how he keeps track of them in a ledger book. My responsibilities are for groceries, my credit cards, and my motorcycle payments. We both have our own individual savings accounts that we put money into. Each month we have to make sure we keep to our budgets to maintain the lifestyles we have come accustomed to. Our individual ways of keeping organized to pay the bills may be different but they work for each of us.

When I decided to go back to school I knew that I would need to set time aside to do my schoolwork. I knew I would have to really hone into my time management skills. This is an area, again, that my knowledge is from participation and observation. Being a mom, wife, and worker and now attending college I have a full schedule, as most do. In order to stay organized, I keep to a routine each day so that each aspect of my life gets my full attention. If I did not keep to my daily schedule, my life would be complete chaos. Watching my mother when I was child, I saw how she had managed her time to do the same and I strive to achieve the same accomplishments as she did.

As I stated in my opening, I explained how I obtained knowledge in three areas, gardening, budgeting money and time management. My knowledge was by participation and knowledge by participation and observation. Being able to identify how you gained knowledge