School stuff
Here's some of the comments I've been writing up on working on the School:
After reading Robin's comments on prospective literature curricula, and making my own comments, I've been ruminating more comprehensively on the curriculum and organization. I know that I will likely have different ideas and plans than others; nonetheless, it's useful to air them and get a discussion going.
The first question to ask ourselves is, what is the goal of our school? Aside from the obvious response “Teach students,” we need to think about, not only what we want to teach them, but want we want them to become. Closely related to this question is: What sort of students do we want to start with? A school starting up in downtown LA is going to have different goals and use different methods than one in, say, Beverly Hills, or Anaheim. Similarly, the intelligence of our students will necessarily effect both our curriculum and the goals of our education. College preparation isn't necessarily the best choice for all children; some would be better off with trade education or other kinds of education.
1)What kind of students will we have?
From our discussions and talks about this, it seems like we have in mind a common idea of what kind of students we want to teach: moderate to very intelligent children from supportive families. I say this because we haven't discussed the possibility of remedial classes, and the curriculum I've heard and thought about is honestly rather difficult for average students. I think it may be worth expanding our vision of the School somewhat to accommodate more average students that are still motivated to learn, and have the necessary support from their families.
How to select which students we want to come to our school? (And later on, I'll try to discuss how we would persuade their parents to enroll them.) This will vary depending on how much difficulty we have enrolling enough students. If we're short on students, we'll need to open up enrollment. If we have parents clamoring to get their children in, we can afford to be picky about who we accept. I think in the beginning, it'll be closer to the former, but we should still come up with some minimum standards for acceptance.
The first, and I think most important, factor should be the willingness of the student and his parents to participate in his education. This includes: timely completion of assignments, refraining from disruptive or destructive behaviours, availablility of the parents to talk with teachers and administrators, as well as others I may have omitted. I've seen examples of parent/student/school "contracts" which enumerate these points and make them explicit prior to enrollment.
Secondly, we will want to select for students who have shown both academic ability and a willingness to work in the past. This can likely be gleaned from previous school records. If there are supportive junior/elementary schools in the area, we may be able to accept students directly from them.
2)What is the goal of our education?
This is an important question; it's going to influence our curriculum design, our students, and all sorts of other decisions about how we start up our school.
I have several goals in mind. First and foremost, I think one of our educational goals should be civic education - the training of the student as a responsible and educated citizen. Secondly, I think for our school the goal is a high-quality college preparatory education, probably with an emphasis on mathematics and science education.
So, how will this affect our curriculum design? I see two major threads of classes that students will be expected to follow through their time at our school:
Civic education would include:
American history, both pre- and post-Civil War.
American political theory - the separation between federal, state, and local governments, the powers and roles of the branches of the federal government. Site-specific information about the history of the local and state governments.
Western history and Civilization - strains of thought leading to the development of American civilization. Starting with Greek and Roman politics, the growth of Christianity, English and Continential history starting in the middle ages, the Enlightenment and political development in the Biritsh Empire.
Ethics and religion, either based as a part of the history courses, or independent.
Western Art & Literature - focuses on major players in art and literature - Shakespeare, Bach, etc. Largely historical rather than modern.
Composition - development of good writing abilities.
Rhetoric and debate - rhetorical ploys, both for use and recognition, and the development of debating skills.
The scientific education would include:
Mathematics including plane geometry, basic and intermediate algebra, trigonometry, and basic calculus. Advanced classes including more advanced calculus and linear algebra.
Chemistry including laboratory courses.
Physics, mostly classical mechanics as well as some electrostatics and electrodynamics.
Biology, focusing on cellular and molecular biology. Possibly some anatomy, ecology, botany, zoology, etc.
Programming - some abstract theory as well as practical development. Not sure what the best idea for a base language would be.
There would be other classes, of course, but these my general ideas for the sort of expected path for students to take.
More to come...
After reading Robin's comments on prospective literature curricula, and making my own comments, I've been ruminating more comprehensively on the curriculum and organization. I know that I will likely have different ideas and plans than others; nonetheless, it's useful to air them and get a discussion going.
The first question to ask ourselves is, what is the goal of our school? Aside from the obvious response “Teach students,” we need to think about, not only what we want to teach them, but want we want them to become. Closely related to this question is: What sort of students do we want to start with? A school starting up in downtown LA is going to have different goals and use different methods than one in, say, Beverly Hills, or Anaheim. Similarly, the intelligence of our students will necessarily effect both our curriculum and the goals of our education. College preparation isn't necessarily the best choice for all children; some would be better off with trade education or other kinds of education.
1)What kind of students will we have?
From our discussions and talks about this, it seems like we have in mind a common idea of what kind of students we want to teach: moderate to very intelligent children from supportive families. I say this because we haven't discussed the possibility of remedial classes, and the curriculum I've heard and thought about is honestly rather difficult for average students. I think it may be worth expanding our vision of the School somewhat to accommodate more average students that are still motivated to learn, and have the necessary support from their families.
How to select which students we want to come to our school? (And later on, I'll try to discuss how we would persuade their parents to enroll them.) This will vary depending on how much difficulty we have enrolling enough students. If we're short on students, we'll need to open up enrollment. If we have parents clamoring to get their children in, we can afford to be picky about who we accept. I think in the beginning, it'll be closer to the former, but we should still come up with some minimum standards for acceptance.
The first, and I think most important, factor should be the willingness of the student and his parents to participate in his education. This includes: timely completion of assignments, refraining from disruptive or destructive behaviours, availablility of the parents to talk with teachers and administrators, as well as others I may have omitted. I've seen examples of parent/student/school "contracts" which enumerate these points and make them explicit prior to enrollment.
Secondly, we will want to select for students who have shown both academic ability and a willingness to work in the past. This can likely be gleaned from previous school records. If there are supportive junior/elementary schools in the area, we may be able to accept students directly from them.
2)What is the goal of our education?
This is an important question; it's going to influence our curriculum design, our students, and all sorts of other decisions about how we start up our school.
I have several goals in mind. First and foremost, I think one of our educational goals should be civic education - the training of the student as a responsible and educated citizen. Secondly, I think for our school the goal is a high-quality college preparatory education, probably with an emphasis on mathematics and science education.
So, how will this affect our curriculum design? I see two major threads of classes that students will be expected to follow through their time at our school:
Civic education would include:
American history, both pre- and post-Civil War.
American political theory - the separation between federal, state, and local governments, the powers and roles of the branches of the federal government. Site-specific information about the history of the local and state governments.
Western history and Civilization - strains of thought leading to the development of American civilization. Starting with Greek and Roman politics, the growth of Christianity, English and Continential history starting in the middle ages, the Enlightenment and political development in the Biritsh Empire.
Ethics and religion, either based as a part of the history courses, or independent.
Western Art & Literature - focuses on major players in art and literature - Shakespeare, Bach, etc. Largely historical rather than modern.
Composition - development of good writing abilities.
Rhetoric and debate - rhetorical ploys, both for use and recognition, and the development of debating skills.
The scientific education would include:
Mathematics including plane geometry, basic and intermediate algebra, trigonometry, and basic calculus. Advanced classes including more advanced calculus and linear algebra.
Chemistry including laboratory courses.
Physics, mostly classical mechanics as well as some electrostatics and electrodynamics.
Biology, focusing on cellular and molecular biology. Possibly some anatomy, ecology, botany, zoology, etc.
Programming - some abstract theory as well as practical development. Not sure what the best idea for a base language would be.
There would be other classes, of course, but these my general ideas for the sort of expected path for students to take.
More to come...