As a service to others…

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

Or when people don't TQFC (trim quotes for content), and then quote, and quote, and quote....gah.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I KNOW RIGHT?

OMG aggravation!!!!!!! lol

my eyes

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

Or when people don't TQFC (trim quotes for content), and then quote, and quote, and quote....gah.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with:

School would take place five days a week, eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. This is a little longer than the currently accepted schedule, but allowing an hour of breaks, this leaves an eight-hour day for students, which is a good amount. At the conclusion of every grade, each student must pass a comprehensive standardized test about the previous year's subject matter. Other than that, there should be no grading. I think Modern schools have an unhealthy atmosphere in this regard, where any mistake on an assignment hurts the student's grade. If a student learns the subject matter well, as evidenced by a successful test, it shouldn't matter how many times they were wrong on the way.

Curriculum, starting with Elementary school:

Every child begins school at the age of five. Call this first grade, the concept of kindergarten is absurd. Starting here, immerse every student in three languages: English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. This should be easy enough. Every book should be a Rosetta stone of sorts, with each line written three times, once in each language. Every learned vocabulary word should be given in all three languages. Every student should be able to read what is now a middle-school level book in each language by the time they turn ten. In addition to this, every student should be given a brief overview of Spanish, French, and German, say one year of each, starting in third grade with Spanish, ending in fifth with German. Students will not be expected to be fluent in those languages, merely able to communicate on some level with a native of each of those languages. All in all, language will be given class time of two hours per day in Elementary school (here first through fifth grades). Because there are three languages in the first two grades, a given language will be given an hour, and will cycle. For example, on Monday I learn Latin and English, Tuesday English and Greek, Wednesday Greek and Latin, etc. Once a fourth language is added, it will be inserted into the cycle. I understand that this seems a lot to require of such young children, but kids that age are remarkably able to learn new languages, each subsequent one will be easier, and will enable students to think in disparate ways, to solve problems from unique angles. Knowledge of Classical language will also give them a profoundly better base with which to build their future education on, especially in the sciences.

Two hours will be devoted to the Arts, one to creation and one to observation. Creation will vary between visual, auditory, and oratory, with students at first writing daily journals or finger painting, and end writing short stories and playing orchestral instruments of their choice. Selections for observations will be scaled to age and maturity, in early grades purely children's books for advancement in linguistic skill, in later grades works meant for dissection and extraction of theme.

Two hours go to Humanities. Start with local history, then go broader, in both time and space. Tell students about your city, show them the town hall, where future history is made, then the historical fort on the outskirts of town where centuries-old battles were fought. Tell them about your state, then its induction into the union. Tell them about their country, then its dealings with the world. Then tell them about Rome, about Athens, about Alexandria. Introduce period text (this would be about the fourth grade) in its native language. Start slow, take a month to go through one Platonic dialogue, word by word. At the same time, introduce Logic and Rhetoric to them. Give them ancient role models, let them follow Socrates and Ptolemy through their education.

The remaining hours go to Natural Science. Have students make observations about the world around them, and have them try to describe what they see. At this point, do not tell them when they are wrong - they are bound to be. Children should be taught to question, and should not expect disapproval. This period should double as Physical Education, so take them on walks through parks, or through zoos. Give them clipboards, have them write down things they see. Japanese Ninjutsu teaches that all humans are effectively blind for a large portion of their day, when they focus on one thing particularly. In past days, this allowed ninja to sneak past guards, but similarly, students who are taught that all education comes from a teacher miss lessons of nature, of happenings, of peers.

Then students will go to a secondary school, which would be divided into eight hours. They will be allowed to pursue whatever peaks their interest for at least three hours. This is on top of the continuation of all mentioned subjects, excepting Natural Science, which is replaced by Modern Science. To compensate, everything cycles slower:

One hour of Core Language, which cycles one language per day. One hour of Elective Language, choose one language group, divided between European (Spanish, French, German), African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit), and Arabic. One hour of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, in order, each for one third of the year, and going chronologically through advancements in the field since 1700. Two hours of Elective Art: Theater, Music, Visual, or Film, including both creation and observation. One hour of History, going chronologically through time, over the course of the remainder of the school career. One hour of Math, functioning the same as Science, but starting at Euclid and Pythagoras rather than Newton. One hour of Pure Elective (anything else, each school should offer every class that at least ten students ask for, regardless of subject)

You'll notice this fixes a problem I have with American schools: they focus on breadth at first, then narrow down. Students take the same class every three years, going deeper each time. I don't think this is an effective use of time; people can understand anything, given time. In addition, every subject gets simpler as you regress through time. Newtonian Mechanics are much simpler than those of Einstein; so teach Newtonian Mechanics to younger students, and slowly progress, getting more complex with time. Modern schools also have students take one year focusing on one branch of science exclusively, which leaves holes in the science where one science informs advancements in another. In addition, Modern school tends to go in the order Biology -> Chemistry -> Physics, when it makes much more sense to teach the opposite direction, first having students use complex mathematical equations to solve hard problems in Newtonian physics, then applying those equations to chemicals, then showing how chemical reactions drive life.

This secondary school would continue for four years or so. Then, students would enter tertiary school, which would be the same, except every class would be optional. At this point, every student could have much more than what now qualifies a student to enter college, so let them focus more. This would still be free, and open to the public - or at least those that have passed every year-end test up to that grade, or local adults who want to further their education. At this point, students could remain as long as they want, taking whichever classes they want, all of which would have open doors. They could take any class test they so desired, and satisfactory work on it would grant them credit for that class. Attendance is not necessary, participation is not necessary. When students get a prescribed list of credits, they earn a degree. A degree could land them a job, in post-tertiary school (medical, law, etc., which could have paid admission), or they could remain in tertiary, as long as they desire.

Now wouldn't that be better?

Obviously, the biggest problem is cost. Paying a teacher to meet every ten students' request for a class would need monumental funding, but you know what? I don't think that should matter. Sell an aircraft carrier, educational budgets shouldn't be compromised for the military. Or just raise taxes, our tax rate now is much lower than it really could be, honestly. The two objectively good things that a society can produce are art and education. Nothing else. Any educational system that promotes any other ideology, saying that society needs more careers, rather than more debate, or more knowledge, is misguided, and ultimately holds humanity back.

just having to scroll thru that stuff pissed me off.

I KNOW RIGHT?

OMG aggravation!!!!!!! lol

my eyes

I know, it hurts mine too!!

:drinker:

I would send my future children to this school. In a heartbeat.

I was thinking about American education's faults in my eyes, and so I wrote a possible system to reform it based on them, this is what I came up with....

Or parents could do what it takes to allow one of them to be home to homeschool their children. Really, who cares more for a child's education then their mother or father?

And...can you pass this 8th grade test from 100 years ago? http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html