Friday, March 20, 2009
generic curriculum (a private project)
I'm trying to come up with a generic curriculum for k-12 and i would like your views on what should be included at what grade levels. Things like what level should 2nd languages be introduced how soon should government be taught and timelines for maths are welcome. Feel free to post links to free resources.
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I think first you go for centralized K-12 school facilities, to lower facility costs and duplicative labor costs. Second you go year round, and longer days, if not 24/7 (depending on population). Third, you zone surrounding areas for parks and rec/Y/daycare.
ReplyDeleteI'll whip up a curriculum though. I love discussing education reform. Cool idea!
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment. i'm thinking more along the lines of a "education union" or" educational co-op" as far as facilities and administration.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking to have a "core curriculum" that not only teaches kids the basics (reading writing and arithmetic) but also teaches problem solving , basic living skills (budgeting balancing checkbook) and teaches students to THINK.
aside from the core, are the "electives" which the parents choose according to what is appropriate for their child. If the parent doesn't want evolution taught to her child, it isn't.
The CORE is what i'm looking to construct for now. What does a child need to learn to be considered adequately educated?
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ReplyDeleteHere's what I have so far. keep in mind that this is a "snapshot" of the system once it grows large enough to maintain it's own facilities. i have a separate plan to accomplish that goal.
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Proposed school system
Structure: non profit “school co-op” (like a credit union)
Parents are contracted “members” with rights and responsibilities.
Tuition can be paid in part by volunteering time to the school.
The non profit is prohibited from receiving government funding.
Tuition is considered a tax deductible donation to the non profit.
Administration is paid from treasury, and is elected by members.
Teachers are appointed by Administration and paid from treasury.
Parents may volunteer as teachers for low level core classes, and electives in which they have special knowledge.
Curriculum:
CORE and ELECTIVE components
The Core curriculum is comprised of those subjects which are necessary for the student to become a functioning, thinking member of society. It is on a continuous scale from 1 to 100 for each core subject. This translates to about 8 “points” per “grade level”, although there are no grade levels per se. what a student reaches 100 in all core classes, he is considered to be eligible for graduation . A comprehensive test is required for graduation. A student may study past the “100” mark, but this would be into college level classes, and are not required classes for the exit exam.
Individual subject advancement should be on a continuous “learn – advance -review “ style where the student learns a lesson, advances to the next, and reviews previous lessons to secure the knowledge in memory. This would promote real understanding of the subject, instead of rote memorization for the tests (pimsleur uses this for their language courses). There should also be a bonus system for students who “tutor” other students with lower “points”. This would give the tutors a sense of reward for altruism, discourage separation into “peer groups”, and help struggling students catch and keep up.
Elective classes would be those classes which make the member of society from above, well rounded in his education. These would include foreign languages, arts, music, as well as hard sciences and other subjects which might be controversial (evolution, Bible studies, etc.). this gives parents an opportunity to opt out of subjects with which they are opposed, without foregoing the advantages of the rest of the system.
Discipline:
There should be a short list of common sense rules posted in every classroom, like the stuff you learned in kindergarten. There should also be a school “constitution” which covers redress of grievances and such. Students which become chronic discipline problems may be expelled from the school, with the parent forfeiting any remaining tuition.
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I had another thought for interaction between a preschool/daycare section and the grade 11-12 levels.
ReplyDeleteThere could be a on site daycare and the older students could help care for the very youngest. this would introduce them to caring for kids and let them have a taste of what they are getting into if they have their own. Whether it encourages or discourages them, they will be a little better informed on the matter.
my vision for the entire system is of one of the old one-room schoolhouses, where kids of many different levels learn in a positive way both from the teacher and one another.
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