Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part IV

Modern societies tend to shelter children from experiences and responsibilities which would be invaluable training for the future. Most of us live in a risk-aversive culture which protects children from "dangerous" learning situations which might eventually save their lives -- and the lives of many others -- in the future.

A movement of sorts is growing in opposition to this overprotective culture. From Gever Tulley's Tinkering School to Hal Iggulden's Dangerous Book for Boys to a wide variety of wilderness adventure programs for youth, several people and organisations are pushing back against the stifling atmosphere of a risk-free upbringing.

Dangerous children must learn to accept and deal with risk responsibly and ethically. There is no rational alternative to this approach, in a world that grows more dangerous -- thanks to governmental decay, malfeasance, and corruption -- by the minute.

More from the John David Garcia curriculum for early childhood:
Physical Biological
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Physical Theory Physical Practice Biological Theory Biological Practice
6.00 8.00 The geometry of Euclid
using modern algebraic
notation, introduction to
algebra as it applies to
geometry, use of geometry
and vectors to sail against
the wind; give many
examples of the practical
applications of geometry in
many fields; the Atomic
Theory of matter of
Democritus; other Greek
theories of water, earth,
air, and fire
Use geometry to calculate
size of the earth, distance
to the sun, size of the sun;
use geometry to construct
and use a large catapult;
build a bridge by geometric
design; work with glass
making lenses and mirrors;
begin design of ship that
can sail against the wind;
practice sailing the ship
built last year
Internal anatomy of
vertebrates, fish, frog, rat,
and pig; the true role of
each organ and what
Aristotle and Galen
thought they were for;
Greek theories of evolution
compared to modern
theory; point out how
dangerous it is for
authorities to be wrong; the
value of doubt
Dissection of fish, frog,
rat, and pig; identification
of all major organs and
bones; practice in meat
processing, packaging, and
preservation without
refrigeration; continue
practice in caring for
young infants in first year
6.25 8.25 Continue the previous
work and continue with the
geometry and science of
Archimedes; use modern
algebraic notation and
point out how difficult the
work of Archimedes was
because of notation; theory
of pullies and parabolic
mirrors; show how abacus
gives answers to the
notational problem
Construct a system of
pulleys and a block and
tackle; construct parabolic
mirrors to collect solar
energy by heating water,
and work out schedule for
how mirrors should be
aligned as function of time
of year and day; finish
design of ship
Detailed survey of Greco-Roman medicine and the
modern versions of these
beliefs; the complete guide
to the use of herbs and
medicines for curing and
preventing illnesses;
taxonomy of herbs; review
Greco-Roman theories of
biology
Plant a garden of medicinal
herbs, take field trips to
collect medicinal herbs,
prepare poultices and
medicines as have been
verified by time and
modern usage
6.50 8.50 The works of Archimedes
continued, the school of
Alexandria, and the
continuation of Greek
mathematics, science, and
technology; full
development of algebra
and trigonometry using
modern notation; solid
geometry and
trigonometry, applications
to navigation, the
construction of lenses
The design and
construction of water
pumps, the design and
construction of steam
turbines; practical lens
making continued; begin
modification of ship made
in fifth year to sail against
the wind; glass blowing
continued
Study of preventive
medicine; germ theory of
infection and how hygiene
can prevent it (although
Greeks had lenses, no one
discovered germs for 2000
years), parasites and their
life cycles, the danger of
eating meat, the
importance of cooking and
cleanliness
Use lenses to study small
organisms, examine
parasites in intestines of
animals, show how
maggots hatch from fly's
eggs; basic entomology
observed; use microscope
to study basic parasitology
6.75 8.75 Continuation of the study
of the science, technology,
and mathematics of the
School of Alexandria
Continuation of the above;
make crude telescope and
microscopes
The study of microscopic
life; how lack of scientific
method inhibited medical
practice for 2000 years;
how to prevent the spread
of disease; viruses as
submicroscopic organisms
not to be discovered for
2000 years
Study of amoebas and
major human parasites;
animals as sources of
infection for humans; the
parasitic worms

Psychosocial Integration
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial Theory Pyschosocial Practice Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
6.00 8.00 Greek history from Thales
to the Roman conquest, the
Dialogues of Plato, a
survey of Aristotle, a
survey of the Greek plays
and the fables of Aesop,
the ethical teaching of
Socrates, the Macedonian
interlude and Alexander
Perform one play by
Sophocles and one by
Euripides; write a critique
of Greek culture and why it
failed; write a critique on
Socrates' life and on
whether Socrates should
have drunk the hemlock;
write an epic poem on
Greece
Ethical analysis of the
teachings of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle; show
how the lack of love and
the will to power forced
Greece to destroy itself;
consider that the great
thinkers of Greece never
had power nor were they
free of tyrants except at
first
Write a play in the Greek
style on Greek themes,
critique one another's
plays, finish sculpture in
the Greek style, do a group
art project on the meaning
of Greece
6.25 8.25 Greco-Roman history from
the start of Rome to the
time of Jesus; analysis of
the works of Lucretius;
what the Romans had of
their own and what they
learned from the Greeks;
Roman ethics and theories
of government; how
tyranny can always replace
a democracy by promising
to take from the rich and
give to the poor
Learn Greek and Latin
roots to English and
scientific and technical
terms, emphasis on nouns;
the Greek alphabet, brief
survey of Greek and
Roman grammar and its
complexity; show how
English grammar is
simpler, more practical;
show how as vocabulary
expands grammar can be
simplified; write essay
comparing Greek and
Roman culture
Sexual ethics and how the
Greeks and Romans
related to them; pleasure as
an end in itself; the
exploitation of women,
exclusion of women from
all important decision
making, women as sexual
objects, the absolute
authority of the father;
Roman law and
evolutionary ethics,
subservience to the state
and ethical principles
Design a domed and
vaulted building made of
wood and masonry,
calculate stresses, and
show the use of the arch
and dome; play Roman
music and practice sports,
do a group art project on
the meaning of Rome
under Augustus
6.50 8.50 The history of the Jews;
read all of the Old
Testament, the ethical
principles derivable from
the Old Testament, the
mixing of ethics,
techniques, and ritual; the
Jewish interaction with the
Aryans after the
Babylonian captivity, the
resistance to Hellenization,
the conquest by Rome, the
Jewish bureaucracy,
sampling of the Talmud
Essay analyzing Old
Testament as a historical
account and as a myth;
compare to Iliad and
Odyssey; Jewish laws are
analyzed in terms of their
ethical value and their
political implication; essay
on Judaism as an ethical
system
Ethical analysis of the Old
Testament, personal ethics,
health implications of
many of the Jewish laws;
show how the means
became the ends and how
ritual destroys ethics; the
destructiveness of
becoming specialized in
one's own religion
Jewish abstract art in the
form of the Menorah and
the Star of David; paint an
art work using Jewish
symbols to express a
Jewish theme without
including the human form
or animals; Jewish music
and Passover songs
6.75 8.75 The New Testament and
the life of Jesus, the ethical
teaching of Jesus, Jesus as
a Jewish reformer and
rabbi, the deification of
Jesus, the teachings of
Jesus in relationship to the
Greco-Roman religion, St.
Paul and Christianity as a
synthesis of Judaism,
Jesus, and Greco-Roman
religion and philosophy
Write an essay on Jesus
and the meaning of his life
and death, essay on the
criticisms of Jesus against
traditions and the Jewish
bureaucracy, essay on
whether Jesus could have
studied in India and/or
Tibet, essay on Jesus'
teaching and the school of
Alexandria
Ethical analysis of the New
Testament, the high ethical
content in the teachings of
Jesus compared to their
corruption by St. Paul, the
mythification & deification
of Jesus in the Roman
tradition by those who did
not know him, analysis of
synoptic gospels showing
how they were all derived
from a simpler, common
source
Draw and paint art
showing the unification of
Judaism, the teachings of
Jesus, and the Greco-Roman religion
(Michelangelo's Sistine
Chapel is best model);
write a poem expressing
this synthesis; do a group
art project expressing the
essence of Christianity

The children of tomorrow must be well trained and well-rounded. They must be able to work independently, confidently. They must also be able to work together in teams and organised groups, to accomplish larger and more complex goals. They must be able to see through the media, academic, and PR smokescreens coming out of corrupt and established institutions which control most public discourse.

What they will do about what they discover, will remain a mystery until it happens. That is what will make them dangerous.

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