The Dangerous Child Curriculum, Part IX

For today's posting, we will return to the John David Garcia curriculum, last visited in part VII of this series. As mentioned in earlier postings, Al Fin corresponded with and visited with Garcia in his later years.

Garcia's curriculum is meant as an example or a prototype for the design of a broader, more enlightened, and distinctly more dangerous curriculum for the new generation of dangerous children.

We resume our look at Garcia's program at around age 12 of training. As mentioned before, this curriculum is meant to be adapted to each child as appropriate. It is not expected that all children will progress at the same speed.

Much of the training in Garcia's approach takes place outside of classrooms and formal settings. It is expected that multiple instructors would be involved -- most or all of whom would not be government certified as K-12 instructors. Government certification is seen as a distinct impediment and handicap, in the setting of dangerous child training.

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
10.00	12.00	Gauss' mathematics and physics continued; general thermodynamics, the work of Boltzman Clausius and Gibbs, Maxwell's demon, the inventions of Edison and Tesla; the work of Mendeleev and the beginning of organic chemistry; probability theory as understood by Gauss and Galton	Construction of AC generators and regulators, simple radios, light bulbs, and recording devices; begin design and construction of simple internal combustion engine; experiments in organic chemistry and synthesis of organic compounds	The life and work of Charles Darwin and Wallace, the evolution of evolutionary ideas, the theory of natural selection, and the three laws of thermodynamics; the work of Pasteur continued	Each student gathers evidence for and against Darwinian evolution, taking into account basic genetic knowledge and probability
10.25	12.25	Non-Euclidean geometry and statistical mechanics; introduction to systematic probability theory and statistics; continue work in thermodynamics and organic chemistry; the work of W.R. Hamilton and Henri Poincare is studied	Continue work of previous quarter; construct interferometers and repeat the Michelson/Morley experiments; repeat experiments of Planck to derive Planck's constant; develop and derive the special theory of relativity; begin construction of automobile; continue internal combustion engine project	Neo-Darwinian theories of evolution and evolutionary genetics up to R.A. Fisher's The Genetical Theory of Evolution; explain disease and parasites in evolution	Do genetic experiments with fruit flies and molds, giving evidence for and against neo-Darwinism, theories of evolution, bacteriology; systematic study and laboratory work
10.50	12.50	The physics of the 20th century, including the General Theory of Relativity up to the discovery of quantum mechanics, is presented as a year course in modern physics (with an advanced calculus prerequisite) as it might have been given at Harvard, Cambridge, or Gottingen in 1925; physical and organic chemistry, also a year survey course; finish study of Henri Poincare	Continue work on automobile; repeat experiments leading up to Bohr atom; handmade basic tubes for radio and oscilloscope; construct a more advanced radio and oscilloscope using tubes; make photocells, synthesize organic compounds	Introduction to cell biochemistry and advanced genetics; begin chromatography and electrophoresis for separating common biochemical constituents of mammals	The chemical structure of the constituents of life; isolating nucleic acids and proteins, determining their properties through chemical and spectrographic analysis; create genetic mosaics
10.75	12.75	Continuation of previous quarter; relate physical chemistry and organic chemistry to biochemistry; theory of x-ray machines and electron microscopes	Continuation of previous quarter; finish automobile; study of x-ray machines and electron microscopes; organic chemistry laboratory; motion pictures	Continuation of previous quarter; introduction to x-ray crystallography and electron microscopy for the study of large molecules and viruses	Continuation of previous quarter; use of x-ray crystallography to determine chemical structure; electron microscopy of viruses and large molecules

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
10.00	12.00	The theories of Marx and Engels in detail, Das Kapital and the Dialectics of Nature; the ideas of August LeComte and social science in general; the psychology of William James	Critical essay on Marxism and dialectic materialism; what is wrong and what is right about theory, what is the scientific evidence for and against the theory; why is social science so full of nonsense?	Ethical analysis of Marxist philosophy and ethics; how and why Marxism violates the evolutionary ethic; read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky	The music of Arnold Schoenberg, the plays of Frank Wedekind, the early paintings of Picasso and the Cubists; the opera Lulu by Alban Berg is performed
10.25	12.25	The philosophy of Nietzsche and Spencer; evolutionary ethics as propounded by Spencer; ethical Darwinism, an introduction to the life and ideas of Sigmund Freud, the rise of racist fascism in Europe	Essay comparing the neo-Darwinian ethics with Marxism; the incipient Lamarckianism in Marxism compared to its ethics; essay on European racism and fascism growing out of social Darwinism	Ethical analysis of neo-Darwinian philosophy and of social Darwinism; how and why social Darwinism and fascism violate the evolutionary ethic; Freud as a Newtonian psychologist looking for mechanistic explanations which may not exist; ethical implications of the unconscious	The music of Richard Strauss, Ein Heldenleben, Also Sprach Zarathustra, and the opera Elektra; Man and Superman by G.B. Shaw is also performed
10.50	12.50	World history from 1910 to 1925; the basic writings of Lenin and a study of his life; World War I and the Russian Revolution, the world fear of communism, Leon Trotsky as an idealized communist; Freud's later works	Essay on the origins and consequences of World War I; essay on the origins and consequences of communism in Russia; essay on how the brilliant, ethical Trotsky went wrong and helped create a Frankenstein	An ethical analysis of how the Soviet Union betrayed its own revolution and turned into a monster; how the centralization of power makes corruption inevitable; read Darkness at Noon by Koestler and Animal Farm by Orwell	The music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich; the films of Sergei Eisenstein, including Ivan the Terrible; perform the Shostakovich opera Lady Macbeth of Murmansk and Mussorgsky's Boris Gudenov
10.75	12.75	World history 1925 to 1939; the basic writings of Mussolini, Hitler, fascism, Stalin, and Soviet communism; a study of Hitler and Stalin as complementary personalities who changed history; early works of Pavlov and Jung	Essay comparing the conflicting ideologies and economic factors leading to World War II; what could have been done to prevent World War II; why the United States was so immune to both communism and fascism	An ethical anlysis of how capitalistic greed and the political cowardice and vindictiveness of the European democracies made World War II inevitable; Read Winds of War by Wouk	The music of Stravinsky, the early art of Dali, the films of Chaplin, Bu_nuel, Lang, and Pabst, plus Academy Award winners; perform Hindemith's opera Mathis der Mahler and Brecht's Mahagonny

Garcia's publications that are available online

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part VIII

What makes a child dangerous? A dangerous child is disruptive, in the same sense that a breakthrough or innovative technology is disruptive. Disruptive technologies and dangerous children both affect and change the world in which they exist.

But disruptive technologies are developed by inventors and engineers, whereas dangerous children are created by themselves. If a child cannot teach himself to be dangerous, there is no way that anyone else can do so. You can get an inkling of this idea from Art Robinson, PhD, who homeschooled his six children on his own, after the tragic death of his wife.

Learning is not a team sport. Learning is an activity that involves solely the student and the knowledge. Everything or everyone else that may become involved in this process is essentially superfluous—and is potentially harmful as a distraction from the fundamental process.

In the adult world this is, of course, self-evident. Adults ordinarily do not have special teaching aids and dedicated teachers available to hold their hands when they need to acquire new knowledge. Usually, they have only books. When the knowledge comes directly from other repositories such as computers, people, or other sources, that knowledge is seldom tailored for spoon-feeding to an unprepared mind.

...Consider, for example, the teaching of math and science. Many homeschools use Saxon Math. Although produced with teachers and classrooms in mind, this series of math books is so well-written that it can be mastered by most students entirely on their own without any teacher intervention whatever. This self-mastery usually does not happen automatically, but it can be learned by almost any student with correct study rules and a good study environment.

While the subject matter, can be mastered with or without a teacher, the student who masters it without a teacher learns something more. He learns to teach himself. Then, when he continues into physics, chemistry, and biology— which are studied in their own special language, the language of mathematics—he is able to teach these subjects to himself regardless of whether or not a teacher with the necessary specialized knowledge is present. Also, he is able to make use of much higher-quality texts – texts written for adults.

Besides the great advantage of developing good study habits and thinking ability, self-teaching also has immediate practical advantages. Many children should be able, through Advanced Placement examinations, to skip over one or more years of college. The great saving in time and expense from this is self-evident. These and other comparable accomplishments await most children who learn to self-teach and then apply this skill to their home education.

Even children of lesser ability can, by means of self-teaching and good study habits, achieve far more than they otherwise would have accomplished by the more ordinary techniques. _Teach Them to Teach Themselves, Art Robinson

Much more at the link.

It is clear that the world will not adapt itself to the child, and children should not be given the impression that it would or should do. Instead, children should be given the tools for self-teaching from the earliest age, along with a number of basic options and directions of self study -- including an important core of learning which makes most other learning possible.

When a child is liberated to teach himself in this manner -- which includes making sure the child has good study habits from an early age and sticks to them -- it is obvious that the child is indeed creating himself, and making himself dangerously self-reliant.

There is much more to childhood development than book learning of course. The six Robinson children were raised by a widowed father on his ranch, and each had definite responsibilities.

...each one of them, spontaneously and without suggestion or demand from me, took over an essential aspect of our farm and personal lives. They did all work with the cattle and sheep, they did all laundry, cooking, and housework, and they were working beside me as Laurelee used to do in the scientific research and civil defense work that is our ministry and our professional life.One by one, my tasks just disappeared as the children assumed them.

In general, they preferred to work independently. They tended not to share tasks and did not divided them as one might expect. For example, at 11 years old Joshua was the cook – and already a better cook then than I. Zachary did all work with the cattle (about 30) and the chickens; Arynne cared for the sheep (about 100); Noah was in charge of all farm and laboratory repairs; and Bethany did the washing and taught Matthew to read. Some tasks were shared such as house cleaning, sheep shearing, and watching over Matthew.

This sort of extracurricular work is especially valuable as reinforcement for the home school.

While self confidence can be built somewhat in sports or other “activities”, the self confidence that comes to a child from the knowledge that he is independently carrying on an activity that is essential to the survival of the family is valuable indeed. _How the Robinson Children Fare

Some parents might abuse the budding competence of children and adolescents, using them as unpaid servants. Robinson warns against doing this, explaining that the years of childhood are gone too quickly, and too often the excitement, energy, and trust of youth are fleeting as well.

But children must learn to competently work, produce, and improvise, as well as learn concepts and facts. If learning is not put to use, it tends to be forgotten.

Children first learn to walk in order to walk. They learn to talk so as to get their intent across to the controlling outer world. They learn to ride a bicycle in order to ride, and so on. Children are quite motivated to learn in such circumstances, and the same can be true for a wide range of other situations -- if the opportunity is presented.

Neither Art Robinson nor John David Garcia devised their curricula as a way of making children dangerous. But if the children approach the curricula with the same dedicated abandon with which they learned to walk, talk, or ride a bicycle, they are almost certain to make themselves into very dangerous children indeed.

If they learn to teach themselves such broad and powerful methods of thinking and learning, they will naturally acquire an intellectual self-reliance that makes them an immediate threat to any persons or institutions that seek to control them or use them against their own interests.

That is why the approaches to the dangerous child curricula are so different from the way "education" is administered in government schools. Public education is meant to tame the wild child so as to make him more manipulable by society. That is not necessarily how things turn out, particularly in inner city schools, but certain proportions of delinquent dropouts are certainly a predictable outcome of the government system. As to those who graduate and go to college, the exploding growth of remedial education for new university students speaks for itself.

But don't think that homeschooling is the same thing as the raising of a dangerous child. It is possible to adapt the dangerous child approach to learning even to a child who attends government schools. But it involves a great deal of work, as well as a huge amount of "unlearning" of dysfunctional ideology with which the child is burdened by the public system.

If the child is to make himself truly dangerous, he will choose his own path which is likely to eventually diverge widely from any traditional institutional path of development. Eventually, once the child has developed the momentum to chart his own course and make it stick. Examples: College dropout billionaires

It is not necessary for a dangerous child to become a billionaire in order to shape the environment around him for the better. But it is necessary for him to be self-reliant, and be willing and able to teach himself what he needs to know, in order to move ahead.

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part VII

The early childhood curriculum which has been excerpted over the past several postings was not developed in a vacuum. It was developed as an important part of an overall approach to the transformation of modern western society into a more ethical and creative society. Here are some excerpts from chapter 6, "An Educational Alternative" to provide a larger perspective into the project:

The curriculum is one that can be started by young children and continued into old age without being exhausted. A person wishing to maximize creativity in the shortest possible time would follow the curriculum approximately in the order given; but anyone should be able to take many different paths within this curriculum, including specializing at any time. All students would be counseled on the consequences of their actions, but encouraged to follow their instincts by doing what feels right for them without fear of making a wrong choice.

The objective is to make the totality of human knowledge readily and easily available to as many persons as possible in such a way that, if they wish it, they are constantly maximizing their rate of growth in creativity relative to their present intellectual and ethical potential. In order to do this we plot an optimal course through the curriculum for all octets or other groupings of students and let them modify the courses according to their own personal inclinations. We also make the feedback on their progress and that of other students readily available to them whenever they wish it, but on a private basis so that any particular student's progress is known only to the student and his/her counselors. All other data is in statistical summaries and protects the anonymity of each student.

The expectation is that, under this system, learning and creativity will be seen as among the most joyful of human experiences. Students will learn to play the Game of Life for the joy it brings--without fear of punishment or expectation of extrinsic rewards. If their studies are disassociated from external reward and punishment and all students are respected for whatever choices they make, the students will optimize the curriculum for themselves. The essential requirements are to have the totality of human knowledge available and accessible at all times without extrinsic rewards or punishments associated with it. This may be done as follows:

We divide the totality of human knowledge into three primary areas, or dimensions, because human beings normally perceive the integrated whole of the cosmos as three distinct types of phenomena. These are the physical, the biological, and the psychosocial. There are many levels of knowledge within each of these dimensions that are normally associated within our archaeological and cultural history. Indeed, what integrates the three dimensions into a whole is the evolutionary perspective (as in the first four chapters) by which we see human history as a continuation of our biological evolution and biological evolution as a continuation of material evolution. Therefore, at each level the student is presented with the three distinct areas of study--plus a fourth discipline, which is an ethical evolutionary-historical-artistic integration of the first three.

Art integrates knowledge at the unconscious level. The entire program integrates knowledge by having ontogeny recapitulate phylogeny at the psychosocial level. Students learn in an order, context, and manner similar to that in which the human race learned the same material and are given an opportunity to rediscover this knowledge. Everything they learn is always related to everything they know in a meaningful, practical way. _Educational Alternative _ Chapter 6 of Creative Transformation

More from John David Garcia's early childhood curriculum:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
9.00	11.00	Begin advanced calculus and partial differential equations; detailed study of the work of Lagrange and Euler, the calculus of variations from Newton to Lagrange, elementary probability theory from Pascal to Cauchy and LaPlace; applications in optics, astronomy, theory of heat	Begin construction of simple steam engine, making from scratch, doing all machining of parts by treddle-driven lathes and water and windmill power; check the detailed mathematical models against astronomical observations	Conclusion of the study of human anatomy and embryology	Conclusion of dissections and microscopic observations; the general functioning of the human body has been observed
9.25	11.25	Continue work of previous quarter; detailed theory of steam engine, the work of Lavoisier, Priestley, and Dalton	Continue above project, switching to electrical machinery; do early experiments in electricity by Gauss, Coulomb, Amp^ere, and Volta; the atomic model of chemistry and experiments	Begin study of animal physiology and describe biochemistry through mid 19th century; repeat experiments of Helmholtz in biophysics	Experiments in basic physiology showing how human body consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide; human body as a heat engine
9.50	11.50	Continue work in chemistry; the work of LaPlace and Carnot, the laws of thermodynamics, the experiments of Faraday; advanced studies in partial differential equations; wave mechanics in optics; begin study of the works of Gauss	Continue chemistry experiments; finish work on steam engine; test efficiency using Carnot's concepts; begin repeating the experiments of Faraday and empirically derive the basic laws of electricity and magnetism, including Ohm's law	Animal physiology and biochemistry continued; the work and life of Pasteur	Experiments in animal physiology and biochemistry continued
9.75	11.75	Maxwell's work on the wave theory of light and the derivation of Maxwell's equations and their applications; continue study of Gauss' mathematics and physics	Electromagnetic motors and generators, construction of batteries, transmission of electromagnetic waves, early work of Tesla, the telegraph and the wireless constructed	A course in botany and plant physiology; begin experiments in plant genetics after Gregor Mendel	Study and dissection of major plant species; field studies, microscopic dissection, plant breeding per Gregor Mendel

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
9.00	11.00	Detailed analysis of the American and French Revolutions; detailed analysis of the writings of Jefferson and his correspondence; comparisons between Jefferson, Washington, and Napoleon; how Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in the pursuit of personal power; how the U.S. government betrayed the Libertarian ethic	Write essays comparing the ethical course of the American and French Revolution; relate the ethics of Spinoza to these revolutions; relate to evolutionary ethics and show where they went wrong	Artistic synthesis in the early work of Goethe and the music of Beethoven; ethical synthesis in the philosophy of Lessing, Goethe, and Moses Mendelssohn and their interpretations of Spinoza	Reorchestrate and perform Beethoven's Grosse Fugue for octet; read Goethe's prophetic poetry; write a sequel to the Sorcerer's Apprentice
9.25	11.25	The philosophy of Kant, biography, The Critique of Pure Reason and The Critique of Practical Reason; compare to Spinoza; Kant's cosmology compared to LaPlace; explain Catholic hostility	Write essays on the scientific and ethical implications of Kant's philosophy; analyze in terms of the evolutionary ethic	Artistic synthesis continued in the work of Goethe and Beethoven; Goethe's Sorcerer's Apprentice and pessimism, the romantic hope and self-delusion	Produce as a group project Goethe's Faust and performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for several octets
9.50	11.50	The philosophy of Hegel--how he could be so wrong and so influential; Hegel and the misinterpretation of Spinoza; Hegel's theory of history and ethics; Hegel as the father of Marxism and Naziism; de Tocqueville as a visionary and prophetic historian	Essay explaining Hegel's influence through present times; a comparison of Spinoza and Hegel--how could Hegel so misunderstand Spinoza and deceive himself and others? Why was de Tocqueville so accurate in his predictions?	The romantic poets, Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth; the art of Watteau, Houdon, David, and Degas; the music of Berlioz and Liszt; Wagner as the musical equivalent of Hegel	Write epic poetry on a hopeful future from a romantic perspective; do a musical satire on a Wagner opera; paint a heroic romantic painting
9.75	11.75	A history of the world from 1775 to 1910; development of major ideas and philosophies, with particular attention to USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia; basic economics from Adam Smith to Marx and Engels	An essay explaining the Newtonian model and its influence on the intellectual history of the world; why Islam, India, and China were so far behind, why Japan was able to catch up	An ethical analysis of European and American imperialism; libertarian and socialistic ethics; the ethical turmoil of the age of liberty and social obligation; read War and Peace by Tolstoy; the paintings of Turner and the Impressionists	Read and analyze Pushkin, Melville, Dickens, Hugo, Balzac, Dostoyevski, Tolstoy, George Eliot; study the music of Mahler and perform Das Lied von der Erde

It is fascinating how well Garcia's "Creative Transformation" approach parallels a number of other transformative ideas and projects being discussed by people who see many current trends in government and society as providing nothing better than a dead end. Example:

• Become self-sufficient in education, economics, health, defense, and everything else, in this order of priority. Only a fairly large network can become more self-sufficient than a current nation-state.


• Help other [groups], in your own network first and then in other networks, to achieve the same degree of self-sufficiency through education, trade, and mutual defense agreements.


• Extend the protection of the self-sufficiency networks in the form of a libertarian society to any person who wishes to join it on equitable terms. Doing this will provide security for all human beings who need it and eventually leave the central government without power, wealth, or a creative population to govern. Remember that both security and insecurity are illusions. Only the Game of Life is real. The central government and its willing subjects, if they are not nurtured by creative persons, will consist entirely of parasites and will eventually collapse--to be replaced by a libertarian society. It is unethical to nurture parasites.


• Extend the process to other countries through education, trade, and mutual defense until the entire world is a creatively transformed libertarian society on the way to becoming a Moral Society. Never impose your way of life on others by force, but allow them space to be different in their own territory. Human intelligence without human ethics leads inevitably to self-destruction [280]. Similarly, you fight to the death to defend your liberty and that of affiliated octets. It is unethical to tolerate destructive behavior, however strong the culprit. Creativity can only grow through liberty, never through force. Every tyranny is worse than anarchy.

_Creative Transformation Chapter 5

These are clearly dangerous ideas, at least as seen from the viewpoint of the central established order. And yet Garcia's ideas were developed according to a far higher level of ethics than virtually anything one will see in the modern public sphere.

Creativity is dangerous. Transformation is dangerous. But stasis is death. And that is what modern humans are facing in the contemporary synthesis of power structures and societal trends.

Growing dangerous children is not just about chronological age and early childhood development. Remember: It is never too late to have a [dangerous] childhood. (Apologies to Tom Robbins)

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part VI

In The Underground History of American Education, former teacher John Taylor Gatto exposed the destructive effects of the government school system.

Government schooling is the most radical adventure in history. It kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents.

...Socrates foresaw if teaching became a formal profession, something like this would happen. Professional interest is served by making what is easy to do seem hard; by subordinating the laity to the priesthood. School is too vital a jobs-project, contract giver and protector of the social order to allow itself to be "re-formed." It has political allies to guard its marches, that’s why reforms come and go without changing much. _Underground History Prologue

In the early days of the USA, children were not subjected to monolithic, factory style government education. They had to learn for themselves, learning by doing.

Young people in America were expected to make something of themselves, not to prepare themselves to fit into a pre-established hierarchy. Every foreign commentator notes the early training in independence, the remarkable precocity of American youth, their assumption of adult responsibility. _JTG Underground History

Things changed, once "civilised education" was enforced upon the unprepared American population. No longer precocious, American youth are infantilised, psychologically neotenised, and made into lifelong incompetent adolescents -- thanks to government schooling and the concomitant withering away of parental oversight.

More from John David Garcia's Early Childhood Curriculum:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
8.00	10.00	Continue with study of analytical geometry; begin solid analytical geometry using Cartesian notation; study the design of clocks, thermometers, and astronomical instruments; a study of Kepler and his ideas about nature and the music of the spheres	Continue with mini-cathedral building project; build full-fledged observatory with telescopes, but in spirit of Tycho Brahe make observations to deduce Kepler's laws; take two-week ocean voyage on sailing ship; discuss how Europe extended itself throughout the world in the 16th century	Continue vertebrate comparative anatomy through higher mammals and relate to human anatomy; show how embryology of all vertebrates overlaps at stages; relate to Greek evolutionary theories	Dissect and study vertebrate anatomy, tissues, and organs; go through modern systematics for all major mammalian orders; study embryology of related groups with microscope; the fetal pig and its full dissection
8.25	10.25	The early basis of the scientific revolution, Francis Bacon's Novum Organum, Boyle's studies, Galileo, the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, the notion of experimental "proof"; finish analytical geometry and learn elementary calculus of variations, the concept of limit, and early concepts of calculus to explain Kepler's laws	Continue observation project, build improved clocks, finish sextant, finish mini-cathedral, study map making and various forms of map projections; set up experiments to test Boyle's laws, simple gas laws, experiments to test circulation of the blood	Human anatomy in detail; all organs, tissues and bones, gross structure of the brain; embryology using the fetal pig; use anatomical drawings of da Vinci and Vesalius, plus Gray's Anatomy; these integrated studies will last a year	Dissect human cadavers, male and female; observe tissues, and relate to other mammals; show similarity of all organs for all mammals; note how different human brain is
8.50	10.50	The Newtonian synthesis; full study using modern notation of Principia Mathematica and the Opticks; derive Newton's laws from Kepler's observations; derive calculus from the need to mathematically describe the laws of motion and gravity	Begin making windmill and waterwheel; predict the orbits of the planets using Newton's laws and a few astronomical observations; predict the eclipses of the sun by the moon at different spots of interest on the earth; repeat Newton's experiments showing that light is a system of particles, and that white light contains the spectrum	Continue studies of human anatomy and embryology	Continue anatomical dissection and microscopic studies; learn micro-techniques and make your own slides
8.75	10.75	Derive the calculus up to the use of simple differential equations; derive the formulas for optics and the creation of compound lenses; compare Newton's and Leibnitz' approach	Continue work on windmill and waterwheel; build a Newtonian reflecting telescope; built a chromatically-corrected set of compound lenses for the telescope already constructed; make an improved microscope	Continue studies of human anatomy	Continue work of previous quarter

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
8.00	10.00	The rise of humanism leading to the Renaissance and the Reformation; the writings of Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin; the Council of Trent and the rise of the Jesuit order; Giordano Bruno, the philosophy of Descartes, and a review of his contemporaries	Essay on the ethical implications of the Reformation; were the Protestants any less bureaucratic? mutual discussion of essays among the octets; essay on the ethical implications of the scientific method and the new philosophy	The literary synthesis, Dante's Divina Comedia, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Marlowe's Dr. Faustus; the music of Monteverde and Palestrina; the art of Bosch, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo	Write an epic poem about the Christian view of Hell; write a play about a modern Don Quixote; continue study of organ and harpsichord; compose and perform music in the style of Monteverde and Palestrina
8.25	10.25	Hobbes, Montaigne, and Spinoza; read Spinoza's Ethics without analyzing proofs and note how this is a huge leap over the philosophy of Descartes and is the first totally rational treatment of ethics in history	Apply Spinoza's ethics to solving problems in practical ethics, politics, and religion; relate Spinoza's ethics to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism; apply Spinoza's model to formulating a model of the universe and evolution; write an essay on the meaning of Spinoza	The literary synthesis continues; read critically Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet; study the music of Handel; study advanced musical theory and composition	Continue study of organ and harpsichord; build a harpsichord as a group project; write a last act to Hamlet in which Hamlet lives; play the music of Handel
8.50	10.50	The philosophical contemporaries of Spinoza, Leibnitz, Locke, and Hume on improving the understanding; world history from 1000 AD to 1775	Essay on the hostility to Spinoza; an ethical analysis of the lives of Spinoza and Leibnitz; essay on why Europe embraced the scientific method and modern philosophy while the rest of the world did not	Spinoza's ethics, Christianity, Judaism, and respect for human rights; the rise of democratic ideology; Islam becomes totally entropic; conservative belief systems in the rest of the world; European predation	Group project to perform St. Matthew or St. John Passion of Bach; all learn to play the Musical Offering, the Art of the Fugue, in an octet; each octet does its own orchestration for the Art of the Fugue
8.75	10.75	Human rights and 18th century philosophy; Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and the Encyclopedists; the American Revolution; the philosophy and writings of Thomas Jefferson, the social contract, and the Federalist Papers	Essay on Rousseau and irrationalism; essay on the libertarian ideal and the democratic compromise; essay on the U.S. founding fathers allowing slavery to continue--was losing the revolution and hanging a better alternative? Write scenario on what would have happened if there had not been tolerance of slavery	The artistic synthesis continues; further study of the Art of the Fugue and the music of Mozart; the pessimistic writings of Jonathan Swift, a tragic interpretation of the democratic experiment	Compose and perform a conclusion to the Art of the Fugue; perform as a group project one Mozart opera of students' choice

Parents need to allow the child space, but at the same time need to carefully monitor the child's progress. The child should be allowed to take risks, to take on responsibilities, and to pursue rewards.

These are dangerous concepts, and should the powers-that-be ever suspect that significant numbers of children would be raised to be truly dangerous to the status quo, the reaction would be furious, and likely violent.

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part V

Fifty Dangerous Things is really about providing an antidote to the overprotective parenting style that seems to becoming the norm in our society. _Wired

Gever Tulley's book 50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do, is about breaking through the suffocating wrap of risk aversion that threatens the future of modern societies. But most of the activities presented there would not have been considered dangerous just a few decades ago.

If children are not taught to responsibly, creatively, and ethically deal with risk, they will go out looking for risky activities on their own. Drugs, delinquency, drunk driving, and worse. If you think you are protecting your child by keeping them away from all forms of risk, you may be in for a big surprise before too long.

The idea behind this new book by Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler is that by allowing our children some exposure to slightly dangerous things (with supervision and care, of course) we can help foster creativity, teach problem-solving, and have some good old-fashioned fun at the same time. After going through much of the book with my 7-year-old son, I’m fully on board with this theory. My little guy was thrilled with most of the activities, had many “aha” moments of accomplishment, and eagerly paged through the book checking out what our next dangerous activity would be.


The suggestions are presented in a clear and straightforward manner, with each topic getting its own illustrated description with a requirements list, possible hazards, estimated time for the activity, safety tips and some supplemental information related to the topic. There’s space to enter your own field notes and observations for each activity, giving it a sort of “lab book” feel, which my son seemed to really like. By including areas for kids to write about their experiences and take notes, the book became a cherished guide that my son wanted to keep handy and turn to regularly.


Some of the suggestions feel like pretty typical kid activities that I assumed every kid would just naturally do as they grow up, like throwing rocks or climbing a tree. But as we went through the book I found myself repeatedly surprised at how many of these kind of activities my son hadn’t actually ever tried. _Wired

More from the John David Garcia early childhood curriculum:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
7.00	9.00	Consolidation of Greek mathematics and geometry using modern notation; practical chemistry in purifying common elements from their ores and making chemical compounds such as sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, aqua regia, and gun powder	Use geometry and mathematics to design a cathedral using Roman arches, vaults, and buttresses; isolate elements from their ores; make acids and simple compounds, gun powder, and paints; make mortars and cements; continue modification of sailing ship	Further study of microscopic life, protozoa, mites, worms, and other microorganisms that live on and in mammals; diseases they cause and symbiosis they provide	Microscopic observation of microorganisms, classification in modern terms; observe sea plankton, sponges, and hydra, and observation of their life cycles
7.25	9.25	Mathematical modeling of nature through advanced algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; derive solutions to quadratic and cubic equations; advanced navigation, the compass and the theory of the sextant; advanced geometry, trigonometry of arches, domes and vaults	Masonry work, making stone arches & vaults; begin construction of small wooden house with some masonry; continue to work with lenses and practical optics, make large reflecting telescope, make better microscope; make additional chemical compounds, acids and paints, dyes and cements; construction of an astrolabe; practical astronomy; finish modifications on sailing ship	Animal systematics, invertebrate zoology, comparative organ systems, organ structure and function, cell theory of animal structures	Laboratory dissection and study of the invertebrate phyla in an evolutionary context; detailed experimentation for function of organ systems and microhistology
7.50	9.50	Mathematical modeling of nature continued; quartic equations; heliocentric model of solar system compared to Ptolemaic; comparison of Viking ships as fast raiders to more seaworthy sailing ships; prepare for two-week ocean trip, theory of alchemy	Continue work with wood and masonry in house; begin construction of accurate water and weighted clock; begin construction of astronomical telescope with instruments; alchemical preparation for isolating elements and making compounds; the alchemical symbols as archetypes	Continue classification of invertebrates for all remaining major phyla, specifying organ functions and histology; show how all metazoa have same types of cells and all start as single cell, simple embryo egg	Laboratory dissection and microscopic observation of major invertebrate phyla; tissue and embryology; transition species to vertebrates, tunicates, and amphioxus
7.75	9.75	Begin study of conics and analytical geometry; begin study of the dynamics of falling bodies and the pendulum; continue study of alchemy, showing how acceptance of wrong hypotheses impeded progress; consider measurements of time, temperature, and position	Finish wooden house; using telescope and clocks, begin observations of movements of planets and earth relative to sun, and deduce Kepler's laws; take a two-week ocean trip; begin construction of sextant	Continue classification of invertebrates; compare with anatomy of simpler vertebrates; study all organs and their physiology and function; identify cells common to vertebrates and invertebrates	Microscopic observations and dissection of simple vertebrates and their organs; observation of simple embryology and comparison to invertebrate embryology; full dissection of shark

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
7.00	9.00	The Roman Empire and its interaction with Christianity, the Greco-Roman disdain for manual labor, the Christian disdain for the natural world, the Gnostic Christians, the stagnation and disintegration of the Roman Empire until the rise of Islam	Write speculative essay on how Roman Empire might have endured and what the world would be like if it had; write speculative essay on how Christianity would have developed if the Gnostics had not been persecuted	The ethical decay of Rome; Roman bureaucracy; how the Catholic bureaucracy established itself; Catholic intolerance of deviant views; persecution of heretics; inferiority complex about pagan knowledge; the destruction of Alexandrian library; Hypatia	Finish design of cathedral; paint Christian symbols that express what is best in Christianity; sing Gregorian chants in Latin after studying translations; do an art project expressing the meaning of the Catholic church
7.25	9.25	The rise of Islam; read the Koran; early history of Arabia to 7th century; relationship of Islam to Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and the surrounding cultures; the political vacuum in the Middle East	Essay on why so many Jews rejected Islam; essay on why Islam was able to grow and expand so rapidly; essay on the ethical contradictions within Islam compared to Judaism and Christianity	Islam as a closed system; how Islam induces fanaticism; its comparison to Christianity; why Christianity is more open in spite of church bureaucracy; Islam and creativity; the reason for Islam declining as Christianity rose	Islamic abstract art; how lack of representational art diminishes creativity; draw abstract designs in the Islamic style; Islamic mandalas; paint representational art of Islam; compare to Persian and Mogul art forms
7.50	9.50	The great theologians, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, Averroes, Avicena, Maimonides, St. Anselm, Abelard; show their depth and breadth of vision; the weakness of having orthodoxy to defend; the Holy Roman Empire and its relationship to Islam, India, and China; Charlemagne and his successors	Essays on the "proofs" of the existence of God and the ontological arguments; essay on the humanizing role of the Church while it bureaucratically decayed; essay on priestly celibacy and its implications; write your own ideas about God	The dominance of ideology and bureaucracy over ethics and truth, the preservation and distortion of the teachings of Jesus, the fundamental power of the teachings of Jesus in spite of the negative elements	Compare Byzantine with Western religious art and paint a synthesis of the two; paint a synthesis of Christian, Chinese, Hindu, and Muslim art of the period; begin study of the organ
7.75	9.75	St. Thomas Aquinas and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire; the feedback produced by the great schism; the decline of Byzantium relative to the newly emerging West; Roger Bacon and the rise of science; the apparent cultural superiority of Islam, India, China, and Byzantium	Write essay on the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, indicating the holes in his arguments; essay on Thomistic ethics; the schism analyzed in theological and bureaucratic terms, why schism was so important to Western progress	The relationship of rational theology to mathematics; the church as an arbiter of power between barbarian states; the moral authority of the church in a world of brute force; the cathedral as the synthesis of Western technology, art, and religion	Study and do detailed drawings of major cathedrals; plan to implement construction of cathedral design; begin construction on scale model in stone

Gever Tulley's 50 Dangerous Things are not truly dangerous. But doing them with your children may be early steps in the creation of dangerous children. At this stage in the decline of the west, there is no greater need than the need for the dangerous child.

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.

The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part III

For a child to be dangerous to the powers that be in a decaying society, he must be creative, knowledgeable, competent, and ethical -- all wrapped up in a framework of both independence and responsibility.

Most of the important things a child learns in life, are learned by the ages of 5 to 7. These things are learned by example -- for better or for worse. Raw native intelligence is important, but it is only a small, though important, ingredient of the whole. More important than intelligence is executive function -- grit, patience, fairness, honesty, openness, persistence, conscientiousness, etc.

If a child has intelligence and good executive function, it is crucial that he be given the tools of knowledge and competence -- that is how true self-confidence is built.

More from the John David Garcia Curriculum for Early Childhood:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
5.00	7.00	The smelting of iron and simple steels, forging iron and blacksmithing; simple astronomy and navigation, advanced sailing ships that might have crossed the Atlantic; the iron forging necessary for controlling a horse in battle; pre-Greek geometry and arithmetic using Arabic numbers, advanced theory of the Babylonian abacus	Smelt ore, forge from iron a complete set of tack for a horse, plus horseshoes; forge and make iron sword and spear; make large clay jars for storing grain, oils, and wine; begin one-year sailing ship construction project for group; show how geometry and arithmetic help in the above projects, build a Babylonian abacus	Advanced study of equestrianship for war, shooting a compound bow while riding horseback, the use of the lance and the sword from horseback; mammalian reproduction in detail, nursing and care of young mammals; processing milk into cheese and yogurt	Horse handling, training, and riding; grooming and care of horses, shodding and equipping the horse, the use of different bits, saddles, and stirrups; mammalian reproduction and breeding; comparisons of dogs, cats, sheep, goats, cows, and horses; cheese and yogurt from cow's milk; extract oil from fruits and nuts; make and store wine; optimal physical training of the human body
5.25	7.25	Continue with projects begun previous quarter	Continue with projects begun previous quarter	Continue with projects begun previous quarter	Continue with projects begun previous quarter
5.50	7.50	Advanced metallurgy, casting bronze sculptures through lost wax process; making of hard steel alloys, nails, bolts, and screws; making advanced presses and catapults; fractions and decimals, empirical basis of Pythagorean Theorem, right triangles, circles, spheres, and parallelopipeds	Continue work on sailing ship, do precision bronze castings; make knives using hard steel alloys; make nails, bolts, screws, presses, and catapults; show applications of mathematics and geometry to the above	Human reproduction, comparative male and female anatomy, hormonal cycles, fertility cycles, puberty and emotions, lactation and nursing, care of infants, normal patterns of growth for young boys and girls	Advanced breeding of animals and plants, extraction of fats and oils from vegetables, fruits, and seeds; extract animal fats from carcasses and meat; work in nursery caring for small children 1-2 years old
5.75	7.75	The geometry and mathematics of Pythagoras, several proofs of his theorem, the Pythagorean solids, the harmonics of vibrating strings and the physical basis of music; geometry applied to navigation, astronomy, building and surveying; the technology of glass, glass blowing	Construct the Pythagorean solids, use several approaches to making dodecahedron and icosahedron; construct navigational computer, advanced abacus; construct glass bottles, mirrors, parabolic mirror; finish sailing ship	Human health and the Greek medical tradition, Aesculapius and Hippocrates; a healthy mind in a healthy body; physical culture and optimal health; diet, exercise, and health	Gardening and preparation of food for optimal health, an exercise plan for lifetime health, strength, and energy; construction of a glass still; care of young infants

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
5.00	7.00	The story of Zarathustra; how he changed the Persian people and how they went on to create the world's greatest empire until conquered by Alexander; the Zoroastrian religion and myths in detail	Analysis of ancient Persian history and religion; write a story of how Persian history might have been different if the religion had been different	Ethical analysis of Zoroastrian religion and ethical system, strengths and weaknesses, and how it was doomed to failure	Ancient Persian art, architecture, music; analyze and reproduce style according to your own feeling about this culture; do a group project expressing ancient Persian civilization
5.25	7.25	The story of Confucius and his teachings and how they changed China; the books of Confucius are read, discussed, and compared to the philosophy of Lao Tse; the interaction of Taoism and Confucianism in Chinese history is discussed	Written analysis of each of the books of Confucius and stories about Confucius; an analysis about Lao Tse; writing of imaginative stories about life in China; essay on how you personally feel about Confucius and Lao Tse	Ethical analysis of Confucianism and Taoism as ethical systems, as ways to knowledge, and the civilization they produced; what was right and what was wrong and predictions	Ancient Chinese art to Tang dynasty, analyze and reproduce style in sculpture, painting, and music; use Chinese style to express your feelings about classical Chinese culture in group art project
5.50	7.50	The story of Buddha and his teachings and how they changed India and the East; emphasize the basic ethical nature of Buddhism and its tolerant compassion toward others; show how Buddhists became psychosocial specialists and stopped innovating in the natural world; compare to Hinduism	Write essays on the meaning of Hinduism and Buddhism and how they relate to you; how Buddhism and Hinduism relate to each other, how you would feel and act if you were suddenly put into a Buddhist or Hindu society; give evidence for and against reincarnation, what impact these societies have on the world, predictions	Hinduism and Buddhism in light of the evolutionary ethic and the eight Ethical Principles; the historical impact and consequences of those religions; the ethics of the caste system; why Buddhism is more successful as an export; common Aryan origins of Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism	Experience directly Buddhist and Hindu meditation and its comparison to autopoiesis; Buddhist and Hindu art; draw mandalas of your own, sculpt in Buddhist and Hindu style, make up mandalas, learn to play Buddhist and Hindu music; perform dances, do art works expressing how you feel about Buddhism and/or Hinduism
5.75	7.75	Early Greek history to Thales; the Iliad and the Odyssey; the story of Thales and Pythagoras and how they laid part of the foundations of Western civilization; the rational and mystical as reflected in those two men; Thales and ethics; Pythagoras and religion	Write an essay on the ethics of the characters in the Iliad and Odyssey, the ethics of the mythical characters and gods, the attitudes toward women and their role in Greece; make up a Greek-style myth of your own	The warlike Aryan tradition and how it led to Greek culture, the obsession with domination and personal freedom, the oppressiveness of a slave-based culture, the extreme military specialization of Sparta; why a love of truth and intelligence is not enough if there is no love for others	Geometric art using Pythagorean and Greek principles, composition of music using Pythagorean theory of harmonic scales; begin a sculpture project in the Greek style; Greek music and dances including those of Sparta

Children require a lot of experimental activities, preferably as part of semi-serious play. Children are strongly influenced by adult influences and opinions at this stage, and are eager to build and display competence in a manner that will impress adults and older children.

It is an adult's task to design a learning sequence that educates, strengthens, and trains the wide capacities of a child, and allows for the development of both competence in designed areas, and for self-expression in a manner that allows for open-ended development of competence.

Dangerous children are dangerous to a decadent and corrupt society. In such societies, power and wealth gravitates to those closest to the seats of power -- where it is jealously guarded.

Dangerous children, on the other hand, constantly come up with all kinds of ideas, inventions, innovations, questions, and constructs which continually threaten the always delicate balance of power between the haves and have-nots.

The Dangerous Child: Curricula Part II

In modern government education, students are meant to be receptacles of a consensual wisdom. They are meant to accept and conform to the consensual wisdom du jour, as communicated by designers of government school curricula.

Many children are destroyed by this approach, falling by the wayside without having achieved the correct credentials for a modern pigeon-holed success. Of those who "succeed" in government education, very few will have anything uniquely significant to contribute to the shaping of a better world or better society. The uniqueness and creativity of almost all those who pass through the system will have been processed out and disposed of.

Children who are too creative, who think "outside of the box," who ask too many questions that are difficult for factory trained teachers to answer -- these are very dangerous children. It is best for the system if they would simply drop out . . . .

More of the John David Garcia early childhood curriculum:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
4.00	6.00	The concept of the wheel; smelting metal from ore; making a simple calendar from astronomical observations; counting and use of Arabic numbers to 1,000 for calendar making, time-keeping, and other uses	Making a potter's wheel and using it; making an advanced bellows driven by a pedaled wheel to heat a charcoal, earth, and clay oven; making a spinning wheel, a sundial, a simple loom	Advanced gardening; the making of cloth from plant and animal fiber; advanced care and management of sheep and goats; gourmet cooking with spices and herbs using ovens; making more advanced permanent shelters of wood and stone	Spinning fiber; simple weaving of cloth with no loom; wheat and corn cultivation; making bread with & without yeast; breeding sheep and goats with seasons; training dogs; constructing small stone and wood huts
4.25	6.25	More advanced metallurgy; the saw and how to use it; how to cast bronze tools, nails, the chisel, and metal hammer; advanced use of wheels; simple arithmetic; adding and subtraction with Arabic numbers; simple geometry	Construction of wheeled push carts; construct bronze tools and show how inferior they are to steel tools; use steel tools in all construction; use pick and shovel and push cart to build small irrigation system and buildings; show how arithmetic and simple geometry help construct these projects	Group design of large irrigated garden, suitable for self-sufficiency of 16 persons; advanced looms and weaving; advanced animal husbandry and selective breeding of sheep and goats; care of chickens and cattle	Construct and plant garden; advanced cooking and preserving of food; fermentation to produce alcohol, distillation of alcohol with copper still
4.50	6.50	Advanced bronze-based metallurgy and smelting of other similar metals; identify related ores and other rocks; simple glass technology; building an oxcart from wood, leather, and bronze; simple multiplication with Arabic numbers; more simple geometry, right triangles, and the circle; advanced calendar-making & time-keeping; how to make a simple boat with sail and oars	Smelt and cast advanced bronzes and similar metals; make and cast glass sheets; make mirrors of metal and glass; build an oxcart; show how arithmetic and geometry are useful; use detailed astronomical observations to make a better calendar, and show how arithmetic and geometry help; build a small sailing and rowing boat	Show how to use a simple plow and fertilizer to prepare land; show how to make fertilizer from minerals and organic substances; show how to cross-pollinate and hybridize plants and trees; show how to use advanced fermentation techniques to produce wine and alcohol; discuss effects of alcohol as preservative and drug; storage and preservation of grain	Advanced agriculture and gardening projects; make fertilizers, crossbreed and hybridize plants; grow grain and grapes; ferment to alcohol, distill alcohol, use alcohol as a fuel and preservative, use as disinfectant; cultivation of yeasts, and advanced baking
4.75	6.75	More advanced arithmetic and geometry, division of numbers, simple fractions; creation of more advanced sailing craft, the ideas behind a horse-drawn war chariot, the compound bow with metal-tipped arrows, how to construct the two-person war chariot and its relationship to the oxcart; the Babylonian abacus theory	Show how arithmetic and geometry contribute to following technologies built by groups; build a more advanced sailing craft; build a war chariot using steel, wood, and leather; show how much more difficult it was with only bronze; build compound bow with bronze-tipped arrows; practice with bow until expert, and practice with war chariot	Domestication and use of the horse as a biological machine, special care and breeding required by horse, horse behavior and anatomy, equipment for controlling horse and how to make it	Horse training and use for farming and pulling chariots, speed comparisons, training horse for chariots and bareback riding

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
4.00	6.00	Reading stories in personal terms about the possible prehistory of the Sumerian people; vocabulary development and the practical use of grammar	Write stories of fiction and personal activity using only alphabet; show how convenient it is to know when a sentence starts and ends, and how punctuation prevents misunderstanding	The ethics of larger groups; how it is possible for several octets to cooperate if they have common rules and objectives; how ancient civilizations were slave-based and ruled by priestly bureaucracies	Students construct rules and goals of cooperative behavior in order to build large-scale projects, buildings, irrigation systems to benefit hundreds of persons
4.25	6.25	Realistic but fictionalized history of the founding of Sumer and how Sumerians created their culture up to the time of the invention of writing; show how the religion and its ritual became overwhelmingly important, and how by controlling food the priests controlled people, warriors, and kings	Write stories of fiction and personal activity; write essays on behavioral ethics; use proper punctuation for clarity of ideas and teach correct punctuation for students; have students ethically analyze in writing the history of Sumer and show what might be wrong	The ethics of individual rights; show that taking rights away from individuals for a larger group damages the group it is supposed to help; show how creativity is important to progress and how liberty is important for creativity	Students study Sumerian art and try to express their own feeling about Sumer in ceramic figurines similar to the Sumerians; stone sculpture project; reproduction of Sumerian relics and artifacts
4.50	6.50	Read a simple non-fictional history of Sumer, show their writing and accounting systems and note their defects; show how clay as prime resource led to cuneiform; endurance of clay records; read full accounts of Sumerian myths, including Garden of Eden; Gilgamesh, and Noah	Write an analysis of Sumerians' history and their collapse; write an analysis of their myths and what they mean; write your own myths to communicate the same ideas as the Sumerian myths; write a creative story of your own choosing	Ethical analysis of the rise and fall of Sumer, the ethical nature of the conquerors of Sumer, their strengths and weaknesses, the weakness of theocracy and hereditary aristocracy, why these entropic systems went on for so long	Creative synthesis; high Sumerian art compared to art of conquerors; artistic group project to communicate the rise and fall of Sumer through music, painting, sculpture, and dance
4.75	6.75	Read a simple world history of the Ecumene from the fall of Sumer to 600 BC; show how little progress and creativity there was until then; show how Aryans spread Sumerian civilization to the entire old world and possibly to the Americas; read literary examples of each major culture	Write an ethical analysis of each major culture and why they could not significantly improve on Sumerian civilization; write an analysis and interpretation of their literary works; write your own story to express what you feel about this period of history	An ethical analysis of the Sumerian religion and those that followed; show how ethical vitality in primitive cultures can lead to conquest of more advanced civilizations; show how religions that seek reward for ethical behavior are destructive; show how it was necessary to invent morality	The art forms of Babylon, Egypt, Crete, pre-Confucianist China, and India; make your own version of these art styles; improvise music on the instruments of these times; do a group art project on this period of history

Source__John David Garcia

The main thrust of Garcia's curriculum is the instilling of both creativity and ethics. There is a great deal of practical, didactic, and theoretical substance as well. But the thrust of the program is the training of children who can think and do for themselves within a careful ethical framework.

Of course, the ethical framework that Garcia taught is not the same ethical framework that is dominant in the government school systems, in higher academia, in popular culture, in the mainstream media, or in society in general.

As a result of its uniqueness, one would not expect children who are trained with the Garcia approach to adopt the helpless, irresponsible, lifelong adolescent posture of so many who graduate from the government system. These children would be different. And they would be dangerous to the dominant powers of the established thoughtways.