Ideas for a school

I am going to use this space as a canvas while borrowing heavily from the framework of ‘Alpha’ and ‘Wonder’ school. I do like the idea of these schools and it does seem like the best solution so far. However, as of yet, the ‘Alpha schools’, are not scalaeble to the general public. Public education in the US is free and the one in India is relatively cheap. The question then, is how do we scale this concept to the general populace? How then, do we bring the quality of the Alpha and Wonder schools to the masses?

I do not yet have a concrete solution but I will start with features that I think are necessary:

1. No homework

2. As an adult I cannot do more than 4 hours of concentrated work. So, for someone going through K-12, I would put the limit at 2 hours.

3. Establish a baseline curriculum. But what might this be? Students should learn numbers, how to read and write. The Alpha schools have this figured out in terms of it’s AI tutor. The founder says the goal is a ‘sub-1000 USD tablet that can teach everything in two hours for billions of kids’.

4. What about other life skills such as perseverence, empathy, oratory, camaraderie, friendship, collaboration?

5. As an adult, I wish we were taught finance, how markets perform and philosophy

6. Instill awe and wonder. Students should want to come back the next day.

7. Self regulation. Students should know what they are passionate about, what they are good at and what they need to improve upon.

8. Hands on activities and problem solving

9. Sports and atheltics

10. Should mindfulness and visualization be introduced? If yes, then when?

Schools typically last for 6–7 hours which semester lasting 15–17 weeks. How would all of these features be fit in those 6–7 hours and what would they look like year on year? Should there be age based or merit based grades? I have more questions than answers.

• I will make two assumptions before I produce a skeleton of what a typical day ought to look like:

• Different age groups will require a different approaches

The simplest solution to formulate maybe for first graders as there’s a few things that are set in stone when it comes to this age group:

*note: I am not including Kindergarten in this piece because I know nothing about that age group.

• Do not focus for more than an hour

• Learning the alphabet, numbers, how to read and write are definitely part of the curriculum. This is non-negotiable

Given my assumptions, I will start with what a day in school should look like for a first grader:

• 0–1 hr: As far as I can tell, all kids like to play. If they were to start the day playing with their friends, they are more likely to want to come to school. But what kind of play? Should this be restricted to a particular age group?

• 1–3:30 hr: Two hours of focused learning with breaks. But what is the curriculum here? Should mindfulness and visualization be included here? Should concepts be taught as stories?

• 3:30–4:30 hr: Eat a meal with friends. Should they be asked to practice gratitude?

• 4:30–6:30 hr: Project time. But what to cover here? This is where they will find out what they like, dont like, what they are good at, what they are bad at.

• 6:30–7:30 hr: Basic atheltic training + sports. But how to structure this? This should be foundational, not sports specific.

The more I look at this format, the more I realize how expensive it is, in terms money and competence. I hope to gain some clarity as I give flesh to this idea. As of now, the lowest hanging fruit appears appears to be ‘Project Time’ and I plan to brainstorm some ideas here. Project time could be a semester long project or a few weeks or just those two hours. Lots to think about.

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