Interdisciplinary Study

Expectation.

Historically, people were capable of more computations and overall mental processing in the past. For example, in 1969, a crew of Americans were sent to the moon and returned safely, a trip many thought was not possible and had never been done before. This trip required a tremendous amount of mathematical calculations and feats of engineering that the world had not yet seen. This was all done with brain power, paper, and pencil.

Some may attribute the decline in the capacity of the human population to function at such a level to atmospheric changes, alterations of food, or even biologic changes as we become less dependent on our own brains and rely more on the abilities of machines.

We believe, at The Academy of Readiness and Character, that those excuses are simply ignoring the fact that our expectation has been lowered. No one would expect a 5-year-old to be able to read a novel, or for a 7-year-old to be able to communicate eloquently and professionally. If it were to happen, then we would say, “wow!” and parade them around on a T.V. show as a genius or prodigy. However, if you treat a child as if he or she is capable of more, then, surprisingly enough, he or she is!

The Board of Directors for The ARC are changing what a normal expectation is and wish to challenge students in all areas to facilitate growth and excellence. Our curriculum progressions are our first attempt to strive for more than, “normal,” and are subject to change and advancement as students begin to surpass even our own expectations.

Below, you will find a collection of our curriculum progressions for each subject area that we offer.

Our goal is to make as many topics interdisciplinary as possible. For example, if upper-elementary students are learning in science about how trees (different species of tree, in what climates they grow, how they create oxygen and clean the air of carbon dioxide, how they support life for all of creation), then they will be practicing their language skills by presenting information on trees and reading about plant life. Meanwhile, in math class, they are learning geometry using the shadows casts by trees and calculating the growth rate over so many years for particular types of trees, and, at the same time, are learning about American settlers and pioneers throughout history who relied on timber and the protection of forests to survive, while exploring the various parks and forests around the globe (and visiting some in real-life). Top that off with art and life-skills classes using wood as a medium for creating new things and developing skills in woodworking.

By taking an interdisciplinary approach to as many topics as we can, not only do the students get saturated in the information over the course of the unit, but they get to see from just how many perspectives a certain topic can be viewed. This is were students can see just how fascinating the world can be and just how much there is to investigate about everything around them!