Middle School Studio

Ages 11 – 14

Middle School is a transformative experience as children navigate between childhood and young adulthood. Students learn leadership and self-direction at a deeper level through Socratic discussions and increasingly independent, in-depth quests. Core skills and quests increasingly involve deep research and discussions. 

Several hours daily are reserved for Core Skills, including working individually on their own learning plan.  The Middle school studio is self directed and the heroes easily manage their own learning.  

Writing and speaking skills are honed through Genre Badges, where learners use recipes, rubrics, examples, and critique to create pitches, speeches, storytelling, long-form narratives, restaurant reviews, and other works presented to live audiences at Exhibitions.
 

Our primary goal with Civilization is to prepare future leaders to make important decisions, with deep context and perspective, rather than memorize easily Googled facts to regurgitate on a standardized test. A secondary goal is to pass on the blessings of economic, political, and religious freedom. Twice each week heroes do individual research and gather for Socratic debates that dive into historical, geographical, political, economic, and religious dilemmas, enigmas, and puzzles. In almost every case, heroes step into the shoes of a historical figure at a critical turning point in history to debate and make real-life decisions.

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Servant Leader Badges showcase the “learn to be” tools, habits, and attitudes mastered by Middle School learners, providing recipes for the deliberate practice of tribe-building skills.  Servant Leaders invest in the community by guiding, encouraging, and inspiring others while learning how to lead a studio, a community, or help other leaders build world-class organizations.