Eighth Grade

and refinement to the adolescent’s emotional life. The students see how personal a wish is, how it comes from deep within and goes towards the outer world. They see how wonder comes from a meeting between one’s inner and outer worlds, and how surprise really originates outside and impresses itself upon the individual. They learn that a variety of styles can be employed to convey specific feelings accurately and effectively. Awakening consciousness through selfexpression also brings the students confidence and a sense of liberation.

Study of mechanics begins with the lever principle as found in the human arm. From their experimentation, the students learn basic laws of physics and their applications in the machinery of ancient and modern times.

With the beautiful legend of the bringing of fire to earth by Prometheus, organic chemistry is introduced as a study of the combustion process. Fire can be observed externally in the breaking down of substances by oxidation and internally as combustion in the human organism (the digestive processes). Physiology is introduced as the study of life processes in the human: blood circulation, respiration, reproduction, and nutrition in connection with digestion, health and hygiene.

World Geography, sparked by the theme of adventurous exploration, covers the whole globe. The students’ knowledge of astronomy is called upon to further their understanding of climate, tides, and other influences on the cultural and economic life of the peoples of the earth.

In mathematics the study of algebra continues, includes negative numbers, and ventures into mathematical thinking that has no relation to physical perceptions. This study makes real demands on the child’s imaginative powers. Square and cube root and ratio are introduced. Geometric drawing is continued with more complex forms. Linear perspective is introduced and the students learn to draw basic shapes like the cube and the sphere with light and dark shading.

Service projects can be strongly affirmative. Beneath growing layers of negativism, the children must learn to say “yes” to themselves. This takes courage when there is a strong tendency to withdraw and protect. But as one historian noted, “If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him, but no one would have heard of him either.”

The seventh grade continues to participate in weekly eurythmy, physical education, handwork, choir, orchestra, Spanish, Outdoor Education, and woodworking.

Eighth Grade

The eighth grade year is the culmination of the lower school curriculum, looking back at all that has gone before and preparing for the next step: entrance into high school. The students are

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ready now to take up a thoughtful study of the underpinnings of modern history: the political, social, and intellectual revolutions, which have set the stage for modern life. At this age it is essential for the young adolescents to enter with great interest and enthusiasm into the life of their own time.

Language arts are divided in three parts: grammar, composition, and literature. In grammar, there is a review of the parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Also reviewed are parts of a sentence: subject, predicate, complements, prepositional phrases, independent and subordinate clauses. This work is strengthened by the study of Spanish, where students scrutinize the language in more detail. In composition, they learn how to organize ideas by identifying the audience; choosing a voice active, passive, or both; recognizing the importance of the opening and closing paragraphs; and by avoiding repetition, both in words and content. Students write expositions that explain, inform, classify, define or review, according to what is desired. Also they begin developing the basics for research papers, with emphasis on deductive thinking. In literature, students read books assigned by the teacher or by choice, creating the opportunity to share impressions, thoughts, likes, and dislikes. They compare the writers’ styles and write reports addressing different aspects of the work. Short stories and poetry mark the rhythm of the literary year.

Mathematics is an ongoing course taught by a middle school math specialist. From the beginning of the year, we review fractions, decimals, conversions, percentages, the metric system, the order of operations, roots, equations with mixed numbers, absolute value, adding signed numbers, scientific notation, literal numbers, the four parts of the golden rule, exponents and radicals, average, mean, mode, ratios, proportions, and rates. In geometry, the students review the sixth and seventh grade curriculum: polygon terminology, types of triangles, circle terminology, the three dimensions, basic geometric constructions, and the equilateral spiral, the spiral of Archimedes, the pentagon, the Golden Ratio, the Golden Rectangle, and the Pythagorean Theorem. Students study three-dimensional forms by making their own Platonic solids, learn to calculate the surface area and volume of solids, and study loci.

In physiology, students study the skeleton, muscular systems, and the senses.

In history, the colonization of the United States is seen against the European background to the imperial expansion. Then students follow the progression from the American Revolution to the international economy of trade and slavery that led to the Civil War, its outcome and long lasting consequences. Then they study the backdrop of the French Revolution, to the storming of the Bastille and Napoleon. Connecting these historical events, they learn about the Industrial Revolution and the desire for knowledge, led by the Enlightenment philosophers and scientists, and how it transformed the world into modernity.

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