The Eighth Grader is ready to tackle more advanced concepts in the realm of science and history. This year is filled with great literature exploring nuanced and complex ideas and life shaping choices. The study of the political heritage of the United States, including the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and branches of the U.S. government becomes a healthy ideal for the students to contrast with the complexity of our time.
The wide range of topics studied in the physical sciences reaffirms the eighth grader’s growing connection with the physicality of life on earth and their yearning to understand how it all works. Optics, magnetism, electricity, and meteorology are studied. Much of the observations in these four disciplines reflect the nature and necessity of polarities. In each of these areas, the students discover that polarities are an essential element. They serve to define the explorations, whether it be the interaction of light and dark, warmth and cold, north and south poles of a magnet, or oppositely charged objects. Polarities are part of the natural world. Perhaps some of the students are even able to conclude, unconsciously, that their inner struggles between their desires and their more noble selves are necessary to define who they will become.