If you’re already an ROA parent, then you know that our “curriculum” is notably different than what most of us experienced when we were growing up and than what we might see if we walked into a traditional classroom environment today. Our ‘curriculum’ revolves around the child.
A Learner’s learning journey consists of completing defined challenges related to one of the following three pillars:
Learning to Learn
Learning to Do
Learning to Be
The successful completion of these challenges is marked by the receipt of a “badge.”
It is important to understand that earning a badge is absolutely NOT a simple or quick task! It involves an extensive amount of time, planning, effort, and resilience on the part of the learner. Most critical of all, it requires *mastery* of the material and excellence. How do they know it’s excellent? This is not about perfection but giving it their best effort with the thought of improvement as they progress, comparing it with a world class example, and when they are proud of their work and put them on display to show their family and other guests in a public exhibition. It is not just a list of letter grades but a true representation of their learning, made visible for all to see. Some people may not understand how we measure progress without tests and grades but for those who see children's achievements as more than merely a report with a list of letters, this is pure gold and a LOT of hard work!