EIGHTH GRADE

By eighth grade, students are ready to study modern history and have the ability to see the wholeness of the globe. During eighth grade, history is an intensive study of the industrial revolution to the modern day, focusing as well on the outstanding individuals such as Lincoln, Jefferson and Edison in American history and great figures such as Ghandi, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King and others from the 20th century. Geography takes up the same theme, showing the role played by every part of the earth in modern industrial civilization.  Additional lessons are presented in physics as well as acoustics, thermodynamics, mechanics, climate, electricity, and magnetism, and the children are now introduced to hydraulics, aerodynamics, meteorology and ecology.  Chemistry is also considered in relation to industry. 

Mathematics emphasizes the practical applications of arithmetic, algebra and geometry.  Man is again the subject of nature study through physiology of the human organism.  Literature focuses on the theme of human freedom in the short story, letters and Shakespearean drama. By the end of eighth grade, the children should have a well-rounded general picture of human life and the universe.