Kids write about ” The Farm School”

Farm School, as Explained by the Big Kids
Farm School is a school with grades K-6. The school is divided into two classrooms, the Big Kids and the Little Kids. The Big Kids are third to sixth grade and ages of 8-12 generally and the Little Kids are kindergarten to second grade and ages of 4-7, almost 8 generally.
The type of learning we have in the Farm School is different than the kind you would find at a regular public school because here, everyone is a teacher. Another difference is that we are not based by age but by skill. For example, a third grader can have the same lesson as a fifth or sixth grader.
There are no grades on papers and no grades by age. You’re taught by learning abilities and how much you know. You either get a good job, wow, or smiley face on turned-in assignments. You also get a second chance on your work. Every Friday you bring home all the written work that is correct.
We only have every week a math timed test and a spelling test with another classmate, where the other classmate reads the words without spelling them, and we record what category that word goes in. The only big test that we have in the year is in March. It is called Terra Nova testing. This, in other schools, would be called a standardized test. We also have, at the beginning and the end of every school year, a math and a spelling assessment.
We have these rules called no mental and physical violence. Mental violence means calling somebody a name or giving them an internal scar that you can’t see. Physical violence means if you kick, hit, punch, scratch or give them a mark that you can see.
Friendship is a very important thing at Farm School. At Farm School everyone has at least one friend even if you just came here. At the Farm School, you don’t get judged by your figure or if you wear glasses or weird clothes. In other schools you may get judged.
Over the next months the Big Kids will explain more about Farm School and why it is important to them. Be watching over the next months to find out some of the terminology of Farm School: brainrobbing, Frenzy, Senior Projects, and Campout.