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hello everyone, i am juanjuantu.

recently, musk made headlines again for supporting trump, but i saw a more interesting piece of news:musk opened a new stem school called ad astra, it is said that only 50 children aged 3-9 will be enrolled.

some foreign media joked that "given the growing size of musk's offspring, the competition for children left behind is expected to be very fierce."

■this school is located in texas and will use the montessori teaching method. its name means "towards the stars" in latin. the school's mission is to "cultivate curiosity, creativity and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders."

in fact, there have been reports in recent years that musk is planning to start a school.

in 2014, musk was dissatisfied with traditional education and transferred his five sons out of an elite private school and opened a new school in los angeles. after the school closed in 2010, the original team created an online junior high school.Astra Nova, and also the most popular game coursesSynthesisit has become an independent online school.

strictly speaking, these two schools were born from spacex and have no direct relationship with musk, but they have always attracted much attention and are always called "musk's schools."

among them, synthesis opened a summer camp this summer that allows people to have an in-depth course experience. the course, which was previously only available to children of spacex employees, was opened to children all over the world. it was extremely popular, and many children around me who attended international schools participated.

it is very curious thatthe reviews of this summer camp are very polarizedsome people say that it is very inspiring and they even start to consider signing up for synthesis courses, while others think that the children have not learned anything and have wasted a lot of time.

i interviewed three families and found out a lot of inside information that can't be found on the internet. i also discovered some truths that are worth calm thinking about beyond the hype.

■synthesis also has regular classes, and there is a special schedule for chinese children, mainly playing games and discussions. the official recommendation is to take at least 3 classes a week.

play games and embrace the chaos

what may surprise chinese parents the most is that it completely subverts the traditional course format.there are no textbooks or pre-class preparations. we just play games and discuss with our team every day.(the live broadcast room is open every day, and you can go to class according to your own schedule. most people attend classes for about 2 hours a day).

but as for how to play, how to win, and how to form teams, none of these are introduced in advance. the children have to figure it out on their own after entering the classroom.

just like jason, who will be entering the third grade this year, said: "during the chaos period, the teacher didn't explain anything and just waited patiently for us to figure out the rules of the game. this is very different from the usual 'teaching-oriented' style in school."

■the rules of the game need to be figured out by your friends together

i read a lot of information about synthesis and found that this setting is not because the instructors here are lazy. on the contrary, in this school where the acceptance rate of instructors is less than 4%, all courses have one goal:

"give children the opportunity to clarify their thoughts in ambiguity, embrace chaos and complexity, and come together to develop solutions without adult guidance." as the purpose of synthesis school when it was founded:

「simulate the complex real world and embrace chaos」。

adults are not here to "teach" children. they hide behind the screen, provide technical support, and offer some indirect inspiration when children need it.

just like what allen, who will be a freshman in the uk this year, shared:

“when i first entered the game, time was very tight, but i didn’t know how to play. the coach reminded me that i could use my leadership to lead my teammates to achieve the goal.

another time, i felt that this game was not fun, and after i told the coach, she did not give me a direct answer, but said, "i am a teacher, and my husband is a firefighter. if he said he didn't want to put out a fire when someone's house was on fire, what do you think would happen? ' i immediately understood."

■one of synthesis's games

so, what games do kids play at synthesis?

according to the information on the official website, there are four main games. teams will be reorganized in each class and they will play together. only by cooperating and helping each other can the goals be achieved to the maximum extent:

proxima: defending the largest interstellar colony, learningcoordinate actions, delegate tasks and execute rapid strategies。

constellation: design the most powerful constellation network, learndealing with complexity, how to tease out logic and solutions amidst the chaos.

hyperball: get the highest score in a super-fast futuristic sport where the focus isteam communication and collaboration。

polis: create an ancient greek city-state, gather resources, learnallocating limited resources under pressure, coordinating priority options, which is also the main game played in this summer camp.

after playing the game, the children will review and discuss it together. according to eyewitness experience, at this time, the more extroverted and talkative children tend to take the lead, while some asian children are relatively quiet.

■game of building a greek city-state

on the surface, it seems to be no different from many flash games on the web.

but according to the founder of synthesis, these games are designed to allow students tofeel the weight of powerful concepts like incentives, risk, scarcity, and trade-offs」。

for example, in the game "hollywood" that was once launched on synthesis, students' task is to launch their own science fiction movie by purchasing scripts, assembling casts and setting marketing budgets; and in "art for all", children have to create an art museum and decide which artworks to bid on and at what price.

sometimes, even during the game, the rules are changed without telling the children in advance, in order to fully simulate the real, changing and risky world, throwing the children into complex situations and preparing them to adapt.

just like musk once expressed:

"it's better to get an a+ in a subject.children of the future need to be able to adapt to change, accept complexity, and face the risk of failure.」。

■the world economic forum predicted in 2016 that 65% of children entering primary school today will eventually work in new types of jobs that do not yet exist. "accepting ever-changing complexity" is one of the most in-demand skills.

break away from traditional education and change your mindset

for east asian children, synthesis courses are not like classes at all.

instead, it was an unprecedented and fresh experience to spend three weeks breaking out of the traditional educational atmosphere that emphasizes grades and academics, breaking out of the risk-free field defined by family and school, and entering the virtual world to solve difficult problems in the real world.

it even subverts everyone's cognition: "playing games is actually a form of education!"

for yiwei, a mother of a british private school,synshesis summer camp is a perfect complement to the current mainstream education system."

her child allen is about to enter a junior high school in the uk. he studied in singapore when he was a child and also attended an international school in beijing for a short period of time.

for example, allen attended an american international school in singapore, where the teacher's goal was to ensure that every student was "successful." british private schools, on the other hand, focus more on academic foundation and academic performance.

“from my experience, no matter which country’s education is,still stuck in the rut of traditional education: in addition to excellent academic performance, you should also be good at a certain sport or a certain musical instrument, and make admission to a good school a major goal of your education.

synthesis school aims to cultivate students' ability to solve complex and unknown problems in the real world. children should have teamwork and leadership skills, be good at communication, and make others and the environment better through their own efforts. this is very attractive.

if you can send your child to synthesis school to participate in some projects during the holidays,experience educational products developed from a real-world perspectivein this kind of atmosphere, it will be very beneficial to cultivate children's soft power."

■ musk has criticized the traditional education system around the world, "i think a lot of things people learn may not make sense at all, because they will never use them in the future, and children are confused about why they are there."

rebellion against traditional education is also the original intention of the establishment of musk's two schools, ad astra and synthesis.

like its curriculum, the two schools havethe two most important principles：

it does not follow an assembly line education model where everyone has to learn the same thing at the same time.

children may have different interests such as music, art, language, mathematics, etc., so it is important to ensure that ad astra's education is in line with the children's talents and abilities rather than trying to produce mindless, compliant employees.

education needs to have a purpose.

to enable students to learn autonomously, it is important to teach them how to use tools to solve problems, not just how to use the tools.

let's say you're trying to teach how an engine works. the more traditional approach is to teach students how to use a screwdriver and a wrench. a better approach is to actually take apart the engine with a screwdriver.

“traditional schooling has been producing obedient and often mindless workers. the problem is that the challenges we will face in the future will be very different from those we have faced in the past. non-cognitive skills such as curiosity, creativity, effective collaboration, perseverance, and learning engagement are what will be more important for the future.

there are two types of schools: those that prepare children for the future, and those that allow adults to live comfortably in the past. which school do you prefer?」

■synthesis tutors will not appear during the game and will not give guidance, but will ask socratic questions when students need them, and guide children to find solutions step by step

innovative education may not be for everyone

the curriculum of the synthesis summer camp is very innovative and unconventional, and families who like it particularly like it, but we must admit thatmaybe not suitable for all children。

first, be mentally prepared to deal with the chaotic period.

as mentioned earlier, the core concept behind the synthesis course is to learn to embrace chaos, stay patient when things are unclear, sort out your thoughts, and calmly find solutions through trial and error with your peers.

you have to go through a period of chaos first., and force yourself to figure it out with your teammates in a short period of time. this process is very difficult for children who are only a few years old or in their teens.can be very uncomfortable, especially those children who are used to "teachers giving answers directly".

so some parents from abroad also said, "i don't know what they do in class, they're all chattering, i can't see what's the value of it."

therefore, if parents expect synthesis to have "teaching knowledge and thinking like spacex engineers", they may be disappointed, as learning here depends on the children's own progress.

second, get used to lots of discussions.

every game has complex goals, which require a lot of discussion and analysis by the team before they become clear.the child needs to have a basic understanding of english listening and speaking, and it is best not to be afraid to express your ideas.

speak your mind boldly, no matter whether it is right or not, and let others hear your voice.

if the spoken english is not up to standard yet, you can do as allen's mother suggested and join in and watch in the first year, adapt to the atmosphere of learning through games in advance, let the child become interested in this course, then use another year to improve listening and speaking skills, and then integrate into the class in the next year.

finally, the genes of synthesis come from musk, who boldly criticized traditional education around the world. it is one of the many innovative forms of education today.

for families who are already thinking about "what kind of education their children will need in the future",perhapsit is an opportunity to broaden your horizons and change your thinking.。

as the saying goes, "you won't go to the same hospital as you did 50 years ago, and the same goes for school."

it is always worthwhile to take the time to try a new educational approach in a form that your children like.