Curriculum
The nuts and bolts
Frankly, we do things differently than most education businesses. And we’re okay with that.
On the plus side, we’re free to do anything in order to provide the most intellectually vibrant classes possible.
On the minus side… it can be hard to understand how our science classes work!
This page is our clearest statement of the important, boring facts about our classes.
The nuts and bolts
You can binge our first topics, or jump into a current class
We recommend you start at the start! Each topic builds on everything that came before it… if you start in the middle, you’ll probably be confuddled. Want to catch up? You can binge our recordings as quickly as you’d like. (See our bingeable recordings, or see our current classes)
We create one new lesson each week
Our lessons are hyper-interactive, and begin with a hard riddle. Throughout lesson Brandon dangles metaphors, images, and stories as hints. By the end, the students uncover something that turns their understanding of the world upside down. (Learn more about our format)
We spend five weeks on each topic
Each topic focuses on one level of science — physics, chemistry, and so on. (Learn more about our six levels of science)
After each topic, there’s a gap week. In that week, students in the current topic who opt into the Philosophers Club get a bonus lesson.
We offer two formats of current classes: “webinars” and “seminars”
Webinars are cameras-off, and about 80 minutes long. Seminars are cameras-on, small-group, and about 90 minutes long. (Learn more about our webinars and seminars)
We help kids make their own textbooks
The one thing you need for class is a notebook (ideally, a dotted one). In each lesson, we fill eight-or-so pages in with questions, drawings, and ideas; by the end of the year, the whole notebook is filled. (Learn more about our dotted notebooks)
We give you optional projects for a whole week
The lesson is just the beginning! After each one we send out a “Deep Dive” booklet filled with a week’s worth of videos to watch, questions to quiz, experiments to perform, books to read, and (much) more. (Learn more about our “Deep Dives”)
We’re ridiculously multi-age
Our class is designed for a wide span of ages, starting with age 8 and going to age 18. The recordings and live webinar is for all ages; the seminars differ by age… but it’s all the same basic curriculum. (See how we even include high schoolers)
You can watch the recordings whenever you’d like
Most of our families watch our recorded lessons. Those in the current class subscribe get new recordings as soon as they’re available; those in the bingeable topics can watch them whenever they’d like.
We offer live lessons of the current class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
Our live lessons are typically booked up, but:
Our live webinars meet on Wednesday afternoons.
Our live seminars meet on Mondays & Tuesdays.