gameplay notes on childhood education

I felt bad after I did these advisory sessions for my current group of high school seniors because I felt like among all of my teenagers, Reid would have probably benefited the most from a senior advisory session. But I wasn’t doing them back then. Most of my other kids had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do, or at least, in which direction they wanted to start. But Reid didn’t know. He still doesn’t, really. He had no idea how he might apply his skills to the real world, or what he might do with himself besides becoming a bum or a criminal “just kidding, but not kidding.” He doesn’t have much confidence in himself.

Why is that? I don’t know. It’s not because of his parents, his parents are awesome. Or maybe it’s because they’re so blindly accepting of him and the rest of the world isn’t? He doesn’t fit the template of a “good kid” but he isn’t a bad kid, either. So he doesn’t understand where he fits into the grand scheme of things. He has also struggled to trust that Susie really loves him back or that she couldn’t find someone better, though he is gaining a little more confidence in that area, at least. I’m sure the friction with her mother doesn’t help, either.

So flashback to last year, if he would have had a senior advisory session, it would have said this. He’s currently ignoring the advice, of course. Or well, it probably looks like he's ignoring the advice, but I think it's all there, sitting in his subconscious for now.



Reid Morton, grade 12

skill points: 23.1
Cumulative GPA: 79.5


Guidance suggestions: High School graduation is secured. University minimum skills testing is also secured, though Reid does not show any interest in attending. Reid is unlikely to enjoy the confines and hierarchy of the corporate world, and so is recommended to follow his passions in his work so that lack of motivation will not deter him. He might enjoy self-starting and self-employed careers like entertainment, writing, Internet business, or other entrepreneurial opportunities. A short course in business school could be beneficial as well.


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gameplay notes on schools curriculum:

I did a gameplay post for my university sessions, so I thought I would throw one up for my school-aged children and teens, too. It isn't very different from the way I play my university, although there is the in-game school grade and homework that gets factored in.

There are 3 quarters per school year, ending in November, February, and May. (The 4th “quarter” being summer school, which is usually not required for most students unless they’re behind.) [This mod makes no school in summer possible.] Their grade is made up of two parts: one, skills testing, which is the combined tally of all skill points they have, including partials; and two, an academic effort and citizenship grade, which is the in game grade they get from doing their homework and going to class. (The in game grade is reset to a B- at the beginning of each school year, from which point it will either rise or fall.)

These are not much unlike the way I do my university curriculums, though I’m a little lazier about which skill is studied in which order, as long as they reach certain skill point benchmarks by the end of each quarter. I have a spreadsheet, of course, where I track 3 quarters each school year for each student. Then their cumulative GPA is an average of all of those grades.

skill points for children:
K: 2 // 3 // 4
1: 5 // 6 // 7
2: 8 // 10 // 12
3: 14 // 16 // 18
4: 20 // 22 // 24
5: 26 // 28 // 30
6: 32 // 34 // 36

Child skill points are earned pretty quickly, IMO, so children need more skill points than teenagers do. Also, when a child completes a child skill, they can begin learning teen skills. Children who do this get a head start on their teen skilling, and in 7 years of childhood, at my slow pace, it is expected for most children to complete their child skills and begin earning adult points in at least 1-2 areas.

skill points for teens:
7:  2 // 4 // 6
8:  7 // 8 // 10
9:  12 // 13 // 14
10: 16 // 17 // 18
11:  20 // 21 // 22
12:  24 // 25 // 26

Also consider, a teenager doesn’t need 100% to graduate high school, but 100% would get them an A+. They need at least a 68% average, which is a D+ and about 18 combined skill points.

Now, I mentioned that I was pretty lazy about what they study and in which order, but I do have in mind a certain spread of skill points that a graduating high school student should have. So to graduate, they also need to reach about 68% in each of these areas. This is to ensure that a graduating student doesn’t try to make up most of their combined score with 10 points in mischief and 10 more points in video games. Because I think Reid would have tried that if it were allowed. ;)

high school core curriculum:
logic 4
charisma 4
creativity 3 (art/music)
handiness 3
fitness 3
writing 3
cooking 2
programming 2
electives 2