It’s difficult for multi-billionaires to find good grade schools for their children, so Elon Musk designed and founded his own for his sons and some kids of SpaceX employees. From Kwame Opam at Verge:
Musk hired one of the teachers from the boys’ school to help found Ad Astra, and the school now teaches 14 elementary-school-aged kids from mostly SpaceX employees’ families. The CEO wanted his school to teach according to students’ individual aptitudes, so he did away with the grade structure entirely. Most importantly, he says learning should be about problem solving.
“It’s important to teach problem solving, or teach to the problem and not the tools,” Musk said. “Let’s say you’re trying to teach people about how engines work. A more traditional approach would be saying, ‘We’re going to teach all about screwdrivers and wrenches.’ This is a very difficult way to do it. A much better way would be, like, ‘Here’s the engine. Now let’s take it apart. How are we gonna take it apart? Oh you need a screwdriver!'”•
