basic principles of mathematics, written language, science, history, and art. This seemingly small and simple foundation is the cornerstone for the significantly larger sphere of the knowledge the child will possess in his/her adolescent and adult life. Ultimately the purpose of elementary school is to prepare the child for middle school. No good building can stand without a good foundation, and elementary school is that foundation. The child graduates elementary school and enters the next stage of the educational ladder: middle school. Middle school arose and grew in popularity from the second half of the 20th century to the present day. Prior to this, elementary school would continue all the way up until high school, but the growing human population, the further understanding of child and adolescent psychology, and a more refined curriculum required the creation of the middle school. The child enters middle school as an old child and leaves it as a young adolescent. Educationally there is little difference in the structure of the learning except for a few changes. This child still learns and acquires tools of thought, social skills, and knowledge but in a more advanced form. The tools of thought become more refined and precise, quicker to solve problems and able to tackle greater ones. The child builds on the foundation of knowledge that he/she entered middle school with, and reaches levels of understanding that would have been utterly incomprehensible to him/her a few years earlier. In addition to theoretical knowledge, the individual acquires practical knowledge, that being the bettering of the physical body, the refinement of the vessel, and skills on how to survive out in the jungle whether it be the concrete jungle or natural one. This is done through physical education, where the individual participates in a large variety of sports, learns workout strategies, and realizes the importance of a vessel equipped to handle the physical obstacles that are present in the world. Social etiquette continues to grow, now with the introduction of new situations that call for greater understanding. There is a new element that enters this field though, that of the opposite sex due to the emerging sexual drive, which will be covered a bit later. It is important to note that some individuals, more often females than males, experience this element in late elementary school for the reason that females experience puberty earlier than males; however, I will be focusing on the majority rather than the minority. In elementary school the child experiences fewer problems and desires than in middle school. The life of a child in elementary school is much simpler compared to that of the middle schooler. The child is still in a state of general awe in regards to the world, thus resulting in a smaller need for external joy because internal joy is so easily produced. By external joy I mean joy derived from material objects. By internal joy I mean joy derived from one’s perceptions. In regards to schoolwork, the child is hopefully urged on by the parent and the teacher to do it,
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