Pre-college Schools in Thaumaturgaea

This article goes over how pre-college/pre-university schooling works in the Thaumaturgaea Story. In essence, magic is not taught at the expense of non-magical knowledge, but instead in addition to it. Everyone still needs to learn basic math, reading, and writing skills, among other things!

Elementary School
In this setting, elementary schools typically cover 1st through 6th grade. This may vary in certain regions, but this is at least the most common standard.

There is no dedicated class for physical education. Instead, usually students will have a morning exercise session before class, and then an afternoon exercise session before students leave. In some schools, there is an extra sort of "exercise" recess in the middle of the day, either combined with lunchtime or taking place just before it. If it is combined, and focused on exercise instead of just a general recess, students will have the choice to either exercise before or after eating.

In most schools, they have the classes scheduled on a rotation. That is, certain classes are done on certain days, alternating between two sets of daily schedules. For example, a school could have Math, Literature, and Computer Skills on one day, and then Science, Language, and History on the next. Usually art subjects, exercises, and recess are every day.

If a student does well enough on the basic level classes, they may have the option to take later grade subjects earlier. For example, doing very well in art classes may give some students the option to take Music/Painting/etc. as early as the 4th grade.

For the following subsections, each year is listed with what subjects are taught during that year. Multiple subjects for a particular year means that students have an option for which one they can take.

Math
1st through 3rd grade: Arithmetic

4th grade: Pre-Algebra

5th grade: Algebra

6th grade: Geometry

Science
1st through 4th grade: Basics of Science

5th grade: Biology

6th grade: Chemistry/Geology/Astronomy/Zoology

Literature
1st through 4th grade: Reading

5th and 6th grade: Creative Writing (includes more reading analysis and interpretation than regular Reading classes)

Language
Note that Writing is typically in the native or dominant language of wherever the school is located. Later classes for learning other languages will depend on what other languages are common in the area.

1st through 3rd grade: Writing (includes learning about grammar)

4th through 6th grade: English/Spanish/French/German/Japanese/Chinese/Swahili/Arabic/Hindi/Portuguese

Arts
1st through 5th grade: General Arts

6th grade: Music/Painting/Digital Media/Theater/Sculpture/Cooking/Photography

Computer Skills
1st through 4th grade: Basics of Computers (including Internet safety)

5th and 6th grade: Programming Fundamentals (with C)

History
1st through 5th grade: Basics of History

6th grade: Economics/Government (Government is covered as a summary during 5th grade history)

Magic School
Actual magic school covers 7th through 12th grade. It is intended for people who want to seriously improve their magic skills and use them in everyday life, unlike other people who are content with doing basic natural magic that everyone has (very minor levitation, shields, etc). The latter would just go to a regular non-magical high school.

In some cases, a magic school is specialized on a particular magical subject. These types of magic schools act like a special charter or private school, with their own fees, uniforms, and certain expectations on grades and conduct. Most people cannot afford to go to such specialized magic schools, though thankfully there are plenty of public general magic schools as well.

Going to a magic school is not a requirement for entry into a magical college, similar to how being a part of the Magic Scouts is not a requirement for magic high school. However, going to a magic school and getting good grades can give students an edge over other college applicants.

Overall Magical Subjects in Magic School
The following list details the typical lists of magic subjects in most magic schools. For specialized magic charter/private schools, they may only focus on a handful of these subjects. In some cases it may even be only one or two of these.


 * Herbology: Making potions and using plants in various magic.
 * Potions: Making potions, effective use of ingredients, combining knowledge from herbology with other non-plant ingredients, etc.
 * Divination: Astrology, numerology, tarot cards, etc.
 * Elemental: Fire, water, earth, air, electricity, metal, etc.
 * Charms and Blessings: Positive spells. Charms are short-term, and blessings are long-term and usually require recharging on occasion, such as daily incantations. Also learning how to cast and dispel both.
 * Hexes and Curses: Negative spells. Hexes are short-term, and Curses are long-term. Also learning how to cast and dispel both.
 * Familiars: Communing with animals, manifesting a familiar, etc.
 * Healing: Medical knowledge, using magic for physical wounds, etc.
 * Alchemy: Transformation of substances, objects, and energy with magic.
 * Witchcraft Tools: Learning about how to use actual object to channel and enhance magic. This includes things like wands, staves, brooms, poppets, effigies, candles, etc.
 * Talismans and Amulets: Creating Magifacts, boosting objects with magic, etc.
 * Gemstones and Crystals: Learning how to use them to store magic, using them for spells, and so on.
 * Shamanism: Using spirits, animals, and locations in magic.
 * Illusions and Glamour: Casting illusions and seeing through them, making glamour spells for non-human-like beings, etc.
 * Spirit Work, Necromancy, and Exorcism: Handling ghosts and the undead, helping them move on, raising and banishing the dead, etc.

There are also various specialized magic courses, whose availability depends on the school. Examples include magic for music, cooking, technology, summoning, and so on. These are typically more common in charter/private magic schools, or otherwise only available as electives during the later grades.

Typical Magic School Grade Schedules
Core magic classes per year (there are 7 slots of regular classes per grade, in addition to Study Hall):


 * 7th = Charms and Blessings, Hexes and Curses, Herbology, Elemental, Fundamentals of Magic, and 2 electives
 * 8th = Charms and Blessings, Hexes and Curses, Herbology, Elemental, Intermediate General Magic, and 2 electives
 * 9th = Charms and Blessings, Hexes and Curses, Potions, Advanced General Magic, and 3 electives
 * 10th = Healing, Gemstones and Crystals, Illusions and Glamour, Divination, and 3 electives
 * 11th = Healing, Talismans and Amulets, Illusions and Glamour, Divination, and 3 electives
 * 12th = Alchemy, Exorcism and Necromancy, Shamanism, and 4 electives

Similar to elementary school, they alternate between subjects from day to day. Four on one day, four on the other, with Study Hall being on one of those days (see next subsection).

Common elective classes for all grades include the subjects listed in the previous section that are not already listed as a core class here. Students can choose to also take advanced versions of the core courses, provided they finished the 'beginner' level version of it first. Also, like with regular school, students can skip levels of magic class if they are performing well enough, and pass advanced subject tests with certain scores. Most students will only be able to pass these tests if they are reading and understanding advanced material from the next level of classes.

Summoning can only be taken as a 12th year elective. Even then, any student wishing to study this subject much undergo a lot of training and studying. Usually summoning is learned after graduation in covens, guilds, or college, hence the stricter limits for learning it in magic school before graduation.

Study Hall
In addition to magical classes, there are also classes for continuation of basic subjects from elementary school. These are all covered during the Study Hall section of the magic school days.

The Study Hall class is in all of the grades, and is used for going over math, reading, etc. skills. This is to ensure that students will still have average high school level basics skills at the very least. They do not go over anything very advanced, like calculus, physics, English literature, etc., mainly just basic knowledge skills and topics. They alternate between subjects, usually from Literature, Language, and History on one day, then Math, Science, and Computers on the next day.

Post Graduation
After magic school is finished and a student has graduated, they can choose to enter the magical equivalent of college in this setting. They also have the option of going to a coven or guild, either as a continuation to improve specific skills after completing college, or in place of college if they display high enough skill in high school already.

Covens are for specific magic subjects, such as the core topics above or other specialized topics. Guilds are for teaching about how to use magic related to a specific career (cooking, engineering, accounting, biology, plumbing, carpentry, etc). In essence, guilds in this setting are kind of like trade schools with magic added in. Meanwhile, covens are sort of like society/research groups dedicated to a specific magic subject instead of being tied to a particular career.

Some students may also choose to enter a regular college or university as well. There are many reasons a person may do this, and in general modern societies in Thaumaturgaea do not shame people for making such a choice. Other options besides college/university are the same as in the real world, such as going to a trade school or getting a job.

For further information on how magic college works in this setting, please see the Colleges and Universities in Thaumaturgaea page.