A Thomas Jefferson Education

[Lucy in Australia]

Is anyone doing this, or incorporating parts of it into their homeschooling?

I recently found some old articles I'd saved on this topic, and it looks tempting, but I'd love to hear about the practical details from someone who is actually doing it, especially with older children.

[TwinMominTX]

by Dr. Van DeMille. I think, for me, at this stage (lower grammar) we are incorporating much of what is suggested. For now, we read lots of classics as read-alouds and work now with a goal in mind for later years.

 

I have been particularly struck by his assertion that a teacher doesn't teach, but rather inspires a student to learn. It just makes sense to me.

[Sara R]

This critique is from an LDS perspective:

 

http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=4580

[Carol in Cal.]

There was some good there, but I didn't find it particularly convincing. The one takeaway that I have used is the suggestion that kids need to see you model/demonstrate the work that they are assigned. Since at the time I read this DD was having trouble with her writing and very resistant to rewriting, I started to occasionally do one of the writing assignments that I gave her. That gave us a chance to compare approaches/responses to the same type of work, and as she saw me adjust my writing in response to some of her input, she became more willing to adjust hers as well.

 

Honestly, though, I am glad that I didn't buy this book. There are a lot better, meatier ones on the market.

[Lucy in Australia]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad I saved my money and didn't buy the book. I must admit, after browsing a few TJED blogs, I did come away with an "MLM" taste but thought I might have misunderstood. I also was never able to work out how on earth you could thoroughly educate a child who is told to study whatever he likes.

 

Thanks, again everyone, especially Sara & Julie.

[proudmamma]

After reading the review by Julie in Austin, I am so angry at myself for all the money I spent on TJE materials!!! I read all his stuff and listened to his CDs, tried to implement this in my home but failed miserably (no wonder) ...arghh! Something that has me perplexed though is how come Mr. Pudewa from IEW sells his materials and is such an advocate of this way of teaching? I have sat in some of his (Mr. Pudewa's) seminars where he talks about TJE being the best...yada, yada. Of course, at the time, I thought it sounded wonderful! Hmm...I love IEW...but this concerns me somewhat. What do you all think ? Has he had the wool pulled over his eyes too?

[lighthouseacademy]

I have spoken personally to DeMille and I asked him what the difference between his method and unschooling was. He said that it was essentially the same thing, especially in the early years. I attended several lectures he gave at a homeschooling conference a few years ago, and I came away feeling like he was a great salesman. At the time, I think his oldest was 12 or 13... not exactly what I would think of as an expert on getting a child through school. He has some great ideas- inspire your kids, don't use textbooks, etc. I disagree with his assertion that we should just educate ourselves and the children will follow. We do need to continue to educate ourselves, but we also need to teach our children.

[Peela]

I read the book, Lucy (it's in the homeschool library) and at the time I was inspired, but I was left with the sense that this was a rather ungrounded and idealistic method with dubious origins that may have nothing at all to do with Jefferson. It sounds good, but you can easily pick up the basic ideas from the linked review above, and that's about it unless you want to spend lots of money.

What I got from it was that it is important to set an example to the kids that I too am learning. And I do- I read, I play music, I have my own interests and life. Other than that I felt I needed to inspire my kids to kind of educate themselves- like unschooling, really- , and the truth is, i am not going to go there. I feel i would waste a year or so waiting for them to get all inspired, then I would just go back to what I was doing, making them do their schoolwork! Except that I would have lost a year !

After reading several articles about TJE and reading the book, I feel there is something a bit not clean about the whole approach although I don't really know what it is.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I have read it and was very inspired. My kids are very young, but when a little older yes, I hope to try some of the ideas and implement some Statesmen training into our schedule.