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What is Thomas Jefferson-leadership Education

by Mary Ann on February 10, 2011

On March 18-19 in Salt Lake City the Thomas Jefferson Education Forum is being held. This is an amazing two days on all aspects of home education with a bent towards Thomas Jefferson-leadership education (TJEd). This will be an amazing opportunity to learn how to inspire and motivate children.

One of the classes I am most happy to see is Getting Off the Conveyor Belt: An Introduction to Leadership Education. I think this is going to be a fabulous class because so many parents are excited about the possibilities of leadership education but are also at a loss as to what it actually is. If you find yourself in that place then this is definitely the class for you.

I was reading a wonderful article by Oliver DeMille recently and he addressed a misconception that many parents have about Thomas Jefferson- leadership education(TJEd). It is information that is worth sharing.

Frequently the question is raised as to why leadership education (TJEd) promotes lax education for children and rigor for youth. Dr. DeMille’s response is that this question is based on a false assumption. “… TJEd does not teach lenient academics for children. Let me repeat that: TJEd idealizes a higher standard of education among youth, yes; but it does not urge “lax standards” for children.” (TJEd blog)

Does that surprise some of you? I am sure that it does. I talk with parents every day and frequently that is what they believe. Worse, because they believe this is true about leadership education, they worry about how their children will fare later on.

So if leadership education (TJEd) doesn’t promote laxness for children and rigor for youth what does it promote? What is the Thomas Jefferson Educational philosophy?

One of the great keys of an excellent education is to ‘inspire not require’. As Dr. DeMille states, “All too often in our modern minds we tend to register this phrase more as, “Ignore, Not Require.” TJEd does not advocate ignoring our children or their academics. In fact it actually advocates just the opposite.”

Ignoring children is the easier road. Inspiring children takes what I have been teaching for some time – it takes being present, paying attention, listening, planning ahead, implementation, and consistency. It is not the easy choice when educating our children.

Thomas Jefferson-leadership education is about inspiring children, helping them love learning, making the educational experience exciting and enticing. It is a challenging proposition to deliver meaningful educational experiences to our children. Leadership education allows a student to experience many educational opportunities but more deeply and richly than in the require model.

“In short, TJEd does not promote lax education for children and then rigor for young adults. It does the latter—rigorous study for those 12 and above—and it also promotes a well-delivered and principle-based educational experience targeted to each individual child younger than 12.

“TJEd emphasizes an educationally rich environment complete with a caring adult who relies on setting the example, engaging each child individually, and not requiring every child to learn identically or fit into a pre-established system.” Oliver DeMille

The leadership model emphasizes that children who are forced academically while very young often learn to dislike or even hate learning.

However, while the leadership education model suggests that we shouldn’t push young children too much academically, it does promote showing children by example how exciting and valuable leaning can be; finding out what interests a child and how to help them excel; and to invite children to engage in new topics without manipulation or force.

“Leadership education promotes individualized, personalized mentored education for each child 12 and under (and above), an education designed for the specific child under the direction of a dedicated and caring mentor, an education that is reviewed and improved upon each week. Such education could hardly be less “lax.” It is dedicated to inspiring each student, rather than forcing her; but this makes it more, not less, challenging and effective.” Oliver DeMille

If you are interested in learning, deeply, more about the Thomas Jefferson Educational philosophy and how to use it well in your home, then I encourage you to attend the Thomas Jefferson Education Forum in March and sign up for the class Getting Off the Conveyor Belt: An Introduction to Leadership Education. This will help you understand some of the best practices in education.

For more information take a look at the article A Thomas Jefferson Education/Leadership Education.

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Creative winter lesson plans and ideas for all children

by Mary Ann on February 8, 2011

Stranger in the Woods

Sometimes I read something that another mom has done that is just so creative I have to share it with all of you.

I was browsing home school blogs and I found one called Eclectic Musings. It was filled with wonderful pictures of family and descriptions of fun filled “school” days. One idea really sang to my heart. This mom has storybook themed days. She does it on a regular basis. She is a mom who is invested in making learning fun. She gave me permission to share some ideas that can be used for a winter lesson plan. These are very creative ideas that can add some fun to winter .

They began this particular day by reading a beautiful book titled Stranger in the Woods. It’s a pictorial about curious animals who encounter a stranger in their woods, a snowman.

Darling felt snowman

They then made a snowman of felt and pipe cleaners. These would be great materials to put in the Closet, in a tub, for a winter craft, along with the book; a fun surprise for your children to find.

When your learning time is over have a fun lunch. They made a Stranger in the Woods themed meal. She had a Havarti snowman with pretzel arms, raisin eyes, a carrot nose and a cherry tomato hat. They had some snowflake toast and lined the forest floor with carrot twigs. The curious deer is made of gingerbread.

A snowman themed lunch

Now to follow up this fun day you might want to add some of these items to your Closet. There are plenty of winter craft ideas and other learning activities:

A book on snow flakes or winter – try The Secret Life of a Snowflake or When Winter Comes

Directions for making paper snowflakes

If you have a powerful blender make some snow cones

A book about deer

A book about mountains with beautiful pictures

Find out how water can be a liquid, a gas and a solid and what the particles of each look like

Make some frozen water ornaments from items in your yard

Look at spectacular snow crystals online

What is the difference between snow and hail – get a printable free

Do some winter related projects as a family

Here’s an entire winter unit study. Love the 1951 version of Suzy Snowflake. I sang that as a kid!

Go outside and build a snow man

Have a wonderful time in the snow. Hurry, it will be gone soon!

Want to be better at thinking and planning? Then start with Common Issues in Planning Ahead Weekly for Home Schooling [screaming child]. This is an introductory article to a four part series on planning.

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How to teach math to kids, the fun way

by Mary Ann on February 8, 2011

Can you learn math by knitting?

Can you teach math with knitting?

I have people ask me all the time “how do I teach math to my kids” or “how can I get my kids interested in math.” Well here is an idea for you. Find something they are interested in that uses math. What a simple and wonderful concept; find something they are interested in that uses math! Teaching math to children has a lot to do with inspiration.

One day I saw an except from a book called At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. You are going to LOVE this!

“I failed 10th grade math four times. I hate [math] so much that the very thought of a return to it in any form is enough to make me want to run away to Belize, screaming all the way. It is a deeply bitter truth that knitting has math in it. Division to place increases, addition to enlarge, subtraction to shrink, even some multiplication to work out how many times a Fair Isle motif will fit across a row. If you want to be a knitter, there is going to be some math. It is incredible to me that the very same computations that made me want to claw my eyes out in math class are completely worthwhile in knitting. Why couldn’t they have used knitting to teach math in 10th grade?”

Math is everywhere. You can find math in everyday life, games, puzzles, and projects. You find math in life skills. The math found in workbooks is supplementary to all the stuff in the world. If workbooks are the only place a child is being exposed to math, then it’s no wonder that they don’t care for math, or that they think it’s hard – it’s doesn’t mean anything to them. They don’t have the opportunity to learn that math can be fun and that it has meaning in their lives!

So pay attention. What are your children interested in that uses math. Find math in the real world – especially concrete math. Use math, and everything else for that matter, to help your children engage with the world we live in, and understand it better. Help your children love learning math by using what they love to teach it. They will find that math can be fun.

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It takes time to become an expert at anything

by Mary Ann on February 4, 2011

Children love cake decorating

I started teaching myself cake decorating when I was 14 years old. I started because I believed I could do it. I was excited about the possibility of being able to make a beautiful cake so I was able to motivate myself to study and practice. I did really well too, but as I went along I began to hit roadblocks.

About 10 years later I remember one day standing by a large wedding cake and crying. I was trying to do a certain kind of flower drape. It looked easy enough in the magazine but it just wasn’t working. I was feeling desperate.

A woman I didn’t know well, who was a professional cake decorator, just happened to stop by, to drop something off. She asked about the tears and then showed me what to do. I just needed a few tips and lot more practice.

Now 47 years later I am on the simple side of that complexity. Cake decorating is easy for me. I can figure out just about anything .

Amber's cake

Right now I am working on understanding the technology needed to run an online business and to get my message out to more people. I love what I teach and I know from the responses that I get that it really makes a difference for families. So I want to do a better job of spreading the word.

I sat in on a class yesterday that was just great. There was much good information and I was so excited. I understood all the concepts and thought to myself, “This is just what I need and want; how fantastic.” When I left class I thought about all I had learned. As I drove along I felt the overwhelm begin to settle in.

I mean, I can intellectually understand what was taught. I am sure that it is right for me, just what I need. I realize that if I implement even a portion of what I heard it will really make a difference in my ability to spread my message. It is the doing that has me stumped.

How do I actually lay it out for my business? What are the steps I need to take? There seemed to be so many roadblocks that it was hard to see how I could make it work for my personal situation. By the time I arrived at my daughters I was a mess!

I shared my enthusiasm and fears. She commented that it will be really nice when I am on the simple side of this complexity. I got what she was saying! I have experienced this shift.

It takes time to become an expert at anything

You parents who are learning about and working to implement leadership education can find yourself in the same boat. I have gotten emails from parents who have been at it 10 years and still find that they aren’t doing it all correctly or well, in their opinion. They feel discouraged and sometimes they feel like quitting.

I want to encourage you to not quit. It takes time to become an expert at anything. In the meantime some of our efforts are going to be stellar and some will be failures and many will be mediocre. That is the process to becoming really good at anything.

I want you to learn to motivate yourself by believing that you can get better and better at leadership education. It may take all your parenting years to become an expert but that is OK. As I learned to do cake decorating I got better and better. It took 40 years to become an expert and the fact is, there are still things that I could learn.

One of these days you will find yourself on the simple side of the complexity of leadership education and then you will be helping other parents stay on that path when they feel discouraged and they feel like quitting. It will be a special pay back day for you to help someone else with something that at one time seemed so daunting. You will find yourself on the simple side of the complexity of leadership education.

Don't become overwhelmed - study and hang in there!

Rachell DeMille recieved a letter from a parent which said, “I read a TJ Education and was impressed but overwhelmed…and am still there. Where to start…?”

Her response was excellent. Rachel is an expert on leadership education and this wonderful article will move you along your path to becoming one too.

Want to just plain have some fun on your leadership education journey? Try out some Solar system project ideas.

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