Saturday, August 2, 2008

What TJEd has done for us...

I've known about the Thomas Jefferson Education model for several years now. From day one until today my own personal understanding of its principles has transformed.

My oldest was probably only 5 or 6 when I first started and so they were all very much in core phase still. Which meant I was able to study. It was from that point on that I began to get it and a whole world was opened up to me! I read Little Britches, Lonesome Gods, The Sacketts, Laddie, The Merchant of Venice, and Jane Eyre to name a few. Wow! I began to want to read and learn about everything I could. Since then I haven't stopped reading. Of course every time I read something I realize 10 more books I need to read because my minds been opened that much more! My life was transformed from that moment on.

The more I read the more I began to understand the value of the TJEd principles. I began to understand the value of a good education, what it meant and how it looked. Alex also began that process for himself. From there our family culture became transformed. Learning was an every waking day experience. We had limitless conversations with our children talking about everything and anything from government principles to personal leadership.

I've come to realize that the TJEd principles are not hard to apply. It's about how you live your life and who you are. If you emanate principals of self government, self control and love of learning it all begins to just take on a life of its own.

Today our home has a mom and dad that are just excited to learn about the ancient Roman emperors as the kids. A home where learning is apart of who we are. Where we have talks about civil disobedience and British Imperialism.

Simply put TJEd is a culture and a lifestyle and not a curriculum.

1 comment:

Shiloah Baker said...

It was great to read your opinion of TJED! Right on! I agree and it has changed mine and my family's lives for the better!