Showing posts with label TJEd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TJEd. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Why?
Why in the world do I post things like scripture reading, exercising, service, attending the temple....? Because Leadership Education is 24/7. We do not run a school in this house. I don't even like that word! We are creating a culture. Within that culture there are many components. These include core discipline and behaviors. This list includes, but is not limited to; developing a relationship with God, serving mankind, and keeping physically fit. All of these things are the foundational base that makes a leader for future generations.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Another great day
What another wonderful day! I love spending each day with my children and teachin
g them things of eternity and things of this world. Today a highlight was a very in depth discussion of Jesus Christ and his role as our Savior and Redeemer.
The are really eating up our latest read-a-loud, of course they usually do.
We've made a lot of changes to our schedule over the last several months and these changes have all been good ones! Each day I think and ponder about how I can do better, how I can motivate and inspire and how I can instill greatness into their little minds.
Olivia has a goal this week of consciously getting 5 hours of scholar study each day. That has been going well for her. She is particularly drawn to studying the piano and reading American History.
Here's a run down of our time together today... (Sometimes we do a lot together and some days we pursue more individual activities. Today was an all morning couch read).
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 5
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: We read/discussed the third chapter in Gospel Principles-Jesus Christ.
Pledge/Pray/Song
Music: We sang My Savior Loves Me, The Valiant Song, Friends, The Old and New Testament Songs and the Books of the Book of Mormon song. We also practiced our rhythm poem that we love.
Christianity: We read half of the new children's Friend.
Math: We discussed the types of triangles and polygons. They are starting to get their vocabulary down more and more. We have been trying to focus on geometry specifically besides basic math skills at the moment.
Read-a-loud: We read 4 chapters of Alex Rider #1: Stormbreaker.
Social: Spend several hours this after noon playing with a couple other home school families. They played outside and they also played RISK.
Peterson's Vocabulary Word of the Day: -WINSOME -(adjective) Charming. With her pleasant voice and good manners, Serena is a winsome child.
Chores/Animal Care
Here are some things that I can remember. It is late and my brain is fogging over...
Caleb: Read his scriptures (in 1st Nephi), read to his public school teacher on the phone, coloring, and played Connect 4, I know he did more, but I absolutely can not remember much of anything with him right now for some reason.
Luke: Read his scriptures (in Mosiah), practiced the piano, and played ping pong. ditto above note
Jared: Read his scriptures (in 2nd Nephi), practiced the piano, push ups, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played ping pong and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures (reading in the New Testament-Gospels), wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, finished 55 Fathers: The Story of the US Constitution, wrote an article for the 4-H newsletter, wrote her compass, attended a scholar class with her mentor and discussed The Screwtape Letters some more, and read in Pride and Prejudice.
Deanna: Read my scriptures (in Mosiah/all over), wrote in my journal, read a co
nference talk, practiced the piano, reading in Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley, and went to the temple.
Alex: Read his scriptures (all over/BOM), reading in the Church Handbook, reading in Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, listening to The Proper Role of Government by Ezra T. Benson, listening to speeches by Ronald Reagan, listening to Alex Rider #2, attended his professional meeting, played ping pong, walked on the treadmill, and went to work.
g them things of eternity and things of this world. Today a highlight was a very in depth discussion of Jesus Christ and his role as our Savior and Redeemer.The are really eating up our latest read-a-loud, of course they usually do.
We've made a lot of changes to our schedule over the last several months and these changes have all been good ones! Each day I think and ponder about how I can do better, how I can motivate and inspire and how I can instill greatness into their little minds.
Olivia has a goal this week of consciously getting 5 hours of scholar study each day. That has been going well for her. She is particularly drawn to studying the piano and reading American History.
Here's a run down of our time together today... (Sometimes we do a lot together and some days we pursue more individual activities. Today was an all morning couch read).
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 5
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: We read/discussed the third chapter in Gospel Principles-Jesus Christ.
Pledge/Pray/Song
Music: We sang My Savior Loves Me, The Valiant Song, Friends, The Old and New Testament Songs and the Books of the Book of Mormon song. We also practiced our rhythm poem that we love.
Christianity: We read half of the new children's Friend.
Math: We discussed the types of triangles and polygons. They are starting to get their vocabulary down more and more. We have been trying to focus on geometry specifically besides basic math skills at the moment.
Read-a-loud: We read 4 chapters of Alex Rider #1: Stormbreaker.
Social: Spend several hours this after noon playing with a couple other home school families. They played outside and they also played RISK.
Peterson's Vocabulary Word of the Day: -WINSOME -(adjective) Charming. With her pleasant voice and good manners, Serena is a winsome child.
Chores/Animal Care
Here are some things that I can remember. It is late and my brain is fogging over...
Caleb: Read his scriptures (in 1st Nephi), read to his public school teacher on the phone, coloring, and played Connect 4, I know he did more, but I absolutely can not remember much of anything with him right now for some reason.
Luke: Read his scriptures (in Mosiah), practiced the piano, and played ping pong. ditto above note
Jared: Read his scriptures (in 2nd Nephi), practiced the piano, push ups, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played ping pong and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures (reading in the New Testament-Gospels), wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, finished 55 Fathers: The Story of the US Constitution, wrote an article for the 4-H newsletter, wrote her compass, attended a scholar class with her mentor and discussed The Screwtape Letters some more, and read in Pride and Prejudice.
Deanna: Read my scriptures (in Mosiah/all over), wrote in my journal, read a co
nference talk, practiced the piano, reading in Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley, and went to the temple.Alex: Read his scriptures (all over/BOM), reading in the Church Handbook, reading in Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, listening to The Proper Role of Government by Ezra T. Benson, listening to speeches by Ronald Reagan, listening to Alex Rider #2, attended his professional meeting, played ping pong, walked on the treadmill, and went to work.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Today Alex stayed home so we enjoyed playing with him.
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 4:12
Family Counsel: New changes (see below) and we reviewed our goals from last week and set individual goals for this week. The kids each pick their own. We are teaching them to adjust based on how well they did accomplishing them last week. Most only have 2 or 3 goals. For example: learn to skip count by 6, read 50 pages in my book, write a paper, read Othello, read 45 pages in the church handbook, etc.)
PE: While I was gone Alex and the kids watched ping pong videos on You Tube. They can up with all new strategies.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, watched two science videos, and played numerous games. Caleb decided that he was going to deep clean his room for some reason. I don't know what got into him, but he worked on his room for several hours. He made everything look great, rearranged dressers and he even hung up pictures. He also vacuumed and used attachments. All I said was make sure your pj's are picked up!
Today I wrote down instructions that I had for Caleb to do. I think he has a hard time orally hearing things or processing them I should say. (I'm terrible with my auditory. Our hearing is fine, just to clarify). He can't seem to remember or stay focused in any activity requiring more than one or two instructions. I wrote down his extra chores on a piece paper and used a clipboard. He was focused on got everything done with out needing to be reminded. I just need to work on speed. If he were a creature he would be a turtle or a snail. I do everything very quickly. I need to chill and not rush him.
Luke: Read his scriptures, played lots of random games with Caleb, practiced skip counting by 4's, drawing in his sketch book, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games (logic practice), practiced the piano, and had piano lessons.
We implemented Structure Time, Not Content for him. He set the timer for one hour and read in any of the books we have that he wanted. The Usborne books were coming in handy. He was really excited about this. He read numerous books about history. He was going to tell me about the things he learned and then something happened and we didn't get to it. Tomorrow!
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games, had a math lesson on decimals and percentages, he created his own blog, he wrote a blog post, drew and colored several animal pictures from an art book, played two games of Stratego, read Peter in the Starcatchers and the Shadow Thieves to me, played ping pong and listed to Brisingr. He also learned a new vocabulary word from his book: marooned.
Today we started some new things for Jared as well. I had a meeting with him in the morning and he choose from a list of many things what he wanted to do that day. Then he decided when he would do them (before piano lessons or after, before lunch, etc). He also decided for how long he would do them. He set his own goals. I encouraged him to choose things from several different areas to help him be balanced. He also got to choose a reward for himself if he accomplished his own goals. He picked 30 min of a book on tape. He had a much better day. He carried around a clip board and checked off everything. He felt more empowered and ownership. He needs structure, but I don't want to tell he always what to do. I can't do that when he's an adult. So I'm helping guide him to make good choice, have balance and manage his time. This is all about personal responsibility.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, worked on her scarf with her loom for a long time(3 feet long so far), played ping pong, practiced her vocal solo, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, started the Screwtape letters, played Rush Hour, Jr, played Stratego, and made breakfast. She wasn't real motivated to do a whole lot today.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, journal, read a lesson in Gospel Principles, practiced the piano, had piano less sons, spent a lot of time with Jared, played ping pong, started a book that I decided not to read, went to a song practice for a Relief Society meeting, and VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY!!! (I keep forgetting to type that we learn our word of the day and my dad keeps asking me why I didn't do it. We did, I just need to type it! So now I'm repentant dad).
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbooks, word of the day, did some work at home, helped a friend with his business finances, helped another friend get some wood, helped a HS basketball player who was injured (the HS coach will occasionally send injured players over for some physical therapy-Alex is a jack of all trades), played lots of ping pong, and played Stratego. We wish he would be home all the time!
Family Home Evening:
Songs: I Will Be Valiant (twice)
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Luke and Olivia
Strength of Youth: Go forward with faith.
Proclamation: Last paragraph
Character: 21 Rules of this House-We will pray for each other.
Article of Faith: 11th
Lesson: Caleb-About the Second Coming from the new Gospel Principles manual. Great lesson which led to an hour long discussion.
Activity: Played Dinosaur Days. This game Luke made last year in scouts.
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 4:12
Family Counsel: New changes (see below) and we reviewed our goals from last week and set individual goals for this week. The kids each pick their own. We are teaching them to adjust based on how well they did accomplishing them last week. Most only have 2 or 3 goals. For example: learn to skip count by 6, read 50 pages in my book, write a paper, read Othello, read 45 pages in the church handbook, etc.)
PE: While I was gone Alex and the kids watched ping pong videos on You Tube. They can up with all new strategies.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, watched two science videos, and played numerous games. Caleb decided that he was going to deep clean his room for some reason. I don't know what got into him, but he worked on his room for several hours. He made everything look great, rearranged dressers and he even hung up pictures. He also vacuumed and used attachments. All I said was make sure your pj's are picked up!
Today I wrote down instructions that I had for Caleb to do. I think he has a hard time orally hearing things or processing them I should say. (I'm terrible with my auditory. Our hearing is fine, just to clarify). He can't seem to remember or stay focused in any activity requiring more than one or two instructions. I wrote down his extra chores on a piece paper and used a clipboard. He was focused on got everything done with out needing to be reminded. I just need to work on speed. If he were a creature he would be a turtle or a snail. I do everything very quickly. I need to chill and not rush him.
Luke: Read his scriptures, played lots of random games with Caleb, practiced skip counting by 4's, drawing in his sketch book, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games (logic practice), practiced the piano, and had piano lessons.
We implemented Structure Time, Not Content for him. He set the timer for one hour and read in any of the books we have that he wanted. The Usborne books were coming in handy. He was really excited about this. He read numerous books about history. He was going to tell me about the things he learned and then something happened and we didn't get to it. Tomorrow!
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games, had a math lesson on decimals and percentages, he created his own blog, he wrote a blog post, drew and colored several animal pictures from an art book, played two games of Stratego, read Peter in the Starcatchers and the Shadow Thieves to me, played ping pong and listed to Brisingr. He also learned a new vocabulary word from his book: marooned.
Today we started some new things for Jared as well. I had a meeting with him in the morning and he choose from a list of many things what he wanted to do that day. Then he decided when he would do them (before piano lessons or after, before lunch, etc). He also decided for how long he would do them. He set his own goals. I encouraged him to choose things from several different areas to help him be balanced. He also got to choose a reward for himself if he accomplished his own goals. He picked 30 min of a book on tape. He had a much better day. He carried around a clip board and checked off everything. He felt more empowered and ownership. He needs structure, but I don't want to tell he always what to do. I can't do that when he's an adult. So I'm helping guide him to make good choice, have balance and manage his time. This is all about personal responsibility.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, worked on her scarf with her loom for a long time(3 feet long so far), played ping pong, practiced her vocal solo, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, started the Screwtape letters, played Rush Hour, Jr, played Stratego, and made breakfast. She wasn't real motivated to do a whole lot today.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, journal, read a lesson in Gospel Principles, practiced the piano, had piano less sons, spent a lot of time with Jared, played ping pong, started a book that I decided not to read, went to a song practice for a Relief Society meeting, and VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY!!! (I keep forgetting to type that we learn our word of the day and my dad keeps asking me why I didn't do it. We did, I just need to type it! So now I'm repentant dad).
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbooks, word of the day, did some work at home, helped a friend with his business finances, helped another friend get some wood, helped a HS basketball player who was injured (the HS coach will occasionally send injured players over for some physical therapy-Alex is a jack of all trades), played lots of ping pong, and played Stratego. We wish he would be home all the time!
Family Home Evening:
Songs: I Will Be Valiant (twice)
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Luke and Olivia
Strength of Youth: Go forward with faith.
Proclamation: Last paragraph
Character: 21 Rules of this House-We will pray for each other.
Article of Faith: 11th
Lesson: Caleb-About the Second Coming from the new Gospel Principles manual. Great lesson which led to an hour long discussion.
Activity: Played Dinosaur Days. This game Luke made last year in scouts.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Family Counsel
Since we are off the "conveyor belt" I can post on a nontraditional school day right? Tonight we had an extended family counsel.
Luke: Read 50 pages in the The Ranger's Apprentice. Memorize his 3's and 4's times tables.
Jared: Read 30 pages in Peter and the Shadow Thieves. Get quicker on his times tables, especially the 12's.
Olivia: Read The Freedom Factor for her Key of Liberty class. Finish her compass. Write her bill for the homeschooling "Day on the Hill."
Deanna: Read 100 pages in "The Histories" by Herodotus, find and online placement test for math so I can find out which book I should be in, and read Othello by Shakespeare.
Alex: Read 30 pages in the Church Handbook (the Bishopric has a goal to reread all the handbooks over the course of the next month), order a CLU class (a professional class for his industry, long story) and write his compass.
- We reviewed with the kids what they learned and how they felt about the week. This included Alex and I reporting on our phase and what we did for our learning for the week. They hadn't realized I had done some Algebra, so that was a good time to talk about that.
- We reviewed the curriculum for core phase. (true/false, good/bad, and right and wrong).
- We let Olivia know that she will now be responsible to give Alex an oral report at the end of every day about what she did for her studies. When she's older and more entrenched in scholar phase we'll make this written.
- We each set a couple of goals of things specifically we wanted to accomplish for the week. Here's our goals:
Luke: Read 50 pages in the The Ranger's Apprentice. Memorize his 3's and 4's times tables.
Jared: Read 30 pages in Peter and the Shadow Thieves. Get quicker on his times tables, especially the 12's.
Olivia: Read The Freedom Factor for her Key of Liberty class. Finish her compass. Write her bill for the homeschooling "Day on the Hill."
Deanna: Read 100 pages in "The Histories" by Herodotus, find and online placement test for math so I can find out which book I should be in, and read Othello by Shakespeare.
Alex: Read 30 pages in the Church Handbook (the Bishopric has a goal to reread all the handbooks over the course of the next month), order a CLU class (a professional class for his industry, long story) and write his compass.
- We also had a very long, emotional discussion about 4-H. We narrowed it down to just Archery for the three older kids. Horse for the two older kids. And Caleb will do a Clover bud Bunny. That's it. Two of them are officers in their clubs. That's plenty. We've scratched a couple of extra classes. I'm teaching the Clover bud program this year also.
- After the kids were asleep and I'm sitting her catching up on my blogging Olivia and Alex are here having an hour long discussion about conservatism, being involved in the political process and our local, state and national leaders. I'm glad Alex is so involved. He's a good example to the kids. Right now he's the VP for the District Republican party as well as an officer in our county. Very busy guy he is!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thomas Jefferson Education recap
I have to say this full blown Thomas Jefferson Education is hard work. Jumping off the coveyor belt is challenging. It has taken me over 5 years to even get this far! But we came through with our heads held high last week. We had numerous parent executive sessions discussing things. We've made some HUGE changes and have already seen some very positive results.
We have given out stewardship assignments in addition to daily chores. We have made goals and had some interviews with all of them on specific things with their education. (Alex usually meets with them monthly). We have more succinctly identified Core Phase, Love of Learning and Scholar phase for them.
I've been trying to apply some of the ingredients a little more effectively. It's been good for me to reread mornings, 6 month inventory, compass, binder, evenings and winters from Leadership Education by the DeMilles.
This post here is a true Thomas Jefferson day. This is what they choose....
For those who know nothing about the Thomas Jefferson Education try these websites: TJEd blog, TJEd Consortium , and DeMille's website.
We have given out stewardship assignments in addition to daily chores. We have made goals and had some interviews with all of them on specific things with their education. (Alex usually meets with them monthly). We have more succinctly identified Core Phase, Love of Learning and Scholar phase for them.
I've been trying to apply some of the ingredients a little more effectively. It's been good for me to reread mornings, 6 month inventory, compass, binder, evenings and winters from Leadership Education by the DeMilles.
This post here is a true Thomas Jefferson day. This is what they choose....
For those who know nothing about the Thomas Jefferson Education try these websites: TJEd blog, TJEd Consortium , and DeMille's website.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Dear Homeschool Journal,
This is the week I'm going to be brave. This is the week I'm going to apply the principles of a Thomas Jefferson Education all week. This is the week I put it to the test. This week is the perfect time. We were going to take next week off. Last week we finished two science textbooks and our Idaho History book so I don't want to start new books this week.
Referencing A Thomas Jefferson Education I'm really good about inspiring my kids, I'm really good about reading classics to them, but I have a control issue. I like things my way. That's not always a good thing. But the writing is on the wall, here's some recent comments in our house:
Olivia: "Mom, if you believe all this TJED stuff why don't don't you let me do it?" She said this very nicely by the way. She explained that she was tired of all the dumb stuff I was expecting her to do and it was getting in the way of her studying the important things like literature, music and history.
Olivia: "Mom, I just need time to work on 'my music."
Luke: "I wish I had more time so that I could work on my stories."
Jared: "I want to spend more time memorizing things. Why can't I?"
Jared: (to Alex) "I'm so sick of all the workbooks!"
Caleb: "I just want to play games with you."
Okay, can they be anymore plainer? Sometimes I feel like an idiot. But, life is good to us and allows us all a chance to repent. So here's to a week of submission. Here's to a week of doing things a way other than mine. Look for the verdict at the end of the week. Wish me luck. I really need. Deep breaths.
Referencing A Thomas Jefferson Education I'm really good about inspiring my kids, I'm really good about reading classics to them, but I have a control issue. I like things my way. That's not always a good thing. But the writing is on the wall, here's some recent comments in our house:
Olivia: "Mom, if you believe all this TJED stuff why don't don't you let me do it?" She said this very nicely by the way. She explained that she was tired of all the dumb stuff I was expecting her to do and it was getting in the way of her studying the important things like literature, music and history.
Olivia: "Mom, I just need time to work on 'my music."
Luke: "I wish I had more time so that I could work on my stories."
Jared: "I want to spend more time memorizing things. Why can't I?"
Jared: (to Alex) "I'm so sick of all the workbooks!"
Caleb: "I just want to play games with you."
Okay, can they be anymore plainer? Sometimes I feel like an idiot. But, life is good to us and allows us all a chance to repent. So here's to a week of submission. Here's to a week of doing things a way other than mine. Look for the verdict at the end of the week. Wish me luck. I really need. Deep breaths.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
03/11/09 (Wed): Scholar Class
Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song : My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 22: The Gifts of the Spirit from Gospel Principles.
Scriptures: Luke 17
Book of Mormon Stories: Tree of Life
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1 chapter from Andrew Jackson: Young Patriot by George Edward Stanley from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Literature: "Midsummer Night's Dream" from Stories from Shakespeare by Usborne.
Memorization: Books of the Old Testament
Family History: Read a biography of William Newell Holway written by his grandson.
World History: We read The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War by Emilly Little.
Geography: Turkey
Science: Finished the book Questions and Answers Animal World: Explore the Living Planet by Capella.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Math: Lesson 112 from Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs from Easy Grammar
Creative Writing: Edited and finished her essay about the person she would most like to meet.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- MERITORIOUS
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Root words lesson
Literature: Read Walden for over 2 hours.
Greeks: Practiced the Greek alphabet.
Computers/Typing: Typing her essays.
Scholar Class: Had her first class. She is discussing Walden. She really likes it. She will have weekly assignment too.
Research: Looked up information on Wikipedia about Thoreau. Did you know that his dad was a pencil maker? Who knew?
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from his New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Story problems lesson from Singapore 3B,
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Book on Tape: Life for Jared has now stopped. He listened to Brisingr all afternoon.
Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Did a Saxon Math 2 lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Creative Writing: Worked on his story.
Book on Tape: He listened to Brisingr for several hours but not as much as Jared.
Caleb
Math: Did a math workbook page with the abacus.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 3 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Play: He played with the K'Nex blocks a lot today.
Science: We "read" DK Pockets: Animals of the World. It had 491pages and he looked at every single one. It took him a while. It certainly kept him occupied during Olivia's scholar class.
PE: Had a golf rules/verbiage lesson while he watched Alex play Wii Golf.
Family (in the evening):
Horse Riding
Finished their Pinewood Derby cars.
Luke 18
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, word of the day, went to a singing practice for our musical number, practiced the organ, participated in the scholar class about Walden (I'm glad I read that book in January!), practiced the Greek alphabet, studied for my BYU Geography class and read 2 chapters in Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, scriptures, went to work, listened to The Odyssey by Homer, took the kids horseback riding, helped them finish their derby cars and played Wii fitness and Wii Golf while he waited for me to finish this post.
Pray/Pledge
Song : My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 22: The Gifts of the Spirit from Gospel Principles.
Scriptures: Luke 17
Book of Mormon Stories: Tree of Life
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1 chapter from Andrew Jackson: Young Patriot by George Edward Stanley from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Literature: "Midsummer Night's Dream" from Stories from Shakespeare by Usborne.
Memorization: Books of the Old Testament
Family History: Read a biography of William Newell Holway written by his grandson.
World History: We read The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War by Emilly Little.
Geography: Turkey
Science: Finished the book Questions and Answers Animal World: Explore the Living Planet by Capella.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Math: Lesson 112 from Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs from Easy Grammar
Creative Writing: Edited and finished her essay about the person she would most like to meet.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- MERITORIOUS
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Root words lesson
Literature: Read Walden for over 2 hours.
Greeks: Practiced the Greek alphabet.
Computers/Typing: Typing her essays.
Scholar Class: Had her first class. She is discussing Walden. She really likes it. She will have weekly assignment too.
Research: Looked up information on Wikipedia about Thoreau. Did you know that his dad was a pencil maker? Who knew?
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from his New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Story problems lesson from Singapore 3B,
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Book on Tape: Life for Jared has now stopped. He listened to Brisingr all afternoon.
Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Did a Saxon Math 2 lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Creative Writing: Worked on his story.
Book on Tape: He listened to Brisingr for several hours but not as much as Jared.
Caleb
Math: Did a math workbook page with the abacus.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 3 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Play: He played with the K'Nex blocks a lot today.
Science: We "read" DK Pockets: Animals of the World. It had 491pages and he looked at every single one. It took him a while. It certainly kept him occupied during Olivia's scholar class.
PE: Had a golf rules/verbiage lesson while he watched Alex play Wii Golf.
Family (in the evening):
Horse Riding
Finished their Pinewood Derby cars.
Luke 18
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, word of the day, went to a singing practice for our musical number, practiced the organ, participated in the scholar class about Walden (I'm glad I read that book in January!), practiced the Greek alphabet, studied for my BYU Geography class and read 2 chapters in Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, scriptures, went to work, listened to The Odyssey by Homer, took the kids horseback riding, helped them finish their derby cars and played Wii fitness and Wii Golf while he waited for me to finish this post.
Scholar Class
So Olivia decided she wanted to take a scholar class! She's super excited! We went to the first one today. They will be discussing Walden by Thoreau for the next month or two. She likes it so far. She has an oral assignment for next week. She spent a lot of time reading today and she was taking notes. Olivia also had a current dictionary out and she had the hefty 1828 dictionary out. She's such a good girl. I'm proud of her for making big kid choices, but it's kind of sad. My kids are growing up!
The class meets weekly. I really like the teacher. He teaches at the Commonwealth school also. She has 7 people in her class.
The class meets weekly. I really like the teacher. He teaches at the Commonwealth school also. She has 7 people in her class.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Our Readers
TJEd says they'll choose to read classics some day. We are just suppose to inspire them and give them the tools they need. I'm happy to say the process is working in our home!Olivia (age 10) just finished Jane Eyre-her first real classic. And that's not a little book people! It's over 500 pages in small print written in early 1800 English. Way to go Olivia!
Jared (age 9) just finished Eragon-his first non-twaddle book. Yeah! It took him 2 months but he persevered. That was 497 pages to be exact.
Luke (age 8) just finished The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe-his first non-twaddle book also.
So take heart moms it'll work!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Six Month Inventory
I have just finished reading Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille. Nice Christmas present. It was good to review the "ingredients" again that led to a successful leadership education.
One that caught my eye this time around was #8 The Six Month Inventory. I thought this was appropriate to do with the New Year coming on and it being "that time" to set some goals. The Six Month Inventory is when you take some time and think about each of your children. You think about their strengths, weaknesses, fears, hopes, dreams, etc. Then you decide what it is YOU can do specifically for them to help them accomplish certain things you feel are important over the next six months.
What I thought was great about this is that I set a goal that I work on to help them. They can set goals with me also of course and with Alex, but these are specific to me as their mother.
So today I took the time to ponder on each of our children and set goals for myself that will benefit them. I'm excited! I realized several things I hadn't previously thought about regarding the further impact I can have with them.
One that caught my eye this time around was #8 The Six Month Inventory. I thought this was appropriate to do with the New Year coming on and it being "that time" to set some goals. The Six Month Inventory is when you take some time and think about each of your children. You think about their strengths, weaknesses, fears, hopes, dreams, etc. Then you decide what it is YOU can do specifically for them to help them accomplish certain things you feel are important over the next six months.
What I thought was great about this is that I set a goal that I work on to help them. They can set goals with me also of course and with Alex, but these are specific to me as their mother.
So today I took the time to ponder on each of our children and set goals for myself that will benefit them. I'm excited! I realized several things I hadn't previously thought about regarding the further impact I can have with them.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
12/26/08: #7
Today, I spent a lot of time on key #7 of "The Great Keys of a Leadership Education." That key of course is "YOU, Not Them." I started my latest BYU course-GEOG 120: World Geography and Current Affairs (or something like that). I read the syllabus and started the on-line chapter 1 lecture notes. I also learned and now I need to memorize all the violin notes. I'm telling you music is all about patterns. I studied the strings and read the books until I figured out the pattern. Piece a cake. Of course I just have to practice (a lot!) making my fingers move to the right spot. This will take some time! After I learned the notes I spent some time practicing the violin. My arms are sore! I also read the first 120 pages in The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachael DeMille that I received for Christmas. Besides that I cooked for the weary Wii players and slept. I think I'm finally caught up in my sleep again.
The kids enjoyed a fun filled day with dad and grandpa. They spent hours on the Wii. All of them. We have a Wii rule: You can't sit down when you play the Wii. Silly I know. After this weekend we'll have some time constraints on the usage of the Wii. We debated long and hard about buying a Wii. I know some of you you TJEders are rolling your eyes, but I think it was the right choice for our family-so roll away! : ) They even had it hooked up to our large projector screen playing. Our family has two tiny TV's. But because of Alex's work we have a huge projector and projector screen. So we have movie nights on the big screen every once in a while-so fun. (It's come in handy at the church multiple times). And if was fun using it to play the Wii yesterday. After today the big screen will be retired again. The kids did watch Journey to the Center of the Earth tonight on it.
They also went 4-wheeling and sledding for a long time with grandpa and dad. Olivia started and read a couple of chapters of Jane Eye. I had her tell me what she read. She says she really likes the language of the book. We also played several rounds of Apples to Apples, Jr. This is a good game. We liked that the kids have to defend/articulate their answers, make decisions, and make comparisons. We recommend it! It's a great evening game.
The kids enjoyed a fun filled day with dad and grandpa. They spent hours on the Wii. All of them. We have a Wii rule: You can't sit down when you play the Wii. Silly I know. After this weekend we'll have some time constraints on the usage of the Wii. We debated long and hard about buying a Wii. I know some of you you TJEders are rolling your eyes, but I think it was the right choice for our family-so roll away! : ) They even had it hooked up to our large projector screen playing. Our family has two tiny TV's. But because of Alex's work we have a huge projector and projector screen. So we have movie nights on the big screen every once in a while-so fun. (It's come in handy at the church multiple times). And if was fun using it to play the Wii yesterday. After today the big screen will be retired again. The kids did watch Journey to the Center of the Earth tonight on it.
They also went 4-wheeling and sledding for a long time with grandpa and dad. Olivia started and read a couple of chapters of Jane Eye. I had her tell me what she read. She says she really likes the language of the book. We also played several rounds of Apples to Apples, Jr. This is a good game. We liked that the kids have to defend/articulate their answers, make decisions, and make comparisons. We recommend it! It's a great evening game.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Mom School Meeting
Today I had a little heart to heart with the children as we started our Mom School. I talked to them about what I expected out of our core phase children (as well as all of them). I had realized that I had never clearly defined my expectations. They were not anything new, but just having a conversation about it was important for them. My younger two looked at me and said, "What's core phase?" Huh? What? I guess we haven't talked about it in a while. Our family's list of core phase "requirements" (or expectations) is found in our core book in the D&C 88 (out of our core book). Of course these are expectations for over their lifetime. But it's a base for them to come back to throughout their life... (Please remember this is the "gospel" according to Deanna).
Core phase (from the Thomas Jefferson Educational model aka TJED) can be summarized as a stage (around 0-8/10ish) were the most important "lessons" the children focuses on are true/false, good/bad and right/wrong. An understanding of appropriate behavior and the demonstration of this behavior is the most important training. Also within this stage the basic skills of the 3 R's are taught: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.
I also asked them if I was reading to much to them or things they didn't want to hear about anymore. (They've always picked most of the books). Olivia and Luke said that while they liked science they didn't want to do it everyday. Jared said he didn't want to hear about history everyday. Jared wants to hear about Science everyday. Olivia wants to read family history and general history everyday. Luke wants to read history and stories (like Narnia) everyday. Ha! So we talked about missions in life a little bit. I pointed out that Jared's mission in life will most likely involve a heavy amount of Math and Science (this is no surprise to anyone as we talk about everyday). So it was important that we spend a little time every day on Science for Jared. Luke is probably going to grow up and be an author and so he needs the history and the stories to generate ideas and fill his head. That's important for his mission. Family is very important to Olivia (she's set a goal to memorize her personal pedigree chart) and so we need to read that also. They readily agreed they would be more than willing to continue learning about the subjects they were not as interested in for the sake of their siblings. In the end the only thing they wanted changed was that they want our character book switched every other day with the Children's Friend. Laugh out loud! They love hearing me read to them! Yeah! Today our Mom School lasted three hours and they were just as happy as can be.
I also talked about the three languages that were important to us that they learned well. 1. Language of English (self-explanatory) 2. Language of Math (besides the obvious reasons I believe that Math teaches you the skill of problem solving which transfers over to reading were you can following logic and the line of thoughts of others) and 3. Language of Music (Music is full of patterns if you look. Learning Music will improve your Math skills. Really. Trust me). I told them of course it would be wonderful if we could learn Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Sign Language, but for now these top three were what I felt were the most important languages for our family.
Giving your kids knowledge empowers them to make their own personal "right" choices. And quotes from the "good books" seals the authority. We are blessed with wonderful children. They work hard to be good. I am proud of their choices each day to improve and learn. They motivate us.
Core phase (from the Thomas Jefferson Educational model aka TJED) can be summarized as a stage (around 0-8/10ish) were the most important "lessons" the children focuses on are true/false, good/bad and right/wrong. An understanding of appropriate behavior and the demonstration of this behavior is the most important training. Also within this stage the basic skills of the 3 R's are taught: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.
I also asked them if I was reading to much to them or things they didn't want to hear about anymore. (They've always picked most of the books). Olivia and Luke said that while they liked science they didn't want to do it everyday. Jared said he didn't want to hear about history everyday. Jared wants to hear about Science everyday. Olivia wants to read family history and general history everyday. Luke wants to read history and stories (like Narnia) everyday. Ha! So we talked about missions in life a little bit. I pointed out that Jared's mission in life will most likely involve a heavy amount of Math and Science (this is no surprise to anyone as we talk about everyday). So it was important that we spend a little time every day on Science for Jared. Luke is probably going to grow up and be an author and so he needs the history and the stories to generate ideas and fill his head. That's important for his mission. Family is very important to Olivia (she's set a goal to memorize her personal pedigree chart) and so we need to read that also. They readily agreed they would be more than willing to continue learning about the subjects they were not as interested in for the sake of their siblings. In the end the only thing they wanted changed was that they want our character book switched every other day with the Children's Friend. Laugh out loud! They love hearing me read to them! Yeah! Today our Mom School lasted three hours and they were just as happy as can be.
I also talked about the three languages that were important to us that they learned well. 1. Language of English (self-explanatory) 2. Language of Math (besides the obvious reasons I believe that Math teaches you the skill of problem solving which transfers over to reading were you can following logic and the line of thoughts of others) and 3. Language of Music (Music is full of patterns if you look. Learning Music will improve your Math skills. Really. Trust me). I told them of course it would be wonderful if we could learn Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Sign Language, but for now these top three were what I felt were the most important languages for our family.
Giving your kids knowledge empowers them to make their own personal "right" choices. And quotes from the "good books" seals the authority. We are blessed with wonderful children. They work hard to be good. I am proud of their choices each day to improve and learn. They motivate us.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
11/12/08: Core Phase
Today we took a full "core" phase day. I wasn't feeling very well and I had a sore throat so I couldn't read to them for mom school. They had a great day. They enjoy a day off every once in a while from our schedule. But they prefer the schedule. I know in the "Thomas Jefferson Education" system they say that those in the "love of learning" phase will occasionally go back to "core" phase for a day here and there. I have to laugh that while they were free from our schedule they both still wanted to do Math and Spelling.
Olivia
Math: Lesson 52 and 53
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Music: Practiced singing
Art: Painted her volcano
Book on Tape: 2 hours of the Blood Red Horse
Memorization: Books of the New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon
Life Skills: Apple Crumb Pie
Sewing: We sewed the first half of her quilt. It's looking good!
Activity Days!
Service: Helped me at Young Women in Excellence with decorations, slide show and other errands.
I also should note that Olivia is very faithful at reading her scriptures every night.
Jared
Math: Lesson 50
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Art: Painted his volcano (that he had already exploded)
Book on Tape: 3+hours of a book on tape
Memorization: Books of the New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon
Creative Play: Lots of it with Lego's and Rescue Heroes
Scouts!
Jared painted his with dinosaur tracks on it, because it was a "prehistoric volcano." Olivia's has wildflowers on the sides of hers.
Family (in the evening):
Family (in the evening):
Mark 9 & 10
To Show Parent Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
To Show Parent Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna
Piano
Read 1 hour
Sewed with Olivia (I detest sewing even more than ironing. My sewing machine is the one household appliance I have that seeks to actively enrage me. Today was a good day though. Olivia knows I love her when I'll sew with her). : )
Made 8 Apple Crumb Pies with Olivia
Helped at scouts (I'm now an assistant den mother)
Young Women in Excellence! It was wonderful!!!
Alex
Went to work
Worked on his college class
Technical support at YW in Excellence, he's such a good sport!! He does a great job modeling supporting your spouse in their calling.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
10/29/08: Love of Learning
We had some kids stay home sick and some others who just thought they needed a day off. I think Jared went into a vegetative state for 6 hours and seems to be doing much better now. There is no school Friday but we are babysitting all day and night and so they won't have any real time off. Olivia did some good love of learning activities.
Free Reading: 1 hour Beyond the Valley of Thorns by Patrick Carmen
Life Skills: Chores for our friend
To Show Parent Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna
Alex
Olivia
Music: Practiced part of her voice lesson
Art: Made the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" out of paper cups. She spent over an hour on this. I asked her where she had heard of the tower and she just said she knew about those types of things. Okay.
Music: Practiced part of her voice lesson
Art: Made the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" out of paper cups. She spent over an hour on this. I asked her where she had heard of the tower and she just said she knew about those types of things. Okay.
She made a sign to go with it to the right that Says "The Leaning Tower of Pisa." She told me she wasn't sure it was leaning enough though.
Free Reading: 1 hour Beyond the Valley of Thorns by Patrick Carmen
Life Skills: Chores for our friend
Family History: 2 hours of indexing
Computers/Typing: Digital Scrap booking/Power Point
PE: Went on a walk
Computers/Typing: Digital Scrap booking/Power Point
PE: Went on a walk
Activity Days!
Social: 2 hours with a friend
To Show Parent Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna
6+ Hours of a Power Point Slide show for YW in Excellence
Substitute Activity Day Leader
Chores/babysitting Foxy Roxy
Piano
Went to Mutual and learned about making quilts
Alex
Taught Seminary
Went to Work
Wrote a letter to the editor
Worked on his Speech Class
Friday, September 26, 2008
Daily Schedule 9/26/08
Both
Pray/Pledge
Theology: "Salvation and Exaltation" by Elder Nelson http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-2,00.html
Bible History: David and Jonathan
Friend Article: Read 4 Articles
Biography/American History: 1 Chapter of George Washington: Our First Leader by Augusta Stevenson, from the Childhood of Famous Americans series
Read-a-loud: Read 60 pages and finished Dinotopia
Reading: Everyday when we read the above the kids and I take turn reading
Science: A Beka Science Series Observing God's World, The Green Machine: Searching for shapes pgs. 96-99
Life Skills: We picked, sorted, peeled and cored apples and grandma's house for 2 hours
PE: Apple picking!
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Jared
Music: Practiced piano lesson
Math: Lesson 24
Math Drill: Multiplication Wrap-ups: 9's and 10's
Spelling: 1 Spell Drill
Handwriting/Phonics: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: 2o minutes of a Magic Tree House book
Logic: Legos and spent 30 minutes on some puzzles
Olivia
Math: Lesson 24
Math Drill: Division Wrap-ups: 2's and 3's
Spelling: 1 Spell Drill
Language Arts: Verbs and Nouns
Computers: Played a Vet game on the computer for 1 hour
Pray/Pledge
Theology: "Salvation and Exaltation" by Elder Nelson http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-2,00.html
Bible History: David and Jonathan
Friend Article: Read 4 Articles
Biography/American History: 1 Chapter of George Washington: Our First Leader by Augusta Stevenson, from the Childhood of Famous Americans series
Read-a-loud: Read 60 pages and finished Dinotopia
Reading: Everyday when we read the above the kids and I take turn reading
Science: A Beka Science Series Observing God's World, The Green Machine: Searching for shapes pgs. 96-99
Life Skills: We picked, sorted, peeled and cored apples and grandma's house for 2 hours
PE: Apple picking!
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Jared
Music: Practiced piano lesson
Math: Lesson 24
Math Drill: Multiplication Wrap-ups: 9's and 10's
Spelling: 1 Spell Drill
Handwriting/Phonics: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: 2o minutes of a Magic Tree House book
Logic: Legos and spent 30 minutes on some puzzles
Olivia
Math: Lesson 24
Math Drill: Division Wrap-ups: 2's and 3's
Spelling: 1 Spell Drill
Language Arts: Verbs and Nouns
Computers: Played a Vet game on the computer for 1 hour
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Olivia's Creative Writing Partial Story
This morning when I came out of my bedroom to start making breakfast Olivia was busy at her laptop. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was writing a story. I asked her what it was about and she said it was just a silly story and she was making it up as she went along. She said she was just writing it for fun. She did let me read it. I thought it was pretty good for that early in the morning. I talked her into letting me post it. It's far from complete but I thought there were some good things going on it it. Such as big words, descriptive sentences, and some creativity. I haven't edited it at all. I'm proud of her and I hope she keeps writing. I thought it was a perfect love of learner example...
It all began the morning that Hallie was born. The howling, the sorrow, the pain. Hallie had died only a few hours after she was born. Mother had been miserable since that day.
Loraine thought these things over. And tried to think of a way to help mother. The only things that she could do that were on the farm were: feeding the chickens, making breakfast, and so on. But she felt intent to help her mother. She knew that even little things helped and that I was her duty to help. “Can you come, milk the cow for me?”
Asked. Nadine
“I suppose so” She replied indignantly
As she milked Missy the family milk cow. She decided that after breakfast she would walk into town, and try to find a job. She hoped that this would be a benefit for her family.
With breakfast over, Loraine told her mother of her plans. Her mother replied. “Thank you” tears coming to her eyes.
She bustled into town and right as she got into town there was an earthquake! Loraine braced herself against a stone wall. As she watched, many people fell to the ground. Dying. Many went unconscious others fainted. Every one got hurt except for Loraine. She knew that this was a once in a lifetime chance. She went from person to person helping them stay alive, helping them breath and bandaging there wounds. She knew that if she helped them she would get paid and would have money, lots of money. But after she helped, all she got was kindness!
It all began the morning that Hallie was born. The howling, the sorrow, the pain. Hallie had died only a few hours after she was born. Mother had been miserable since that day.
Loraine thought these things over. And tried to think of a way to help mother. The only things that she could do that were on the farm were: feeding the chickens, making breakfast, and so on. But she felt intent to help her mother. She knew that even little things helped and that I was her duty to help. “Can you come, milk the cow for me?”
Asked. Nadine
“I suppose so” She replied indignantly
As she milked Missy the family milk cow. She decided that after breakfast she would walk into town, and try to find a job. She hoped that this would be a benefit for her family.
With breakfast over, Loraine told her mother of her plans. Her mother replied. “Thank you” tears coming to her eyes.
She bustled into town and right as she got into town there was an earthquake! Loraine braced herself against a stone wall. As she watched, many people fell to the ground. Dying. Many went unconscious others fainted. Every one got hurt except for Loraine. She knew that this was a once in a lifetime chance. She went from person to person helping them stay alive, helping them breath and bandaging there wounds. She knew that if she helped them she would get paid and would have money, lots of money. But after she helped, all she got was kindness!
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.
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.
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