2 Moms and TJ ED

Separate but not equal (Amy)

2009-06-24T20:47:00.007-08:00

For over a year I've been publishing posts on two different blogs. Each forum requires a different mindset. TJEd or Home and Family?

But the past several months, my voices have been merging. My life is merging. It's difficult to see where Home and Family end and Leadership Education begins. And I suppose that is the way it should be.

Our life is fluid. We adopted a baby girl. She's 23 days old today. I finally have the books chosen for my Leadership in Literature course this year. My sons are working together to raise money so that my eldest son can attend the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree. My sister and I are organizing a Leadership Education class to be held in Anchorage and Fairbanks this fall. My husband wants to build a greenhouse. We just finished a six month purge. My husband and I have been listening to the speeches from the 2009 TJEd Forum. Our goal is one speech per day. Fluid like that.

I've been writing our homeschool history on my other blog. I've been writing about the Georgic principles my sons have been learning. I've been writing about life with a newborn baby girl.

But my mind keeps returning to 2 moms and tjed. Why have I not posted here? Because my life is merging. It's becoming more difficult to keep my writings separate but equal.

So I invite you to my other blog. I can't guarantee what you'll get. It may be educational, it may not. But it will be the merging of my life with Leadership Education.

Beautifully Aired (Amy)

2009-02-06T05:15:00.005-09:00

*I wrote this post for my family website but thought I'd put it on here too.

I'm reading Peter Pan. Have you read it recently? There is a passage at the very beginning that just mesmerized me.

"Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see her on her knees, I expect, lingering humorously over some of your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and hurriedly stowing that out of sight. When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind, and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on."

Isn't that beautifully written? The whole book is like that. I can't put it down. But that is my favorite passage so far. Oh! How I would like to rummage through my children's minds and tidy them up! I'd love to air their prettier thoughts and stow the naughtiness and evil passions. I wish we still talked like that.

But it got me thinking...

We have a family tradition in which we do something like this. On Sunday afternoons Jake and I hold an FEC (Family Executive Council) in which we meet and discuss our family, children and our upcoming week. It's just between him and I and the Lord. This provides us the time to talk about each child specifically, their needs, and what we can do to help them. We prioritize and schedule our week based on what is most important. It's a specific opportunity to seek the Spirit in our family's life. It's wonderful.

And when we're finished we invite one child at a time in to talk. It's like an interview. Sometimes it's casual and sometimes it's more formal. We start each discussion with a prayer. The boys love it and look forward to it. They get our undivided attention. We ask questions about how they're doing, what's good and what's bad. We talk about goals, school, opportunities, whatever comes up. And we listen. Sometimes it's short and sweet, other times it lasts for an hour or more. It's amazing what comes out of those meetings.

Sometimes I'll take notes. I love scribbling quotes from the kids that we can look at later and remember.

And when we're done... I do feel like we've tidied up and put things in their proper places. We've made discoveries sweet and not so sweet {but mostly sweet}. The naughtiness and evil passions have been folded up small and placed at the bottom. And on the top, beautifully aired, are their prettier thoughts. Ready for them to put on.

Building a Community (Amy)

2009-01-27T03:55:00.006-09:00

Thanks Darla for the comment. It was enough to spur me to write another post. I've been meaning to for a while, but life seems to get in the way (and by life I mean the fact that we are in Florida for 10 weeks while my husband attends some training).

A community is an essential part of Leadership Education. As my 13 year old son enters scholar phase, his peer group is going to be of utmost importance. As I continue teaching my children with the 7 Keys, my peer group is also important. We both need support. We also need opportunities to lead.

For my son, he needs other youth who love learning; who would love to attend a constitutional convention, or a book club. Youth who want to discuss more than the last video game. These kind of kids are out there, I just need to help round them up and get them together so that they can start discussing and supporting.

As for me... well, I'd like to attend a book club with my peers and discuss some great literature. I'd like to have the support of other parents when I'm struggling and need a lift. This too is possible, I just need to reach out and find some "like-minded" families.

Now I've used the word just a few times. Like it's just going to happen. I have a few things going for me. I've helped build a community before. So it's not a new procedure. Our community in North Pole, Alaska was just starting to bud when we moved. We had a grown-up book club going, a couple youth book clubs in progress, we had a "Young Knights Club" and a math club and I heard that a young girl's club started up this year. So its on it's way to a full blown blossom. (Just talking like this makes me miss all the amazing families up there so much!)

I also have a few obstacles I'll need to overcome. First, we won't be in our new location for too long either. We have two years before we move again. The good thing is, we had everything I mentioned above in place quickly and it was going strong after the first year. So I'll have a year to reap the benefits. I also had a friend (Kim) who discovered truth in the TJEd principles at the same time I did and worked tirelessly beside me to inspire our community. I'm going to miss her as a sounding board for ideas and also as another strong leader. We're also in a tiny, isolated community. I don't have an idea yet how many homeschoolers we have, but I'm hopeful.

So I'll start from scratch, knowing that every few years as we move with the Coast Guard, I'll leave good friends and community behind to start yet again. But my family is worth every ounce of hard work it will take.

My first step will be reaching out. {I'm talking in future sense because I'll have to wait until we're done in Florida to start. So as much as I'm raring to go, I'm finding joy in the journey.} I've brushed up on my TJEd by rereading the books, especially Leadership Education. If you don't have this book, you MUST get it. If you have it, read it again. It's your foundation for how-to use TJEd in your home.

I've already met a couple families interested in Leadership Education. This comes from talking. When people find out we homeschool there are usually questions, whether they homeschool or not. I use this as an opportunity to talk about TJEd. I mention a few principles depending on how much time I have and that usually peaks their interest and will start a discussion, or we'll plan for a time to get together and talk.

Then I'll plan an "Intro to TJEd" night. Have you listened to The 7 Keys of Great Teaching by Oliver DeMille? Its great and covers the perfect material for an intro. So I'll listen to that again, go through A Thomas Jefferson Education again and invite people over to my house to hear more about Leadership Education. I've got a white board and I'll show the 3 types of education, the initial 3 phases of education and then the 7 Keys of great teaching.

We did intros before when we were hosting the "Face to Face with Greatness" series. But I think it's the perfect way to get people interested. As more people hear about it and want more information, I'll plan more intros.

While I'm doing that, I'll be talking to friends and those I meet about a grown-up book club. Many people outside TJEd don't have the time for this. But if you can show how important it is to be an example to your children, usually you can gather enough people for a discussion. It only takes 2. For several months it was just Kim and I reading books from the 5 Pillar Certification.

The easiest part of the whole thing is the youth book club. Parents understand this. They want their youth to read and discuss. The hardest part is getting the parents to read and discuss with their youth. My plan is to start this in the fall. I'll get a reading list made up and a schedule prepared and then start inviting. I love this part! I love the youth and I really enjoy teaching. I'm going to work more on leading a discussion rather than lecturing this time around.

The youth who attend don't have to come from families who use TJEd. If you host it in the evening, they don't even have to be homeschooled. The goal is to get youth together who love to read and teach them to discuss classic literature.

As we get to know our community better, I'll look around and see what else we need. In North Pole that was a math club to inspire a love of math. If we need that in Kodiak, I'll do that again. What about a dance class for young teenagers? I'd love to learn some ballroom dancing and I think it would be great for youth too. An opportunity to get comfortable with public speaking would be awesome too. I'm not an expert in any of these things, but I only have to be one chapter ahead. I could also find someone who is an expert and help facilitate the group.

My husband is a pilot and he's going to teach an aviation class this fall. We wanted to do this before, but weren't able to get it together. We'll find some youth in our area who are interested in learning more about aviation and invite them over for a couple hours on Saturday, or maybe in the afternoon/evening once a week when my husband is off work. He'll probably use the Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badge as a syllabus to start with and go from there. It won't be fancy, but it will be fun.

You could do this with anything that you or your children are interested in. Just invite others along for the ride. It will be through these little pieces that we build a community who values self education and lifetime learning.

This is probably enough for this post. If you've got questions about any of the pieces I talked about, leave a comment and I'll go into more detail. Good luck in building your own community!

Back to Basics (Amy)

2009-01-06T23:26:00.004-09:00

I've been talking a lot lately about TJEd with friends. And if feels great! In order to talk with others about leadership education, I need to be thinking about it myself.

We've been in a sort of self-inflicted quarantine lately. Meaning we haven't done much with others since our move two and a half months ago. It's been all family, all the time. It was necessary, it was part of our healing process. But there's an end in sight.

I'm ready to start building a community here. I'm excited about book clubs and statesmanship groups.

I got out my Phases of Learning book and started reading again. I need to do that more often. Its so refreshing to read the basics again... all the reasons why I love TJEd and I know this is right for my family.

I got on TJEdonline and read a couple of articles. Oliver wrote an awesome article about the roles in marriage here. It's worth reading.

So, pull out one of your TJEd books and read a chapter or two. It's worth it. I promise.

6 Month Purge (Kim)

2009-01-01T17:50:00.005-09:00

My older kids are gone so I have been purging like crazy. I love it. I have filled bags and bags of stuff for good will and even more to be thrown away. We are cleaning out to make room for the new Christmas gifts and getting rid of all the clutter that has accumulated since my last purge during the summer. It's amazing what can find it's way into my house in just 6 months. The rooms I have purged so far include the family room, girls bedroom, the laundry room and most of my office. Rooms that I still need to purge are boys bedroom, my bedroom, and dining room. Because we aren't doing school right now it's the perfect time for a purge. Oh it feels good to get rid of the junk and to get stuff organized. So go purge your house and feel good.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum (Amy)

2008-12-09T13:59:00.005-09:00

I've been thinking about this one for a while. Lately with the lack of outside influences, it feels like we moved to a remote island and we don't know anybody... oh wait... that's exactly what we did.

The days are ours to fill... or more specifically not to fill. And that's an interesting question: To do, or not to do?

There have been times since moving here that I've been anxious and stressed about the lack of outside activities we're involved with... no play dates or book clubs or sports.

My instinct is to keep my children busy, and not just with external activities. There is their schooling of course, and they are also a great help to me with chores, babysitting, errands, etc. I'm always thinking, "What else should we be doing?" Evidently nature isn't the only one that abhors a vacuum.

But, I have to stop trying to keep us all constantly in motion. I need to allow my children to get bored. To have nothing to do. To say things like, "Mom! There's nothing to do... I'm bored... !"

Because I'm learning that sometimes they need an absence of things to do... a vacuum.

Because something important happens when there is nothing to do...

They fill the vacuum.

Initially they might reach for the television, or a movie, or a video game to fill their time. But if that isn't available (or it's off limits), then they're left to their own imagination.

I've been amazed lately at what my children are finding to fill their vacuum.

They have been working together. Nicely. They've been writing scripts and exploring Stop Animation. They read and discuss books together. They've been building Lego contraptions and exploring science projects. And they are learning. Really learning. The kind of learning that comes from exploring things that they are truly interested in!

All of this comes from them looking for something to do. Because I haven't filled our day with things to do. I didn't fill the vacuum. I allowed them to.

Educational Vomit (Kim)

2008-11-18T20:32:00.006-09:00

I vomited on my 11 year old. Not real gross, disgusting food vomit. Educational vomit. I didn't mean to do it. It was out before I even knew it. It happened last week. My daughter said she was going to make her own newspaper and then it happened, I vomited educational vomit all over her. I didn't even realize I had done it until later, and then I felt really bad. It's never fun to be vomited on.
Dr. Brooks talked about educational vomit at the first Face to Face seminar. Educational vomiting is when you give your child way too much information when they show an interest in something. You overload them and kill their desire for more. Let me give you an example. Your child comes to you and says, "Where is middle C on the piano?", and you vomit on them by saying, "Here it is, and here is A and B and D and E and F and G, and these are the pedals, and here are your new piano books, and I just signed you up for lessons twice a week, and I'm getting tickets to the piano concert on Friday and your first piano performance is in 3 months so, practice up." And then you wonder why they won't get within ten feet of the piano. Vomiting then leads to requiring. You become insistent on them learning and start requiring things from them, after all, they were the one that showed the interest in the first place, right?
Now we are all trying to be good parents and teachers and sometimes we think that means we need to have a 3 month unit study on each and every thing our child mentions a word about. But what if we try to inspire our child to learn instead of vomiting it on them? What if your child came to you and said, "Mom, where is middle C", and you said, "Here it is, " and they said "And where is G," and you said "Here it is." Then they watched you practice the piano and maybe take lessons, and go to a concert, and you give a performance. And then later, they came to you and said, "Can I take piano lessons?" At first you might even tell them that they are too young and they need to wait until they are older. Then they came to you again and begged and begged to take lessons. Which time to you think they would really and truly have a desire to work hard and put the time and effort in that it requires to learn how to play the piano?
It is so easy to vomit on them. I know. I just did it, and I killed any desire she had. Educational vomit isn't as gross and messy as regular vomit, but it is way harder to clean up.

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-11-16T22:06:00.005-09:00

On days when it seems that no matter what you do or say your kids are fighting, the house is a mess, the kids aren't dressed and it's 1:00, you wanted to have a very productive day of school and no one has cracked a book yet (it's 1:00 remember), you have a million things to do and no time to do it in and no matter how hard you work nothing seems to get done. You feel like pulling your hair out and sending your kids to boarding school right down to the 2 year old, and you're praying your kids will forget about the times you were a terrible mother. On days like that (today for me) um, um,............................ I have no advice for you other than to hang in there. That is my goal for the week, to hang in there.
If would you like to set a goal for the week you can leave a comment and tell us what it is. I would love to hear your goals and "Hang in there". That's what I'm doing.

Great New Website (Amy)

2008-11-16T18:23:00.004-09:00

I was going through some emails and came across one from Dr. Shannon Brooks (President of George Wythe College). He was announcing a new website: TJEdOnline.com.

The site is owned by Oliver and Rachel DeMille.

Although you can subscribe to the website for $9.99 a month, there is also a lot of free information. I especially loved Rachel's "Mine".

Here's the intro: "Rachel loves to think and write at the same time. These unpredictable journal entries will give a glimpse of what's on her mind, or on her heart. Sometimes intellectual, sometimes philosophical, sometimes whimsical, sometimes just plain average. This will include a periodic "perfectometer" self-rating on the day, based on several criteria. You'll get it straight from her to you with her trademark transparency!"

It is definitely worth the visit.

Leave a comment and let us know if you checked it out and what you thought.

Embrace Family, Not the Conveyor Belt (Amy)

2008-11-14T10:07:00.004-09:00

3 and a half weeks ago my family moved to a small town on an island in Alaska. Its beautiful and remote. We spent the previous six months in motion (fixing, finishing, selling, and packing a house) and in limbo (8 weeks in hotels and eating out). It feels incredible to be settled into our home and to know that we'll be here a while.

We were unpacked and settled in record time. It had something to do with being unstable for so long (and probably not being connected to the internet). As I looked around the house at bookshelves and cabinets full of games, books, kits, potential projects and art supplies, I was ready for school to begin.

But somewhere along the line I forgot the 7 keys to great teaching. No, that's not true. I didn't forget them, I just forgot how great it can be when they are applied. It all just slipped my mind. Thoughts (conveyor belt thoughts) have been sneaking into my head during quiet moments. Thoughts about testing, assignments, grade levels and requirements. Just enough to make me stress inwardly. My mind has been racing with all the things that should be done.

And all the while my life is moving slower than it has ever done before. I belong to no book clubs, math clubs, TJEd clubs. No church obligations, volunteer obligations and the phone doesn't ring. It's just me and my family.

Although my mind has been racing, my environment has been healing me. Slowly I'm coming out of the marathon my mind has been participating in and I'm realizing that it's time to stop and enjoy the journey.

This is Life. This is Family. This is Wonderful. I'm going to Enjoy it.

I don't need to recreate the life I just left. That will come in time and we'll be ready for it when it does.

So here's my A-HA moment: Remember the Six Month Purge and the Six Month No? Those had never been at the top of my list. I've always put more importance on the 6 Month Inventory. And maybe that was what I needed at the time. But this move may possibly be the biggest Six Month No and Six Month Purge ever.

And it has given our family exactly what we needed. More time together. A lot more. We all get up and have breakfast together before Dad leaves for work. He gets to come home for lunch most days. And our evenings and weekends are free to be together. Hiking, sledding, games, reading, cooking, talking, laughing, and bonding.

At this point you may think I'm suggesting you move to a remote island. And while that may be a good idea (and I'd love the company) ... it's probably not feasible. But think about trying a "No" and a "Purge". It may change your life.

You know what brought me around to this? I have another blog. A family blog. I've been writing about all of our adventures and the great time we were having as a family and I contrasted that with how I was feeling about education and our school life. It became strikingly evident that I was missing something. My family's education needn't be tied to testing, assignments, grade levels and requirements. I was worrying needlessly.

We've been given a gift. And I'm going to accept it.

Put away childish things... (Amy)

2008-11-12T08:08:00.006-09:00

It's been a while since I've posted. Finally our family is settled into our new town and our new home. And as we settle into our routine with homeschool, I find I'm struggling.

Some of my struggle comes in the form of my 12 year old. My husband calls him "The Man Child". He's approaching 6 feet in height. He's developing muscles from participating on the swim team, he's starting to shave and is quite handsome. He could pass as a 15 or 16 year old any day.

But take this example... We were at the grocery store recently and he's pushing the cart out to the car. He starts running with the cart and is making race car noises (loudly) as he swerves and turns and screeches through the parking lot avoiding imaginary obstacles.

There are times when he's remarkably poised and aware of what is happening around him and seems very "grown up". Other times he is frustratingly childlike.

18 months ago when I first learned about Leadership Education, I was sure my son was in Transition to Scholar phase. I've been expecting Scholar Phase to start any minute now. As he grows physically and his maturity level lags slightly behind, I grow frustrated.

I don't know if I'm alone in this. But my frustration seems very converybeltish. I've been okay with letting him "love learning" and study things he's interested in (yada yada yada)... but ENOUGH ALREADY! When is he going to start scholar phase???!!!

(Please don't follow my example...)

A couple of days ago in the midst of a really low moment on this path to leadership education, I remembered something that I heard at a conference Summer of 2007 at George Wythe College in regards to Transition to Scholar. I'll paraphrase...

Transition is a time when parents tend to freak out (that's me). They stop trusting the process and want to jump back on the conveyor belt to ensure their child gets an education.

Yep. I concur.

And so I realize the need for me to get back to the basics. I pulled out my Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning book. (Do you have this yet? You really need it. It's your guide book to putting all this together and can save you from yourself.)

I turned to Chapter Six (Page 153 Transition to Scholar) and I read "Transition occurs in most girls between ages ten and twelve and in boys between eleven and fourteen. Some psychologists and counselors speak of this age as the root source of most problems in men, who are often pushed too hard at this age to "put away childish things" and take on adult responsibility. One of the biggest pressures many boys feel at this age is pressure to perform academically. Girls are usually ahead of boys at this age, yet boys are often pushed to keep up to girl "grade levels." "

Here are some other goodies:

"It is important during this transitional time to remember that the child is still in Love of Learning Phase and to consider and treat Transition as such rather than as the beginning of Scholar Phase."

"You (the parent) must be effectively progressing in the Phases"

"As you apply correct principles you must truly relax and trust that your youth will do a Scholar Phase and do it well... Leadership Education comes naturally in homes where the parents are on the Leadership Path. Pushing them too soon will only slow down the process, and may actually push them off the Path of Leadership."

"Trusting does not mean giving in to your pride or paranoia at the expense of compromising tried-and-true principles. It means applying principles according to the vision and counsel of the FEC and not allowing other voices to incite you to second guess your hard won inspiration."

I have some relaxing and trusting to do. I'm not sure why I freak out. My son is really a great kid. He loves to read and he loves science. He has an insatiable appetite for learning. He's a great big brother and is very responsible. He also likes to fly little airplanes around the house and make noises that only a boy can make.

I'm ready to step off the conveyor belt again. I know this post was long, but I really needed it. The whole chapter is incredible and if you have a child between the ages of 9 and 14, I'd encourage you to read it. Again and again. It's a classic.

"There are few things in life as enjoyable, as rewarding or as downright fun as living through a great Transition to Scholar with your child during Love of Learning Phase. Enjoy it, slow down and savor it for as long as it lasts, and smile, hug and laugh a lot more."

Your Legacy

2008-11-11T23:23:00.004-09:00

"Your hand will touch each and every generations that bears your name. And in generations to come, while you might not be remembered, your love will live on. And that is your legacy as a mother." --Lenore Skomal

I love that quote.

Set a Goal on Monday or Tuesday (Kim)

2008-10-28T12:28:00.008-08:00

My friend Jody asked me if I was done setting a goal on Monday, because I haven't done it for a few weeks. I told her that no, I am not done with setting a goal on Monday, it is just that having 6 kids now is kicking my butt, and I haven't set a goal the last few weeks because that would just be one more thing I wouldn't be able to get done during the week. It usually takes me about 3 months after a baby is born to adjust to the changes, start to feel like myself again, and for us to get on a schedule of what works. So by my calculations I have about 5 more weeks of adjustment and chaos until things start to mellow out and to normalize. We shall see, maybe 6 is the magic number that turned me insane.

Well, my goal for the week is a little different than the goals I have previously set. I have been thinking a lot lately about the kind of mother I want to be and about the kind of family I want to have . Nothing makes me reflect on my life and the kind of person and mother that I am more than having a new baby. I think that since babies are just so innocent and wonderful it brings to mind all the hopes and dreams I have for my children and my role as their mother. A couple weeks ago I was reading a blog by Stephanie Neilson, the nienie dialogues, (my all time favorite blog to read) and she quoted a talk that I had heard given, but at the time it didn't affect me like it did when I read it on her blog. It was just what I needed right then and so I will quote her. She said: "Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments.{or if I could enter here-the basket-head mother syndrome} She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11). (To read the entire talk she is quoting click here)

Stephanie then goes on to say, "Starting today I am going to be better. I never had a basket-head mother, and I AM NOT GOING TO BE A BASKET-HEAD MOTHER! I am going to listen, love, communicate, cherish, enjoy, teach, preach and prepare my children. Time for everything else later.

Part of the reason I think this affected me so much was that I was reading a post that her sister had re-posted for the blogging world to read one month after Stephanie was in a terrible small plane crash. She was burned over 80% of her body and at the time I was reading this post they didn't know if she was going to live or die. (She is doing better now click here) She wrote the original post 2 months before this accident, and it reminded me how precious our time with our children really is. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, and even if nothing serious happens, our time with our children is still so very short. They just grow up so fast.

I think I live my life just trying to get through. I don' t take the time for the little things that really matter because the laundry needs to be done and the dishes need to be done. I haven't been cherishing those little moments with my kids that will be gone all too soon. In the talk that Stephanie quotes above Elder Ballard also says that, "...the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." I have been looking for those moments lately and cherishing them, (in a big part because of Stephanie's blog. She is such a good example) and I have been surprised how my whole attitude has changed. I think I am truly starting to find the real joy in motherhood. It isn't about the glorious end when your children will one day be perfect and the house will be perfect. That day will never come. It's about finding the joy in the journey of everyday, and if you miss the joy in the everyday small things you have missed the joy with your children. I can never get those little things back again.

So my goal this week is to love my children more, play more, give more hugs and kisses, listen more, sing, dance and be crazy more, praise more, and to stop being a basket head mother.

I Learned Something today (Kim)

2008-10-15T21:21:00.004-08:00

I learned something today. I learned about an artist named Camille Pissarro. He was born in 1830 and died in1903. He was called the father figure of the Impressionists. I learned that he was the only artist to have his paintings displayed at all 8 of the Impressionist exhibits, and that he has been described as "the truest of the Impressionists." This is my favorite painting by him.

Camille Pissarro. The Boulevard Montmartre at Night. 1897. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London, UK

It didn't take me long to learn about him, just about 20 minutes. I kept getting interrupted, but that's okay. When I think about learning and studying I usually think I need hours of quiet time so I can get book after book out and take notes on some deep subject that makes my brain hurt. But today I had a few minutes and I just opened up a book I got from the library. I read one chapter and I learned. It didn't take long to read one chapter and now I know more than I did yesterday. And guess what? Tomorrow I am going to read one more chapter.

Inspiration (Amy)

2008-10-10T00:48:00.004-08:00

A few weeks ago my husband and I took a trip. We left our boys with family while we were gone. My oldest (who is 12) stayed with his cousin that he has been best friends with since they were babies. Although we don't live close, anytime they get together it's like no time has passed.

His cousin is writing a book. He's serious about it too. He has pages and pages, chapters and chapters written. It will probably be a series. He's an avid reader and spends most of his time reading or writing.

It must be contagious, or maybe just inspirational.

Since my son returned home, he's writing a book of his own. He brings his notebook everywhere we go and anytime he has a spare minute, he's writing. (Pages and pages, chapters and chapters)

We spent some time the other day discussing the plot of his book. Its really interesting. I shouldn't be surprised, but I think it's going to be a great book. The last time we were at Barnes and Noble he asked me to get him a book on how to write a book. We spent some time looking and he picked one he thought he'd like. He's reading that now and he's come up with some great ideas.

So, this wasn't a kid who has always loved to write. In fact, I'd say he was the opposite. What happened? He got inspired!

This book writing didn't come as a requirement from me, his teacher. No, it was inspired by someone my son loves and respects and who is doing something that he is passionate about! Passion is contagious! I don't think you can fake it. You really have to love what you are learning.
That is what it takes to inspire! That is why it is so important to have a great community filled with others ~ adults and youth alike ~ who have a passion for learning. You need it. Your children need it. It's contagious. It's inspirational.

Get started today. Find someone who you can discuss a good book with. Then invite others to join you. Pretty soon you'll have a great group of friends and scholars to be an example to you and to your children.

What's on my Coffee Table?

2008-10-07T19:23:00.013-08:00

I thought that a fun way to show everyone what our family is studying right now would be to show a picture of our coffee table. The books that are on the coffee table change from day to day and even from minute to minute, but it does give a basic view of what is going on in our house in way of studying. I left the books just as they were, I didn't add or take away anything. This time I had a lot of stuff from my 11 year old on the table which is the way it usually is because she is such an avid reader, but sometimes I have it covered with books that my 3 year old likes. Let me know what you think and if you like it I will show you what's on my coffee table again soon.

1. Book of Mormon and Bible Combined. We each have our own copy and we try to read together each night. If you would like a free copy of the Book of Mormon click here for a free copy of the Bible click here.

2. My new Kraft Food and Family magazine. It has great recipes that are super easy to make. It is free to sign up just click here for your free subscription. I think it comes every 3 months. We eat great for 2 weeks after I get it.

3. You can't see very well from the angle of the picture but we have a whole pile of church magazines stacked up here.

4. The Work and the Glory series volume 9 All is Well by Gerald N. Lund

Historical Fiction Series about LDS church history. We watched the movies (there are 3) a couple of weeks ago and our daughter decided to read the series. Sometimes movies do inspire kids to read the book.

5. The Incredible Hockey Drill Book by Dave Chambers My husband coaches hockey so this has been on the coffee table for a couple of weeks now.
6. Get Started Beading Amy showed my 11 year old how to make necklaces during the summer and she has been making them like crazy ever since. We got this book to give us some inspiration.

7. The United States of America A State by State Guide Our 11 year old is hoping to go on a trip to Washington D.C. next summer and so has started studying some U.S. History on her own. This is one of the books she has been looking at the last few days. It has a map of each state and gives a bit of state history.
8. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini This has been a much anticipate book at our house. My husband and I read the first 2 books together about 2 years ago and our 11 year old read the first 2 last year. We bought 2 copies when this came out so we would wouldn't have to share. We didn't need to though our 11 year old had it finished in about 2 days and I still haven't started it yet.

9. Bob Books My 7 year old is reading these. They are great beginner books. My 2 year old loves to carry them around the house and look at the pictures. In fact, I think she had this book at the dinner table with her tonight.

10. What Your Sixth Grader Needs to Know edited by E. D. Hirsch Jr. I now have all of the books in this series now that I have a 6th grader. I think they are great to give you a basic guideline to follow. They have great stories, and are a great starting off point for things to study.

11. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch I picked this up to read while I was sitting for long hours in the hospital. I am only about 8 chapters into it. It is good so far. It is a true story about a man who is dying of caner. It is basically his final words to his children.

12. Jane Eyre by Charolette Bronte Still reading it from book club last month. This is the last book I need to read and discuss to complete the 1st level of my 5 Pillar Certification.

13. Knights and Castles A Kaleidoscope Kids Book

We are studying the Middle Ages this year and my 7 year old loves this book. It has great activities that are not hard to do. In fact we love all of the Kaleidoscope Kids Books, for a list click here.

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-10-06T10:09:00.005-08:00

I think I am finally back to normal life after having one crazy, crazy month. Baby number 6 was born Sept. 8, (she is so cute), my parents came to visit, and then my brother was in a very serious car accident so I went to Utah for a week to be with him and my family. So it goes without saying that we didn't do much schooling in September. Some months are just like that and you can't stress about it or you'll go crazy. Things have calmed down now and we are getting back on a regular schedule, which is nice.

I have two goals this week. My first goal is to get my Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) turned in to my teacher at IDEA (Our charter school. Is that what IDEA is?) They were supposed to be done last month, but with my crazy life the way it has been my teacher has given me extra time. An ILP is a list of the curriculum you are using with each child and a list of what they will be learning. It won't be hard, just time consuming to do.

My second goal this week is to get all of our new school books put on a bookshelf. Right now they are all lying on the floor in the boxes they came in waiting for me to clean off a shelf for them. It is going to be a big task, that's why I have put it off for so long, but no more. This week is the week.

Share your goal for the week with us by leaving a comment or by linking your blog to our blog. Post your goal on your blog and then click on the title of your goal post, copy and paste the link here. Thanks, can't wait to hear your goals.

Let's Work

2008-10-01T21:29:00.004-08:00

My kids have chores to do and they hate them. I have one child who complains nonstop about doing their job, one child who takes hours and hours to do a 5 min. job, and one child who can't remember from day to day how to do their job. I want my children to learn how to work, and I can't do everything myself, but it is so frustrating nagging my kids all day to get their jobs done. Well, finally after months and even years of frustration we are doing things differently around here. Some of you, probably a lot of you have been doing this already, but not me, it takes a while for me to do things the easy way. I have to try things the hard way until I about go crazy before I finally decide to find an easier way. The easy way this time is the Let's Work idea. How it works is that we all work together to clean the house. This has totally changed my day. Before we started doing this I would spend all day nagging the kids to get their jobs done. I would get mad at them for not doing their work and they would get mad at me because I was mad at them. But this way eliminates all of the frustration. I start off by playing some fun jazzy music that gets us moving, I even made a cd just for this purpose, and then we all start cleaning in one room. When that room is finished we move onto the next room, and then the next until they are all clean. The rule is that if you don't help clean you have to clean your room by yourself tomorrow. So far, the kids love it and I love it. It has taken away the complaining that "my job is the hardest", and "I always have the most stuff to take care of." I don't have to keep nagging and harping on the kids to hurry and get their jobs done, and I don't have to keep checking if it was all done and done right because I am right their helping and instructing as we go. I should have started this years ago. It has eliminated so much stress from my life. I am so much happier throughout the day because the house gets clean in the morning without all the nagging. Go ahead try it. Everyone needs less stress.

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-09-08T10:32:00.005-08:00

It's Monday again already and time for me to set another goal. Since my life is so crazy right now my goal is to have this baby and to just survive the week without going completely insane. How is that for a goal? My parents are coming the middle of the week so if I can survive until then we should be fine, my mom is a great help. Well, wish me luck, hopefully I will be on my way to the hospital soon.

Share your goal with us by leaving a comment or by posting on your blog and then licking to us. I look forward to hearing your goal for the week.

Learn a new language... Apprenda una idioma nueva (Amy)

2008-09-07T22:12:00.004-08:00

As you study Leadership Education, you'll stumble across this again and again. To keep your mind sharp as you continue your education, you should learn a new language. If you are bilingual, great! Learn a third language. Already have three? Go for four. I am a typical American and speak only one language, English.

So, I'm taking the challenge and I'm learning Spanish. Do you want to learn it with me? Wouldn't it be great to speak another language? We could study together, email each other in Spanish...

Here's what I'm doing. I bought a set of Sparknotes Study Cards. It has 1000 Spanish vocabulary flash cards. I pick out 5 each day and memorize them. As of today I've learned 50 words. It wouldn't take you too long to learn those and get started with me!

At a rate of 5 words a day it should take us 200 days to learn all 1000. With a base of 1000 words, we should be able to get the gist of what is being said around us... don't you think? We can work on conjugation and such later. That will come.

I know the Spanish equivalent of: who, what, where, when, why, how, because, how much, fruit, fountain, outside, strong, fire, to cook, car, thing, short, to run, far, year, lettuce, to learn, to read, new, fifty, there, two hundred, rain, to heat, English, cousin, family, to return, south, husband, soda, siblings, also, sixty, paper, in front of, ocean, to take off, opera, to shave, delicious (okay anyone with kids who watch Dora the Explorer know this one!), language, and museum! Go ahead... Quiz Me!

This is my technique: I pick out the five words (palabras) that I'm going to learn (apprender). I write them in my notebook (both in English and Spanish). Then my kids and/or my husband quiz me on them. They really enjoy this! I think the kids get a big kick out of me trying to speak another language. I keep the cards that I've learned in a sandwich bag and several times a day I go through them. I figure I'm writing the word, reading the word, saying the word, and touching the word. This has to be good for the memory.

I try using the words in conversation. Tonight I knocked on the bathroom door (we only have one bathroom these days) and told my husband, "Necesito ir al bano!" (I need to go to the bathroom!). I'll ask the kids, "Que quieres hacer?" (What do you want to do?) Or I'll say, "Go fuera" (a little spanglish ~ Go outside).

If you're interested in learning Spanish let me know... we can work together! I can post the 35 words I'll be learning each week if you'd like?

I do have an advantage because my husband is fluent in Spanish. He lived in Mexico for two years and then got his degree in Spanish. Sometimes I kick myself for not learning sooner. I wish he'd spoken it to the kids so that they learned it. But, we'll just start now. All of my kids can tell you that el fuego is fire. It's a start.

Favorite Books

2008-09-02T14:30:00.006-08:00

Okay, I promised a while back that I would post some of our family's favorite read a-loud books from last year. I was surprised that everyone pretty well agreed on the top three. Here they are:

1. Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls I loved this book. It is a real tear jerker though. At the end of the book I would tear up to where I could barely read, then I would stop and catch my breath and get the tears under control, but as soon as I started reading again the tears came all over again. You definitely need a box of Kleenex next to you when you read this book. I recommend it for ages 6+. Since it is our number one pick my kids obviously loved this book.

2. Old Yeller, Fred Gipson To read my 11 year old's review on this book click here.
Great book also. It was a very close second to Where the Red Fern Grows. I recommend it for ages 5+.

3. Little Men, Louisa May Alcott To read my 9 year old's review click here.
Also a good book. Teaches kids great moral lessons. It is a reading level above our #1 and #2 picks. I recommend this book for ages 8+.

Share your family's favorite books by leaving us a comment. Thanks

What about when life isn't perfect? (Amy)

2008-08-31T09:43:00.004-08:00

Last year we had a great school year! We used FEC (Family Executive Council) and Six Month Inventories. We held book discussion groups for parents and youth, started a Young Knights Club, and regularly met together with friends to discuss TJEd principles. I even had a "Math Club" going with my son and some other youth! Our home was a home conducive to homeschooling. We had plentiful bookshelves packed with classics. My kitchen was my dream kitchen with a 7 foot island perfect for projects! I am someone who thrives on organization and control and I had both.

I only describe this "so-called perfect life" to contrast my current situation...

Our family is heading out on an adventure, but one that will lack plentiful bookshelves, the perfect kitchen, and certainly complete organization and control.

So, now what? Seriously, what do you do when your life isn't all that you want (or need) it to be? What if your house isn't big enough? or your life is CRAZY? or you don't have time to do everything you'd like? or (fill in your own struggle here)...

You could (and if I was honest, I'd admit that I tried to) give up: surrender to the feelings of overwhelm and just wait for a time that would be easier to "get back on track".

But thanks to a mentor, a supportive spouse, and some really great friends, I'm not going to do that. I've decided that there is plenty that I can accomplish amid the chaos that will benefit my family and make us stronger and yes, better educated. I'm going to dig my heals in and keep going. We can keep holding FEC and continue to read and discuss as a family. We'll start projects, we'll travel, and we'll even do some math!

My life isn't perfect. I'm not sure when (if ever) we'll have another year that was as ideal as the last. But that's okay. The next few months will have their struggles, but they'll have their moments of beauty as well.

Like this morning... My husband is sitting next to me reading a book called The Self-Sufficient Life and How To Live It. My oldest son is compiling the pages of a book he's been writing into a notebook. My middle son is laying on the couch reading a Star Wars book and my youngest is filling out page after page in a kindergarten workbook (I've mentioned that he loves workbooks?).

It is quiet (except for the clicking of the keyboard) and everyone is occupied with learning! We're in limbo and everything isn't just how I'd like it to be, but we'll continue to work towards those things that are important and matter most. One step at a time.

Asking the right questions (Amy)

2008-08-26T06:48:00.014-08:00

I attended a convention at George Wythe College last weekend. It was an amazing experience. One that I had desperately needed, although I hadn't known it.

Allow me to give you a little background. My family has been in a state of flux the past few months. We've been preparing to sell our home and move, my husband is making a career change and we're leaving an wonderful TJEd community. In my "mourning", I had allowed myself to become distracted from what was really important.

But, I'm feeling more purpose driven. What caused the change? A mentor. Someone who cared enough to ask the really hard questions about where I was headed and what I really wanted. It was those questions that allowed me to regain focus on what I was doing and what was really important to me. Having the ability to discuss with someone what my goals and aspirations truly were and what I really wanted out of my life and for my family allowed me to clear away the distractions and focus on what I really needed to do. This is the power of a mentor and asking the right questions!

On her suggestion I attended the convention. Because I had started to ask the questions and was receptive to the answers, my mind was open to some really incredible insight. Life changing.

Some of the topics that were discussed were Education and Travel, Georgics, The Mentor Creed: Becoming Truly Inspiring, Trying to Live Scholar, Depth and Mission Phase at the Same Time, and The Liberal Arts. We also were given "Oliver's Top 10 Reading List". Over the next couple of weeks I'd like to share with you some of the thoughts and insights I received on those different topics.

But let me start here: The most powerful part of mentoring is to ask the right question. Are you asking the right questions for yourself and those you mentor? How can you know if you are?

How about the Six Month Inventory. Have you done one of those? Can you become who you have the potential to become without it? Can your children? If you haven't done a Six Month Inventory for each person you mentor (including yourself!), may I suggest that this is the time?

Pages 79-80 in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning discuss the Six Month Inventory. Here's an excerpt: "Consider the following questions... :

What are his/her biggest interests?
What are his/her greatest fears?
What are his/her fondest dreams?
What are his/her top needs in the next six months?
What should I do to help fulfill those needs?
What else do I need to know?
What else should I do?

To be honest, this will not do much good unless you are willing to do The Sixth Month Purge and the Six Month "No" and you will not use it much if you do not have Sunday FECs and interviews. But if you combine these most basic of ingredients, you have the makings of a powerful recipe for superb Leadership Education. Your children deserve it- they were born with important, world-shaping and universe-shifting missions."

Asking the right questions of myself and for my family has allowed me to get back on track toward what I really want in life. It is that powerful. There will always be distractions and emergencies. But keep asking the questions and allow yourself to be open to the answers. This will help you to stay focused on where you are headed and who you want to be!

Answer

2008-08-25T21:14:00.006-08:00

Dahlia left a great question on my post about science. Sorry it has taken me so long to answer.
Here is her question:
"One quick question (may not be a quick answer): what are you doing with your 3 year old? Is she getting to do the same stuff as older siblings or do you have a "curriculum" for her at all? My 3 year old is in need of some direction - we do crafts, play, etc, but if I had a schedule of things to do with her, I know it would be better for me at least...I guess this is where the 6 month inventory and FEC come in :) And do you do those with H3 as well?"

Well, yes my 3 year old does a lot with the other kids, and no I don't have a "curriculum" for her. I do buy her age appropriate activities that she can do and we do tons of reading with her.
If you want more direction for your 3 year old I would suggest that you set aside a specific time each day when you play "school." Just make it fun and exciting and something she looks forward to each day. Be careful not to start requiring anything in the way of academics during this time. I know it is hard to find things to keep your 3 year old busy, especially when they are the oldest child. I recommend reading to her a lot and continue with the projects and crafts. There are a lot of craft books out there for preschoolers. One of my favorites is The Preschoolers Busy Book. It has everything in it from how to make clay to making decorations for holidays. Another great resource is the Five in a Row Series. The book has activities that you do based on great children's books. Most of the books you can get at the library, and each book has art, science, math, language, and geography activities to do with the book you read. I got volume 2 last year for my then 6 year old, and he loved the books we read and really enjoyed the activities. The Five in a Row series is for ages 4-8 but I think the activities could easily be adapted for a 3 year old. I don't know about the Before Five in a Row book. I read the reviews on Amazon and they weren't that great. You might just be better off starting with one of the 4 Five in a Row volumes.
And about FEC and 6 month inventories, you should do a 6 month inventory on each of your children regardless of their age. You should even do one on yourself and your spouse. These types of questions are great to be asking in your FEC. FEC is the time to discuss how to meet the needs of each child. The 6 month inventory helps you see the needs of each child and the FEC helps you form a plan and put into action how to meet those needs.
I hope this was helpful and that I answered your questions.
Thanks for reading, and we miss you guys.

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-08-25T15:49:00.006-08:00

I am ashamed to say that I did horrible with my goal last week. It seemed like we had something going on every night so I didn't get the kids to bed early. I went to bed earlier than I had been going to bed, but it wasn't early enough, and with us not holding school yet (something came up on Thursday so we didn't start until today) there was no motivation for me to get the kids up early. I'm pitiful I know. So my goal this week is the same as last week. Get the kids to bed on time, get myself to bed at a regular time, and get everyone up early so we can get jobs done and breakfast over with before we start school.

As I mentioned above, we had our first official day of school today. It went pretty well I thought. The kids were excited to get all of their new school supplies out and use them. We had a lot of drawing and art taking place today, because of the new crayons, markers, and colored pencils. During individual study time my 9 year old said he wanted to do some science experiments, but he didn't want to put anything together like batteries with wires to a light bulb, he wanted to make potions like a "mad scientist". HHmmmmmmmmm, I thought for a minute. That would be Chemistry. So we got the science books that I purchased this year, (Real Science 4 kids). This curriculum comes with a separate book for chemistry, one for biology and one for physics. I looked through the chemistry book and found that chapter 3 has experiments where you get to mix different household products together and then see how they react. That sounded like what he wanted to do. I said we should start at chapter one and read so we would know what they were talking about by the time we got to chapter 3. Now that I am looking back I think maybe I should of just helped him to do the experiments in chapter 3 and then if we were lost or needed more information we could have looked back in the other chapters. Maybe by doing the experiments first he would be inspired to learn more on his own. He did listen intently while I read the first chapter though. It was on atoms, and the periodic table it was deep stuff, but he seemed to get it. Hopefully he will still want to do the experiments tomorrow.

I thought I would share my schedule for our school day. This is what it looks like for now.

7:00 get up shower, kids get dressed and clean rooms

8:00 breakfast then kids do chores

9:00 Start school with devotional

9:30 kid school (I share something I am studying, or something I want to them to know about)

10:00 individual study time, I study and they study if they need help I am there to help them

12:00 lunch

1:00 Mom reads out loud to everyone for 1hr-1 1/2 hrs.

After mom reads they can work on projects, read, play outside or whatever

This is a little different than last year. Last year I read aloud in the morning before lunch, and I found they kids weren't getting the individual study time like I wanted. We'll try this for now. My schedule is fairly loose. It worked well today, I will see how it goes for the week. I love to hear other people's schedules for their school day. It gives me ideas for when mine isn't working.

I should mention that my 11 year old is in transition to scholar phase. She comes for devotional and then she may or may not follow the schedule with the rest of us. Sometimes she will listen in on what we are doing for kid school and reading out loud. If it is something she is interested in she will stay, if she has something else she would rather work on she goes off by herself to study.

To share your schedule with us leave a comment or link from your blog. Also if you want to set a goal and share it with us we would love to hear it. To link to us post on your blog then click on the title of your blog, copy and paste that link. That way it will take us straight to your post.
Thanks.

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-08-17T22:32:00.004-08:00

I have decided to start setting a goal on Monday again. I need to write my goals down or I never do them. I will try to be more consistent, but I am not making any promises about doing it every week with a new baby coming. This week for my goal I am setting a bed time and I am sticking to it. I'm too embarrassed to say what time my bedtime is going to be because I am sure it is way later than most normal people stay up, but for me it will be a definite improvement, especially with the Olympics on lately I have been staying up waaaaaaaaay to late watching them. My goal is also to get the kids getting up at a regular time and back to a regular bedtime. Since we live in Alaska it is hard to get kids to bed early when it is still so bright outside at night. The sun doesn't even set here now until after 10:00. And when we go to bed late, of course we all want to sleep in in the morning and we don't get anything done all day. Am I the only one that does this? I hate it. I can't wait to get back to a regular schedule. I asked my kids today when we should have our first official day of school and they said Thursday. Public school starts on Wednesday, but I have a doctors appointment so they decided the next day. I was a bit surprised they wanted to start that early, but they seemed really excited about it. This last week we got our box of science stuff that I ordered the other day and it was like Christmas for the kids. They spent the whole day with their backpack kits and reading their new science books. Later that day my 11 year old asked when we were going to start doing school again. I asked her what she had been doing all day and wasn't that school. She replied that it wasn't real school because we hadn't had a "first day of school" yet. Maybe we never will. That way they can continue to enjoy learning without ever getting tired of "school".

If you are going to set a goal and want to share it with us we would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment or link your blog to ours. Don't forget if you link your blog, click on the title of your goal blog post then copy and paste that link. That way it will take us directly to your goal post. Thanks

Saying Goodbye (Amy)

2008-08-08T11:01:00.005-08:00

I can't believe it's time. I'm leaving in 4 days. I'm glad I'll be able to continue posting about my journey with leadership education on this blog. I have so enjoyed the past year with Kim and her family! They have truly been a blessing in my family's life. We are lucky that she takes the time to post her thoughts and experiences with TJEd on here. She's a great example to all of us. She inspires me to be better. Thanks Kim.

Whew! I've got a few tears going, which is inevitable isn't it? I can't believe how much my life has changed in the past 15 months since I first read A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. My educational paradigm has completely shifted! I've gone from attempting to duplicate public school at home, to recognizing the phases of learning that my children are going through and realizing the importance of myself as a mentor and an example. That change has been the difference between night and day around our home.

You could ask my children. They look forward to and love learning. "School" has a totally different meaning now. Each child has different strengths and we work with those. Sam loves to fill in workbooks. Josh prefers a more hands-on approach. Jacob needs time to read and study on his own.

I am so thankful for the change that TJEd has made in our home, and not just educationally. Have you tried doing your 6 month inventories or holding FEC yet? It will completely change your family. I promise. After you spend that kind of time focusing on your children and spouse, you won't look at those you love the same way again.

I've been a part of a some really great groups the past year. I can't explain how heartsick I am that I won't be able to participate this year! If you are in the area and have a chance to attend the Leadership Education Colloquium , I would highly recommend it. And your youth can really benefit from the Young Statesmen's Book Club. The Young Knights Club was an absolute blast! Thanks to all of you who contributed to these great experiences.

I'd like to encourage you to continue with your own leadership education journey, however it works in your life. I highly recommend the DeMille's new book entitled Leadership Education, The Phases of Learning as a starting point. Good luck! Leave some comments along the way... I'd love to hear how you are all doing!

Science Fun

2008-08-06T10:07:00.003-08:00

Science is so much more fun when you are doing hands on projects. This year I want to do more science projects with my kids. I like to buy kits that have everything included to do the experiments, because if we don't have everything there when we are ready to do the experiment we never will do it, especially if we are missing something that I am going to have to order. By the time we get the missing item all the enthusiasm for the experiment is gone.

The past couple of years we have ordered our science curriculum from Sonlight. Their science curriculum comes with the kit for the projects and a video with someone doing all of the experiments. My kids like to watch the video and then go and do all of the projects on their own. I think I got spoiled by having everything right there. We now have almost all of the lower grade kits so I have been looking for other activities and kits.

Last year we ordered an owl pellet kit and book about owls and my kids LOVED it. The kit came with one owl pellet, guaranteed to have at least one skeleton in it, and a book that fully explained what an owl pellet is and how to dissect it. It also showed examples of skeletons that could be inside of your pellet so that you can identify what your owl ate. My kids had so much fun with it that I wanted to get more activities like it.

While I was surfing the net the other night I found a great website with exactly what I was looking for. They have a lot of science activity kits and they also have whole science curriculum packages that you can order. You can also purchase kits that have everything needed to do the experiment for the curriculum. We ordered an ant farm, dissecting kit, some science books, and a couple of the backpack kits. I let my kids each pick a subject they were interested in and we bought items on that subject. I think I get as excited as the kids waiting for it to get here as they do. As an added bonus if you order by the end of the week you get free shipping on all orders over $100.00.

Let us know what science products or curriculum you and your kids like. Leave us a comment.

Worth everything it took!

2008-07-28T16:53:00.005-08:00

The road to the seminars was a long one, but it was worth every ounce of work, determination, and cost! As I write this, I'm thinking about those in our community who didn't attend and I wish they had. The opportunity to hear Dr. DeMille speak personally was an incredible experience. He spent two days teaching us how to be truly great mentors to our children. It was everything I had hoped it would be.

For me, the seminar came just in time! It's been a hard summer and it's been easy to get distracted. I was beginning to wonder if all that I've been doing was worth it. It takes a lot of commitment to be my child's mentor as opposed to their school teacher. I need to know them, really know them. I need to customize their education to each of them. I need to get an education so that I can be an example. It can be overwhelming!

So, it was a breath of fresh air to listen to Dr. DeMille speak of becoming a mentor. I was reassured that indeed, I can do it and it will be worth it! My children are worth the hard work. They are worth the time it will take to do an inventory. They are worth the time it will take to hold FEC and conduct interviews. Now is the time, and they are the generation that will need leadership education. They will face challenges in their life that will test them, and they are up to the challenge!

I encourage you to join a statewide TJEd Yahoo group. As a part of the Alaska TJEd community we can support and encourage each other. So, let's get to work and become the mentors our children deserve!

Glad I Went (Kim)

2008-07-28T15:58:00.004-08:00

I am so glad I went to the 2nd Face to Face with Greatness seminar. It was awesome. It was great to hear Dr. Oliver DeMille in person. He was just as inspiring as I had hoped. The whole seminar was about mentoring your children and it was just what I needed. I really realized that I don't know my children like I would like to and like I should. He spent a substantial amount of time talking about how important Family Executive Committee (FEC) and 6 month inventories are to being great mentors. Basically if you want to have a Leadership Education home you need to mentor your children and to do that you must do 6 month inventories on each of your children and then put into practice what they need in your FEC. I realized that although I was applying many of the TJ Ed principles I wasn't giving my children a leadership education because we haven't been holding FEC. I did 6 month inventories on my 3 oldest children last March, but because we weren't holding FEC the things I learned my children needed during the 6 month inventories I wasn't applying because I didn't specifically schedule them to be done. I was so glad that my husband went with me. I think he also caught the vision of FEC and how important it is to truly mentor your children. I was going to post how to do 6 month inventories and FEC but Dr. DeMille describes it much better than I ever could in his book Leadership Education. FEC is discussed on page 62 under the heading Ingredient #1: Sundays. The Six Month Inventory is discussed on page 79.

If you have any questions about either of these subjects Amy and I would be happy to answer them. Just leave a comment.

Face to Face with Greatness (Kim)

2008-07-23T12:03:00.005-08:00

Tomorrow we are off to the 2nd Face to Face with Greatness Seminar. I am so excited. My husband is coming which is great. He wasn't able to make it to the first seminar and it will be so good to have him with me this time so he doesn't have to hear everything second hand from me. I am also excited to be able to hear Oliver DeMille speak. His book A Thomas Jefferson Education was such a life changing book for me and for our family that I am really looking forward to spending 2 days being taught by him in person. The last seminar was mostly about You, not them, and I came away with such a desire to work on my own education. This seminar is about mentoring your children. I am hoping that I come away so inspired and with as great a desire to mentor my children as I did to work on my own education last seminar. Now is the time of year I need to be inspired to mentor my children, especially since we will be starting back to our normal school schedule some time in August.
I will post and let everyone know how the seminar was. (I'm sure it will be great)
In the next week or two I will be posting about some of my favorite homeschool books and what I am buying this year and I thought since we are all starting back to school soon it would be fun if we shared some of our all time favorite books we have read to our kids or our kids' favorite books. So be thinking about what you want to share with everyone.
I will probably start Setting goals on Monday again soon, just so that I get motivated to do something. You are welcome to participate in that if you want.

Young Statesmen Book Club Book List

2008-07-15T19:36:00.004-08:00

This year, as most of you know, we are splitting the Young Statesmen Book Club into 2 smaller groups. We were just growing so big that we thought it would be more effective to have 2 smaller groups so each child would have plenty of opportunity to participate in the discussion. The age groups will be ages 9-11 for the younger group and ages 12 and up for the older group. Until Amy moves she will be leading the older group, so if you have any questions about the group e-mail her at jakeamy@aol.com. Kim is leading the younger group. You can e-mail your questions to her at nimmymay30@yahoo.com. We will be holding both clubs on the same night so that if you have kids in both groups you will only have to make one trip. The older kids will be meeting at Amy's house and the younger group at Kim's. We will e-mail directions to Kim's houses when it lets closer to our next meeting. Meetings will still be held on the 3rd Thursday of the month, the older group will be meeting from 7:00-9:00, and the younger group will be meeting from 7:30-9:00.

Book List for the 9-11 year old group (click the title of the book to order it)
August 21 -- Welcome Back Party
September 18 --The Year of Miss Agnes, Kirkpatrick Hill
October 16 -- Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink
November 20 -- Sarah Plain and Tall, Particia MacLachlan
December 18 -- The Cabin Faced West, Jean Fritz
January 15 -- The Twenty-One Balloons, Willian Pene du Bois
February 19 -- From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
March 19 -- Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
April 16 -- Tale of Despereaux, Kate Dicamillo
May 21 -- Biography Night
For the complete list of books on Amazon click here

Book List for the 12+ Group
August -- Welcome Back Party
September 18 -- Carry on, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Lee Latham
October 16 -- Animal Farm, George Orwell
November 20 -- My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
December 18 -- The Cay, Theodore Taylor
January 15 -- Heidi, Johanna Spyri (make sure to get the unabridged version)
February 19 -- The Giver, Lois Lowry
March 19 -- The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Spears
April 16 -- Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
May 21 -- Speech Night
For the complete list of books on Amazon click here

We chose books that we thought would lead to a good discussion, not books that would streach your child's reading ability, although, not all of the books are at the same reading level, especially in the younger group.

The Leadership Education Colloquium Book List for 2008-2009

2008-07-11T01:47:00.007-08:00

****This is the current up to date list****

I know you have all been waiting for the list of books we will be reading for the upcoming year so here it is:
August -- Laddie, Gene Stratton-Porter
September -- Jane Eyre, Bronte
October -- The 7 Lesson School Teacher, John Taylor Gatto (Article found in the book Dumbing Us Down by Gatto)
November -- Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe
December-- Alas Babylon, Frank
January -- A Shakespeare Play
February -- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey
March -- Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
April -- The Fourth Turning, Strauss and Howe
May -- Walden, Henry David Thoreau

All of these books were taken from the 5 Pillar Certification list, so if you haven't signed up for the 5 Pillar program yet, now is the time to do it. You are already reading the books for it so you might as well get the credit for it. Let's share the pain of learning together.

I'm Back (Kim)

2008-07-11T01:06:00.005-08:00

My laptop is fixed! I had a horrible virus that wouldn't let me on the internet, but it is fixed and I feel like I have an old friend back.
Tonight was book club night. We had a great discussion on The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour. I will admit this was not one of my favorite books that we have read for book club (okay, actually it was my least favorite), but I enjoyed the discussion and really came away with a lot that I hadn't thought about. And, in fact, I am looking forward to reading it a second time with a new perspective. I think that is one of the great things about book clubs. Everyone takes something different from the book and when you get together and discuss every one's different ideas and opinions it really broadens your perspective. I will confess that I was hurrying through the book and just surface reading. I wasn't asking questions and digging deep, I wasn't thinking about what I was reading I was just trying to finish it (which I didn't). I thought about that tonight at the book club as Laurie read a quote from the book that says: "Reading without thinking is as nothing, for a book is less important for what it says than for what it makes you think." -- Louis L'Amour The Walking Drum p. 201-202. It is hard work to think about a book not just read it. I think this is where the pain of learning comes in that Mortimer Adler (download article here) talks about. Learning is hard and it takes work. Am I willing to put the work into it that it requires? Do I want that knowledge bad enough that I am willing to go through the pain it takes to get it? I think I am starting to get there, (obviously I wasn't on this book the first time around) but I can definitely look back and say I have come a long way in the last year.

Still Here!

2008-07-03T17:38:00.002-08:00

Hi! It's been a while hasn't it? Kim's computer has been down and my life has been crazy! But I'm sure that goes the same for anyone who's reading this!
So, my BIG news! The Face to Face with Greatness Seminar is still on! I can't believe it. Really. Today was the last day to get registrations and we were way behind. I was sure it was going to be canceled. But, those people who are attending really stepped up to the plate and made it happen. THANK YOU! (You know who you are!) We still have some seats available. And because of the generosity of some amazing people, we are able to offer some seats at a discounted rate. Let me know if you'd like more information about that!
I've got lots of reading to do before the seminar. We'll be discussing Pride and Prejudice and Walking Drum. We should have also read A Thomas Jefferson Education, The Home Companion, and Leadership Education. I'm going to be busy the next few weeks!

Exciting Happenings!

2008-05-26T11:40:00.002-08:00

Well, there is lots going on around here with Leadership Education! Oliver DeMille is coming to Alaska!!! He is going to be speaking in Anchorage on July 25-26. Start making plans to attend. You've read the books and now you have a chance to hear him speak in person! I can't overstate how important it is for you to be a part of this. It will change your life and that of your family. Please don't miss out on this. Check out www.aktjed.org for all the exciting news.
Also, we also have another blog going about the adventure of "You, Not Them". Check it out at www.younotthem.blogspot.com.
This fall we'll continue the Young Statesmen's Book Club for kids ages 9-16. If you are interested, let us know. We meet monthly in two groups (one for the older kids, one for the younger) and discuss a book we've all read.
We're also starting a chapter of the Young Statesmenship Club. You can get more information here. I think this is going to be great! So if you have youth ages 12 and up, let me know. We'll be starting meetings in the fall.
So, there is LOTS going on! Now is the time to join in!

Laddie (Kim)

2008-05-23T20:12:00.003-08:00

Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter

Yaaaaaah! I finished Laddie, and I loved it. For those of you that are reading it this month for our book club I know it seems like it takes a while for the story it get going, but hang in there, don't give up, it is so worth it. For me I think it took until about Sally's wedding until it picked up and then I couldn't put it down. This is my favorite book we have read so far (and I love Pride and Prejudice so that tells you how much I enjoyed it.) I am really looking forward to discussing this book because there are so many lessons to learn from it, everything from statesmanship and education to family unity and faith in God. I also just feel in love with all of the characters. I loved the parents, and the great examples they were, I loved Laddie and what an outstanding man he was, I loved Little Sister and her faith in God, I loved all of the brothers and sisters and how they took care of each other. I can't wait to read it to my kids. So, if you haven't read it, then read it, if you are reading it and are stuck, keep going you'll be glad you did.

If you've read it leave us a comment and tell us what you thought. I would love to know.

Ingredient #39 The Awakening (Kim)

2008-05-14T15:29:00.004-08:00

Last month after my oldest read Old Yeller for book club, I decided to read it to the rest of the family. My 7 year old, who is in core phase, had always been in and out of the room while I was reading out loud. He would play with Legos, blocks and other toys but rarely did he sit and just listen to the story. Sometimes he would pick up on a few of the exciting points of the story, but playing had always been more important, until we read Old Yeller. When I started Old Yeller, it was the same as always. He sat on the floor playing with his toys, and then something wonderful happened. He climbed into the chair next to me, and he sat and listened the whole time I read. He climbed up next to me the next day and the next and every day until we finished the book, and he has been sitting next to me listening to everything I have read out loud since then. Oliver DeMille calls this the "Awakening." It was awesome to see and to realize what was happening. I love home schooling and being able to share these times with my children.
To read more about "The Awakening" read Leadership Education The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille page 134.

5 Pillar Certification (Amy)

2008-05-11T19:37:00.008-08:00

Well, we did it! Kim and I have signed up for George Wythe College's 5 Pillar Certification program.
"WHAT IS 5 PILLAR™ CERTIFICATION? The 5 Pillars of Statesmanship are: Classics, Mentors, Simulations, Field Experience and God. Certification endorses an individual’s knowledge and ability in the Classics/Mentors approach to teaching leaders by incorporating all 5 Pillars into an overall approach to education—the approach which has trained great leaders from Washington, Jefferson and Abigail Adams to Lincoln, Churchill and Gandhi. The 5 Pillar™ Certification program is divided into three levels to facilitate progress." (from www.gwc.edu)
Because of the amazing Leadership Education Colloquium group we've got going up here, we're almost done with level I! Then we'll be working on level II.
Here's what an email we received from the 5 Pillar director said, "The purpose of level II is to develop and hone your writing skills. You will write a one to two page paper on each book or play. The completed paper is then submitted to George Wythe College via the online learning center. See the attached document for complete submission guidelines. You will then receive one of two grades: A = Excellent; or DA = Do Again until it is an A. When you receive a DA you may be disheartened, but look at it as an opportunity for one-on-one mentoring. This experience will help you become a better mentor."
So, do you want to join us?? Wouldn't it be great to go through this with friends? Let's be a support to each other and become more than we would alone!

The Great Debate (Amy)

2008-05-07T20:51:00.005-08:00

My sister and I are co-hosts of the Face to Face with Greatness seminar series. We successfully completed #1 and we're getting ready for #2 which will be on July 25-26 in Anchorage. As we are gearing up for the seminar, we've been talking a lot about leadership education and the "You, Not Them" principle which was a focus of the #1 seminar. After one of our conversations, she emailed me this excerpt from Oliver and Rachel DeMille's new book entitled Leadership Education. It's lengthy, but I thought you might enjoy it.

"As a good mentor, you need to be personally active in the Great Debate. Mortimer Adler, compiler of The Great Books series, called it the Great Conversation and others have called it a Great Discussion. It is the current state of a debate that has been going on for as long as we have written records. Most people do not even know about the Great Debate, but it is perhaps the most influential thing going on in the world at any given time. It is not found in textbooks, but textbooks often reflect the conclusions of the Great Debate in the past fifty years. The Great Debate is found in the classics, and the purpose of Scholar Phase is to make us fully conversant in the language of the Great Debate. This is the language spoken by those who have led, currently lead, and will lead the world in the decades ahead. The Great Debate is the discussion leaders of the world at any point in history are having about what we all want as human beings and how we should get what we want. In our society, one probably has not done Scholar Phase effectively unless they have at least a subliminal awareness of the history and current dialogue of this debate and are actively taking part in impacting it.

Since the natural consequence of studying the classics is to look around at the current world and wonder what is really happening, we are often asked about the best source for current events. The truth may surprise you. First of all, most people get their news from the electronic media - radio or television. Such people are usually very opinionated and frightfully uninformed. They know very little about what is really happening, but either do not care or very strongly share their opinions when asked. They have no influence on what happens, and no idea why it is happening or what really is going on.

The second group of people is a little more studied. They either listen to the same newscast or radio program each day (thereby following events in more detail), or they read a daily newspaper or weekly magazine. They are less strongly opinionated, consider themselves basically objective, and know a little bit more than the first group. In short, they know little to nothing about what is really going on either, and have no influence on what actually happens - except perhaps locally.

Finally, a relatively small group of people are part of the Great Debate. They are continually pursuing a classical education, and when they go to the library they take time to read the latest articles from scholarly journals like Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Congressional Digest, Vital Speeches of the Day, etc. They may or may not also read the newspaper or listen to a daily television or radio program, but they do study the journals. When Leadership Education parents go to the library, they set the example by reading classics and scholarly journals. At first they struggle to even understand the journals, but they keep doing it just like they kept reading Shakespeare. Eventually they understand what is going on in the world - really - not just surface skimming, but deep understanding. This educational process is a natural precursor to becoming someone who influences world events...

Scholar Phasers enter the Great Debate through classics and scholarly journals, rejecting the conveyor belt notion that there is a dogmatic list of classics somewhere. Instead they test a book to see if it belongs on their own personal classic list. Depth Phasers set out to impact and change the Great Debate, quickly learning how far they are from the education they need and returning more teachable to great Liberal Arts mentors who can now really help them since they are finally humble (a step beyond their Scholar Phase when they thought they actually knew something). "

Reminder (Kim)

2008-04-28T13:25:00.003-08:00

Just a reminder that today on the George Wythe College Hour they discussed The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour. I haven't listened to it yet, but I hope to soon. I did listen to the 3rd show they did on the Invitation to the Pain of Learning by Mortimer Adler today while I was doing the dishes. I read the article a couple of days ago (its only 3 pages and pretty easy to understand) which I was glad I did. They had a very interesting discussion on education and the pain that is associated with real learning. They also discussed why as parents we try to keep our children away from this pain, even though they really want it and need it. Let me know what you think. I really enjoyed listening today and look forward to listening to more.

Vision Statement (Amy)

2008-04-28T07:10:00.003-08:00

At the Face to Face with Greatness Seminar, Dr. Brooks asked us to set a goal. After we each committed our goal to writing, he challenged us to complete it within 2 weeks.
At a George Wythe College Seminar last summer we were given an assignment: Complete a Vision Statement. These were the 10 steps:
1. Write your name at the top of a blank sheet of paper.
2. Visualize what your education will be 5 years from now.
3. What is the #1 thing that will improve your education?
4. Visualize your life 10 years from now.
5. Visualize yourself making a difference in the future.
6. What help do you need?
7. What else do you need?
8. What fears must you put aside?
9. What is your greatest dream?
10. What are the next 5 steps?
Go somewhere quiet where you can really think about these questions. Spend time thinking about each one and come up with a good vision of each in your mind. Then take the time to write them all down.
Sound easy? The first time I did this, I cried. I was surprised to know that I didn't have an answer to some of the questions. I could fill the page with all my fears, but really struggled with some of the others. I realized that in all of my day to day "living" I hardly thought about the purpose of my life. I spend most of my time worrying and concentrating on everyone else. It was necessary (yet painful and exhilarating) to take the time to think about where my life was headed. Since then, I've been amazed to see the difference it made in my life as I was more purposefully driven.
For the last few months I've known that I needed to revisit my vision statement. It's not an easy exercise, but I also learned how great it can be. So when Dr. Brooks asked us to set a goal, I knew what mine would be. After almost missing the deadline for the challenge, I completed my vision statement. Althought it was easier than the first time, I still struggled and pondered. But now I have a guide to achieving those things that I want most in life.
My challenge to each of you: Take some time out of your busy lives and write a vision statement for yourself. You may be surprised where it leads you!

Set a Goal on Monday (Kim)

2008-04-27T20:07:00.012-08:00

"Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They
become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your
habits they become character. Character is everything."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome to Set a Goal on Monday.

This week I will be working on a couple of goals I already set. The first one is that I am going to hold math club again with my children. I set this goal a couple of weeks ago. I actually did it once and my kids loved it. I didn't plan much because I didn't have the math books I ordered, but we did do it. We cut up an apple and talked about fractions and then we played times table bingo. They rolled a pair of dice and then they multiplied the two numbers together and then checked the number off on their bingo board. Even my 7 year old was able to figure out many of the smaller problems and we let him use a cheat sheet for the larger numbers. They enjoyed it so much they asked if we could have math club every day. My plan was to start doing it at least twice a week, but I have been distracted for the last couple weeks doing other things and I have let it fall by the wayside, but not this week. My goal is to hold it at least twice. My son even asked if we could have science club. Some how everything is much more fun when you call it a club. (Maybe we can have spelling club or writing club. Will they catch on if all of a sudden we have 5 different clubs a day?)

The second goal I am going to work on is writing in my journal. I haven't done so good in that area. My goal last time was to write in it 3 times that week and I only made it once. However this is a new week and I can make improvement. (hey, even if I only do it twice that will be an improvement.) My goal, once again is to write 3 times this week. I got a couple books from the library with some very fun journal ideas. Now I just need to do them. A couple of ideas that sounded fun were:

1. make a list of some of your favorite things. (favorite songs, foods, places you've visited)

2. Record your goals and your resolutions

3. Write poems or stories

4. Record your dreams or wishes

5. Keep a travel journal on trips you take

All of these things I'm sure my kids would like to read about someday. I just need to get busy and do it now. Wish me luck.

If you are setting a goal this week tell us about it. Leave us a comment and tell us what it is you're working on or link to us from your blog. It is easy, once you have posted on your blog, click on the title of your blog and then copy and paste the link below. Can't wait to hear what everyone is working on.

George Wythe College Hour (Kim)

2008-04-22T13:32:00.005-08:00

I am so excited about what I found that I had to share it with everyone. I was looking at the George Wythe College website, trying to find information about the 5 pillar certification, (Link here) and I came across a link called the George Wythe College Hour. I clicked on it and was excited to find that it is a one hour radio show colloquium. They have a panel of people that discuss a particular reading each week. On the GWC website you can listen to the previous broadcasts and also download the essays or lectures they have discussed and will discuss. (If they are discussing a book they have a link to the book for you to purchase.) Next week they are discussing The Lonesome Gods, and later this summer they will be discussing The Chosen and A Thomas Jefferson Education. What a great way for me to work on my own education and learn more about some of the books we have discussed. It is also a great way for me to broaden my horizons and not only read other great works, but now I have the opportunity to hear what the great minds out there have to say about them. I am definitely going to take advantage of this wonderful new opportunity. And the great thing about it is I can listen to it whenever I want. How wonderful is that!

239,000 Miles to the Moon (Amy)

2008-04-13T07:53:00.003-08:00

On July 16, 1969 the Apollo 11 Mission launched from Kennedy Space Center and headed for the Moon. Over the next 4 days they would travel 239,000 miles towards their intended destination. How much of that flight were they "on course"? Approximately 3%. So how did they get there? Course Corrections. When Dr. Brooks used this example at the Face to Face with Greatness Seminar, I had an epiphany.
Here is what happens a lot of times: We get really excited about our direction, path, mission, etc. We get organized and start out. After a while we get off course. Someone gets sick, we have to turn in work samples or participate in testing, our relatives question what we are doing or we get hit with a sudden case of anxiety and jump back on the conveyor belt. This is when it's important to look out at our long-range destination or goal and make course corrections to get us back on track.
If our astronauts were on course for 3% of the time over a distance of 239,000 miles and they still hit their mark, do we need to worry when those inevitable distractions that knock us off course come into our lives? As long as keep our sights on the ultimate goal and are willing to make course corrections when needed, we will be successful also.
The Face to face with Greatness Seminar was a huge boost. Miles were gained on my journey toward Leadership Education. My husband and I were able to unite in purpose and define our goals more fully which will make those inevitable course corrections a little easier I think.
The Apollo 11 Mission had thousands of support personnel on the ground helping them achieve their ultimate goal.
There have been times over the past 12 months as I have instituted Leadership Education into my home when I have had feelings of worry, anxiety, fear, and apprehension. But I have been surrounded by amazing examples of fortitude, strength, dedication, and purpose. That support has helped me focus on my ultimate goal and I've been able to make course corrections to keep me on my way. This is the purpose of community! It is so powerful.
It was a great feeling to look through the crowd at the seminar and see familiar faces from our book discussion group! There were 12 of us! I know the sacrifice that it took to get there. I'm excited for us all to return home and share our renewed excitement and purpose with our community there. Thanks to all of you who are sharing this journey with me.

Seminar Day 1 (Kim)

2008-04-11T21:56:00.003-08:00

Wow, today was the first day of the Face to Face with Greatness Seminar. I enjoyed it so much. I am now so jealous of all of the people in Utah that have so much access to all of the TJ Ed seminars and lectures, and the community that they seem to have there. It was a long day, but the time went very quickly. I feel like I was given so much information to process that I just need to let it all soak in for a while and let it process before I can really discuss it in depth. However, here are a few of my first thoughts, and impressions that came to me as I sat there. (Just because these are my thoughts it doesn't mean we necessarily discussed all of these things)
1. The TJ Ed principles work, they are truth and truth never changes
2. You, Not Them is a must therefore,
3. I need to study the classics more and get a great education.
4. My education will impact not only me and my children, but also my grandchild and great-grandchildren.
5. I really came away with a feeling that I need a mentor. I don't know how to do this yet, whether it is through the 5 pillar certification or another way, but I know I need to be pushed. (Is this a sign that I want to move into scholar phase hhhhhmmmmmm.)

Finally Here! (Kim)

2008-04-10T09:37:00.002-08:00

Finally, my book Leadership Education The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille arrived yesterday. I was hoping to have it read before the Face to Face with Greatness Seminar this weekend, but that's not going to happen. I haven't even had a chance to open it yet. Oh, well. I am really looking forward to the seminar though. I plan on taking lots of notes and then sharing what I learn. I better go and get packing. I haven't even started yet.

Share Something on Friday (Kim)

2008-04-04T10:57:00.006-08:00

It's Friday and time to share something. We didn't really do much for school this week because of state mandated testing, which I am so glad is over. We did go to the library yesterday though. I love going to the library, but is always such a chore to take 5 kids. Lately, I have been trying to go to the library during my husbands lunch hour so he can come with us and watch the 2 littlest ones while I find the books I need. He wasn't with me yesterday so everything was much more complicated. I had K1 in the stroller and H3 walking with me, the other kids are old enough to stay in the kids section and find books themselves. H3 had her own basket and every time I stopped to look at something she would grab a book off of the shelf that was closest to her and stick it in her basket. Among a few of her finds were a book on the 1800s, personal finance, the oil industry, superman comic book and a cook book dedicated to tortillas (this is the only one that we kept. I was very hungry at the time)
When I go to the library I have a list of topics that I want to learn more about. The list develops from things we are studying and have questions about, things the kids are interested in learning more about, and things I want to study the upcoming month. When I get to the library I look up the topic in the online catalog. ( I am going to start doing this at home before I get to the library to save time while I am there I just didn't have the opportunity yesterday before I went)
Once I have found a couple of books that sound good I write down their call numbers and then I go to that section and look through the books there. I may or may not get the books that I found in the card catalogue. I look through them and choose books that are age appropriate for the child that will be reading them. I like to get a feel for the book that is the reason I don't just reserve them on the online catalogue. It usually takes me about an hour to go through my list and make my selections. I'm sure the librarians probably dread seeing us walk up to the check out desk. I get tons of books and I let my older kids check out as many books as they want, so I bring a laundry basket to carry all of the books in. I have tried other ways of doing it like everyone bringing their own backpack to put the books in, but I have found the basket works best. When everyone brought their own bag the books stayed in their bags the whole month.
Yesterday, I finally got some books for myself. I usually just get books for the kids and don't have time to find anything for myself. Well, yesterday was different for a change. I got some books on gardening (I am so anxious for spring to come can you tell?), books on money saving tips, I checked out The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey again. My husband and I read it last summer. It is an excellent book about getting out of debt and how to invest your money later. It totally changed how we handle our money. I got it for a refresher course. I also got a few books on journal writing. ( see my post for set a goal on Monday). Oh ya, and the tortilla cookbook. I am excited to explore my finds. I can tell I am in love of learning phase. I read a little from this book then a little from that book and then I move on to something else. With nonfiction books I usually skim through and read what looks the most interesting. It's a good thing we have libraries, or my home would be filled to the brim with books. Wait, it already is.
I thought for share something Friday it would be fun to hear what books everyone is reading right now. I love to hear about great books that other people have read. Share with us what you have read recently or what you are reading now. Leave a comment below or link to this blog from your blog. If you have something else you would like to share other than what you are reading that is fine too. To see what I am reading right now (other than my new library books)click on the link below to my blog.

Set a Goal on Mondays (Kim)

2008-03-31T10:11:00.007-08:00

Thought for the week
"...Raising children is the thing that changes the world the most. Everybody knows this, but Modern Feminism has convinced us that it is cliche', even patronizing. Eve didn't think so, nor did Sarah.
Raising children and mentoring the next generation is the most important thing we can do to change the world. It is the primary role of all women and all men, married or single. It is who we are. It is why we were born. We must train up the leaders of the future with confidence, power and grace. We must deliver. We must achieve results. We are the stateswomen of the 21st Century. If we fail, the world will fail. If we shrink, hesitate, or doubt, precious time will be lost. We are the leaders of today. Our choices and our actions are the most important choices and actions occurring in the world today.
Now, the most important thing I have to say: You Can Do It!" --Rachel DeMille "Steel to Gold" Motherhood and Feminism (the whole article can be found in A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion p. 59 or read online here.
I love this quote. It once again reminds me how important everything is that I do each day as a mother. We are the leaders of today whether we want to be or not. Where are we leading our children? Mr. Shawn Ercanbrack describes statesmen (and I'll add stateswomen) this way: "Statesmen are self-directed leaders; they are problem solvers whose abilities and actions inspire greatness in others, transform organizations, and change society with lasting, positive results." As Rachel says we are the stateswomen of the 21st Century and we can do it. We can inspire greatness in others, we can stand up for the values and principles that are important to us. If we don't then who will? We can make our communities a better place to live not only for our own children but also for our grandchildren. WE CAN DO IT!
With that said it's Monday and time to set a goal for the week. Any little change we make is important and each small thing adds up to big results in the end. Okay here is my goal: My goal is to keep a journal. I know it is important not only to record the events of our family, but also to see my own personal growth. I have kept a journal off and on most of my life, but it has always been very sporadic. I always enjoy going back and reading what I have written. I always think I will remember the cute little things my kids say and do, and the details of my life, but when I go back and read what I've written I realize that I have forgotten it all. I also want my kids to start keeping a journal. I must confess that this is the main reason for setting this goal. I think it is important for them to get in the habit of writing down what they are studying and to just get in the habit of writing. I got a book a couple of weeks ago on Nature Journals hoping that would inspire them to write something, it hasn't worked so far. Maybe once spring comes that will help. I have talked to them about writing something each day and have gotten them each their own journal, but as I have was thinking of ways to inspire them to keep a journal I discovered I was missing the most important aspect of inspiring. I wasn't doing it myself. (It takes me a while to catch on to anything new, and you, not them is still new) So, my goal is to write in my journal at least 3 times this week. I am not going to say anything to my children about writing in their own journals, I am just going to let them see me write in mine. Then I am going to wait and see where that leads for now. Maybe in the future we will have a class or lesson on journal keeping. But for now it's all me.
Now it's time for you to share your goal with us. Leave a comment or link to us from your blog. Remember that after you post on your blog click on the title of your blog and copy and paste that link. That way it will always take us directly to your goal post. Thanks, love to hear from you.

Waiting Impatiently (Kim)

2008-03-29T19:03:00.004-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Being pregnant is zapping every ounce of strength I have. I have been so tired lately that its a good day if I get dressed and brush my teeth. Anyway, such is life. As the title of this blog says, I have been waiting, very impatiently, for my new book from Oliver DeMille to arrive from George Wythe College. The book is called Leadership Education, the Phases of Learning. I am so excited to read this book that I ordered it the day we had the conference call with Dr. DeMille and he mentioned it. That was the 12th of March. About a week after I ordered it and I was starting to check my mail box for it, I was sent an e-mail by the GWC bookstore saying that my book would be shipped the next day. So that's another week I had to wait. Well, I have been checking my mail for the past week and still nothing. I finally decided to see if the original e-mail had a tracking number on it so I could find out where it is. It did and my package left Washington State on the 24th of March. That was the last time it was handled. Okay, does it really take 5 days to get to Alaska from Washington. I have driven to Utah faster than that. I was hoping to have it read before the Face to Face seminar. Now I'm just hoping to have it by the seminar.
For any of you who are interested in the book here is a list of the contents:

NEW! Leadership Education, The Phases of Learning Includes:
Part I -
A Philosophy for life: Why the Phases Matter
Two Views of Childhood
The Phases
Part II -
A Recipe for Success: The Foundational Phases
Core and Love of Learning Phases
Transition to Scholar Phase

Part III - A Blueprint for Leadership: The Educational Phases
Scholar Phase
Depth Phase

Part IV - A Mandate for Service: The Applicational Phases
Mission Phase
Impact Phase

Coda - Grandparenting

Appendix - The Leadership Education Continuum

It looks like they have taken all of the packets and combined them into a book, which will be so nice, and then they are giving us even more information. The book is $26.95 through the GWC bookstore. Hopefully I will have it soon. I will let everyone know when I get it. (If you already have one, feel free to leave a comment and let us know how wonderful it is.)

Light Bulb Moment For Me (Kim)

2008-03-18T16:16:00.003-08:00

So I was listening to Dr. Laura today (big surprise) while I was doing the dishes, (Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid Dr. Laura listener and if you read this blog there is a distinct possibility that you will soon get tired of hearing me quote her.) and a stay at home mom called in and said she didn't feel fulfilled. Dr. Laura told her that "We feel fulfilled when we fulfill the needs of others," and that we should start with the needs of our family. She went on to discuss with this lady that how you feel is all in your attitude. She told her that even though so many of the things she does each day may seem mundane and not to matter they really are huge to her family. If she sat down with her family that night at dinner and asked them what they would do if they came home one day and she suddenly weren't there and all the things she did for them each day weren't done that these things that seem so small to her would be huge to them.
Yesterday she told another lady that had called in because she was unhappy with her husband, that when she is mad because she has to pick his socks up off of the floor to think about the widow who would love to pick her husbands socks up because that would mean that he were there. I started thinking about these two calls today as I was doing the dishes that I hate to do, but if I didn't have the dishes to do that would mean that I didn't have a family to dirty the dishes. What a difference it made in how I felt doing the dishes when I thought of it that way. I know as a mom it is so easy to get overwhelmed with everything we have to do everyday. It seems like we are always doing for everyone else and we never have time for ourselves, but the things that we do for our families are so very important to them and if we didn't have all these things to do it would be because we didn't have all of these people that we love so much. It's all in the attitude. It was a light bulb moment for me.

Set a Goal on Mondays (Kim)

2008-03-17T14:26:00.003-08:00

My TJ Ed thought for the week:
"What our children learn in the Foundational Phases is how to be us. Internalize that and consider how our attitudes and habits can inspire our hinder them. This does not mean being perfect (as in never making a mistake); This means repenting perfectly when we make a mistake, being consistent in our effort to achieve, inspire and promote excellence, and using simple, high quality everyday home life as the curriculum for greatness." --Oliver and Rachel DeMille Core and Love of Learning A Recipe for Success p.17

It's Monday again and time to set a goal for the week. My goal this week is to start up my "Math Club" with my kids. This is something I have wanted to do for a while I just have never gotten around to it, so this is the week I am finally doing it. I am setting the time for Thursday at 11:00. There if I have a set time I am more likely to hold to it. What I am planning for the math club is to spend an hour playing math games and doing different math activities. I have a couple of books I got from the library with math activities and I ordered Family Math, and Math Magic from the GWC (George Wythe College) book store. They should be here any day and I am very excited to get them. (By the way, the GWC bookstore has a great selection of books for children. Everything from science and math to music and poetry. Just look in the junior section.) My purpose in doing the math club is to make math fun, to show how it is used in everyday situations and to inspire my children to do more math on their own. If it goes well I may try doing it 2 times a week. It will depend on how much planning it takes.
My other goal is to shower and get dressed first thing in the morning. ( I can't believe I just told everyone what a slob I am all day) I always seem to get more done in the day if I get dressed first thing. I have been trying to follow some of the habits from the Fly Lady. (Great website for getting your house cleaned and organized) I discovered her website the beginning of Jan. I followed her baby steps for the first 30 days and it made a huge difference in my house. I have slacked off, but I am trying to get back into it again. She has great ideas and an assigned area of your house to clean each day, usually they only take 15 min. to do. Check it out and then let me know what you think. I love it.
Time for you to share your goal with us. Leave a comment or post on your blog and link to us. Once again, after you post your goal on your blog click on the title and post that link. Then it will always take us directly to your goal. Thanks, can't wait to hear from you.

Share Something on Friday (Kim)

2008-03-14T11:37:00.005-08:00

It's time for Share Something on Friday. Come on everyone out there. Don't be shy. We would love to hear from you. Share something fun with everyone. I thought Fridays would be a good day to share about something great that happened during the week. Tell us about something new in TJ Ed you are trying, something fun you did with your family, a great book you just read, how you are doing on your Monday goal or anything else you can think of. You can leave us a comment or post on your blog and link to us.
I also had a great time at the book club last night. We had a great discussion and I always enjoy what everyone else has to say. I am proud to say that I finished The Taming of the Shrew, and I really enjoyed it. I am not as scared of Shakespeare anymore. In fact I want to read more. I didn't understand everything I read, but I got the main gist of it.
For those of you that didn't make it last night we are discussing The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour next month. I am looking forward to our discussion on this book. I read it during the summer and I loved it. It is very easy to see many of the TJ Ed principles applied in the book. Happy reading.
For Share Something on Friday I thought I would share something about my 11 year old who is in transition to scholar. We took this week off of school for spring break, a little spring cleaning, and so I could get a few things done that I needed to do. So, even though they haven't needed to do anything school related, each morning I have found T11 sitting in her usual chair reading and not just novels. In fact, right now she is reading a book about Sea Otters. Last time we were at the library I got her several books on sea otters. She has been saying that she wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. She has been devouring the books I got for her. It is so fun to see the different phases of learning. It's exciting to know that when they reach the transition to scholar phase they want to study 6-8 hours a day, they like it and you don't even have to ask them to do it. They just do it because they love to learn. It is so great.
Okay, it's your turn to share something with us. Leave a comment or post on your blog. If you post on your blog click on the title of your article and post that link. That way it will always take us directly to your post, you can copy and paste it below.

Enjoy the Journey (Amy)

2008-03-13T23:47:00.006-08:00

How great was our book club tonight? It's 11:47 pm and I just had to write about it. We discussed Taming of the Shrew. It definitely got some mixed reviews and questions as to why it will be one of the books discussed at the Face to Face with Greatness seminar next month. I'm not sure I have an answer to that. I'll be sure to let you know when I get that answer. But it was great to hear everyone's opinions and input about it. Tiziana and Elisabeth had some great insight. I was amazed. We discussed mentors and inspiration and the worth and potential of a person. I love hearing different perspectives on the books we read. I think this group is just great and everyone certainly sets an example for me! Thank you!
Kim's presentation about how to inspire our children to get a great education was wonderful. Her example in itself is inspirational. She really showed how it is possible to inspire our children to get a first-class education while they are loving every minute of it and are begging for more! I can't wait to try out some of her ideas.
Today I received my "Britannica Great Books" series in the mail. I ordered them on Ebay for $209 and I'm so excited about them. They've been put up on my TJEd bookshelf as something to strive towards. I'll let you know how that goes. At least now I know I can read Shakespeare and enjoy it.
We've now read the three books that are going to be discussed at the FTF seminar and we are going to move onto the books that are part of the 5 Pillar Certification. You can find out more about that at http://www.gwc.edu/seminars/pillar_certification.php. I've determined that I've achieved my "Love of Learning" and now I want to be in Scholar Phase. I'm ready to put the hard work into my education. I'm ready to enjoy the journey.

Conference Call with Dr. DeMille (Amy)

2008-03-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

It's 9am here in Alaska and I'm waiting on hold with Dr. DeMille and the other attendees of the Face to Face with Greatness seminar from Alaska. We're just waiting for everyone to sign on. When its finished, I'll update you on what we learned...

...What a great lecture. He spent the hour discussing the 8 types of education (which fall under the three types: conveyor belt, professional, and leadership). The 8 types as he laid them out are: German Conveyor Belt, Unschooling, Classical, Mandarin Methodology, Tutored Model, Eclectic, The Learning Style Model, and The Developmental Type. I was scribbling notes as quickly as possible, but I think I got most of the information.

It was very interesting to hear about the different types and where they fit into the phases of learning. He also has a new book out entitled Leadership Education. You can purchase it for $26.95 at the George Wythe College Bookstore (www.gwc.edu). It sounds great and I've already got mine on order. I'll let you know when I get it.

Dr. DeMille will be coming to Alaska this summer to teach the 2nd Face to Face with Greatness seminar. He'll be teaching the entire 2 day course on mentoring. What a phenomenal opportunity for us here in Alaska. But, we need to make sure our #1 Seminar is filled first. As of today we still need 12 people to register. Let's all step up and do what is necessary to build a Leadership Community around us. Attending this seminar is the first step!

We have a new website for TJEd in Alaska. The address is www.aktjed.org. You can get more information about the seminar there.

Set a Goal on Mondays (Kim)

2008-03-10T10:41:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun if we all set a goal on Monday and we share it with everyone. It can be about TJ Ed, organizing your home, or whatever you want to work on. Then on Fridays we will do a Share Something Friday. On Friday we will share a good moment that happened in school, how your goal is going, or share about something fun your family is doing. I would love to hear from everyone out there.

"In reality, you are unlikely to pass on to your children a better education than you have earned yourself, no matter how much you push them or how good the teachers are in their private school. Children tend to rise to the educational level of their parents, and maybe a little above if their parents have shown them that this is important. The most effective way to ensure the quality of their education is to consistently improve your own." --A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille p.53
This week we are taking a few days off of school for our spring break, so I am taking this time to work on my own education. I want to finish The Taming of The Shrew for our book club meeting on Thursday. I read a little last night. It is going pretty well. I am finding that I am understanding most of it. It isn't as scary as I thought it would be, and I am actually enjoying the story. I am using No Fear Shakespeare online to read the modern version of the text for the parts that I don't understand. It really helps. This week I also need to get a few things ready to say for the book club about inspiring, and structuring time not content. Amy asked me to talk for a few minutes about what we do during school. I am very excited about it, but I definitely need some time to prepare.

How this works is that you write your Monday goal on your blog and then you include the link here. Then we can click on the link and see what you are working on. This way we can all inspire each other. After you post on your blog click on the title of your article and post that link. That way your link will always take us directly to your goal post.
If you don't have a blog then tell us your goal by leaving a comment.

Stateswomen (Amy)

2008-03-08T15:14:00.000-09:00

Have you heard? A California Court of Appeal recently ruled that homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified teacher. Seriously. Checkout www.hslda.org for more information and to sign a petition requesting the depublification of the case.

I have to say that I'm shocked about the decision and what it's ramifications could be. I am not a conspiracy theorist. Last year I don't think this would have even phased me. But as I become more involved with Leadership Education and what is best for my children, I am becoming increasingly more alarmed at what is happening in the world around me in regards to homeschooler's rights.

A couple weeks ago, an assistant superintendent for the Galena School District (which houses IDEA, a homeschool charter school), sent an email out to all IDEA families (of which I am a part). His topic was Thomas Jefferson Education. He reminded all families that we were part of a public school program and therefor had to meet the national standards for "No Child Left Behind", etc and standardized testing. He cautioned us to look closely at what methods we were using and to make sure that they fit within those standards. He suggested that Thomas Jefferson Education was contrary to those standards.

After getting over my frustration with being told "how to think", I realized that he is right. IDEA is a public school and whether I like it or not, if my children are enrolled I have to do as they say. And they are part of the conveyor belt. Each year they tighten restrictions and there is more regulation. I feel like a boiled frog. The heat gets turned up a little at a time until it's too late and I'm cooked. Right now I can still jump out of the pot. But am I too comfortable? Receiving $1800 per child per year certainly helps offset the cost of educating at home, but at what cost to my family? At what cost to my rights? Hmmm. Definitely something to think about.

I'm starting to feel like there may be a reason to stand up and be counted as an "independent" homeschooler, to fight for my rights to keep my children at home and teach them what I want and how I want. I don't view myself as an extremist. I'm just a mom who enjoys staying home and teaching my children and I think I can do just as good of a job (better even) than anyone else.

My journey through homeschooling has definitely been more than I thought it would be when I started. I guess I'm changing and growing and looking outside myself to see what needs to happen around me and how I can effect change. Is that the definition of a Stateswoman?

*Visit www.aktjed.org for an amazing article entitled "Steel to Gold" by Rachel DeMille

"Can I have a Scholar Day?" (Amy)

2008-02-29T10:02:00.000-09:00

I have a 12 year old son. I'm pretty sure he's working on his Transition to Scholar. Today he asked me for a Scholar Day. Those are the days when he get to practice at being a Scholar. What is a Scholar? That's when he gets to study 8-10 hours a day uninterrupted. I don't tell him what he has to study. He gets to choose. But right now that's not hard for him to do. He has lots that he wants to learn about. I think he's reading The Sign of the Beaver right now. That's the next book we'll be discussing for our Young Statemen's Book Club. He's read it once and now he's going through it again (must be a classic). But he has lots of other interests. He's making blue prints for a treehouse he wants to build this summer. He wants to write a script for a movie and then have me film him and his brothers acting it out (that should be interesting!). He is working on his aviation merit badge for Boy Scouts and building a model airplane.
One of the benefits of having a practice Scholar day is that I agree to not call on him for all the little things I need done during the day. He's the oldest and I rely on him a lot. He can do laundry, dishes, take out the trash, clean the bathroom and babysit. That is very valuable to me. And when he's not practicing Scholar, I use him. But days like today I realize that I'm on my own. When he get's to the actual Scholar Phase there are responsibilities that come along with that. But for now, its just him and his study. He can do my bidding tomorrow. Right now I'm letting him be while he studies as much as he wants.
It hasn't always been this way. Previously the last thing he wanted to do was "school". But that was when school consisted of textbooks and worksheets. He's discovered a whole new world where he gets to learn about what he is excited about. And right now that is pretty much everything.
Can you imagine the education you could get if you had all the time you wanted to study and learn? With someone else paying the bills and making your meals? I can. It would be amazing. But for now, I'll take the few minutes here and there that I squeeze in my own learning. But for my son, I can give him that time. He has the opportunity to get that education. He has to make the choice and I don't require it of him. But occasionally he'll come down in the morning and ask, "Mom, can I have a Scholar day?". And I smile and am glad that he's making those choices.

*There is a great article by Oliver & Rachel DeMille called "Transition to Scholar" if you are interested in learning more about this phase of your child's life.

Classics, not Textbooks (Kim)

2008-02-27T14:33:00.000-09:00

My boys, ages 9 and 7, are in a small book club. We have been reading the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborn. Last week we had the meeting at our house so, I was in charge of the discussion. We discussed the MTH book Lions at Lunchtime. The book takes place in Africa so we talked about the animals and grasslands. At one time in the book the children meet a Maasai Warrior, the book doesn't talk much about the Maasai so I found a couple of pictures of them in one of our books and I printed out a couple of paragraphs of information on them that I found on the internet. We discussed them briefly at the club meeting and then moved on without anyone having any questions and probably no thought again about the Maasai people.

Well, this morning I was looking at the book shelf trying to find a book for my 11 year old to read, and I came across a book called Facing the Lion, Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton. I had gotten the book with a curriculum package I had ordered, and it was put on the shelf, never opened, and completely forgotten. I was excited when I saw it since we had just talked about the Maasai a few days earlier. The book is a true story of the authors life growing up Maasai. I showed the book to the kids and we started reading it this morning. We read 4 chapters. And let me tell you there is a huge difference in reading a few short words about the men and that they raise and heard cattle, and then to read a story about them actually out on the savanna herding the cattle. The book starts out when the author is around 14 years old. He comes home from school and joins the other boys from the village out herding the cattle. They have heard from the other villages that lions have been killing the cattle. He says that lions are smart and they never kill in the same place twice, so they know the lions will soon be coming to kill their cows. He says "During the middle of the night, I woke to this huge sound--like rain, but not really like rain. I looked up. The starlight was gone, clouds were everywhere, and there was a drizzle falling. But that wasn't the sound. The sound was all of the cows starting to pee. All of them, in every direction. And that is the sign of a lion. A hyena doesn't make them do that. An elephant doesn't make them do that. A person doesn't. Only the lion. We knew right away that a lion was about to attack us." Wow, that is an image I won't forget anytime soon, and I don't think the kids will either. They were spell bound by the story and didn't want me to stop reading. I asked the boys what their favorite part was that we read, sure that they would say the lion story, but they said it was the pinching man. Every village has a pinching man that pinches the children when they misbehave. One day this boy was on his way to another village, which he was not allowed to do, when he met up with the village pinching man. He says, "As soon as he saw me, he crouched down and put out his hands toward me. His fingernails were long and dirty and sharp. Tobacco juice as dripping from the hair on his chin. He was waving his hands, ready to pinch.
When the pinching man gets you like that you cannot run away because he will remember you. The next time he sees you, he will grab you when you are not looking and pinch you even harder." Apparently this made a huge impression on my children. Maybe North Pole needs a pinching man.
I can definitely see the difference between classics and textbooks. With text books you get a few facts and a 2 or 3 paragraph explanation about something. It doesn't leave the impression that reading a great story or biography does. I can guarantee you that we will be talking about the pinching man for a while around our house. Another reason classics are better than text books is that you don't get the morals and values from textbooks that are taught in the classics. I am reading Little Men by Louisa May Alcott to the kids. I have loved it and so have they. Yesterday when we were reading we read about one of the boys' father dying, and the boys in the story were discussing him and what kind of a person he was. They went on to talk about how he wasn't rich, and he had never done anything to "make a stir in the world", but that he was their favorite because he was "good". Oh course, this whole time I am tearing up, can barely read, and I am hoping just hoping that all the morals and goodness from this story are sinking into their little hearts and minds. You don't get that from textbooks.

Shakespeare in Love (Amy)

2008-02-27T07:25:00.001-09:00

As part of our adult book club (we need to come up with a better name than that!) we are reading and preparing to discuss The Taming of the Shrew in March. My sister suggested we read it as a family and assign out the parts. Right. I'm extremely nervous of Shakespeare and I knew it wouldn't be Jake's first pick. And what about the 12 and 7 year olds? How will they react? Up to this point our evening reading has consisted of books like The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Old Yeller, and Where the Red Fern Grows. This is definitely going out on a limb.

So (deep breath), I collected 3 copies of the play and last night we sat down and started reading. Who would have known that my 7 year old would follow along closely waiting for his chance to read? Who knew there would be laughing? (Good thing I got the book with definitions built in ~ Shakespeare did have a sense of humor) Who knew that we wouldn't want to end after one scene and yet move quickly into another?

Sure, we stumbled over words and cadence but all in all it was a very rewarding experience. One that we are all looking forward to having again tonight. Who knew?

Great to start blogging! (Amy)

2008-02-26T14:55:00.000-09:00

Whew! What an adventure this year has been! I'm thrilled that Kim invited me to participate in this blog with her. Her example and advice have meant everything the past year.

Learning about leadership education has changed the way I view education and my children's schooling. Suddenly I've been given permission to act upon what I as a mother feel is best for my children. Harmony has returned to my home, replacing the screaming and gnashing of teeth that came with trying to do "school at home". But even as I type this, my 12 year old and 7 year old sons are doing battle over who made the mess in the front room (and thus who should clean it up). So I guess we're pretty normal. BTW ~ they both contributed to the mess!

Teaching three sons at home has been an exercise in patience. My 5 year old is sitting on the couch next to me filling in pages upon pages in his "Get Set for the Code" book. He loves to do school. It is definitely his idea of play. My 7 year old has his Legos strewn across the carpet in battle formation and is perusing a Lego Magazine adding up all the Lego kits that he is dying to get. He just realized that he needs $472.00 to get all the kits he wants! That's going to take some saving. And my 12 year old just vanished to his room. He's reading through a book called "Force & Motion" that he picked up at the library.

Last year we tried "school at home". That meant that I set up our day similar to a day at public school. We did math, reading, writing, spelling, history, etc. They couldn't move on to another subject until they had finished the one they were working on. We were lucky if we fit in art, music or science. By the end of each day I wondered why I even considered homeschooling. The kids were miserable and resisted my attempts to make them sit down, be quiet, and fill in those pages! Each day we had groans and sighs as we trudged our way through the textbooks ~ and it wasn't all from the boys!

I got a copy of A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille at a curriculum fair last April. I read through it that evening and was hooked. I knew that it was just what I was looking for for my family. Principles such as mentors, not professors and classics, not textbooks made sense to me. My older sister and I decided to attend some seminars on the phases of learning at George Wythe College last summer. We spent 10 days and a couple thousand dollars each to travel from Alaska to attend. It was worth every penny. The training that I received has changed my life.

Since returning to Alaska I've become a TJ Ed enthusiast. My sister and I are hosting the "Face to Face with Greatness" seminar series here in Alaska. What an opportunity for our community to attend this conference locally rather than traveling thousands of miles and spending thousands of $$ for the same information elsewhere. We have families from King Salmon, Soldotna, Kenai, Tok, North Pole, Wasilla, Palmer, and Anchorage attending the "Face to Face with Greatness" seminar in April.

We now have several TJ Ed book clubs in the area. We've got a Young Statesmen's Book Club for youth 10-12 as well as a book discussion group for parents. Families all over Alaska have been attending "Introduction to Thomas Jefferson Education" meetings. Wow! I'm pleased to say that "TJ Ed" is becoming a household word.

This blog will be a great chance to share with anyone interested the things that are working and those that aren't for us. Believe me when I say we are real families with real struggles. Nothing fancy going on here. Looking forward to sharing more with you...

My First Post (Kim)

2008-02-26T13:53:00.000-09:00

I am so excited about starting this blog. I think it will be a great way for us to share ideas and inspire each other. Amy first introduced me to TJed last spring, at a time when I was really questioning my decision to homeschool. I was questioning everything. Why I was homeschooling, how I was homeschooling, was it truly benefiting my children, mostly I think because I felt so worn out and tired of pushing and requiring. (At the time I was using a curriculum and following the teacher's manual very strictly.) Amy told me about a fantastic book that she had just read called A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. I borrowed the book and read it all the way through that night. I was so inspired by it. It was everything that I had hoped to achieve by homeschooling and it had so many of the philosophies that I believed in, but that I just didn't know how to put into practice. After I read that book I read everything I could get my hands on by the DeMilles. I couldn't get enough. I was just so excited that I had found what I had been looking for and that it was actually working for so many families out there.

TJed has been great for me and my family. I feel like I have been give the tools to finally homeschool the way that I have always wanted to. I don't have the stress anymore that is associated with requiring my kids to do things they don't want to do. I am much happier and so are they. It has been fun watching them develop their different talents and interests this year, now that they are allowed to study what they want.
Thanks to Amy for introducing me to TJed, thanks for helping me get off the conveyor belt physically and mentally, and thanks for all the moral support and inspiration.
I know I still have so much to learn and even more to put into practice and refine. I am continually seeing things that I need to work on and improve. I feel like I am taking baby steps down the TJed road right now. I hope that some of the things that we say here will help others on their TJed journey, and that we can all learn from and inspire each other to greatness.