Today I discovered the Thomas Jefferson Education site. Their basic premise is that you cannot teach someone who does not want to learn, and this is a basic flaw in the entire education system of the country. One must figure out the goal of the education (Enlightenment? Employment? Career? Politics?) to figure out how to go about it. One more building or a few more computers aren't going to change the education in schools.
I was intrigued with this whole idea, as that seems to be part of the problem in my house. I'm trying to get facts into their heads that they don't really care about. While this philosophy may not make me throw out the history text or math sheets, I think it can play a very important role in Luke and Emily's education.
One of the suggestions was if one is not truly educated oneself, to start getting educated as the parent. Read the classics. Read the Federalist Papers, Asimov, Einstein, Aristotle, and others. This is the basis of a Thomas Jefferson Education. They don't really believe in using textbooks, but as I looked at the list of resources they recommend as Classics, Saxon math was among them. Actually, MANY of the books we have read to the kids or they have read themselves were on the list, so I feel pretty good about that.
The other point that a Thomas Jefferson education makes is that, as the kids get older, use mentors, not teachers. I think it's an interesting idea, but not sure how one goes about it in this day and age. I guess that having them take a music lesson from an inspiring musician is a good start. From there, I think they have to wait a while. I'm doing well if I get them another teacher at all, never mind a mentor, but I think we'll get there when they are older.
I am most intrigued...
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