Once I was committed to homeschooling, I started thinking about how I wanted to do it. I'm very much a figure it out myself kind of person, so the only thing I knew was that it was going to be MY WAY...whatever that was. :) So, I thought about the experience I wanted for my children and then brainstormed ideas on how to accomplish those things. Mostly these sessions took place as I was laying in bed at night, or when Jim and I were talking in the car. I never wrote anything down, but was forever thinking on it so my ideas started to take shape. I was also reading some books about families who'd successfully homeschooled.
The number one thing I want for my children in their education experience is for them to love learning. I didn't have that experience as a child and an adolescent, but I did as a college student. I said previously that college was a humbling experience. I discovered that I was far from being the top student, my talents that had been so highly praised weren't all that amazing, that education wasn't about sports, choir, and band, and that school was about learning. My first semester I failed my American Heritage class. I actually enrolled in it again for the following semester, but so many other students did poorly in that class that the curve brought me to a solid D, and I dropped it for fear of doing poorly in it again. I'd barely passed, and I wasn't brave enough at that time to improve in that area. I would love to take it again now.
At some point during that humbling semester, my viewpoint changed for my education. I began studying for the first time in my life, and I stopped caring what my grades were. In saying that, I don't mean that I didn't care to do well, but that the praise (or imagined praise) for the good grades became totally unimportant. I certainly wasn't happy about my big fat D (which is the very first grade that appears on my college transcripts) or what it did to my GPA, but by the end of the semester I was more disappointed that I hadn't actually learned anything in that class. As I studied my goal really became learning, and as I learned I felt a very real light come into my life. I studied hard throughout college and had an incredible experience. I never found myself focusing on my grades again. As far as grades go, they were good for the most part. This was only a reflection of the fact that I wanted and was trying so much to learn what those classes had to offer. Grades really weren't important to me. At the end of every semester, my grades were a total surprise to me. I never tracked my percentages or worried about the outcome...and that made all the difference. When I graduated I was really sad that my college experience was finished. What a contrast to my high school graduation! Someday I hope to go back college.
I want my children to love learning the way I did in college...the way I do now because I still study things that interest me. I don't think they should have to wait that long, and if they don't get a chance to experience a love of learning as a child, there is no guarantee that they will experience it as an adult.
The question now is how I can help them love learning. This is where I came up with a lot of ideas, but I was still missing some pieces up until a year ago. I knew that I couldn't make it a battle or they would dislike school and so would I. I had some fun ideas which I still think are good: field trips, hands on projects, and studying things that are happening in our lives (i.e. when I'm pregnant or when the spring plants are starting to grow or when new laws are passed, etc.). I knew that my kids would need personal drive or we wouldn't succeed. I knew that I would need to be committed for a certain time of day or it would be difficult to make it happen. I knew that my kids would learn best when the material was on their level.
It seemed very overwhelming!
It's a good thing I had such a strong confirmation that this was what I needed to do for my children, or I may have given it up. I gave myself a lot of pep talks. Surely if one teacher could teach 30 kids in a classroom, I could teach a much smaller number. Those 30 kids in her classroom aren't all on the same level as each other anyway. I could surely do as well. I didn't know how to make most of those things above happen, though. How could I avoid the battle? How could I inspire my kids to have self-motivation? How could I teach children of so many different ages? When would I find time to plan all those lessons? The answers came, and at the right time. I haven't actually succeeded in these areas yet, but I honestly feel like I know how to do it. When I learned some new ideas, a very real peace came to me and it was like the missing pieces of a puzzle came in. I will get to that, but I need to back up a bit here.
Two years ago, most of Logan's friends were getting ready to start preschool and some had started. I began to feel pressure to begin organized homeschool with him, but I didn't feel it was quite right. I still felt that the most important thing for him was learning right and wrong, good and bad, cause and effect, how to play, how to work, how to love others, etc. Then the ward boundaries in our stake were realigned. (This means that in my church they changed the boundaries for the various congregations in order to make sure the needs of the people were being met.) We hadn't moved, but ended up in a new ward (congregation). I had loved our old ward and wasn't very happy about the change, but tried to make the best of it. A few months later I was asked to serve in our church's children's organization, the Primary. There were other women serving with me, and one day we had a leadership training. After the training I was talking to Laura (who would later become a dear friend) because we were in our ward's Primary together. Somehow the subject of homeschool came up and I shared my views on the matter with her. We had a nice discussion, and she told me that she thought I would be interested in a method called Thomas Jefferson Education, TJEd. She later e-mailed me a bit about it, but I didn't really read it because I didn't think I was interested. I'm so hard headed sometimes!
A few months went by, and most of Logan's friends started preschool. I promised myself that when he was four I'd have organized preschool with him because I still didn't feel like it was time. Then in February (one year ago), Laura invited me to a presentation about TJEd. I probably wouldn't have gone, except that I was a little curious, it was free, and she had become my friend. There was a blizzard that night, too, but we'd already arranged a babysitter and the place for the presentation was literally across the street. I will admit that I went not expecting much, but I found myself hanging on the edge of my seat through the whole presentation. This was when my answers started coming and the pieces of my puzzle came together. Everything in the presentation fit with what we were already thinking, but at the same time it was a new way of considering education. Jim and I were incredibly excited and motivated after the presentation! We bought the books on the spot and started reading them the next day. We walked away knowing that we'd received some answers for our family that night. Thank heavens our ward boundaries were changed and I had the opportunity to make a new friend!
Here is where I have to be careful that my ramblings don't become confusing. Up to this point, I've simply described my thought processes in a chronological order. Once we bought those books, we were piecing things together so quickly that everything melds together from then to now. I really want to record the things I've learned, though, so I'm going to try in subsequent posts. I know this is a bit of a cliff hanger because I haven't explained what my answers were, but I'm going to get to that soon I hope! (Just trying to write things in a reasonable order...)
For now I will share some links about the TJEd info I've referred to and a note about TJEd:
While most people who use the TJEd method are homeschooling, I think it's something that can help any person improve their own education and inspire others. It would be incredibly helpful to a parent who is not homeschooling.
To see a little bit of that presentation that I went to go here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TJeducation#g/u
It has a different title and was given somewhere else, but it is by the same man, Dr. Brooks, and I listened to a little bit of each clip so I know he's sharing the same information. If nothing else it is a very enjoyable presentation.
The book I most recommend is: A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders by Oliver DeMille. It's a very easy read and I found it to be very inspiring.
You can find the books I bought here: http://www.plutarchpublishing.com/
The Brooks family runs the company and literally ships the books the same day that they receive orders. It is possible to find a cheaper price for these books online sometimes, but I have yet to see them in a library (darn it!).
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