Leadership Education Conference

Saturday, Marly and I went to an all-day Leadership Education Conference. There was over 150 people in attendance, both adults and teens. The speakers were based upon our home school method, Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed), although it was not just for home schoolers. There were a few teachers at the conference as well who want to implement the methods taught in their classrooms. The keynote speaker, Dr. Oliver DeMille, has a new book out called "Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning". I noticed that the book covers the materials in the CD's "Core & Love of Learning: A Recipe for Success" that I have previously mentioned. It also includes "The Scholar Phase" information that I was considering buying. It is nice to have it all in one book!

I am blown away with how much we learned. We were both taking a lot of notes. I felt like my spiritual and emotional cups were filled! I nearly came to tears during one speech where I realized how much the spirit has led my thoughts and the Lord has guided my hand to come to the choices we have made. I know that for us, this it the RIGHT choice.

Here are a few quotes that I would like to share:

• "Reading is viewed as laziness in the modern society."
• "Education occurs when students STUDY." - (not through rote memorization or reading textbooks that are watered down and not the real work of the great minds of history and our modern time)
• "You are the expert of your family."

Two Myths of Education:

1. "It is possible for one person to educate another."
2. "It is the job of teachers to educate."

Real education comes when a person studies material for their own reason and purpose. This was evident in many classes I took when I was taking classes at Northern Arizona University to become a teacher. One book called "Learning and the Brain" talked a great deal about connecting learning to a NEED the student has. The questions our brain goes through are: Why do I need to know this? Who decided I need to know this? Do I want to know this? Our traditional education method at both public, charter, and private schools teaches that students need to know the information for the "test". The brain says, "Oh, I need to know this for the test, but I can forget it after that."

Think about it...what do you remember from 4th grade, or 7th grade, or 12th grade, or even college? I don't know about you, but I mostly remember who my friends were and some basic information that interested me. There is not much else stored from all those years at school, including my college years! I know I obviously learned how to read and write and a little math (that seems to disappear quickly for me). But why didn't more stick?

There are some reasons mentioned in the books that I have studied, including this new book from Dr. Oliver DeMille. I hope to continue to study this subject to make my children's education memorable and necessary to them.