Our main method of home educating is using a Leadership Education Model based on the book A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century
We firmly believe that all children are unique in every way...including the way they learn. Whether a child is gifted, learning disabled, or right in the middle, it does not matter! Each child can and will learn in the proper environment. We believe that environment is best met in the home with loving parents who can meet each child's needs and learning styles.
The "mentoring parent" is the key to this education method. I am not their teacher, teachers are for schools. I am their mentor, a person who guides and directs their education and who models life-long learning.
Now, to me this sounded very daunting! I was literally scared of modeling a love of learning and scholarship to my children. I soon realized that I already did model some aspects of scholarship in my love for reading and taking some college classes. I found that children want to do what they see their parents doing.
To learn more about the Eight Keys of Great Teaching and the Four Phases of Learning using the TJed method click here.
Celeste,
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind that I have added you to my list of blogs I follow. I am going on my 2nd year of homeschooling and have been trying to get off the conveyor belt and just can't do it! I love the TJEd method of inspiring not requiring, but can't seem to get started. I feel as if I have brought school home. My girls are so use to the public school method that they just go with the flow. I don't believe they are truly learning and they certainly are not "loving to learn". Do you have any recommendations on what I should do? How do I get started? I have read The Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion and A Thomas Jefferson Education and am very intimidated to put it to use in my home. I would love to hear back from you.
Sincerely,
Gina
Busymom2girls
I felt like I brought school home too when I first started. It was how I learned and so it was so easy to just do the same. I still find myself wanting to throw out assignments when I see someone not "into" their education.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we did was sit down and have everyone write a list of what they want to learn about. The DeMille's call this a "compass", we just call it their goals. At first my kids did not even know what to write. The idea was so foreign to them. So, I had to be the example and say, "I want to learn to sew better...", etc. I created my own list with them as part of a Mom School one morning. Then they started to get ideas and write them down. Anytime they get stuck and say they have nothing to do, I tell them to go look at their education goals.
One other thing we did was separate the education goals into two categories - Things I Can Do Now - Things I Can Do Later. Some things have to wait...they can't drive a car until they are old enough, they need materials to build something with, etc. We re-write these goals every six months as part of our Six Month Inventory.
Have you read the newest book, Leadership Education? That one has the ingredients from Recipe for Success for Core and Love of Learning Phases. I started implementing those ingredients and that has helped me tons!
Please feel free to ask more questions as you need to. I welcome these kinds of comments.