A Compelling Vision of the Powerful Potential of Homeschool

I have read TJEd twice, and I LOVE it! Oliver DeMille voices the need for a generation of leaders to be thoughtfully trained in our homes today. This is a message that homeschoolers need to hear! I don't know when I've seen another book that communicates with such clarity, purpose and vision the powerful potential of homeschool. I find myself nodding my head and marking passages that sound like something I might have said--and DeMille says it so well.

TJEd gives clarity and purpose to the decision to homeschool, and a template that can be applied by any family to achieve their goals. I refer to it often as a handbook to help me further my own studies, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in quality education. Parents, teachers, and students alike will be energized by this exciting book.

Rebecca Kochenderfer

• Author, Homeschooling for Success: How Parents Can Create A Superior Education For Their Child.;
• Senior Editor, Homeschool.com: The web's #1 homeschool site & Forbes "Best of the Web" Top 45 winner.

The Thomas Jefferson Education materials improved my life…

Like most homeschooling parents, I found it difficult not to fall into doing “conveyor-belt” education at home, using grades, grade-level materials, and checklists. After several years of doing this, I had successfully helped one of my children go from Core phase into “Hate-of-Learning” phase, where her main goal was to get the “schoolwork” done, as quickly and with as little effort as possible, so she could have her time back. It was awful.

As I discovered and began to understand the “Seven Keys of Great Teaching” as presented in the Thomas Jefferson Education book (and DeMille’s presentation on the Seven Keys), I realized why I had been so successful at creating a “hate-of-learning” student. Her textbooks were so boring, even I couldn’t stand reading them. We were focused entirely on content, not time. Home education had become so complex, there was no time for simplicity. The results were tedium and frustration. I found that it is very, very hard not to do to my children what was done to me by schools.

Now, having applied for several years— albeit imperfectly—the “Seven Keys…”, along with many other ideas gleaned from the TJEd book and related materials, my children are thriving. They really don’t know or care what “grade” they are in, and they never say the word “schoolwork” (except by accident). We “study” as a family, and the “Love of Learning” phase is truly exciting. My older children have been successful in Great Books programs in college, and I, myself, have taken time to read and study more than I ever would have thought possible. As you might imagine, I am profoundly grateful to Oliver DeMille and his co-authors for opening this world of educational thinking, life to me. It is now my great privilege to be able to speak to parents and teachers around the world, and help them rebuild their education paradigm, pointing them to the same source of wisdom that I was so fortunate to find.

Andrew Pudewa
Director, Institute for Excellence in Writing

Each Child is a Genius

“Oliver and Rachel DeMille have inspired me as a teacher and a parent.  Oliver’s book, A Thomas Jefferson Education, has not only helped my wife Laura and me create a better educational environment for our children, but has constantly reminded me that master teachers believe that each child who walks into their classroom is a genius, waiting to be discovered.  

"As a co-founder of Acton MBA (as well as the recently launched Acton Academy for children and youth) I believe our future rests on how we inspire the next generation of leaders to educate themselves – safe from the meddling of “assembly line” schools.  It’s only through the efforts of educators like Oliver and Rachel DeMille that we can hope to safeguard our freedom and prosperity for the next two hundred years.”

Jeff Sandefer
Founder and Faculty Member, Acton MBA, A Princeton Review Top-3 Program (See article about rating from Princeton Review)

True Leadership Education

“I am so grateful for the principles taught in A Thomas Jefferson Education! Because of that book, I’ve had five of my children home with me for the last two years now, and the ‘detox’ process has paid off tremendously. Our home is more peaceful, and the children have learned to be independently creative, finding fascination in the simplest things.

I feel that if the world were to fall apart all around us today, I’d be at peace knowing I followed my own instinct, and because of it, our family has developed a greater feeling of unity, and a higher awareness of God’s greater purpose for our lives. To me, that’s leadership training.”

Leslie Householder

• author, The Jackrabbit Factor
• owner, www.thoughtsalive.com

Mentors and Classics

When I was young, I had the benefit of having two great mentors: my grandfather, Earl Millett, who was a High Priest in the Mormon Church, a teacher, a farmer, and a businessman; and Larry Austin, who was a Presbyterian Minister, a teacher, and a philosopher. The education I gained from these two men was offered not in classrooms, but in barnyards and offices, in their homes reading the Great Books and playing chess, and talking - often over the drink we all loved, Vernors' Ginger Ale.

They taught me how to think for myself, how to make choices, and how maturity and leadership meant learning to be responsible for those choices. But more, they taught me how to think ethically; to understand and appreciate values; and to learn how to approach new ideas with passion and joy. They taught me to be proud of my strengths, and to use those things in which I excelled to learn to overcome my weaknesses. They taught me how to become a leader - and I hoped that I would be able to do so for my own children when the time came.

To me, the concept of the Thomas Jefferson Education which resonates most strongly is the one I learned from these men: that of classics and mentors, wherein the course of study is customized to the student, utilizing the greatest works of inspiration and learning, and guided by mentors of great integrity and strength of character. To have access not only to others who share this philosophy but also to resources, teaching tools, and most of all, the shared pool of knowledge gained as we all move forward in our education is invaluable.

James A. Owen

author, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica

Revolutionized my home!

As a home schooling mother of four girls, I am always interested in great books on education. The discovery of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century by Oliver DeMille, has, without a doubt, completely revolutionized my home. The recommendations it contains are so substantive and directly meaningful that as I read it the first time I felt I had arrived at the answers to my most basic questions about superb education. In our home, we have seen the results of patient and sustained efforts to provide a leadership education environment for our children. I feel an ever-increasing sense of being grounded. In addition, it is fascinating to observe the methods employed on younger siblings by youth who have been raised with the leading hand in their own education. Being inspirational and applying other keys of quality education comes naturally to this second generation. I can hardly wait to observe the education of my grandchildren!

Diann Jeppson

• www.ayli.org
• www.tjedmarketplace.com
• www.homefires.ws

\ The price we must pay...

We've known for a long time that it was the extraordinary, far-reaching vision of America's founding fathers that produced the freest and most powerful nation on earth. What we have not understood, however, is the rigorous educational experience that gave them such remarkable vision. The loss of that knowledge poses a "clear and present danger" to our generation, because liberty cannot perpetuate itself. A Thomas Jefferson Education tells us how to see, in our own day, exactly what the Founders say--and thus how to safeguard and build upon what they created. It's not a quick or painless prescription, and Oliver DeMille doesn't sugar-coat it. But he does show us, honestly and authoritatively, the price we must pay to remain a free people. If you're willing to find out what that blessing will cost you and your children, read this book."

Andrew M. Allison

• Jefferson biographer
• author, The Real Thomas Jefferson

More Than a Curriculum

"'Curriculum' is an educational buzz word. We wanted more than a simple curriculum--we sought sound and timeless principles. We wanted a coherent methodology to provide insight and direction, while allowing us to personalize education to the interests and abilities of each of our children. We yearned for keys to liberate the natural gifts of our children to prepare them to succeed and to have lasting impact. We wanted to be active participants in and hands-on facilitators of the educational process, rather than strict rule-makers and curriculum-imposers.

"Leadership Education has been our answer, our relief, our guiding light, and our key. It's given us everything we knew we needed--and far more than we ever realized was necessary. It's pushed us as parents to make education a lifelong process for ourselves--we've learned to lead by example, not by dictate. Infinitely more than a curriculum, Leadership Education is a worldview and a way of life that teaches us and our children that, yes, we can and we must make a significant, positive difference in the world. Because of Leadership Education, our family is stronger, happier, more confident, and more at peace."

Stephen & Karina Palmer, Austin, Texas

• co-author, Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity
• Principal Editor, The Cause of Liberty

Transformed our Home

Leadership Education has completely transformed not only our individual learning as parents, but our entire home. It has helped us decide what truly is "foundational" learning. We have also learned the stark difference between being well-trained and well-educated. We have been inspired to become truly educated and discover our personal missions and in turn hope to inspire our children.

We recognize stages of growth in our children and are ready to help them move to higher levels of independence and empowerment in their own lives. In the short 8 years that we have practiced leadership education in our lives, we have truly embraced the principles it teaches.

Rusty & Becky Bastian
President, Redmond Minerals

Just what we were looking for!

We took a spur-of-the-moment decision to homeschool for our 5 and 7-year-old daughters after last Christmas while living in Jordan. I found TJEd this past summer after spending a semester trying out workbooks and other materials I came across. I've read TJEd and the Home Companion, and love the philosophy behind TJEd!

I am now starting to read through classics listed in both books. I never thought I'd be so engrossed with reading the classics. I'm LOVING them! Since homeschooling is unheard of here in Jordan, I'm constantly bombarded by moms to put our girls into school, but now I feel much more confident that I'm doing the right thing and why. I want to bring up leaders and thinkers. I can see much better now that the principles of Leadership Education are the way to foster this. And can't imagine going back to the old way!

K. M., Amman, Jordan

It's all coming together now...

I first read A Thomas Jefferson Education about 9 years ago. I absolutely love literature so the idea of centering my homeschooling around the classics really resonated with me and I implemented that idea right away, but couldn't let go of 'requiring.' There were periods of time where I didn't have/make time to do a whole lot of structrured learning so we experimented with unschooling, but I was always burdened by guilt that I wasn't doing school 'right.'

About a year ago I had a friend that I had introduced to homeschooling ask me about TJEd and because she was exploring TJEd I decided to blow the dust off my book and read it again. My friend purchased the "Core and Love of Learning: A Recipe for Success" CDs and as I listened to them I got a clearer picture of how those phases are implemented on a daily basis.

We both purchased the TJEd Home Companion coathored by Diann Jeppson and I really loved seeing how another family does TJEd in their home. I recently purchased Leadership Education and am looking forward to learning more about Scholar Phase and the phases beyond. We decided to take the plunge in March (2008) and have structured our time, but not our content.

Some days are awesome and I feel so happy and liberated by what we are doing. Other days are a struggle as I try to keep panic at bay that we aren't doing any math worksheets. We are focusing on getting the kids working more (they have always had chores, but I was too easy on them and felt like the family slave a lot of days!) so I can set aside a block of time to learn with the kids and not feel like the house is coming down around my ears.

The biggest blessing is that my husband has been reading and studying with me and has really 'caught the vision' of TJEd. He is now taking an active role in our homeschool and I feel like he shares the responsibility of helping our children get an education.

As I have read the classics I am finally understanding that the education we are seeking for ourselves and our children changes us. I am internalizing that education is not so much what you know, but who you have become. Thomas Jefferson Education principles have inspired us to reach higher and be more than we ever thought we could.

Heidi Vause

These Books are Classics!

Several years ago I picked up a copy of TJEd after listening to Oliver DeMille speak at a homeschool conference in Williamsburg, VA. My family and I were truly impacted by his words. We cried on the way home as all felt the need to move to a leadership education model in our home.

Eleven months later our family moved overseas. After arriving in Qatar and finding that we didn't have libraries or book stores available as promised, I panicked and went back to school at home. We were miserable.

On our first vacation, we attended a TJEd two day seminar hosted by Jodie Palmer and Diann Jeppson. It was another life changing moment. I learned how to implement TJEd in our new environment using the information from Thomas Jefferson Education Companion, the seminar and inspiration. For me, these two books are classics. The information is invaluable in our walk to follow the path of leadership style education.

Darla in Qatar

A Must-read Classic!

The wealth of knowledge and experience imparted by Oliver and Rachel in their latest book, Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning, struck me once again this morning as I re-read portions of it and felt the power that comes from timeless principles.

This must-read companion to A Thomas Jefferson Education has impacted my core beliefs and perceptions in many areas. The Core and Love of Learning Ingredients (chapters 3-5) provide many examples of how simple (but not necessarily easy) it is to live the TJEd principles. The Transition to Scholar chapter had a tremendous impact on me when I read it several years ago as a pamphlet because it spoke to me of the changes I could make to facilitate my children’s entrance into Scholar Phase as well as my own. Now, I find that the Depth and Mission chapters hold valuable nuggets for me which I had overlooked just six months ago. This book is part of my personal canon because it is a true classic (one which I can read over and over again and always find new insights) to guide me as I fulfill my missions.

Leadership Education takes the abstract principles I have been trying to follow for years and provides concrete examples and additional information which has aided me as I implement them in my life and it will do the same for anyone who reads and studies this wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

Michelle Harkey

www.polestarmontessori.com