The nerd that I am, I went to a forum today on leadership education. I try and follow the Thomas Jefferson Eduation leadership model or TJEd. http://www.tjed.org/ Which has a goal of training entreprenuers, leaders and thinkers. And teaching how to think, not what to think. There is so much to say about TJEd. When I first read about out it I thought wow this is great. But, there were a couple of things that I just didn't like.
One thing I didn't like was that it says the core phase (roughly age 0-8) is for learning right and wrong, good and bad, true and false and not formal education. I never even considered that before. I've been thinking and reading about it for almost two years. I've been reading a book that has helped accept that holding off formal education is a good thing.
The book is called The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Dr. Raymond & Dorothy Moore. On page 41 Some of the worlds most experienced research psychologists warn parents not to rush children into formal learning before eight to ten. On page 46 The idea that parents should hurry reading, spelling, writing or math ahead of children's normal developement is not supported by a single replicalble research study in the world or by any clinical experience in history. All history, research , and common sense points in the opposite direction! We repeat: Any who push the three R's early deny the readiness factors the Creator built in-reasonably mature vision, hearing, tast, touch, smell, reason , brain growth, coordination.
This book and prayer have led us to make the decision to hold off the formal education until our children are ready. I will try and follow the advice the Moore's give on page 46 of their book. Give myself to them in warm fellowship, conversation, travel; reading and telling stories with moral values;working at home chores, teaching them by example how to searve others (in the home and down the street); encouraging them to develop their own creative ideas in the sand pile, with kitchen dough, with a telescope, in a diary and with tools in the garage or garden.
There are four key words/phrases to the Core phase: home, love, let's work, let's play.
1 comment:
Hi Tracey--
I thought I'd stop by your blog again--it was fun to see your family at Rosa's. I thought the tjed site was interesting and want to get the book. Have you read Dorothy Sayers' article "The Lost Tools of Learning"? It is a really interesting discussion of the stages of learning. I also enjoyed the "enlightened homemaker" blog--THANKS!
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