A Thomas Jefferson Education: Supplemental Materials
by Oliver and Rachel Van DeMille
Review by Martha Robinson
A Thomas Jefferson Education, Supplemental Materials by Oliver and Rachel Van DeMille. Available from George Wythe College.
Essays
Oliver Van DeMille and his wife Rachel expound upon the theories introduced in A Thomas Jefferson Education in these unbound essays.
Core and Love of Learning, A Recipe for Success
In the lengthiest of the essays, Mr. and Mrs. DeMille share how their ideas for implementing the Thomas Jefferson Education model in a family. The article begins with a discussion of educational theories of Dewey, Vygotsky, Erikson, and Piaget, and where the authors feel that modern education has gone wrong. They conclude that children are different than adults and should be taught in a different way. Children under eight, in the "Core" stage, should play and have family duties, while children under twelve, in the "Love of Learning" stage, should learn basics and pursue self-directed studies, but not be pushed.
The authors contend that implementing the phases of the Thomas Jefferson Education model will allow parents to get off "the conveyor belt" of education, the one-size-fits-all method that is popular in our country. However, parents must change their way of thinking and work together as team leaders for their families. A weekly meeting with just the parents is required to discuss progress, goals, concerns, and schedules, and then an individual meeting with each child must be held.
The article continues with a list of fifty-five "ingredients," or key ides for implementing a Thomas Jefferson Education. Here, the authors share pointers and ideas for the "Core" and "Love of Learning" stages.
Scholar Phase, Mentoring the Thomas Jefferson Model When It's Time for Them, Not You!
Mr. DeMille assumes that you are familiar with the model and the earlier phases when you read this article. The "Scholar" phase, for ages twelve to about sixteen, has four levels. First, the "Practice Scholar," usually between eleven and thirteen years of age, is just working his way into the phase. He may go back and forth between "Love of Learning" and "Scholar", but he is still expected to spend about five hours per day for four to six hours per week in reading and discussion.
The second level of the "Scholar" phase is the "Project Scholar" for thirteen- to fifteen-year olds. A student chooses to move into this level with a written agreement of responsibilities and benefits established between him and his mentor, recommended to be his father. Daily reports are turned into the mentor until the student becomes responsible enough to accomplish his work without daily supervision.
Next is the "Self-Directed Scholar" for students who are fourteen- to seventeen-years old. At this point students are expected to study eight to twelve hours per day, five to six days per week, and ten to twelve months per year. Instead of daily reports, the student shows progress through written papers, book reports, and recitals. The mentor's role is to inspire and coach the student and to meet with him formally once per month.
The final phase is the "Mentored Scholar" in which the fifteen- to twenty-year old wishes to move out on his own into the world. The author strongly encourages that the student avoid the "conveyor belt" education at colleges and universities by continuing to self-educate with the help of a mentor.
The article finishes with information on some common mistakes and encouragement for those families who choose to implement the "Scholar" phase.
A Thomas Jefferson Education in Our Home: Education through the Phases of Learning
In this article, Oliver Van DeMille briefly reviews the basic concepts of the Thomas Jefferson Education model and alludes to the potential issues for parents who pull their older children out of a classroom situation to begin this approach. Then Mrs. DeMille discusses the implementation of the method in the homeschool environment, using examples from personal experience with her large family.
Mrs. DeMille provides some specifics about what should be done in each phase. The "Core" phase involves teaching, not disciplining, the child about family responsibilities and chores, religious beliefs, and basic moral principles, with academics taking a clear second place. The "Love of Learning" phase should emphasize personal accountability. Basic skills such as reading and math are learned during this phase, but the child should be encouraged to do self-directed learning. The "Scholar" phase involves a "rigorous, disciplined survey of classic works and real-life application." Frequent interaction with the mentor is required, and Mrs. DeMille suggests that a private school or co-op would be most helpful.
In the final section of this paper, Mrs. DeMille answers questions posed by families about the system, scheduling, large families, and more.
A New Collection of Essays on Education
This paper combines a number of speeches given and articles written by Oliver Van DeMille. The material here is covered in the other papers or in the CD's.
Audio CD's
The Four Lost American Ideals
In this recorded lecture, Oliver Van DeMille discusses the ideals that our Founding Fathers lived by. The first one, "Georgics," is the principle of being an owner, or working for oneself, rather than working for the government or a corporation. The Founders set our society up with the idea of "independents," small business owners, working for wealth and prosperity. This "American way" has dramatically disappeared with less that ten percent of the people in our country currently being business owners. "A nation of dependents won't be free."
The next ideal is reliance on "Providence." Referring to a higher power, this word was used frequently in the Federalist Papers. Founding Americans believed in a higher power. They also believed that "Providence" gave each person a mission in life, and the person's goal was to accomplish it.
The third ideal is "Liber," an education that allows the person to pursue the mission given him by Providence. Mr. DeMille discusses at length the training of real Americans through the use of classic authors and literature.
The final ideal is "public virtue," or sacrificing one's own needs for the greater need of society. The speaker provides extensive examples of people during the Revolutionary War years who exhibited "public virtue."
Mr. Demille concludes his address with a call to action. All who hear his voice should be "Americans," people who act on the four ideals, for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren.
Core and Love of Learning, A Recipe for Success
In this recording of a multi-day seminar, Rachel and Oliver DeMille discuss implementing the Thomas Jefferson Education program at home. Using many specific examples from their personal experience, the couple expounds on the information provided in the essay of the same name reviewed above. In addition to the material in the spoken recording, the fourth disk of the set includes a supplementary discourse and Quicktime slide show on some items that were only briefly touched on during the seminar. The charts used as visual aids in the seminar are also included on the disk. Unless you either have two computers, or a CD audio player, you can't look at the 4th CD's charts at the same time as you're listening unless you save the charts to your hard drive.
Recommendation: If you are planning to implement the Thomas Jefferson education model, these supplementary materials will give you valuable, additional information. The audios, particularly, provide details in a useful and motivating format. The Four Lost American Ideals is particularly thought-provoking and motivating for any homeschooling family, even if members have not decided that a classical or Thomas Jefferson education model is right for them. The other audio, Core and Love of Learning, A Recipe for Success, would be best used with the essay of the same title. Together these provide a much detail, and comfort, for a family trying to implement the model.
Other HomeschoolChristian resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classical Homeschooling Section with resources, links, and ideas for implementing the classical education
Review of A Thomas Jefferson Education, Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century by Oliver Van DeMille
Review of Evaluating Books, What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This? by Richard Maybury
Review of Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist
Review of Introduction to Classical Studies
Review of Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning and Classical Education and the Home School by Douglas Wilson
Review of Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorns
Review of The Latin Centered Curriculum
Review of The Trivium, The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph, C.S.C., Ph.D.
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