If you really want to understand Leadership Education—to figure out what this TJEd thing is all about—you really have to go to the source. Dr. DeMille and his co-authors have distilled their research and experience into three books, and when taken together, they comprise the core of what we call a “Thomas Jefferson Education.”
“Is the education our children are receiving on par with their potential?” Dr. DeMille’s first book, A Thomas Jefferson Education, not only dares to ask this question (on page 7), but is bold enough to offer an alternative solution to the failure of 20th Century education. That solution is to go back to the methods espoused when America was still an educational success.
How were the brilliant men and women who founded the United States of America educated? Dr. DeMille has done extensive research that takes us back to the days of mentors, classics, and parents who nurtured and guided students through academics and beyond. This book is about nurturing, rather than forcing; inspiring, rather than demanding; and the desire to give a children more than dry facts and figures to regurgitate back to teachers. It is about learning how, not what to think, and the ideas presented here give parents and teachers the inspiration needed to help their children and students fulfill their potential to become great.
If you are a homeschooling parent, or a teacher of any kind, your understanding of education will be enriched and enhanced by this insightful book!
As the second book in the TJEd trio, this book brings new perspective and breathes new life into the philosophies presented in the original A Thomas Jefferson Education. Not only is this book co-written by Oliver DeMille and his wife, Rachel, it also includes additional ideas from Diann Jeppson, a major leader in the TJEd community.
While it’s clear that the DeMilles and Mrs. Jeppson have differing teaching styles, each collaborator shows how TJEd principles can, and should, be implemented in a customized manner that best serves the unique home culture of different families. If parents aren’t careful with the ideas behind TJEd, they can soon create a “TJEd Conveyor Belt” in their homes, and the true principles of Leadership Education are lost.
This work is a reminder that parents are the only true experts in their homes, and that TJEd does not look the same for every family. This idea empowers parents in the decisions they make for their children, and strengthens the creative spirit that TJEd engenders, if parents trust the process and their own inspiration.
Home Companion also gives very concrete ideas and directions for teaching life skills, building TJEd communities, and starting children’s clubs. All the ideas are easily customizable and provide a terrific “jumping off point” for parents who aren’t sure what to do next. This is truly an essential book in the TJEd library!
If you read A Thomas Jefferson Education and you wondered what to do next or how to do it, Leadership Education has the answers! This is the third book in the TJEd “trilogy” and is an essential addition to any home school or educational library.
Written by Dr. Oliver DeMille, along with his wife, Rachel (who is the one in the trenches, after all), this book gives day to day examples of what a Thomas Jefferson Education looks like in a modern home. It expands on the concept of the Phases of Education, and gives parents and educators the nuts and bolts of how to implement TJEd ideas in schools and homes.
This book has a real “can do” attitude about it, as it tries to answer all the questions we conveyor-belt-educated parents asked after reading the first book. Read this book to round out your understanding of how Leadership Education really works!
