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The TJEd Times | Volume 1, Issue 2

The TJEd Times

November 30, 2007

A Publication of The Thomas Jefferson Education Consortium

Welcome to the second issue of the TJEd Times. In the rush of this holiday season, hopefully this newsletter comes as a welcome respite—a chance to reflect on the education in our homes and plan for the coming year. May 2008 be your best year yet!

In This Issue

Message from the Editors

We are grateful that you have chosen to make us a part of your family’s educational endeavors! Our purpose is to support parents, unify families, promote the principles of TJEd, and nurture those families who are striving to implement them. We always appreciate hearing from you, especially with ideas of how we can better serve you. Also, if you have events of general interest to the TJEd community and open to the public, email us the details at newsletter@tjed.org, so we can add it to the Calendar of Events.

As with each issue of the TJEd Times, we have a free gift for you as our way of saying “Thank You” for being a part of the community. And since the Christmas Season is fast approaching (or already here, depending on your perspective), we decided to get into the spirit of things with our present to you, but we’ll get into the details a little later.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas! May the peace of this season fill your heart and your home, because the work you do there is more important than anything else.

Russell & Rachel Keppner

The Thomas Jefferson Education Consortium

Calendar of Events

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

By Eliza Cook

We have faith in old proverbs full surely,
For Wisdom has traced what they tell,
And Truth may be drawn up as purely
From them, as it may from “a well.”
Let us question the thinkers and doers,
And hear what they honestly say;
And you’ll find they believe, like bold wooers,
In “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

The hills have been high for man’s mounting,
The woods have been dense for his axe,
The stars have been thick for his counting,
The sands have been wide for his tracks,
The sea has been deep for his diving,
The poles have been broad for his sway,
But bravely he’s proved in his striving,
That “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Have ye vices that ask a destroyer?
Or passions that need your control?
Let Reason become your employer,
And your body be ruled by your soul.
Fight on, though ye bleed in the trial,
Resist with all strength that ye may;
Ye may conquer Sin’s host by denial;
For “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Have ye Poverty’s pinching to cope with?
Does Suffering weigh down your might?
Only call up a spirit to hope with,
And dawn may come out of the night.
Oh! much may be done by defying
The ghosts of Despair and Dismay;
And much may be gained by relying
On “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Should ye see, afar off, that worth winning,
Set out on the journey with trust;
And ne’er heed if your path at beginning
Should be among brambles and dust.
Though it is but by footsteps ye do it,
And hardships may hinder and stay;
Walk with faith, and be sure you’ll get through it
For “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

The George Wythe College Audio Collection

We’re pleased to announce that many of the best recordings and lectures from George Wythe College are now available for immediate download, including new material which has never been offered for sale before. If you still don’t have a copy of some of the classic TJEd recordings like Core and Love of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille, now you can buy it at a discounted price with no shipping charges and no waiting—you can be listening in minutes!

Browse the collection at GWCAudio.com

The Nation Comes from the Nursery

By Laurie Gatrell

Recently, my husband and I sat down to eat a quick dinner at Bill Johnson’s Big Apple Steakhouse in Mesa, Arizona, before flying home to Denver. The steakhouse created a Wild West ambiance with antiques of all kinds including old tin lanterns, fontier firearms and ammunitions displays, and antique barber’s chair with cracked red leather upholstery, and sawdust strewn across the linoleum floor. I wondered if our waitress’ replica peacemaker was for dealing with polecats that didn’t leave a decent tip!

Above our booth, a rustic sconce cast a nostalgic amber glow over the tongue and groove paneling and a large portrait of a mother and child in an oval frame of dark polished wood. The young woman in her blue satin Victorian gown gazed adoringly into her child’s cherubic face as they sat serenely on a bench beneath a flowering bough. Across the bottom of this tranquil scene blazed the bold statement: “A Woman’s Place is in the Home.”

In our politically-correct society, “them’s fightin’ words!” Therefore, one could almost dismiss them as sentimental; an out-dated, irrelevant Victorian platitude. But I couldn’t. Not since learning about the importance of statesmanship and leadership education in the home in a series of seminars entitled “Face-to-Face with Greatness.”

One presenter quoted Samuel Smiles, who said, “The nation comes from the nursery.” These words resounded in me.

Finish reading this article at TJEd.org

TJEd.org Updates

Each month we highlight one of the conversations on the discussion forums at TJEd.org. Over the past four years, a great many questions have been asked, and the community at large has offered a wealth of great answers, which now serve as an excellent resource for those just starting out.

If you have a question you’re trying to answer, please take a look through the archives, or just jump right in and post it so that others can give you feedback. Part of leadership education is joining the Great Conversation, so just think of this as the first step.

lisalee wrote:

...My question today is how do you teach piano lessons TJEd style? More specifically, how can you teach the music without requiring they learn all the theory, etc.? I can't see that it's possible, but still find it difficult to watch as the child goes into ZPD when the teacher quizzes them on theory, etc. Any insights?

msdhowell responded:

I have been teaching piano for about 16 years now. My philosophy has always been to never force students to learn anything they don't want to. But the reality is, that when you are taking lessons there will be requirements. Piano is a discipline and to do it well takes discipline. This is a skill for scholar phase. I have used TJED in my home for about 4 years and I truly believe in the phases of learning. Traditional piano lessons (in my opinion) don't really fit in with core phase. They could fit in with LOL phase, but only if the student really loves to learn it. Some children do and some don't. They are inspired by what they like and enjoy...

Read the rest of this response and others like it here.

Our Free Gift to You

Every month we like to show our subscribers how much we appreciate them by offering a small token of our affection. It’s just our way of giving back and encouraging you to keep reading the TJEd Times. We hope you enjoy it.

Our Christmas gift to you this month is a downloadable copy of one of the most loved classic Christmas stories of all time— Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Nothing is better than sharing a classic with family and friends, especially a holiday ghost story with a happy ending. Merry Christmas!

Download E-book

There is one minor catch, though—you need a password to download your gift, and the password is “hidden” in the expanded version of Laurie’s article, so you have to actually click through to TJEd.org to find what you’re looking for.

Here’s the clue to this issue’s password. What founding father’s mother taught him Greek and Latin in homeschool? When you go to download your gift, you’ll need the answer to that question. It’s pretty easy to find, however. Good hunting.

We never rent or sell subscriber lists to any third party. Your privacy is very important to us! To subscribe to this newsletter, click here.

Copyright © 2007 Thomas Jefferson Education Consortium. All Rights Reserved.