Tuesday, January 22, 2008

We are still tweaking and reassessing, but I thought I'd share a couple sites I have found recently and also a good article I just read yesterday!

Links: http://ayli.org/
http://www.livingmath.net
Article; The Nation Comes from the Nursery
I thought there was another, maybe I'll find it and edit it in later, or not! :)


And the good article I read yesterday, I even got Dan to read it and we got to chat a bit about it today!!

The Quick Fix Temptation
By Diann Jeppson
Thomas Jefferson Education is a set of principles. Principles take time and sacrifice
and faith to apply. The quick fix is so tempting, but there isn't a principle-based
quick fix. Especially for the idea of inspire, not require. I think of it as a chess
game. I have a certain set of moves that I can make. I can ignore. I can bribe. I
can threaten. I can beg, cajole and lay on the guilt trips. Or I can inspire. Each
has its consequences.
The big question is: What is the end result we want to achieve? For me, it is
to teach my children how to use freedom. This means I must accept the risks
associated with allowing them this privilege. It also means that relationship is king.
In an adversarial environment, TJEd will simply not work. But it is worth the
significant effort to get our relationships with our children square, so we can move
forward with our studies. It is surely not a destination, but a profoundly important
process and a daily practice.
Because you are reading this newsletter, I would venture to say that you are
experiencing a powerful desire to re-birth a new season in your family. Having
walked that path before, I offer you some caring mentorship. If you find yourself in
a place of significant pain in your relationships with your children, I want you to do
something that will likely be extremely difficult.
1. For a short season of time, stop trying to do academics with your children. For a
couple of months focus only on your relationships. Pray constantly for charity. Play
with them, hold them, listen to them, forgive them, pray about them and with them.
Sing, go places, do things they enjoy. Your job during the next couple of months is
to create an easy, open, relaxed feeling between you and them.
2. Give up the quick fix plan. If you decide to do TJEd, prepare to dig in and do it
with all of your heart. Don't do it as an experiment. Really do it. Forget yourself.
Forget what detractors say. Trust the process and let the process work in you. I
understand that it is hard to be patient when you are experiencing pain and anxiety.
You will gain confidence as you consistently move forward, so hang in there!
Your change will be from the inside out. You stand at the crossroads of new birth—
the birth of new lives, new hearts, new minds, new courage. Know that we care very
much about your success as you raise a generation of leaders in YOUR home!
Activity Review
1. Spend the next month or two concentrating on nurturing your relationships with
your children.



Reprinted from “The Inspirer Newsletter,” a free e-zine designed to inspire and reinspire
parent mentors engaging in Thomas Jefferson Education.
http://www.homefires.ws

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

What a Package!
Look at this fun assortment of homeschooling "stuff" put together by the editors of this fun new online magazine The Heart of the Matter. It is a care package to get through the post holiday blahs (is that a word?). I am hoping to be the ecstatic recipient of this, but seeing as there are a ton of HSing mamas having the blahs I will hold back my excitement until the drawing. But I have to say that the paint can with magnetic numbers is completely the coolest thing I have seen lately, that may even keep my little ragamuffins engaged long enough for me to get a math lesson in with my 1st grader!
I would also suggest you check out the premiere edition of the magazine, I am looking forward to
reading all the great articles!!
Have a great day!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008


Don't you just love getting books in the mail!! Here are a couple new things we got for Term 2!!

We have actually had quite a blissful first two days of our term. I have been striving to not make it "school" at home. I have seeked out advice from mamas I look up to and I have been rereading some of my Thomas Jefferson Education publications. There are also a few new articles on the TJed.org site and I found an yahoo group with some great experience being shared!
Today we read our world history chapter, it was on Greek gods. We found Greece on the map, talked about the things Dad saw when he was there this summer, and also made some popsical stick Greek gods. I found some good illustrations for the 12 members who live on Mt. Olympus, I'd be happy to share if you want it, but I will have to email them to you so just ask!! Even Jake enjoyed part of our lesson!
We also read our new book Pet of the Met, it was great! Everyone enjoyed it and we are now wishing that we could go to a children's matinee of the Magic Flute! We listened to our new CD's of Mozart's opera Die Zauberflote (yes the o should have umlauts over it, just imagine them). We decided to buy The Magic Flute in its original German since it is the language we are working on.
I know I am looking forward to Friday when we get to start The Tree in the Trail, it is about the Santa Fe Trail!

How is the New Year going in your homeschool?

Thursday, January 03, 2008

For a little mind exercise for the mamas!!
A new article over at the Common Room may make you say "wow", but not the good kind!