Booking It 2011 - A Thomas Jefferson Education

Yesterday I posted about "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin as part of Booking It 2011 with Life as Mom.  Today, also as part of Booking 2011, I'm posting about a book that I've read over the past month on my own.  There have actually been a number of them, which probably means that I'm neglecting something else in my life, but I'll stick to posting just one!

The book that comes to mind first is "The Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver and Rachel De Mille.  I was strolling along through this blog and happened to notice that she follows the Leadership Education Model (aka Thomas Jefferson Education).  I've come across it before, but for some reason dismissed it as something I wasn't really interested in.  As a mother who's writing and parenting I respect, I decided to do a little more research.  I came across a few websites and my attention was piqued.  So I ordered three books via Interlibrary Loan, and I'm pleased to say that I've now read all three and this Thomas Jefferson thing just may be thing for us!

"A Thomas Jefferson Education" is itself was a very informative book.  It provided a lot of food for thought, and was the catharsis for many interesting discussions between my husband and myself about what we wanted for our children while they were small,  when they are adults and all the years in between.  Along with the other two books I read (one more by Oliver and Rachel De Mille and the third by the De Milles again, but with Diann Jepson this time), it comprises a fairly thorough, if not entirely practical, guide to creating a house of solid character, inspiration and learning for the whole family.  Even if you're not considering homeschooling, or this model of education doesn't seem like a good fit for your own goals, it's worth the read, even if only to get a few good discussions going between the important people in your child's life!

Some of the ways they suggest implementing this style of education seem more like parenting and lifestyle choices, which somehow rubbed me a little the wrong way.  They seemed so certain that their way was correct, and there's no other correct way to accomplish the same thing.  I'm always a little leery of books written this way, however, as they have many children for whom it worked, perhaps I'm willing to consider it.  After all, education, parenting and lifestyle go together anyhow.  One is just an extension of another, so why not include them all in the same book?

Try this book out.  Buy it, borrow it, find it in your library.  Let me know what you think!