Did you know you already have an educational philosophy? It's true. It's sort of like knowing you have tastes, but you just haven't discovered all of them yet. You have to try foods, music, events, sports, etc, in order to find out your tastes, and then after a while, you don't need to try as many things, because you're secure in your own palate.
An educational philosophy is basically a preference that has yet to been defined.
These next few weeks, I'll be helping you discover and define your own educational philosophy. We'll start with the order I discovered them, because that's what makes the most sense to me, and hopefully, to you too! ....and you'll be better equipped than most of the public school teachers today!
When I was pregnant with our fourth child, I had read and decided to re-read A Thomas Jefferson Education, then later, after baby #5 was born, I heard about Charlotte Mason at a homeschool convention where I was a VENDOR, not an attendee, and finally was exposed to a "Classical Education" plus a little Montessori, after I had almost (ALMOST) solidified my educational philosophy for our five full time students.
So, if this sounds sort of like you utopia for homeschooling, take a look at the Thomas Jefferson Education groups and books. It's SUPER inspiring. I was pregnant with our fourth child, and the three who were already here were ages 4yo, 2yo, and the newest was a wild-child little girl, about 18 months or so. This birth gap was to be the biggest one we had - a full 24 months! He was actually due on our third child's birthday. I remember purchasing the book, and reading it rather quickly, considering the amount of time I had to myself! I finished it while visiting my parents in a suburb of Houston, and I was blown away, excited and READY to conquer this homeschooling thing. I patted my belly, and said, "If you're a boy, your middle name is Jefferson."
Here's the review I left for it back in 2005, after my first read-through!
I tell you this story just to help you to feel how life-changing the experience was. I purchased copies in bulk, and sold them on my little FlipFlopSpanish paypal store for a 95¢ profit! I was HOOKED.
As a public school teacher, before babies, my college degree was very thorough, I graduated much better prepared than many of the other rookie teachers in my first and second years of teaching, truly!
I had learned about classroom management, language acquisition, all sorts of childhood development basics, and a TON of literature, culture, and regionalisms, of course. But I'll tell you two things I either didn't catch, or it wasn't taught at my high dollar, hard to get into university, (I'll go ahead and name drop - I earned many scholarships to attend my dream school, Baylor University) at the time:
I remember zero minutes, texts, or lectures about: LEARNING STYLES, not even a single *smackerel of information on any EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES.
(<<< *Credit goes to Winnie the Pooh for the word smackerel, meaning the teensiest bit of something, in his case, to taste.)
Now, I actually believe the omission was on purpose. We simply didn't have time in 45 minutes to teach 30+ captive, unmotivated pre-teen children in a way that would suit their preferences. So, it was skipped. And NO WAY did they want us to develop our own educational philosophy! Then we would NEVER follow the lesson plans!
As I learned more and more about the TJEd way, I knew my husband and I had to change our lifestyle. What a blessing that was to us as well. Our lives were enriched because of our desire to educate our children well. This sticks with us even now!
We began reading classics together (they do what they see, experience, and they value what you actually value, not what they hear.) We continued our studies of art, music, handi-crafts. He came on as many field trips as possible, and encourage tons of experiences - "Hey, Hon, can we DO that instead of just READ about it?" This main question he would ask me truly was the rudder to my ship.
I had to DIVE in to the education WITH them, and I had to DO AWAY with ANYthing that was just a time filler, or a workbook with simplistic recitation and memorization. This was sad to me, I had SO MANY check boxes I thought I wanted to fill!
You need to read the book, but here are the basics:
- Inspire, Not Require: Educators create a rich, stimulating environment rather than enforcing a rigid curriculum.
- Mentoring vs. Teaching: Focuses on mentors guiding students who choose to learn, rather than instructors forcing knowledge.
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Core-to-Leadership Phases:
- Core Phase (0-8 yrs): Developing family bonds, character, and love of life.
- Love of Learning (8-12 yrs): Following personal interests and curiosity.
- Scholar Phase (12+ yrs): Self-directed, in-depth study of classics and leadership.
- Use of Classics/Original Sources: Studying great thinkers and original works rather than textbooks.
- Focus on Principles: Learning the "how" and "why" behind subjects (e.g., freedom, economics, history) to build wisdom.