A Thomas Jefferson Education

by Oliver DeMille

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of other things.....and I feel it is time for me to write about my position about these books.  It is admittedly controversial.  Please read with an open mind.


                                                                           

                Oliver DeMille’s book “Thomas Jefferson Education” and his subsequent titles seem to be all the rage among many LDS homeschoolers.  I have many friends who call themselves "TJEders".  At first glance, the book and the system it advocates are a twist on the time-tested ‘classical education’ model.  This model has been widely taught in the last few decades by education gurus like Douglas Wilson, Susan Wise Bauer, and Leigh A. Bortins, and the Charlotte Mason method is also grounded in many of the same philosophies.  It would certainly add to the educational conversation to have an LDS author throw his thoughts into the ring.  However, on closer examination and after years of watching the system in practice, it becomes obvious that this is not an attempt to add to the rhetoric but to re-create a new system.  The arrogance that this entails is truly beyond me.  How can one man suggest to the masses that he has all the educational answers and that his method is superior to generations of tried and true ideas?

                We certainly live in a day when modern public education is in serious trouble.  The fact that funding, and standard testing results are in the news almost constantly is proof enough that almost everyone has concerns about what we are doing and where we are heading.  DeMille suggests that he, and only he, has the answers that will save you from a subpar public education and take you to great educational heights.  He preys on the fear of parents that if the responsibility is theirs alone to educate their children, they better create greatness.  Then, he preys on their vanity and tells them their children are destined to be the saviors of the modern day world, IF ONLY they will educate them correctly, his way.

                Let’s take a closer look at exactly how this system is put into practice.  First of all, the system in its entirety could not possible be enacted by any sane person with any time left to devote to any other tasks.  Indeed, he outlines what should be happening in a TJEd home every moment of every day of the year.  Specifically, he outlines stages of development for all ages of children much like the classical education model.  And here the most obvious problem of his system develops.  Whereas in classical education, strong focus is on the grammar stage or children in the elementary years, in DeMille’s ideology there is almost no structure during this time.

                Grammar stage is a time for children to gather knowledge of all kinds.  Grammar means not just the basis of language, but the foundation and general knowledge in math, science, history, music, art and all other genres.  It is a time children love to know things and to memorize, and so little minds soak up everything they can as they explore their world.  While DeMille would not argue with this philosophy, I think, in his system children are left to do this alone.  “Inspire not require” is his mantra and he advocates letting children only learn what they specifically ask to learn about.  Parents are not to force, or require, anything.  In some homes this has literally come to mean that children have no requirement to participate in any family structure from chores to outings to dressing appropriately.  They are literally little kings and queens being served by the world around them, usually their exhausted mothers.

                While I think all would agree that force is not the best way to get anyone to do anything, most children need guidelines and consequences to do the things in life that are not ‘fun’.  Cleaning your room, brushing your teeth, and eating your vegetables may not be fun, but they are certainly necessary.

                So, how is the inspiring to be done?  Parents are also told that is ‘you not them’.  In other words, take care of your own education and the children will be so inspired while they watch they won’t be able to stop themselves from reading Dickens, diagramming sentences, or factoring trinomials.  If your children aren’t begging you to do these things, you aren’t doing enough of them yourself and they aren’t inspired yet.  If you sit on the couch and read all day, soon your little geniuses will be begging to be reading what you are reading.  And, in a bizarre stance, they must only read classics.  In other words, no textbooks, no practice worksheets, no simplified anything, and in many homes nothing written since 1900.  If you want to understand math, read Newton.  If you want to learn Spanish, read Don Quixote in Spanish.  Really?  Really?  The answer is that we parents who were so unfortunate to be educated in the public school system will struggle to understand these books, but if it is important to us that our children are educated we will read them.  Somehow, magically, because the children have not seen the inside of a school building, they will be able to understand them.  I have read lists of classic books and a lot of non-classics, too.  More than almost any other adult I know.  And, of the TJEd advocates that I know, only a couple of them have time to read anything for themselves.

                Let’s walk through this thought for a moment.  A friend who has a habit of running and who loves to sew has some children who love to run and sew.  I am an avid reader and music is also of great importance to me.  Most (notice not all) of my children love to read and most (again, not all) of them play an instrument or two.  However, my favorite school subject is math.  I passed AP calculus in high school and when my children start Algebra, I have to contain myself as I teach them so as not to do the problems for them.  It is like a puzzle waiting to be solved for me and when I see the pattern for solving it, I get excited.  My children all know this.  When my oldest son was in Algebra II, I did the entire book with him in my own notebook because I hadn’t done it for many years and I was excited to do it again.  So, as you can imagine, with that inspiration and enthusiasm on my part my children are all lovers of math and excel at it, too.  At least most of them, right?  According to the ideology that must be how it worked.  Guess again!  Of the eight of my 11 children that have reached algebraic math, I would call six of them good at it, three of them displaying at least moderate interest, and ONE who truly loves math and is enthusiastic about it. I also have three that would certainly call math their least favorite school subject.  I don’t know if any of them would have reached the levels in math that they have without some “requirements” and some “consequences”.

                In an interesting paradox, parents are taught that children who are not “ready” to learn should not be pushed.  It is perfectly acceptable for 12 year olds to be nonreaders or non-writers.  While I agree that forcing every child to begin his formal education promptly at five years old is not ideal, there are normal perimeters of development.  I would not worry if a child potty-trained anywhere from 18 months to 4 years.  However, if my 5, 6, or 7 year old were not potty-trained, I would be concerned and wonder why.  Was it because I had never encouraged him to use the potty? Or, does he have a physical disability of some sort, a medical problem?   Similarly, a child could reasonably be expected to learn to read anywhere between the ages of 4 and 8.  If my child were 10, 11, or 12 and couldn’t read I would worry.  Does he have a severe learning disorder or have I not done my part?  I have a now 19 year old son that has been diagnosed with moderate dyslexia and dysgraphia.  A dear friend of mine has a son with dyslexia, too.  Both of these boys could read, albeit with great effort, by 12 years old.  It took a lot of work on the part of their parents.  Disabilities do not excuse a lack of education.  If anything, they require a parent to be even more involved and more consistent in making sure learning takes place.

                The early TJEd system smacks of the “unschooling” movement of earlier generations.  Unschooling, more correctly called child-led learning, has great potential with very diligent and perseptive parents.  Too many people, though, waited for their children to beg to be taught just as in the TJEd model.  Implemented this way it just doesn’t work!

                So, after the elementary years, children advance to a new stage.  In classical education this is called the logic stage.  Children are ready to build on the foundation that they have prepared and delve more deeply into subjects.  They are ready to deal in more abstract thought.  The whys of material become more important than the whats.  But how do you build without a foundation?  Parents are taught to watch children for signs of their maturity and readiness to advance to scholar phase, but how can you be a scholar when you know very little of the world?  How do you know what you want to study more deeply when you have no idea what the options are?  Parents are required by God to teach their children.  That includes exposing them to many subjects and giving them the groundwork so that when they become adolescents they are prepared to build on that foundation.

                This is where I have seen many parents start to panic.  At this point they usually realize that their children are not developing the way they should educationally.  Many things happen.  They send their children to a TJEd certified teacher to help, they send their child to public school, or they hide the fact that anything is wrong and go on their merry way hoping that if they are inspiring enough, if they educate themselves enough, if they follow the program even more strictly soon their children will be inspired to make up for lost time.  Sadly, I have never seen that happen. 

                There is one other issue of this ‘scholar phase’ that I would like to mention.  Once a child has demonstrated his ability or desire to advance to this stage, learning becomes his entire focus.  He is expected to study for 8-12 hours 5-6 days a week.  (Honestly?)  But, that is not the part I am going to talk about.  He is then given complete autonomy from any other responsibilities.  He doesn’t have to contribute to the family economy in any way.  His time is to be devoted to his studies.  I can’t imagine a recipe for disaster any more damaging.  First, when in the reality of life has any adult had this luxury?  Yes, there are a few independently wealthy children or children of martyr mothers who provide this kind of service, but it is not really a viable option for most people and I submit it is unhealthy for anyone.  To make matters worse in the TJEd home, the parents are supposed to be in their own scholar phase, so I want to know who is doing the mundane chores?  Everyone under twelve?  And finally, this is an avenue for teenage or young adult entitlement that is a problem of epic proportions in this country.  What would motivate a TJEd youth who is feeding his own ego and interests constantly to move forward with the responsibilities of a career and a family?  We always appreciate more that which we earn, that which we own.  An education is no different.

                “By their fruits shall ye know them.”  After two decades of TJEd education, where are the success stories?  Where are the successful adults?  TJEd graduates are at best average.  Many of them have traversed the educational gauntlet and become well-adjusted, normal adults.  Many of the students who once attended George Wythe University (DeMille’s privately founded college with no academic accreditation) have had to move on to attend a regular university where they are often behind and struggle to compete with their publicly educated counterparts.  But what about the ones that are 13 and can barely write their own name.  (I am not exaggerating here; I have seen this.)  What about the teens that cannot complete a worksheet or spell well enough to be understood?  These children are not literate.  How will they function as adults?  And I think it is a travesty to call this system after a man who was one of the most intelligent and most literate Americans ever.

                My final complaint that I wish to write about here is that DeMille has created a community in which parents are required, in order to be 'good' teachers, to become certified to educate their own families.  Parents are spending a great deal of money and time to achieve this, and within the TJEd circle, if you are not certified you are not qualified to join in the educational game with them.  What happened, once again, to getting off the conveyor belt?  This system is just another conveyor belt system that has hooked the unsuspecting.  What about the parent that feels compelled to follow the spirit and teach his children the things and the ways that he feels prompted to teach?

                For many years I have watched this system in use.  I still believe it has good points.  I believe that the people who call themselves “TJEders” and are successful, use an eclectic approach that does not really contain all the principles that DeMille espouses.  But by and large I have not seen success and I have seen situations that I believe constitute real educational neglect.  This is not okay.  I am worried for these children and their future.

                I am well aware that people who are proponents of this educational system will probably not be persuaded to change because of anything that I say.  However, I would like to see everyone who is interested in homeschooling, either now or in their future, become informed about the many philosophies available.  I recommend reading Susan Wise Bauer, Leigh A. Bortins, Douglas Wilson, Karen Andreola, and Charlotte Mason.  Read Raymond and Dorothy Moore, John Taylor Gatto, the Mentessori method and there are a host of books on “unschooling” as well.  I don’t expect that everyone will agree with me.  Conscientious objection to anything is certainly exercising your freedom of choice.  But be informed; be conscientious.  Neither parents nor children can choose if they don’t know what their choices are.  I am confident that given a smorgasbord of ideas parents will choose bits and pieces of many philosophies right for their own families which will enable them to raise educated, independent and successful children to adulthood.

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