Jul. 10, 2007 - What I'm working on and how I'm combining TJEd and CM
When I first discovered Charlotte Mason's philosophy I was awestruck, here is a woman who understands how a child's behavior and habits affect his education, his whole life - she was interested in growing the WHOLE child, interested in giving him wonderful IDEAS to think about, not just stuff him full of facts. She was also interested in getting the child out into nature, expose him to art, classical music, I was so happy, I was going to do CM! I had received the answer to my prayers! And I went happily on my way.
But things just weren't working for me like I had hoped. They were better for my DD than when we had used TWTM, but barely. She still wasn't thriving. And I was having a hard time making it all work.
So I kept reading books.
God wasn't done answering my prayers yet. I stumbled across A Thomas Jefferson Education and THAT was the missing component. ME! TJEd's motto is "You, not them" and THAT is what I knew intuitively but hadn't put into words. It all starts with ME. I had to get myself together in order to be effective. So that's what I've been working on. Me and our environment. I'm working on my own habits and am doing the 6 Month Purge right now and its liberating. I wouldn't have thought that I would have anything left to purge, for the last few years I have made *dozens* of trips w/ my SUV filled with things to donate, but we still have more stuff than we need. Simplifying our house is simplifying the house cleaning, its simplifying the clutter (our house is now less visually stimulating, gives one room to think ;o), its getting rid of toys that were given to my kids that I was not thrilled w/ and were just sitting in the bag having never been played w/ (no Bratz dolls for girls, no evil looking monster toys for boys), its reorganizing our homeschool room to find ways to make books, materials and supplies more accessible to my children, finding more ways to make our family life a life filled with teachable moments, and that I recognize those moments and can ask the right questions, say the right things (without saying too much, allowing my children to think it all through and develop their own interpretation, make their own discoveries, a skill I'm working on), its creating a lifestyle of learning.
In the TJEd philosphy, you structure time, not content. So what that means, is you give your children say 2-3 hrs a day (you decide what works best for your children based on how old they are, etc) and tell them after they do Kidschool (Kidschool is what you have decided is structured, keep it simple! Bible, math, whatever works for your household, but keep it SIMPLE, the point here is to NOT to make this a typical, long, school day). Then, after Kidschool, the children keep themselves busy for your preselected, allotted time, and they can explore and do whatever it is they want within the choices/parameters you have given them: tangrams, chess, math games, reading, copywork, books on CD, puzzles, science experiments, art, the list is endless. The whole point here is to have some guidelines, but keep it light, simple, children come into this world wanting to learn and if we give them some space, they will learn. And in the process find out who they are and what their interests and talents are because they are not being artificially "engaged" throughout their whole day.
So for our homeschool, I think I will have these courses in Kidschool:
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math (games, puzzles, manipulatives, no worksheets, mental math)
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copywork (keeping it simple, just a couple of words a day, done as perfectly as possible)
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readalouds (I'm going to try out some new books on geography, history/literature, etc , we'll see what kind of rabbit trails I can start)
and that's pretty much it for required daily work. I don't need to push science because my soon-to-be 7 yr old LOVES science, so she will readily engage in that on her own.
So our day will look something like this:
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they eat breakfast while read a bible story
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get dressed / make bed / grooming
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chores
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Kidschool (math game, write a few words, a readaloud)
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then they are on their own, learning at will (I will bring books to read/study while they learn so I can be accessible if they need me and that way they can see ME learning too, a big deal)
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lunch / help w/ cleanup
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Quiet Time
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play time
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clean up toys & bedroom before Daddy gets home
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help Mommy w/ dinner
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family time / readalouds / game night, things like that
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start bedtime routine: bath, brush teeth, etc
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read aloud /devotions, 'night 'night!
AND... forgot to mention, we will start having weekly family meetings. I am creating forms now to use. I will start out the meetings and as my DH gets more confident, I will start stepping back so he can be more of a leader in our family. Which I think is WONDERFUL! 
Things I need to do:
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purchase a date book for both of my children (start planting the seeds of them organizing themselves even though they will not be truly schedulilng their time or writing (much) in it.
I didn't really say a lot about CM, but I will use her ideas like narrations, dictation, picture study, etc etc. Love CM!
I'm sure there is more to say, but since I have a horrible time being succint, I'll let this be enough for today! Maybe if I blog more often, my posts will start getting shorter. 
Comments
Jul. 10, 2007 - Great insight
Posted by TRINITYPREPSCHOOL
Love reading your reflections on this topic!
Maureen
Jul. 16, 2007 - I have been unsuccessful
Posted by RienzoFamily
at implementing the TJ principles in my home. I've tried - but my boys are so disgustingly unmotivated when it comes to reading or anything other than computer games - so I have to "inspire" them in another way. I am always learning more about what works and what doesn't work. Good for you for being able to master this concept. I have all these TJ materials (booklets and CD's) but I am enjoying them for myself - which is what I am supposed to do, yet they just aren't catching on! LOL!!!
Alice
Aug. 22, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by hsmomof2
Sounds great! I think TJED and CM would work well together - though I am not an expert on either.
