It Hit

I knew I was in for a crazy ride this month. I hoped I could make it through without having a breakdown. I did, well, for 9 days.

Last night wasn't good. I had spent the majority of the week, when I wasn't doing school with the girls or running around, studying up on Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed). It is the home-school philosophy highly regarded and followed by the Commonwealth Ashley attends. I felt I ought to study and learn more about it. I had read the book a year ago and had not gotten much out of it. This time, I felt overwhelmed and beat down after studying it.

Basically, TJed is a classics-based education blended with unschooling. For those of you unfamiliar with home-school lingo, unschooling is basically to let your child study whatever he/she wants. You nurture your child's interests, and don't push the other subjects. You trust that your child's natural instincts and experiences in life will provide a complete education.

Pardon my skepticism. I doubt my children would pursue writing and develop great writing skills on their own volition. Ashley would choose to never touch another math book again. I do believe in nurturing their interests, but I also believe that being educated involves developing a solid foundation. Unschooling is what I do now in my life. I would have been woefully undereducated if I had been unschooled as a child.

I do love the classics-based part. However, I prefer the philosophy of The Well-Trained Mind much better. I found TJed to be too complicated, although one of the main points is "Simple, Not Complex." It just takes 5 Pillars of Statesmanship, 7 Keys of Learning, 5 Methods of Instruction, 55 Ingredients for a Leadership Home, and 35 Parenting Skills. And my child goes through 4 Phases, but one phase is broken into 5 sub-phases.

Phew. I'm tired.

I have found in homeschooling that I find solid, basic curricula that fit my child and stick with them. The girls love school, and I do to. And that is the measure of success.

So, after a good cry from all the stress, I put away the TJed books for good. I pulled out those that I do agree with. I cut back on my commitments and spent the day with Ashley. I'm feeling much better. I can face the rest of the month.