Thomas Jefferson Method?

Question

I saw a clip today on CBS on which a homeschooling mom said she uses the Thomas Jefferson method. http://www.cbsnews. com/sections/ i_video/main5002 51.shtml? id=3917028n

I'd say that we are somewhere between unschooling and eclectic homeschoolers; I have never focused too much on "method" and so am unfamiliar with this.

I'm very curious. What exactly is the Thomas Jefferson Method?

In the video clip, the woman says you can get a child from pre-literacy to high school level in 100 hours.

How is this possible?

Is it too late to utilize this method with a teen?

Thanks! :)

Answer 1

I've never heard of a "Thomas Jefferson Method," but the 100 hours sounds like a John T. Gatto reference. In one of his books - probably "Dumbing Us Down," since that's the one I know I read all of - he says that you can teach a child all he really needs to know to learn anything else on his own in a certain number of hours. I think it was more like 20 than 100, though.

Oh! Ok, Google is our friend. I just found this:

"“A Thomas Jefferson Education,” is the title of the book on classics-based education written by Dr. Oliver Van DeMille. In it, he describes the kind of education that created some of the greatest leaders in history—Thomas Jefferson being the quintessential example. The American founding fathers, as well as many other great men and women throughout history, were able to truly impact the world for better because they learned using classical educational models. In today's world, the concept of this type of liberal arts education has generally been replaced by the mass-training of students for the job market."

The home page of that site has a link to a CBS video that's probably the one you saw.

I found DeMille's book and a "home guide" at Amazon.

I would note that DeMille's PhD is from an unaccredited school, so he doesn't really have any business calling himself "Dr." That raises some big red flags about his credibility, in my mind.

It doesn't seem as though his method is terribly different from any of the other "Classical" or "Great Books" methods, but they do all seem to rely on starting with that method at an early age. I didn't read "The Well-Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer until my daughter was in her teens, and by then she really wasn't interested in trying those techniques. I would have LOVED that method as a teen, though, so I think its suitability really depends heavily on the child and the family.

All of the classical education methods stress a LOT of work with the Bible and explicitly conservative Christian sources, so if your family isn't Christian and conservative, they aren't a good fit. That was one of the issues for us, in fact. The third site I referenced below has many different methods listed, though.

Answer 2

The "Thomas Jefferson Method" is simply the act of giving your child a Two-Dollar bill for making a passing grade.

It worked quite well back when money was still worth something.

Answer 3

Here's a nice description:

http://www.arboracademy.com/ThomasJeffer...

You have probably been doing this or something kind of like it in your home.  And it's never too late to reach for the stars :)

Answer 4

"TJed" is gaining popularity around here.  There is a book about it:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-E...

Here is a site about it:

http://www.tjed.org/

I have some issues with the developer of the program, so I've stayed far away from it.