Thomas Jefferson Education: Homeschooling Method

The Thomas Jefferson method of homeschooling is a classical teaching model inspired by the self-led learning of history's greatest thinkers, such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. It is based on the guidebook "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver DeMille.

The Basics of TJed (Thomas Jefferson Education)

• The three main tenets of a Thomas Jefferson Education are reading, writing and discussion. Similar to the Socratic method, this process encourages students to investigate ideas and information presented not by educators but by authors who have established themselves as experts by researching and writing books on each subject.

Reading the Classics

• Classical literature spans the entire curriculum, with works that include historical fiction, history-making speeches, and even mathematics and science-based classics. In Thomas Jefferson Education, all learning comes from these works; textbooks are frowned upon as dumbed-down, derivative works that teach children not to think instead of encouraging them to think.

Writing about the Classics

• As children get older, they begin to write their own derivative works, rebuttals, comparisons of differing viewpoints and other essays based upon the literature they're reading. TJed students are encouraged to express their observations, ideas and opinions much like the authors they're reading, without correction, grading or evaluation.

Discussing Literature the Thomas Jefferson Way

• The Thomas Jefferson method of homeschooling involves a lot of discussion. Parents and children discuss the characters, storylines, plots, ideas, politics, and psychology in the works they are reading. As Oliver DeMille, author of "A Thomas Jefferson Education," explains, "Classics allow us to experience, in an intimate way, the greatest mistakes and successful choices of human history. If we learn from these mistakes and successes, we will make fewer mistakes and have more successes."

Similarities to Unschooling

• Many people are surprised to realize that the Thomas Jefferson Method of schooling isn't stuffy and formal; in fact it is very similar to unschooling, a homeschooling philosophy that rejects textbooks in favor of real life and experiences. While a radical unschooling family may not embrace the idea of a schedule of books to be read, TJed families insist that the process of reading, writing and discussing is organic and natural and doesn't involve coercion or forced scheduling, just the purchase of more books.