A Recipe for Success

Or is it?  I've been reading the Ingredients found in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning.  At first I was upset and put the book down several times.  In fact this is the second time I've tried to read it.  I started about a year ago and had the same feeling.  To me Thomas Jefferson Education is a philosophy--there is no ONE way to do it.  But these ingredients made me feel that if I don't follow this recipe then I won't get a successful leadership education.  To me, the key to leadership education is the 7 keys and 5 pillars and following the phases.  The ingredients are just some ideas  on how to implement the philosophy in my home.  Once I figured that out I was able to enjoy the chapters.  There are 50 ingredients.  I'm already doing a lot of them, some I don't want to attempt and a few I'm ready to try.

1. Sundays: A time for Jonathan and I to meet with each other and talk about the kids and make a plan of the week.  Also when we can meet with the kids and talk about their goals.
2. Mornings: School time--in whatever form that may be.
3. Afternoons: A time for me to study and a time for the kids to get bored.
4. Evenings: For inspiring.  "Those with whom we spend our evening are those with whom we bond."  I love our time at home in the evening reading together.  I look forward to the cooler weather when we can spend our evenings outside.
5. The Bookshelf--Filled with books geared toward each phase.
6. The Weekly Lesson--I started my kids too early on weekly lessons and need to reevaluate.
7.  The Mom School--I can't wait to organize classes.
8. The Formal Ball--Oh how I hate dancing, but I agree that it is important to know how to act in different situations. 

Other random things I got: I want to live on a farm, "you, not them" is so important, I need to go slow to go fast, my kids need to be taught the phases and the keys, family socialization is how I want to make friends, I want to do a talent show with my homeschool group, and I love leadership education.

Transistion or Growth?

I am taking a Leadership Education Family Builder class.  Actually I am co-facilitating with my sister-in-law, but I do everything that everybody else does in the class.  The only thing different for us is that we lead the discussions.  (Which is new to us and we are still trying to figure out the best way to do it, but we are I am learning a ton!)  The classes meet once a month and each month we have a list of task/assignments to complete.  One of the assignments for July was to write a paper or teach someone about the transitions between phases.  Here's mine:

What are the signs of transition from one phase to the next?  Oliver DeMille says “you never actually leave Core Phase, or Love of Learning Phase or the others, once you have reached them.  Students in Depth Phase still apply the lessons of Core, Love of Learning and Scholar.”  Knowing that, I would say that one doesn’t transition into the next phase, one grows.  But there are a few signs to look for that shows one is ready for the next step in learning. 

A Core phase student builds a foundation for learning.  He learns right and wrong, good and bad, true and false and builds relationships through work and play.  He will eventually play in ways that look like learning.

After a solid Core phase a child will logically move into the Love of Learning phase.  Here he will fall in love with learning and study anything that interests him.  As he continues through this phase and is surrounded by an inspiring environment he will begin to do more independent projects and spend more time reading and studying than playing. 

Then he will be ready for the Scholar phase.  In this phase he “begins a rigorous, disciplined survey of classic works and real life application.”  He willingly studies subjects of his choosing for 8-10 hours a day and submits to a mentor who will help him understand the importance of other subjects. 

After gaining a scholar education, a student is ready to move into the Depth phase.  This is usually done at a college or university with a more demanding mentor.  Students with solid Core, Love of Learning and Scholar phases will be prepared to become leaders and statesmen during this phase.

These phases occur over the course of one’s childhood--from birth to young adulthood.  If the environment is right and the keys are applied the growth between phases will be natural. 

How Do I Love?

This a picture from the TV show,
but it's pretty much how I pictured theVirginian.

The Virginian by Owen Wister is known as the first great Western novel.  It is narrated by an unnamed Easterner who tells the story of a cowboy known as the Virginian.  The Virginian works as a foreman on a ranch in Wyoming.  He wins bets, plays tricks, fights both physically and verbally, hangs cattle thieves, reads great literature and falls in love. 

 Early in the story we read a letter from a young lady (Molly Weeks) from Vermont who is contemplating a job offer as a schoolmarm in Wyoming.  This letter is when the seed of love is planted in the Virginian’s heart.  It brings about a change in the Virginian.  He stands up for her honor even though he hasn’t been formally introduced to her.  He saves her handkerchief after rescuing her.  He visits her whenever he has the opportunity.  Throughout the novel we see several more instances where the Virginian does something to show his love for Miss Molly.   We also see that Miss Molly is afraid to return his love.  This makes me wonder if my view of love is skewed.  How can someone continue to love another person without any love in return? 

I am reminded of another case of love unreturned.  Gilbert Blythe loves Anne Shirley in the Anne of Green Gables series, but she doesn’t realize that she loves him and therefore treats him as just a friend.  He proposes and she says no.  He continues to love her and eventually tries again.  I couldn’t understand why Gilbert kept Anne in his heart. 

I look at my own relationship with my husband.  I love him for so many reasons, but one of those is his love for me.  If he stopped loving me what would happen?  Would I be like the Virginian and Gilbert or is my love purely conditional? 

In my recent re-reading of The Divine Center by Stephen Covey I learned that unconditional love is necessary to a relationship.  Stephen Covey says that in order to show love unconditionally one must have a “love supply source”.  He says Christ is our source.   Our relationship with our Savior is what helps us love unconditionally.  Though neither the Virginian nor Gilbert Blythe professed to be Christian, they must have had a hidden understanding of Christ’s love.  As Stephen Covey says “when we love Christ first, we will love [others] more.”

The Virginian’s actions toward Miss Molly helped me look at how I love others.  It made me think about my relationship with my husband.  Do I love him unconditionally? 

What's Love Got To Do With it?

Many emotions are demonstrated in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin—fear and anger, sadness and joy, hate and love.  Each of these emotions affects the characters from the story in different ways.  The slaves fear retributions from their owners; the owners express anger toward the slaves.  The slaves feel sad when separated from their families and joy when they learn of freedom.  Many slaves hate their owners and many white people love the black people.  Which of these emotions had the biggest effect on the people?  Which brought about the most change?  The answer is love. 

When Eliza learns that her son has been sold to a slave trader she decides to take her chances and escape with him to Canada.  Along the way she is aided by a group of Quakers and is reunited with her husband, George.  The people in the Quaker community hide George and Eliza in their homes, treat them as equals and help them in their flight.    Because of the “thousand unconscious acts of love and good will” bestowed by the Quakers, George experiences a change of heart and something he had never know before: “a belief in God, and trust in his providence.” 

The 3 are able to continue on their journey.  But before they are get far they learn that slave hunters are on their trail.  Through a series of fortunate events they create a trap and seriously wound one of the hunters.  The other hunters leave him for dead, but the runaway slave group shows compassion and takes him to a nearby Quaker home to be treated.  The slave trader helps Eliza, George and their son get past the last check point by telling them to go in disguise.  He gives up slave catching and stays in one of the Quaker settlements catching bears and other animals. 

Eva is another character whose love affects many people.  Topsy is a wild, slave girl on Eva’s father’s plantation.  She is “given” to Eva’s Aunt Ophelia to educate and tame.  Miss Ophelia is disgusted by Topsy, but agrees to take her as a project.  All her life, Topsy has been treated poorly and has heard only negative comments about herself.  After a stealing incident, Eva nicely tells Topsy that she would “rather give [Topsy] anything of [hers], than have [Topsy] steal it.”  This “was the first word of kindness the child had ever heard in her life.”  But because she had never heard words like that, she did not believe them. 

Later on Miss Ophelia is frustrated because nothing she does seems to bring about a change in Topsy behavior.  Miss Ophelia has “taught and taught; . . . talked till [she’s] tired; . . . whipped [Topsy]; . . . punished in every way [she] can think of, and still [Topsy’s] just what she was at first.”  Eva takes Topsy aside and talks to her about love.  She says that Miss Ophelia would love her if she were good.  At this Topsy laughs and explains that Miss Ophelia can’t bare her because she’s “a nigger” and she would just as soon “have a toad touch her” than Topsy.  Eva says that she loves her and that Jesus loves her.  Eva asks Topsy to be good for her sake and Topsy, overcome with a feeling of belief, says that she will try.  Eva’s love changes Topsy.  “Topsy did not become at once a saint; but the life and death of Eva did work a marked change in her.” 

The adults overheard the conversation between Eva and Topsy and it made Miss Ophelia aware of her own actions.  She knew that she didn’t like Topsy, but she didn’t know that Topsy knew.  But after Eva’s death she became “more softened, more gentle.”  She continued to teach Topsy, but no longer withdrew from her touch.  Miss Ophelia “viewed [Topsy] now through the softened medium that Eva’s hand had first held before her eyes, and saw in her only an immortal creature, whom God had sent to be led by her to glory and virtue.”  Eva’s Christ-like love touched her aunt and made her aware of her “duty” to overcome her prejudice. 

Uncle Tom is a character who has the love of Christ in him.  He understands that through Christ all things are possible.  He knows that Christ strengthens him in his trials.  He shares his testimony of Christ with all those who are around him.  Uncle Tom has 3 owners throughout the story.  His final owner, Legree, is a cruel master who tries to beat Christ out of him.  He tells Uncle Tom “I’ll soon have that out of you.  I have none o’ yer bawling, praying, singing niggers on my place; so remember. . . .I’m your church now!”  For a while Tom wrestled in his soul thinking that God had forgotten him.  Harriet Beecher Stowe says that “the atheistic taunts of [Tom’s] cruel master sank his before dejected soul to the lowest ebb; and, though the hand of faith still held to the eternal rock, it was with a numb, despairing grasp.”  He was given a vision of Christ suffering on the cross then of Christ crowned in glory.  Christ said to Tom “He that overcometh shall sit down with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.”  This vision gave Tom the strength that he needed to survive the remainder of his life with this owner.  The “blows fell now only on the outer man, and not, as before, on the heart.” 

Tom’s faith and love touched many other slaves on Legree’s plantation.  When opportunities arose he took the chance to lend a hand, share his meager belongings and teach them about Christ.  In the end Tom’s faith and love of Christ brought Sambo and Quimbo, the two malicious overseers, to their knees begging for forgiveness and knowledge of this Jesus who stood by Tom through the beatings. 

Maybe fear and anger made some of the people in Uncle Tom’s Cabin act differently.  Maybe they reformed because of sadness or joy.  But the greatest changes were because of love.  George understood equality and the love of God because of the love of the Quakers.  The slave hunter shunned his old job because of the caring of a few slaves and Quakers.  Eva’s love helped Topsy and Miss Ophelia become better people.  And Uncle Tom’s love brought others to Christ.  How can love change me?

My Inspiration

In a recent re-reading of A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille, I came across a section called "Writing as Learning."  In it Olive talked about how Thomas Jefferson and his mentor, George Wythe, had a Commonplace Book were they wrote about what they learned and studied each day.  Oliver then encouraged mentors to write daily essays.  He says it is a "great way to document your process and progress.  It increases daily retention, interest and discussion."  One of my "jobs" is to be a parent mentor.  I also have a desire to be a better writer.  Jonathan has encouraged me to start a writing blog and after reading this section I have decided to do just that.  I am convinced (maybe that's too strong of a word) that it will be the best way for me to be an example to my kids and the best way for me to become a better writer.  My goal is to post something everyday.  It will (probably) mostly be about the books (secular and non) that I read, but occasionally I will post about a different classics.  Wish me luck!