My sisters, my inspiration-

I have sisters who homeschool. Their children are older than mine, and they have been doing this much longer than I have. Watching them gives me faith that the Thomas Jefferson Education Principles work. They both posted lately about their "scholar" children and I wanted to share with you their success.

bsymomof9

My son, Andrew, has been teaching Shakespeare Conquest for the second year in a row. He's pretty amazing! He prepares every week and does fun things with the kids. He LOVES Shakespeare. He has read almost all of Shakespeare's plays. They are getting ready to put on Twelfth Night, April 16! They practice at our home three times a week. It's been awesome to watch it come together and see all the kids enjoying themselves, pushing themselves, stretching as they reach their goals.

　

It's amazing how becoming a student of Leadership Education principles has changed our lives! I remember Rachel and Oliver DeMille saying that when you have a student squarely in scholar phase they will pull the others along. It's soooo true. I am in awe as I watch Sabrina and Ririe follow in Andrew's footsteps. They study endlessly without being reminded. They walk around the house with their noses in books or quoting their lines from Shakespeare. I am seeing the pull with Ryan and Katie and they are only 10 and 8!

Ryan is teaching himself to play the piano. He was so excited to find some sheet music on our bookshelves. I need to get him some piano lessons soon. Katie loves to sit and read to Abigail and Gabriel. She is sad that she didn't get to take an online class like everyone else this year. She's just itching to do what they are doing. I can truly see the process at work. Trusting the process... it's paying off beautiful dividends!

Tammy

3 inspiting sons

　

Jacob came down to talk a bit tonight. I enjoy talking with him. He's a good kid. When

he's not swimming, scouting, or shooting, he spends most of his time in his room studying. He has several hours worth of classes each day with many hours of study time on the side. He's currently reading A Tale of Two Cities. I've never read it, but according to Jacob it's a really great book.



He's taking a few classes this summer. Tonight we were going through his transcript and working out the details. He's on track to graduate April 2012. According to his calculations, that's only 12 months away. That can't possibly be true.



But as much as he has loved Williamsburg, he's been toying with the idea of going out on his own next year. He'd love to make his own decisions on what to study. He's itching to have control of his own education. (Which is the whole point of Scholar Phase.) We've had several conversations about it. He's learned a lot about himself the last two years.



Many don't see that a 15 year old boy would choose to study. And not just study, but study for hours and hours and hours. Or that they could have a desire to spend time with Locke and Montesquieu and de Tocqueville. Once upon a time I would have been surprised myself. But I've watched Jacob grow the last two years into the man he is becoming and it has been a wonderful experience. He wants to learn. He wants to study. It drives him crazy to have classes that last only 50 minutes. Just when the discussion is getting good, he has to move along to the next subject. He'd gladly spend the whole day delving into these subjects.



He's leaning towards graduating next year, getting the diploma, and then focusing his studies in depth.



I'm not sure where he's headed in his life, but I trust him.

Amy