Kids and their Phases

Every kid goes through phases. You know, the "terrible twos", puberty, etc. In Thomas Jefferson Education "phases" means a little more. The learning phases that my kids are in are "core", "love of learning", and "scholar".

My two year old (T) is very much in "core". He is testing every limit I set. Just today he was standing on a chair and trying to touch a piece of embroidery that I have hanging on the wall. I told him no and it was as if his arm didn't want to obey him. And then, once he got the one arm under control, the other arm had to be told "no". He finally got it and then went on to another test. I remember when I had four little boys under 5 and how frustrating this constant testing of limits could be. I did a lot more yelling then. Now I look at it a different way. I am helping build their core foundation. T is learning to listen and obey but also control and self-discipline. The core phase is very important because all of life will be built upon it. It definitely does not make it less fun. Right now my 14 year old (J) is running around the house with T's riding toy. Both of them are laughing so hard! It is so much fun to listen to! They are both building on their core foundation. Life is fun! What a good lesson to learn, no matter what the age.

My 9 yo, D, is just starting into the "Love of Learning" (LOL) phase. As I mentioned before, he is the main reason I got into TJed. He was not doing well with the classical approach and I needed to find something that fit his needs better. For the last couple of years I didn't even think of him as in "core" and tried to fit him in LOL. It wasn't until last year when I was talking to him about the different phases that he just spit out, "I'm in core" and I realized what I had been doing. He is constantly trying to keep up with his big brothers and I needed to let him know he could grow at his own pace. I gave him that freedom and he is now able to move into LOL phase. Some days he still needs to regress into core. I doesn't bother me. I know he'll get there in his own time.

A & M are 12 yo and just starting to try out the "Scholar" phase. J is right in the midst of it. With scholar phase, I am finding my role changing. I'm no longer their only mentor and teacher. I am more of a educational facilitator. I figure out what they need and help them find it. We participate in a co-op with other families that follow the TJed philosophy and the co-op classes have really inspired the boys. They are each taking two classes and each class assigned a paper. They had the papers done with days to spare. They love to learn and are now building on it by taking direction from a mentor and learning more.

There is a lot more to the phases. I've reviewed some of the books on TJed in our book review blog. I'm sure I'll elaborate more on the phases as I go.