Mom's Need Inspiring Too.

As I have mentioned in a previous posting, this is the first year that I am incorporating a plan, albeit a simple one, for my own personal education as a integral part of my children's education. Perhaps, I am moving beyond the core phase myself. It just felt like time. Not that I wasn't doing things that further developed my own personal "well," it is just more formally planned and known by those around me. Before... it was rather spur of the moment. I would share something I read to the kids. Show them something new I learned and always made it a point to share with them when I learned something new. This year... I am formally doing my own studies... still working out what exactly...but still... Mom is "homeschooling" too.

Like many homeschooling moms, I practically devoured any homeschooling information out there. Which of course, made things overwhelming given all the philosophies and options out there, but in doing so, I began to notice a pattern. The ones that seemed most appealing to me all seemed to overlap. Before TJED, the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf Education), were the most appealing but very different than my traditional educational background (aka- My conveyor Belt Education). Much of it just felt right and in my limited study of it seemed to flow naturally in our family. And when I discovered TJED... the two seemed to flow together and TJED was, for our family, a answer to many missing gaps.

Today... I was reading one of my favorite Waldorf Inspired blogs, The Magic Onions, it had a post on the importance of the continual education of Parents and Teachers. It's words spoke so clearly to me. Especially at a time when my personal development is at the forefront of my thoughts these days. Let me share with you some quotes (in red) that I found very inspiring.

Blogger, Melisa Nielsen, shares a quote from Rudolph Steiners, Rhythms of Learning. "The Self Education of adults is essential for the Waldorf approach to educating children, because Waldorf does not consist solely of methods, techniques, or structures, but rather the development of human capacities – those of the children but also, and more importantly, those of teachers and parents.”

I love the phrase, "the development of human capacities." Isn't it wonderful that there isn't a end to that capacity?

Don't you just love the blessings of the internet (and I admit it has its evils too). I think it is vital to remember the Philosophy of "Inspire, not require" doesn't only just apply to how you educate your children. I get so bogged down on requirements, that I placed on myself ,and when I see postings and informations such as this and the other I will mention... it is a breath of fresh air. I need a good homeschooling community of not only real life friends but virtual kindred spirits that inspire me to greater things.

Another awesome posting today I read on Mama Seasons, (nice to know other mamas get "the funk" too. Check out this quote she found:

From the unschooling site:

“If you think you can’t provide a rich, stimulating environment for your kids, maybe they *are* better off in school. Send them.

But if you know that the whole wide world is rich and stimulating, then GET OUT THERE! DO things, BE with your kids. Find cool places to go. Bring new things home. Quit b#@%**’!

If you knew you only had a year more with that child, what would you expose him to? Where would you go? What would you eat? What would you watch? What would you do?

If you had only ONE year—and then it was all over, what would you do? Four seasons. Twelve months. 365 days.

Do that THIS year. And the next.”

Can I just tell you how much I needed that. I can only hope that a life lived to its fullest, is one that won't be regretted. Just how much I need to let go and have faith in the learning process. Back to the Magic Onions, she goes on to talk about just that. Read the posting and think about how it applies to your style. While it is of course from a Waldorf perspective you could easily replace the word Waldorf with "educating children" or even TJED

“The self-education of adults is essential to educating children, because educating children does not consist solely of methods, techniques, or structures, but rather the development of human capacities – those of the children but also, and more importantly, those of teachers and parents.”

Now take a look at this additional Rudolf Steiner Quote. I am going to interject some TJED corresponding stuff in red.

“If one observes children who, through proper upbringing, have developed a natural reverence for the adults around them [CORE Phase}, and if one follows them through their various phase of life[TJED_ Core, Love of Learning, scholar, Depth and Mission], one may discover that their feelings for reverence and devotion in childhood gradually transform during the years leading to old age. As adults, such persons may have a healing effect on others, so that through their mere presence, tone of voice, or perhaps a single glance they spread inner peace to others.[Perhaps this can be attributed to a completion of each phase, few or no gaps or repair work to be done] Their presence can be a blessing, because as children they have learned to venerate and to pray in the right way. No hands can bless in old age, unless in childhood they have been folded in prayer.[For many families, this is a vital part of the Core Phase]”

The beauty in this, is that even though we are having to do all of this "repair work" for ourselves, our kids don't necessarily have to... depending on you. I know... pressure. But remember... "It's about YOU, not them." Focus on healing you and and that inner work you do now will affect your posterity. Ok... enough for such a late night. Just thought I would share some inspiration I found today.

Note to self... get a copy of

“Rhythms of Learning” by Steiner

and check out the unschooling site.

It's good to be homeschooling. Now its your turn... share with us your inspiration. What is inspiring you to develop your personal education?

10 Most Famous and Successful People Who Were Homeschooled

Homeschoolers sometimes don’t get as much as credit as students who attend traditional schools do, but the truth is, their education can prepare them to be just as competitive in college and in the real world. In fact, some pretty important people in business, entertainment, science, politics, and literature were homeschooled at some point in their lives. Just check out our list of 10 of the most famous and successful people who were homeschooled.

Venus and Serena Williams: Tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams have won championships and tournaments like the US Open, French Open, Sony Ericsson Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon, sometimes more than once. The sisters — just 29 and 28 respectively — have also been rewarded for their hard work with endorsement deals and celebrity-level access to award shows and special events around the world. When they were young, the Williams sisters moved from Saginaw, MI, to Compton and then West Palm Beach, CA, where they were homeschooled by their father Richard. Until they were teenagers, the girls studied tennis under Rick Macci, but in 1995, their father took over their tennis training too.

Abraham Lincoln: Sixteenth President of the United States Abraham Lincoln was also the first Republican president and pulled the country through the Civil War, ending slavery. Today, Lincoln is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, but he grew up with much humbler roots. Lincoln famously lived in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky and only attended 18 months of formal school. Lincoln mostly taught himself under the guidance of his stepmother Sarah Bush Johnston and the local library.

Andrew Carnegie: Scottish business magnate Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the United States when he was a boy in the middle 19th century. He grew up in Allegheny, PA, and began working at just 13 years old, his only real education coming from his uncle back in Scotland. Though he had a history of working his way through menial jobs, Carnegie was eventually sponsored by the Colonel James Anderson, who allowed Carnegie and other promising teenagers access to his extensive library. Years later, Carnegie continued to foster relationships with academics and writers, but he is best known for building the Cargnegie Steel Company, which later became U.S. Steel after a merger. At one point one of the richest men in the country, Carnegie is also recognized through institutions like the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Carnegie Mellon University.

Booker T. Washington: Teacher, author and community leader Booker T. Washington was born to slaves in Virginia in 1856. Nine years later, Washington and his family were freed after the Civil War ended, and he worked in West Virginia salt furnaces and coal mines until he was able to attend college at the Hampton Institute, despite not having been able to go to formal school as a boy. After graduating, Washington attended the Wayland Seminary so that he could become a teacher, but Washington ultimately went on to become the first president of Tuskegee Institute. Washington was also known as an influential organizer in the African American community for his peaceful, diplomatic leadership.

Woodrow Wilson: Woodrow Wilson served as President of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey and of course as 28th President of the United States, from 1913-1921. As President, Wilson started the League of Nations, which set up a foundation for the United Nations, and helped Europe in its formation of the Treat of Versailles after WWI. Before his life in politics, Wilson was an academic, attending Johns Hopkins for graduate school, and teaching at Bryn Mawr and NYU Law School. But as a child, Wilson struggled with learning and could not read until he was 10 years old because of his dyslexia. Wilson’s father — a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in South Carolina — took over his studies for the most part until he went to college.

C.S. Lewis: Writer, critic and theologian C.S. Lewis is considered of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, and even taught English alongside J.R.R. Tolkien at Oxford University. But the Belfast, Ireland, native was homeschooled by tutors until he was sent away to a boarding school after his mother’s death.

Joseph Priestly: Joseph Priestly made huge contributions to theology, politics and science, and is considered the father of modern chemistry and the inventor of soda water. Born in 1733, Priestly spent time with his grandparents and later with an aunt and uncle after his mother died. He was a gifted child, and after gaining a solid education in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, entered school to prepare for the ministry. Priestly eventually became very ill and dropped out of school and was tutored in many languages like French, Italian, Syrian, Arabic and German, as well as philosophy, science and math.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed some of the most well-known buildings in the country, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, as well as many homes constructed in the Usonian style. When he was young, his mother — a trained teacher — brought home Froebel Gifts, special building blocks designed to help children learn on their own. Wright taught himself using these tools and eventually attended high school, but it is not known whether or not he graduated. He enrolled in the University of Wisconsin – Madison, but dropped out after one year.

Albert Einstein: One of the most famous and influential thinkers of all time, Albert Einstein, is credited with discovering the special and general theories of relativity, relativistic cosmology, quantum theory of atomic motion in solids, and many more scientific theories and laws. Born in 1879 in the German Empire, Einstein eventually moved with his family to Munich, where he attended a Catholic school. But when he was ten, the Einsteins fell on hard times and paid a Jewish medical student named Talmud to tutor Albert in math, science and philosophy.

Pearl S. Buck: Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck is well-regarded in American and Chinese literary circles for her short stories and her novels, including The Good Earth, which is taught in many schools today. Buck was born into a strong Southern Presbyterian family in West Virginia but at just three months old, moved to China where her parents had been missionaries. Buck grew up in China and was tutored in Chinese and English during The Boxer Uprising. Buck attended college in the United States, but eventually moved back to China, where she wrote some of her greatest works.


*This article was printed with permission courtesy of Online Universities.com

Important and Famous People Who Were Homeschooled

Homeschooling has produced some of the greatest men and women in history. Here is a list of famous people-people who have made a difference in this word- who were homeschooled:

Constitutional Convention Delegates

* Richard Basseti – Governor of Delaware
* William Blount – U.S. Senator
* George Clymer – U.S. Representative
* William Few – U.S. Senator
* Benjamin Franklin – Inventor and Statesman
* Alexander Hamilton – Lawyer and Economist
* William Houston – Lawyer
* William S. Johnson – Columbia College President
* William Livingston – Governor of New Jersey
* James Madison – 4th President of the U.S.
* George Mason – Justice of Virginia County Court
* John Francis Mercer – U.S. Representative
* Charles Pickney III – Governor of S. Carolina
* John Rutledge – Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court
* Richard D. Spaight – Governor of North Carolina
* George Washington – 1st President of the U.S.
* John Witherspoon – President of Princeton
* George Wythe – Justice of Virginia High Court


Presidents

* John Adams
* John Quincy Adams
* Grover Cleveland
* Jefferson Davis (the only president of the short-lived Confederate States of America)
* James Garfield
* William Henry Harrison
* Andrew Jackson
* Thomas Jefferson
* Abraham Lincoln
* James Madison
* James Polk
* Franklin Delano Roosevelt
* Theodore Roosevelt
* John Tyler
* George Washington
* Woodrow Wilson


Statesmen

* Henry Fountain Ashurst
* William Jennings Bryan
* Winston Churchill
* Henry Clay
* John Dickinson
* Pierre du Pont
* Benjamin Franklin
* Patrick Henry
* William Penn
* Daniel Webster


Military Officers

* John Barry – Senior Navy Officer
* George Rogers Clark – Revolutionary War hero
* Nathanael Greene – Revolutionary War hero
* Nathan Hale – Revolutionary War hero
* Stonewall Jackson – Civil War General
* John Paul Jones – Father of the American Navy
* Robert E. Lee – Civil War General
* Douglas MacArthur – U.S. General
* George Patton – U.S. General
* Matthew Perry – U.S. Naval Officer
* John Pershing – U.S. General
* David Dixon Porter – Civil War Admiral
* Joseph Bradley Varnum – Revolutionary War hero


U.S. Supreme Court Judges

* Charles Evans Hughes
* John Jay
* John Marshall
* John Rutledge
* Sandra Day O’Connor


Religious Leaders

* Joan of Arc
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer
* William Carey
* Jonathan Edwards
* Philipp Melancthon
* Dwight L. Moody
* John Newton
* John Owen
* Hudson Taylor
* John & Charles Wesley
* Brigham Young


Explorers

* William Clark – Lewis & Clark Expedition
* Meriwether Lewis – Lewis & Clark Expedition
* John Wesley Powell – Colorado River Expedition
* Sir Ernest Shackleton – Antarctic Expedition


Scientists

* Wilson A. Bentley – “The Snowflake Man”
* George Washington Carver – agricultural research
* Pierre Curie – discovered radium
* Albert Einstein – theoretical physicist
* Paul Erdos – Hungarian mathematician
* Michael Faraday – electrochemist
* Pierre-Gilles de Gennes – French physicist
* Oliver Heaviside – electromagnetism researcher
* T.H. Huxley – biologist, zoologist, Darwinist
* Ruth Lawrence – mathematician
* Gilbert Newton Lewis – physical chemist
* Ada Lovelace – founder of scientific computing
* Benoit Mandelbrot – pioneer in fractal geometry
* Blaise Pascal – French mathematician
* Joseph Priestley – father of modern chemistry
* Samuel C. C. Ting – Chinese American physicist
* Konstantin Tsiolkovsky – Russian rocket scientist


Inventors

* Alexander Graham Bell – invented the telephone
* John Moses Browning – firearms inventor/designer
* Peter Cooper – built the first modern skyscraper, the first commercial locomotive, and patented the first gelatin dessert which was later named Jell-O
* Thomas Edison – invented the stock ticker, mimeograph, phonograph, and electric light bulb
* Benjamin Franklin – invented the lightning rod
* Elias Howe – invented sewing machine
* William Lear – airplane creator
* Cyrus McCormick – invented grain reaper
* Guglielmo Marconi – developed radio
* Eli Whitney – invented the cotton gin
* Sir Frank Whittle – invented turbo jet engine
* Orville and Wilbur Wright – brothers who built the first successful airplane


Artists

* William Blake – painter, engraver, poet
* John Singleton Copley – American Colonial painter
* Evelyn De Morgan – Pre-Raphaelite painter
* Christian Grew – American Painter
* Donal Hord – San Diego sculptor
* Akiane Kramarik- 10-year-old art and poetry prodigy
* Claude Monet – French Impressionist
* Grandma Moses – American folk artist
* Charles Willson Peale – American portrait artist
* Lu Pinchang – ceramic sculptor
* Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist, sculptor
* Andrew Wyeth – American realist painter
* Jamie Wyeth – American realist painter


Composers

* Johann Sebastian Bach – Baroque
* Irving Berlin – Patriotic
* Anton Bruckner – Symphonies
* Noel Coward – Musicals
* Felix Mendelssohn – Romantic
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical
* John Porcaro – Experimental
* Francis Poulenc – Choral
* John Philip Sousa – “March King”


Writers

* Louisa May Alcott – author of Little Women
* Hans Christian Anderson – fairy tale writer
* Margaret Atwood – Canadian novelist, poet
* Fawn M. Brodie – biographer
* Pearl S. Buck – Nobel prize-winning author
* William F. Buckley, Jr. – conservative writer
* Willa Cather – American novelist
* Agatha Christie – mystery author
* Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain
* Charles Dickens – British novelist
* Robert Frost – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
* Charlotte Perkins Gilman – early feminist writer
* Alex Haley – African-American novelist
* Sharlot Hall – poet, writer, Arizona historian
* Joshua Harris- pastor and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye
* Bret Harte – frontier California journalist
* L. Ron Hubbard – science fiction writer
* Helen Keller – blind and deaf author and lecturer
* Rose Wilder Lane – journalist, ghostwriter, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder
* C.S. Lewis – Christian writer and apologist
* Amy Lowell – Modernist poet
* Gabriela Mistral – Nobel-prize winning Latin American poet
* Sean O’Casey – Irish author
* Thomas Paine – political writer during the American Revolution, author of Common Sense
* Christopher Paolini – teen author of Eragon
* Isabel Paterson – conservative political author
* Beatrix Potter – author of Peter Rabbit Tales
* Jedediah Purdy – author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today
* Kenneth Rexroth – poet, translator, critical essayist
* Carl Sandburg – American poet
* George Bernard Shaw – Irish-born playwright
* Mattie J. T. Stepanek – 11-year-old author of Heartsongs
* Rosemary Sutcliff – historical novels for children
* Rabindranath Tagore – Bengali poet, essayist, dramatist, songwriter
* Leo Tolstoy – Russian writer
* Mercy Warren – American Revolution eyewitness
* Phillis Wheatley – African-American poet
* Walt Whitman – American poet
* Laura Ingalls Wilder – children’s book author
* Virginia Woolf – English novelist


Educators

* Amos Bronson Alcott – innovative teacher, father of Louisa May Alcott
* Catharine Beecher – co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary
* Jill Ker Conway – first woman president of Smith College
* Erik Demaine – associate professor of Computer Science at MIT
* Timothy Dwight – President of Yale University
* William Samuel Johnson – President of Columbia College
* Horace Mann – “Father of the American Common School”
* Charlotte Mason – Founder of Charlotte Mason College of Education
* Joyce Reed – Associate Dean of the College, Brown University
* Fred Terman – President of Stanford University
* Frank Vandiver – President of Texas A&M University
* Booker T. Washington – teacher and founder of Tuskegee Institute
* Noah Webster – “Father of American Christian Education”
* John Witherspoon – President of Princeton University


Medical Practitioners

* Clara Barton – started the Red Cross
* Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman in the U.S. to receive a medical degree
* Florence Nightingale – Nurse
* Susan La Flesche Picotte – first American Indian woman physician
* Albert Schweitzer – Physician
* Mary Walker – Civil War physician; recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor


Business Entrepreneurs

* Andrew Carnegie – wealthy steel industrialist
* Amadeo Giannini – Bank of America’s founder
* Horace Greeley – New York Tribune founder
* Soichiro Honda – creator of the Honda automobile company
* Peter Kindersley – book illustrator and publisher
* Ray Kroc – founder of McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain
* Jimmy Lai – newspaper publisher; founder of Giordano International
* Dr. Orison Swett Marden – founder, Success magazine
* Adolph Ochs – New York Times founder
* Joseph Pulitzer – newspaper publisher; established Pulitzer Prize
* Colonel Harland Sanders – started Kentucky Fried Chicken
* Dave Thomas – founder of the Wendy’s restaurant chain


Others

* Abigail Adams – wife of John Adams; mother of John Quincy Adams
* Ansel Adams – photographer
* Susan B. Anthony – women’s rights leader
* John James Audubon – ornithologist and artist
* Alyssa Buecker – director, Milbo Productions
* John Burroughs – naturalist
* Jennie Chancey – historical costumer
* Davy Crockett – frontiersman
* Edward Curtis – photographer
* Robin Lee Graham – youngest person to sail around the world at age 16
* Alex and Brett Harris – twin teen writers and conference speakers for “The Rebelution,” a Christian ministry/youth organization
* Eric Hoffer – social philosopher
* Sam Houston – lawyer; first leader of Texas
* Abraham Kuyper – Dutch politician, journalist
* Mary Leakey – fossil hunter
* Charles Fletcher Lummis – journalist, historian, photographer, founder of the Southwest Society
* Harriet Martineau – first woman sociologist
* Margaret Mead – cultural anthropologist
* John Stuart Mill – free-market Economist
* Charles Louis Montesquieu – philosopher
* John Muir – naturalist
* Raymond Parks – Civil Rights activist, husband of Rosa Parks
* Sofia, Susan, and Judit Polgar – chess masters
* Bill Ridell – Newspaperman
* Will Rogers – Humorist
* Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Bertrand Russell – Logician
* Drew Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, director of Jim Ryun Running Camp
* Ned Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, president of American Majority
* Deborah Sampson – female soldier in the American Revolution
* Emerson Spartz – 12-year-old internet entrepreneur (MuggleNet)
* Herbert Spencer – philosopher, sociologist
* Gloria Steinem – founder of Ms. magazine
* Timmy Teepell – chief of staff for Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
* Lester Frank Ward – Father of American Sociology
* Martha Washington – wife of George Washington
* Frances E. C. Willard – educator, temperance leader, and suffragist
* Frank Lloyd Wright – architect
* John Lloyd Wright – architect, toy designer, inventor of Lincoln Logs
* Sho Yano – gifted child prodigy
* Elijah ben Solomon Zalman – Jewish scholar


This list was compiled by Compiled by Teri Ann Berg Olsen, author of “Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom”
http://www.knowledgehouse.info