How does TJED compare?

Recently, I received an email that described a little bit of how Leadership Education (TJED) compares to other homeschool methods. This chart describes what homeschooling methods match up to which Phase of Learning.

Phase of Learning	Method Comparison
Core Phase	Unschooling
Love of Learning	Montesorri
Scholar Phase	Liberal Arts

I think this is pretty accurate. TJED is not a curriculum or a specific method, it is a set of correct principles that when applied help the learner achieve the goal of understanding right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, with a solid love for learning and the ability to think for themselves.

It is so much more than the public school's desire to educate in reading and memorizing facts. Even most homeschool curricula is focused on these same goals - reading, writing, and arithmetic. While these goals are important for a free society, the ability to think for oneself - to truly be able to wade through all the information and discover truth - is not to be found in public schools and even in most homeschool curricula.

When families first begin their TJED journey, one of the hardest things to do is let go of standard curriculum. "Classics, not Textbooks" is difficult to grasp. Are there classic curriculum choices? - Yes! But, they are few and must be selected with purpose.

How many times have I changed my home education approach? Many! Each child needs different things, each phase needs different resources based on the methods listed below.

• Unschooling during Core Phase does not need much more than a lot of experiences within the home and daily readings of the classics for young children.
• Montessori during Love of Learning adds more hands-on learning with experiences in nature and the world at large, allowing the child to leap from one exciting discovery to the next with a mentoring parent beside them.
• Liberal Arts education during Scholar Phase brings the deeper study into areas of interest in the beginning through projects and moves into broadening the individuals education through reading more challenging classics coupled with Socratic discussion.

The point is to recognize that various home education methods can and should be used within TJED. One does not need to abandon everything they have done before. The key is to determine when to use those favorite things.