Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines curriculum as the derivative of the word to be :

curricle, n. ( L. curriculum, from curro, to run.) 3. A course.

Perhaps it is just “that time of the year”…

or merely coincidence…

but I have been asked about “curriculum”…

no less that 3 times in the last 4 days!

TJEd isn’t a curriculum…

nor does it have one!

I phoned “Obi-Wan”…

(for those of you that aren’t familiar with the actual individual I would be referring to…

it is none other than Dr. Shanon Brooks)…

and below is his response.

I hope and pray that you will print it off…

read it thoroughly…

ponder it…

file it…

and read it again…

at least 20 more times.

Dr. Brooks is up to his eyeballs…

in noteworthy pursuits at this particular season…

yet loves the TJEd community enough…

to literally stop EVERYTHING yesterday…

in order to pen this article.

I implore you to respect that effort…

and value what you are doing enough…

to give his article…

your undivided attention.

Yes, it is lengthy.

Yes, it is thought provoking.

Yes, it is more than worth your time…

whatever your station in life.

If you love your freedom…

and value the thought process…

that it be maintained at all costs…

read on.

And when you do…

be thankful for statesmen like Dr. Brooks…

that are willing to lay themselves down…

so that others may “know!”

Dr. Shanon Brooks and his wife Julia have spent the past 20 years practicing the principles of TJEd with their 6 children (ages 9 to 20, 2 boys (the youngest boy suffers from Asperger Syndrome) and 4 girls) and teaching the concepts of TJEd all across the United States and Canada via Face to Face with Greatness Seminars (over 350 seminars since 1999). Dr. Brooks was mentored under Dr. Oliver and Rachel DeMille since 1992 learning and applying the TJEd in both family education and higher education arenas.  Many people consider him an authority on TJEd specifically and education in general.

“The trick to TJEd, (and we cover this in every seminar), is three basic concepts:

1. Unconditional Love Relationships

2. Being Inspired Personally (inspiration rubs off, it is not taught or even simulated.  It can only impact others indirectly)

3. Support the Kids (whatever they get inspired to do, we must be there for them)

I am aware of the current concerns that some are posing in regards to the use of curriculum.  A quick search will show that curriculum was not even a part of the American family education (k-12) mindset until 1910.  It is rooted in the European approach to education introduced by Horace Mann in the late 1850′s and furthered by the likes of John Dewey and others in the 2oth century. Let me repeat this, curriculum for higher education, yes from the beginning, but not for what we call K-12.

Below is a bit of research I did regarding education in America for the period of 1630′s to the mid 1800′s:

Education in America

The preeminent role that religion played on the stage of early American

education is fascinating, and worth exploring.  The primary purpose of education in America as early as the beginning of the Seventeenth Century was to develop literacy so children and adults alike could read the Bible. Historian Mary-Elaine Swanson makes this point in her book The Education of James Madison:

“What gave education its impetus in Colonial America?  The answer lies in the people’s religious faith.  From the earliest times in the colonies, the primary motive for learning was so that children could read the Bible for themselves and be guided by its lessons in all the concerns of their lives.”[1]

“All historians agree that a most singular and important feature of the settlers of

America was their overpowering sense of mission — a conviction that they were taking part in the unfolding of a manifest destiny of divine design which would shower its blessings on all mankind. As historian John Fiske writes:

‘They believed that they were doing a wonderful thing. They felt themselves to be instruments in accomplishing a kind of “manifest destiny”. Their exodus [from Europe] was that of a chosen people who were at length to lay the everlasting foundations of God’s kingdom upon earth…. This steadfast faith in an unseen ruler and guide was to them a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. It was of great moral value. It gave them clearness of purpose and concentration of strength, and contributed towards making them, like the children of Israel, a people of indestructible vitality and aggressive energy.’”[2]

This not only meant that the foundation of education in America was the Bible and what it taught, but it also meant that every person had a duty to be literate, or in other words, each person had a responsibility to learn how to read and write well enough to understand the Bible (the code for Christian living), the laws of the land and play their part in building God’s Kingdom.  Thus, America became the seedbed for “Manifest Destiny”[3] education.

Another reason that Colonial America put such emphasis on reading the Bible was that “this was one of the great goals of the Reformation begun by Martin Luther, and it continued to be the goal of parents and pedagogues in Colonial America.  In addition to the importance of the Bible’s theological substance in colonial education, there was also its quality as a literary work. Written during the flowering of the English language that also produced the works of William Shakespeare, the King James Version’s beauty and variety of expression formed a high standard for literary composition.”[4]

The Enlightenment spawned by the Reformation was the catalyst of many of the ills of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.  However, it also created a desire for people to know God for themselves, and to worship Him as they saw fit. This “new” way of thinking produced men like Rousseau and Voltaire, whose writings led to disillusion and the fall of nations.  It also produced John Locke and Charles de Montesquieu, who with writings like Two Treaties on Government and The Spirit of Laws applied the teachings of the Bible to the government of free people with unalienable rights and reliance on Natural Law. This hearkens back to the Anglo-Saxon roots of England and Europe, where all men were equal and expected to play their part in the governing of the whole.

As the State and Church evolved in Europe they seemed inseparably connected, each dominating the other in their own way.

In America, however, that same religious zeal was free from State control,

resulting in an “American” approach to religion, education and politics that opened the door for unprecedented liberty.  Much of this was due to the influence of the teachings of Calvin. “The fanatic for Calvinism was a fanatic for liberty, for in the moral warfare for freedom, his creed was a part of his army, and his most faithful ally in the battle.  And Groen van Prinsterer has thus expressed it: ‘In Calvinism lies the origin and guarantee of our constitutional liberties.’ That Calvinism has led public law into new paths, first in Western Europe, then in two Continents, and today more and more among all civilized nations, is admitted by all scientific students, if not yet fully by public opinion.”[5] The proof of this liberty laden influence is demonstrated in the fact that three of the most prominent of the early American Universities; namely; Harvard, Yale and the College of New Jersey[6] (alma maters of many of the influential Founders) were heavily Calvinistic in their curriculum.

For the first time since the invention of the printing press, the opportunity was available for people to be free from the greatest bondage that ever plagued mankind, the bondage of ignorance.  Not since before the Dark Ages had a people been in a position where literacy was not only available, but expected.

In addition to the advantages that religious principles seemed to bring to the American education system, another source of the high quality of American education may be the fact that by 1647 one-hundred-thirty graduates of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin Universities had already immigrated to America.[7]

Education was a strongly felt priority by Colonial American parents, in fact, by 1700 over one-hundred-thirty editions of spelling books and three-hundred-thirty-two different primary readers were in print in response to the call for aid in home schooling and tutoring.[8] These were supplements, not packaged curriculum.

To accommodate this “Manifest Destiny” approach to education, thousands of small private schools developed to meet the challenge. “The private system of education in which our forefathers were educated included home, church, voluntary associations, …circulating libraries, apprenticeships, and self-study.”[9]

The libraries of stuffy New England schools as well as of spacious plantation homes of the South were full of reading materials that stressed duty to God, family and country.  With titles like The Whole Duty of Man by Richard Allestries (1678), The Practice of Piety by Lewis Bayle (1612), Of Domestic Duties by William Gouge (1622), The Godly Forme of Household Government by Robert Cleaver (1598), The Religious Education of Children by Issac Watts (1753) and The Dignity of Human Nature by James Burgh (1754), many were influenced to seek good.

William Holmes McGuffey began printing his famous McGuffey Readers (also supplements, not packaged curriculum.  Parents still assumed the role of deciding what their children needed and did not trust it to others.  Another lost truth about American education—it was a primary role of the fathers, not the mothers) as an aid to home schooling in 1836. By 1920 there were over one-hundred-twenty million copies in print.  In an 1880 reprint, it is clear to see the path that he and the majority of Americans thought that education ought to pursue. The following selections show how McGuffey helped to ensure that the next generation of Americans would carry on the American tradition of service and responsibility:

The Needle – a short poem by Samuel Woodworth exemplifying the virtues of sewing versus living the high life.

House Cleaning – this funny short story by Francis Hopkinson explains in

humorous detail the reformation of a household during spring cleaning, it also teaches the virtues of cleanliness and responsibility.

Schemes of Life often Illusory – written by Samuel Johnson, this short story teaches to stay focused on what is important.

Tact and Talent – Thomas Grey’s short analysis of the differences between tact and talent.

On Happiness of Temper – a wonderful short essay on the true source of happiness.

Other titles include:

The Character of Columbus            How Men Reason

Observance of the Sabbath                        The Character of George Washington

The English Character                        Origin of Property

The Folly of Intoxication                        Labor

Studies                                                Franklin’s Entry Into Philadelphia

Inventions and Discoveries            Immorality of the Soul

Speech on the Trial of a Murderer            A Definite Aim in Reading

Throughout the first cycle of American education from 1607 to 1887, there was a strong emphasis on the “basics” of education including:

Reading – the use of phonics and memorization as the primary methods of learning to read.

Writing – learning Script (cursive) from the first grade on with lots of practice in writing skills, grammar and spelling.

Arithmetic – particularly the skills needed in bookkeeping and business.

Oral and written communication – constant stress on vocabulary and spelling, making use of spelling bees, essay contests, etc.

Literature – both classical and contemporary, particularly that which uplifts and builds.

Music – primary focus was character building through the practice and persistence required to learn and play an instrument or sing.

Art – painting, drawing, sculpting, etc.

Science – the study of plants, animals, astronomy, etc.

History – particularly American history and its Constitutional form of government.

Geography – the geopolitical and physical layout of the world.

Personal Hygiene – both physical and mental.

Dr. Skousen describes the elements that John Adams included in the education of his son John Quincy Adams:

“By the time his son John Quincy Adams was eighteen, the youth had become fairly proficient in Latin, French and Greek. He had also studied English and French literature, many of the Greek classics, Roman, English and Greek history, the theorems of Euclid, plane trigonometry, algebra, decimal fractions, geometrical proportions, and conic sections. However John Adams said his son was still a little weak in calculus.”[10]

It could easily be said, as we cite the education of these men, that “of course they had good educations, they are Founding Fathers”.  We need to keep in mind that at the time of their educational process neither their parents nor themselves had any idea what the future held; this was simply the educational pattern of the time.  The early education of James Madison is similar to that of John Quincy Adams. He was taught by his grandmother at home until he was twelve. Being sickly, he spent a good deal of time bed-ridden or indoors and taking advantage of his father’s eighty-five book library. This seems to have once again led to a habit of intense reading and solitary study.  At the age of twelve, his father enrolled him into a boarding school seventy miles from home.  Here he began his studies in preparation for college. The curriculum consisted of Latin, Greek, French, algebra, geometry, geography, literature, astronomy and the

writings of Locke, Fontenelle, Plato and Euclid.[11] Madison kept detailed notebooks on his studies, in fact, keeping notebooks was a very important part of early American education which carried on into adult life. Speaking to his son, John Adams once explained:

“One contracts a Fondness for writing by Use. We learn to write readily and what is more important, we think, and improve our Judgements, by committing our thoughts to paper.”[12]

At sixteen, Madison’s father had him return home and spend the next two years under the tutelage of Rev. Thomas Martin. At nineteen, it was determined that he was ready for college. He had mastered English and Greek and was well aquainted with Latin and French. He also had a substantial background in literature, the classics, political economy, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy not to mention excellent reading and writing skills.

Thomas Jefferson, like Madison and Adams, received a traditional Colonial education. Beginning at the age of five, Jefferson was less than eager to discipline himself to the task. During his first year of schooling, he would sneak out of the classroom, kneel behind the building and recite the Lord’s Prayer, “…hoping thereby to hasten the hour of dismissal.”[13]

As he grew, however, so did his desire to learn. He was an inquisitive youth, according to one account:

“When he discovered a neighbor or stranger doing something he did not understand, he asked questions and observed the proceeding until his curiosity was fully gratified, and then usually made notes of his observations in a memorandum book.  His inquisitiveness was proverbial in the neighborhood, and [one ] woman …remarked that she ‘never knew anyone to ask so many questions as Thomas Jefferson.’”[14]

By the age of nine he could already read Latin, Greek and French and soon added Spanish, Italian and Anglo-Saxon.[15]

At fourteen Jefferson’s father died, leaving the teenage Jefferson the sole owner of large and wealthy land holdings and away at boarding school.  He later stated that:

“When I recollect that at fourteen years of age the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, and recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I associated from time to time, I am astonished I did not turn off with some of them and become as worthless to society as they were.”[16]

He attributed his ability to make right choices during those troubling times to his

classical education, the loving words of council left by his father and high character of some of the people he met at the College of William and Mary where he enrolled as an advanced student at the age of seventeen.  He wrote:

“I had the good fortune to become aquatinted very early with some characters of very high standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were.  Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask myself, what would Dr. Small, Mr. Wythe [or] Payton Randolph do in this situation?  What course in it will ensure me their approbation? I am certain that this mode of deciding on my conduct tended more to correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed.”[17]

The need to teach young and old alike what their duty was as citizens was voiced by many American educational leaders. John Witherspoon, the President of Princeton University states in a collect in his writings, Works of John Witherspoon, that:

“He is the best friend to American Liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind.  Whoever is an avowed enemy to God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.”

The ideology prevalent in America from the early Seventeenth Century to the beginning of the Twentieth Century, was one firmly grounded in literacy, scholarship[18] (prerequisite to knowing God and the laws of the land) and serving one’s fellowman.

This ideology rationalized that the best way to understand man was to understand God, and that living the way that He declared would lead to the greatest success and happiness. In the mind of the early American, it was a simple matter of being as good as you could and serving God and your neighbor.

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[1] ( Swanson, The Education of James Madison, pp. 5)

[2] ( Skousen, The Five Thousand Year Leap, pp. 305-6)

[3] Contrary to current usage, Manifest Destiny during the Colonial period referred to the building of a society that would usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, as foretold in the Old Testament.

[4] ( Swanson, The Education of James Madison, pp. 5)

[5] ( Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism, lect. 3 pp. 78)

[6] Later known as Princeton University

[7] ( Morison, The Oxford History of the American People, pp. 71)

[8] ( Morison, The Intellectual Life of New England, pp. 71-71)

[9] (Peterson, Freeman, pp. 553)

[10] ( Ibid. pp. 4)

[11] ( Swanson, The Education of James Madison, pp. 24)

[12] ( Ibid. pp. 25)

[13] (Allison, The Real Thomas Jefferson, pp. 14)

[14] ( Ibid. )

[15] (Ibid. pp. 15)

[16] (Ibid.)

[17] (Ibid. pp. 17)

[18] The sole purpose of literacy is to provide a means to scholarship, which is much deeper and wider than literacy. A scholar is someone who has been exposed to and can articulate the great thoughts, philosophies, and works of God and mankind.  A scholar is someone who has studied other languages and cultures, a person who has read and experienced the classical literary works of the world, architecture, science, philosophy, history, mathematics, etiquette and social graces.  To develop scholarship, a change must occur in the thinking of the individual; that change will only occur when the person is exposed to information that is new to him. To develop scholarship is to advocate free thinking, promote keen judgement and advance sound reasoning.  True scholarship relies more on past wisdom and avoidance of past folly than on the supposed sagacity and short sightedness of the present.  The true steward of scholarship values and maintains a strong devotion to the best learning of our Fathers, and to the best of our Fathers themselves.