The Phases of Learning

There are several phases in A Thomas Jefferson Education. Each phase has a possible age range but since everyone is different, the ages always vary. For that purpose, I will only be listing the phases and not approximate ages to go with them.

The Phases of Learning, by Oliver DeMille, in a nutshell...

Core Phase: During Core Phase work times and play times are scheduled, with children allowed to choose their own subjects of play during play time. As they get older, play includes reading, math and other subjects that students choose to engage for fun.

Love of Learning Phase:  the student might choose a structure of 1 or 2 or 3 hours a day of set study time; it is important that the student choose it, and that the mentor help the student learn accountability for his choice.

If the student won’t choose it, you haven’t inspired him yet—get to work. Don’t fall back into requiring. Pay the price to inspire, and trust the process–it’s the only way to get the result of the student owning their role as a self-educator.

Scholar Phase:  By the early Scholar Phase a student will likely be studying 6-8 hours a day on topics of their deepest interest.

Depth Phase: the student increases the structured time and goes into more depth.


In our household, we have one Core Phase child, Gabriel, and soon there will be two more when the twinners get a little bit older. We also have two in Love of Learning Phase. One is our 10yr old girl, Hannah, and the other is her 37yr old mother...me!  I grew up on the conveyor belt and so I am now finally getting to learn what "I WANT" to learn!  :) 

Since Core Phase and Love of Learning Phase are the phases that we are currently in, in our household, I'm going to give a little deeper explanation of those phases. If you have children (or yourself) who you feel are in a different phase, please just refer to Oliver DeMille's "Leadership Education-The Phases of Learning" book. There's a link on the main page of this blog.

Phases as taught by Oliver DeMille, Leadership Education-The Phases of Learning:

Core Phase: 

Core Phase is a basis of a life.  A good Core Phase naturally provides the foundation for a good life, a great Core Phase for a great life, and so on. Core Phase is also a basis of an education. It is the basis of a family, and it's generations. It is the basis of society's culture, politics, economy, art, law, government, etc. It is, in short, the foundation of a person--who he or she is and what he or she can and will become. The foundation itself must be solid. During Core Phase, we lay the foundation for all learning and service in the child's life. The "curriculum" is simply:

• right and wrong
• good and bad
• true and false
• relationships
• family values, especially spiritual culture
• family identity, including family history and mission
• family routines and responsibilities
• accountability
• the value and love of work and play

Always remember that during these phases, children learn more by what we are and the environment and feelings that surround them than through the explicit teachings or activities we provide.

Love of Learning Phase:  Love of Learning naturally follows the establishment of a solid core. During the Love of Learning Phase, the student falls deeply in love with learning, studying, knowing and learning even more. If a person is forced in pressured formal schooling or assignments during this phase, she can develop a hate of learning attitude or even just a dislike of studying.

Ideally, however, each young person has the opportunity to freely fall in love with the joys of learning and to experience first-hand how wonderful learning can be. These are the years when children dabble with learning, getting to know "what's out there." If they have come from the Core Phase in good order they are usually fearless, feel almost everything will be interesting and believe they will be able to do whatever they set their minds to.

Love of Learning "curriculum"...

• Example, environment, opportunities, work, play, study, projects, field trips, the library, family room, inspiring parent, mentors, guidance, the bookshelf, mornings, afternoons, evenings, Summers, Winters, exploring, freedom, fun, personal attention, younger siblings, older siblings, mom, dad, grandparents, questions, and discussions.

There are 55 ingredients for Core and Love of Learning Phase. I will list them here but I will not go into what each of them mean. I will have future posts that will go over what each of them are and how I'm applying them in my home. They are...

1. Sundays
2. Weeks
3. Mornings
4. Kidschool
5. The Bean-Counter Game
6. The Six Month Purge
7. The Six Month "No"
8. The Six Month Inventory
9. The Annual Project
10. The Annual Break
11. Afternoons
12. Evenings
13. Winters
14. Summers
15. The Weekly Club
16. The Binder
17. The Field Trip
18. The Library Trip
19. The Bookshelf
20. The Closet
21. The Family Room
22. The Entertainment Room
23. The Donation Box
24. The Storage Box
25. The Weekly Lesson
26. The Safety Kids Class
27. The Mom School
28. The Computer
29. The Kitchen Table
30. The Cleaning Time
31. The Academic "No"
32. The Discipline "No"
33. The Yard
34. The Evening Reading List
35. The Chores
36. The Grandparent Mentoring
37. Teaching The Model
38. The Central Classic
39. The Awakening
40. The Interruption "Yes"
41. The Stateswoman
42. The Core Reading List
43. The Degree Program
44. The Formal Ball
45. The Assignment
46. The Mission
47. The Friend
48. The Core Phase Curriculum
49. The Love of Learners Curriculum
50. Spring if for Science
51. Fall is for Beginnings
52. The Subscription
53. The Dinner Meal
54. The Discipline "Yes"
55. The Academic "Yes"

Once you add and apply each of these ingredients, your home will be transformed into a wonderfully functioning TJEd home. We have added many of these but still have several more to go. I can't wait to get them all added!!

I want to clearly state that A Thomas Jefferson Education is not just for the kids, it's for the entire family. It's NOT a curriculum, it's A WAY OF LIFE! 



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