Dr. Brooks and his wife plan to make it around the country with a goal to share their message to at least 1 million families. If you get a chance to have them in your city, I encourage to you take advantage of this powerful and free lecture. It is life changing!

 

I was blessed with the opportunity to take my husband and second eldest daughter, whom I felt needed some inspiration for learning.

 

The speaker, Dr. Brooks, is a former president of George Wythe University in St. George, UT. The following is a quick bullet point synopsis what he speaks about in this meeting.

 

• The Five Founding American Ideals and How to Be An American

 

• Summary of the State of American Education

 

• Solutions for a Nation in Crisis

 

• The Moral Center of Families

 

• 3 Steps to Reviving American Confidence

 

• An Introduction to The Cycle of Freedom and How America Measures Up

 

• Defining Education

 

• An Introduction to A Thomas Jefferson Education: The Science of Building Americans

 

• The 4 Phases of Learning

 

• The Real Story of the American Founding

 

• The Proper Role of Government

 

• The 7 Keys of Great Teaching

 

• The Rise of Social Leadership

 

• The Secret Roles of Mothers and Fathers

 

 

Some things that really stood out to me during the meeting were:

 

How our society values skills over virtues such as schooling over education.

We don’t know that we don’t know. The Federalist papers were written for the Newspaper. Farmers and everyday citizens were the ones reading these. He had comments from people that they had poor grammar back then with run on sentences. Dr. Brooks reminded them that we had to shorten sentences for our day and age because people couldn’t comprehend the high quality English language. It’s not that they had run-on sentences- it is that we {as a society} are ignorant. Most importantly, we DON’T HAVE TO BE. We begin by getting our own liberal arts education. If you don’t know how to do it, that is where TJED steps in. Go to the classics, my friends.

 

When he got to the area of fathers and mothers I was so thankful to hear what he said. Everyone knows the primary role of a mother. Today we have lost the role of father- no one even knows it. We all guessed things like: provider, comforter, etc. None of them was correct. The role of fathers is to praise and honor. WOW. How powerful and how true it is.

 

Books he highly recommended:

 

Wild at Heart by Eldridge

Oxford English Dictionary- all volumes

5000 Year Leap, a Miracle That Changed the World by W. Cleon Skousen

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille

A Leadership Education, Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille

The Coming Aristocracy by Oliver DeMille

A Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens by Oliver DeMille and Shanon Brooks

 

Just as I was thrilled to be at the meeting and learn and grow, I was most thrilled to see my husband and daughter as inspired. I bought the books I didn’t have and my daughter grabbed the one for teens and has been reading it excitedly since we came home with it. He encouraged the parents to read it, but I will wait my turn as it thrills me to see her gain the inspiration for the purpose of TRUE education.

 

Afterward, I was most excited to meet some local mothers just starting TJED or some who had already been doing it. We are planning get-togethers and I can’t wait to get a colloquia started again. In the meantime, I have been re-inspired and have a renewed sense of what direction I’m headed- raising leaders.