A Thomas Jefferson Education, developed by Dr. Oliver Van DeMille, divides the stages of learning into 4 phases.

•Core Phase - begining at birth

•Love of Learning Phase - ages 8-12

•Scholar Phase - ages 12-18

•Depth / Mission Phase - beyond 18 years

Between the ages of 12 and 18 students experience phenomenal growth. After spending considerable time studying young students and these growth patterns, LEMI have developed a unique philosophy about the Scholar Phase.We have discovered that the young scholar experience levels of growth. We have named these levels:

• Practice Scholar Level

• Apprentice Scholar Level

• Self-Directed Scholar Level

If students go through these levels well, they will soon be ready for a liberal arts mentor who can take them through all the disciplines of the liberal arts. They go through them well by learning and developing important skills and abilities, while gaining a vision of scholarship and a sense of unique mission.

Scholar Projects - We, at LEMI, believe that students can learn to think only when they are given the choice to study or not. Yet the dilemma is that there are many important readings that one must be exposed to in order to be able to learn to think. For this purpose LEMI has developed specifically designed Scholar Projects™ focusing on the Practice and Apprentic Scholar levels using the principles of A Thomas Jefferson Education to help them gain vision, sense of mission, scholar abilities and skills. These projects inspire the student to choose to study great classical philosophy and literature.

Practice-Scholar Projects™

Inspire your youth to:

• Start doing the “hard things”
• Learn time-management
• Discover more about who they are
• Understand their duty as a citizen of their country
• Study on their own choice effectively for extended periods of time
• Write independently and with insight
• Think deeper, study things that may not interest them at first.

How do you know if your child is ready for the Practice Scholar level?

• Are they asking to be with their peers a lot?
• Do they tell you that you are interrupting their study time?
• Have they had a good Core Phase where they have chosen their allegiance?
• Do they have initiative? Is it time they learn it?
• Do they enjoy learning?
• Can they read?
• Are they ages 12-16?

If your youth hates learning or just isn't interested, it's okay; there's a way to help change that. Our Practice Scholar Projects are funfilled, interesting and most of all include a community of peers. This is especially appealing to the home-schooled youth.

Our current Practice Scholar Projects are:

Key of Liberty™
The Shakespeare Conquest / Actor's Training
Pyramid Project

Last updated March 4, 2008

Apprentice Scholar projects teach students to:

• Transition from studying 4-6 hours a day to 8-12.

• Become a self-directed scholar.

• Gain scholar skills such as: reading difficult classics, writing, debating, teaching, researching, using mentors.

• Gain the ability to be a homesteader instead of a squatter.

• Take action.

• Find their personal mission.

• Grow the desire to develop their talents and abilities so that one day they too can “give back”.

• Youth apprentice scholars are generally between 14 and 18

The apprentice scholar projects to choose from are TJYC and Pyramid Project for youth and the 5 Pillar Tutorial for adults.