Essential Education

8/14/2019 Essential Education

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A C o m m o n H o p e f o r t H e f u t u r emeeting todAys CriseswitH tHe best solutions

frombotH tHe presentAnd tHe pAst

The CenterforessentiAl eduCAtion(CFEE) recognizes, along with millions o other

Americans, that the modern world, despite its material prosperity, aces many new problems and

uncertainties. These include not only the disruption o the ragile balance o human lie situated

in the natural world but also the breakdown o community and amily lie, as well as the decline

o any sense o enduring principles and values or sustaining all three.

The CFEE has, thereore, or over a third o a century dedicated itsel to recapturing andnurturing those principles and values and applying them with

new understanding to the present and the uture,

to create a viable continuity rom

one generation to the next.

Long discarded patterns

or traditional community

lie, oten seen and

understood or the frst

time in an intentional

setting, begin to stimulate

sincere care o neighbor or

neighbor.


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Traditional relationship

become brand new and

more easily maintained

the context o a homestea

way o lie within which

amily members dont ju

together ater hours but

work and educate togeth

supportive, caring comm


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A way o lie placed frmly

in the context o the

natural world produces

healthy, nutritious oods

and other necessities while

preserving and improving

the natural environment.

An i n t e g r A l Ap p r o A C Hoffers A n environment in wHiCH All tHe elementsof life

Come togetHer in AmeAningfulAnd bAlAnCed wHole

This uniquely integrated environment is exemplifed or the CFEE

in the community at Brazos de Dios, established almost twenty years

ago in central Texas. The CFEE is not simply, then, a school or an

educational institution (though it is both o these) but a direct

and natural outgrowth o this unique community. Here, today,

hundreds o people are actually living a sustainable lie that

preserves the best o the past, makes use o whats good rom the

present and prepares their children and grandchildren with skills

and resources or a more meaningul uture.


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We have developed a model homestead and an extensive curriculum or gardening, crats, homesteading, essential sel-sufciency skills, as well as curriculum on culture, e

and worldviews. This acility and curriculum, which are to serve as a model or others who desire to share in any aspect o this way o lie, are in various stages o complet


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An e n v i r o n m e n t f o r ex p e r i e n t i A l l e A r n i nwHere tHe ClAssroom is Alife

We are training hundreds o

young people in these skills,

as well as apprenticing thos

desiring to become master

cratsmen and teachers.

The Cfee seeks to develop solutions to todays cultural and population/habitat crises byproviding an environment or people to experientially learn handcrat skills, as well as the character

virtues necessary to sustain a traditional, agriculturally based society. We build on the values derived

rom relationships with creation, with ellow human beings and with Godall within the setting

o a nonviolent and noncoercive Christianity strongly rooted in the message o peace and goodwill

frst proclaimed by Jesus and His disciples but lost to subsequent centuries o Christianity in the

post-Constantinian synthesis.

We oer extensive, in-depth studies or the student to choose rom. These include studies in

culture, in education, in history, in literature and in other related felds. The Cfee is developing a

practical, integrated curriculum with proven instructional methods and materials, including books,

pamphlets, symposiums, seminars, workshops and audiovisual presentations.

The result is helping others reproduce this way o lie by making changes in both their skill

levels and their understanding, changes that enhance a sense o personal reedom, initiative, sel-

support and the sheer joy o providing the essentials or their own individual lives, amilies andcommunities.


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HomesteAd fArms deli

tHe bArn fine furnitureAnd gifts

tHe potters House

HomesteAd furniture

HomesteAd gristmillAnd gArdens

HeritAge forge blACksmitH sHop Herb gArden

sorgHum syrup mill

HeritAge fArm A working HomesteAd

HomesteAd fArmAnd gArden Center

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vi s i t o r s t o b r A z o s d e d i o sComeyeAr-roundfrom diverseeduCAtionAl , soCiAl , CulturAl And

religious groupstotourourCrAftsvillAgeAnd workingH o m e s t e

We have tens o thousands o visitors coming to Brazos de Dios each year, including an

average o 5,000 public and private school children who come on spring feld trips. These visitors

are exposed, some or the frst time, to an alternative culture where the essentials o lie are

provided in a simple, harmonious liestyle based on quality cratsmanship and agricultural skills

that nurture values o integrity, personal responsibility, community service and care.

Our crats village and

homestead are open every

week throughout the year.

Visitors are welcome to

tour our workshops, take

a hayride or just stop by

our deli to enjoy resh,

wholesome meals and

homemade ice cream.


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d e v e l o p m e n t o f m e t H o d s A n d pA t t e r n sto improve tHe quAlityof life in otHerCountriesAs well A s our

ow n is one of ourmAjorAims

We have had requests to send instructors rom our community to Brazil, Arica, the Philippines

Mexico, Canada, the Mideast, Russia, the Azores, Belgium, Ireland, Northern Ireland and

throughout the U.S. We would like to accommodate these requests by frst sponsoring qualifed

people rom these countries to come and learn in the context o a unctioning community where

sel-sufciency skills are interrelated with instruction in amily and community relationships, as

well as values and character development necessary to a successul community lie. Learning in

such an environment implants a vision o what is possible that can then be carried back to theapprentices native land to be adapted to specifc needs and settings. We could then send our own

community members as needed or implementation, and to help fnancially as well. Weve already

begun this in Mexico, but our ability to meet the demand elsewhere has been hindered by our

lack o sufcient accommodations or hosting such a project and by our lack o necessary fnancia

resources. We are in need o more land and more fnances to build dormitories, dining acilities,

to open new teaching acilities in dierent natural environments, to bring people rom overseas,

to send out instructors, to help purchase land both here and in these places in order to set upadditional sustainable communities. I you eel to donate land or fnances, it is one o the only rea

visions o hope that we know o or a livedalternative to an increasingly atomizing culture that

leaves people longing or a whole lie, or the good lie.


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C e n t e r f o r e s s e n t i A l e d u C A t i o nsHAring witH otHerstHe fruitsof A n integrAtedlife

Centerfo ressentiAl eduCAtion

P. O. Box 869Elm Mott, Texas 76640

(254) 754-9678www.ceeschool.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Santa Fe Hall

The CFEE is a nonproft 501(c)(3) organization unctioning and growing throughmonetary donations, gits o land and other necessary resources.

The CenterforessentiAl eduCAtionat Brazos de Diosis unique in its goal o

transmitting to others a vision or a cohesive, integrated way o lie that aims toward bringing

orth complete individuals and whole amilies within the context o a supportive and tangible

community that respects the natural environment. For over a third o a century, we have

experienced and have now begun to share with many others the reality o this way o living, a way

o lie in which they too can learn and grow together in the skills and knowledge that bring orth

not just a sustainable agriculture, but a sustainable culture, a sustainable lie.

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Essential Education