The Story of A Mom That Raised The Inventor Of The Light Bulb...

One day, as a small child, Thomas Edison came home from school and gave a paper to his mother. He said to her “Mom, my teacher gave this paper to me and told me only you are to read it. What does it say?”

Her eyes welled with tears as she read the letter out loud to her child…

“Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have good enough teachers to train him. Please teach him yourself.”

Many years after Edison’s mother had died, he became one of the greatest inventors of the century. One day he was going through a closet and he found the folded letter that his old teacher wrote to his Mother that day. He opened it…The message written on the letter was...

“Your son is mentally deficient. We cannot let him attend our school anymore. He is expelled.”

Edison became emotional reading it and then wrote in his diary:

“Thomas A. Edison was a mentally deficient child whose mother turned him into the genius of the Century.”

Such is the power of a mother, to change the destiny of her child.

“Thomas Edison Was an Addled Child. By a Hero Mother, Became the Genius of the Century.”

What you read above about Thomas Edison's childhood is mostly true. This story circulating around was somewhat sensationalized with the "teacher's note", which never actually existed in real life.

Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847, and he has been widely accepted as America's greatest inventor. He had very little formal education.

Thomas Edison was homeschooled and was taught reading, writing, and math by his mother.

During the few short months Thomas Edison was attending a school, his teacher called him an "addled child" - (unable to think clearly and confused). His mother was furious, and took him out of school and taught him everything herself.

The actual course of events was given by Thomas Edison himself, in an interview published in a newspaper called T.P's Weekly in 1907. This was the earliest and true account of him leaving school:

"One day I overheard the teacher tell the inspector that I was 'addled' and it would not be worthwhile keeping me in school any longer. I was so hurt by this last straw that I burst out crying and went home and told my mother about it. Then I found out what a good thing a good mother is. She came out as my strong defender. Mother love was aroused, mother pride wounded to the quick. She brought me back to the school and angrily told the teacher that he didn’t know what he was talking about, that I had more brains than he himself, and a lot more talk like that. In fact, she was the most enthusiastic champion a boy ever had, and I determined right then that I would be worthy of her and show her that her confidence was not misplaced."

This is a truly amazing and inspirational course of events that changed Thomas Edison's destiny, and helped define who he was and set the path for him to become the greatest genius inventor of America. All this, thanks to the love of his amazing mother, who took it upon herself to teach her child to read, write, and so much more.

“My mother was the making of me." - Thomas Edison

Just like Thomas Edison's mom was his best teacher, there are NO BETTER teachers in this world than we are for our own children. No one will have the love, care, and attentiveness we have for our children. Like Edison's mom, all parents can give their children the best head start in life by teaching their children to read.

Click here to learn about the proven teaching methods that enable children to become amazing readers