Continually jumping on us.

Question
We have a male Golden Retriever that is 2 years old.  He was adopted in April of 2004 and ever since, I have been trying to break him of jumping up on us.  He is a very good dog in every aspect except for this continual jumping up on us.  "Buddy" is very large, the largest Golden Retriever I've seen, and he scratches your chest, face, etc...  My kids were the reason I chose a Golden, knowing how good the breed is with children.  It saddens me that my kids are afraid to play with him for fear of being scratced or knocked down by this loving dog.  
 Buddy was owned by an elderly woman before we adopted him.  He was taken to obedience school before we got him to try to get him to calm down so she could handle him.  Buddy was in a good home, no abuse, but she just couldn't handle him.  ..which I completely understand!  Is there any advice or techniques you can share with me about how to get him to stop this bad habit?  

Hopefully awaiting...  

Answer
After 2 years, this is going to be difficult, more so with the children.  Fortuntly most Goldens are anxious to please.  It will take time, but it can be done.  

Consistently is very important in correcting jumping and other problems.  Quickly correcting him each and every time he jumps on somebody is very important.  Something bad has to happen each time.  People are successful with a number of different things.  One of the most gentle is to grab his front paws and hold him up. The traditional knee to the chest or step on his paws work well too.  In each case apply ''Bad dog, its name off!'' in a firm, but not loud voice.  Go ahead with it even if he is too quick to add a physical correction.  Turning their back and walking away may be a good technique for the children to use.  Goldens usually love attention and petting.  Buddy will see having the child walk away as a terrible outcome.  It is also important nobody ever pets him when he jumps up.  It has to be bad, bad, bad, never what he wants.  He needs lots of praise and petting anytime he is down on all fours.  

I am a big believer in good obedience training.  Unfortunately, too often it useless or worse.  It sounds like he lost his home because the class the lady took was a poor one.  The dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/