Introducing...........

[cookderosa]

LOL. Well I have an opinion!:coolgleam:

I think there are some key things I took away from studying her methods several years ago. I have found them to be helpful in my home schooling. Someone else might not. Whatever works for the individual, yes?

Schooling year around for a set amount of time each day in and of itself can yield tremendous progress. (This is very similiar to the Robinson Curriculum philosophy.). It sounds daunting, but she does note that they took off any day dad had off work and it was rarely more than 3 hours a day. Being a postal carrier tho, he had plenty of national holidays, plus two days a week, plus good vacation time off. All in all, more free time than most kids get!

It also permitted structure to lean on when crisis came along. I know that was considered harsh to others, but let me assure of this: in a large family someone is always sick, hurt, or otherwise going through some sort of difficulty. If I don't school on those days, that is going to widdle my school days down considerably. Also, in life that is the reality. A husband can't usually quit his job just because his wife is dying of cancer or his kid. And really, maybe they need to go to work to avoid having whatever difficulty consume their life.

The other big thing I noted was that she didn't curriculum hop. I admit I've seen many a homeschooler lament that later on. Especially in maths and language arts.

Personally I think these two things more than anything else contributed to her children's academic success.

I woud like to read about where all those children are now and how they have faired. I wonder if she mentions it in her new book?

I absolutely 100% agree with those 2 points.

Year round- that's a win. Many reasons why, Outliers (discussed here) made a strong case as well. Totally agree.
Curriculum hopping- also agree. I've watched families shop and hop, the end result is inconsistency and randomness. It has taken me 17 years to figure out that the brand of curriculum isn't so important, it's more an issue of hard work every day. Consistency, imo, is the cornerstone to success. IMMO there's been wayyyy too much praise for the "child led learning" style. I believe, though it's too soon to tell, that we'll see "high test scores" among homeschoolers begin to level off. I believe it will be because of the ridiculousness surrounding the curriculum boom. You and I both know you can do an excellent job of homeschooling with a piece of paper, pencil, and library card. That's really it. But, like the public schools, that's not nearly as fun as buying stuff.
I think of it like weight loss. It's really only eat less-move more...but that's really not interesting (and it's hard work) so the public devours the latest and greatest gimmick - such is true with homeschool curriculum. (IMO lol)