[JenB]

I was homeschooled and we did not use a deliberately classical structure. Some of the concepts were there but not deliberately expressed.

The wonderful thing about homeschooling is the ability to pick and chose elements of philosophies on a family or even child by child basis.

One area many homeschoolers neglect or contract out is high school level math and science and it’s a serious failing that we need to work at. Hopefully the more parents think about education, rather than just grabbing a curriculumn, the more that gap will shrink.

[sitetest]

Dear JenB,

One of the reasons that we chose to send our sons to a “regular” school for high school (after homeschooling through 8th grade) was realizing that the school to which we're sending them has very good and rigorous math and science curricula that would have been difficult for us to match.

Math and science are very important.

But what was critical to our decision was that their school is not driven by “practical” aspects of educations - what the article talks about as the goals of No Child Left Behind - helping young folks get the education to make a lot of money and to broadly increase national income.

Although folks who are well-educated often optimize their earning power and ability to achieve material success, THAT IS NOT THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF EDUCATION.

At my sons’ high school, the goal is to make “Gentlemen and Scholars.” This is much closer to the classical philosphy than making Rich Lawyers and Investment Bankers.

sitetest

[DYngbld]

I couldn't agree more. We don't deliberately use a classical structure, however over the years it has become more and more classical. I love the days when I come home from work and get to eat the math assignment. :)

[Tired of Taxes]

We didn't plan to homeschool. We tripped and fell into it. So, I didn't have a plan in place at the beginning, and we've tried different approaches through the years. We're with a classical group now, and I admire what they're doing. If I'd read The Well-Trained Mind early on, I might've taken the same route. Instead, we ended up with a very eclectic curriculum. (It's pretty strong in science, though - even though I've always been weak in the subject - and we've been doing our best to put a strong emphasis on math.)

But, if we'd started out with a more classical approach, maybe this all would've been easier and gone much more smoothly. ;-) There's a private school nearby that uses the classical approach. It seems like a great school. There are also some nearby homeschool cooperatives that use a classical curriculum, too.

[Alkhin]

Agreed - it has been a virtual desert out there for homeschooling material for high school students as far as math and science...really for all subjects. A lot of the homeschool curriculum companies focus on gradeschool level. Saxon math doesnt work for everyone and history has been a real issue for us. Fortunately, Ive been able to look at a variety of things because of forums like FR and some blogs I like to read.