A lot of people pay good money for their kids to go to private schools and use Abeka. My sister has a teachers degree and she's homeschooling my nephew with Abeka. I'm looking at wtm writing, aops, moems, those books Val said, etc... but a lot of people consider Abeka rigorous and private schools use it. I think Abekas strength is that it does a lot of memory work in the early grades. I think working memory is one thing the forums say is very plastic, and excercising it might make you a better student. I'm actually considering (learning and) introducing my kid to sports on tv and the internet so he can start learning players as memory work. I don't plan to use Bible, but I think memorizing might be good skills training (education) anyway.
I'm saying the program they're selling is target to mg/hg consumers because eg/pg parents would think there's more to education than getting a good job from it. Security and a job you enjoy is actually kind of a fine goal. What's making you squeamish about it is that it seems to suggest childhood is just "preparing for your real life to start." That's kind of a one-dimensional view of it. The kids probably do normal kid stuff every day and they work on making their future. They probably think they still have a life while it's happening.
I don't want to sound like I'm arguing in favor of the program. It doesn't look like something I want to buy. I'm afraid my post sounds like it, and I'm reminded again why sometimes people have called me a contrarian. Really, I just see the pros and cons of so many plans that I just don't think I should subscribe to.
