It seems really foolish, though, to think that a model which is structured so specifically for the autodidact (which is, IMO, at most about 10% of the population even among adults)... would be a good idea for the general population of children or adolescents.
Autodidact Scott Young decided to work though all the MIT classes one needs for a degree in computer science (doing the programming assignments and taking the final exams) in one year, as he describes at
http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/mit-challenge/ .
Some bright and motivated people can learn at a much faster pace than educational institutions, even MIT, currently allow.
One thing Young did to speed his progress was play lectures at 150% of the speed at which they were given and rewinding when necessary. This is not possible at an in-person lecture.
