Raymond Moore's books

[staceyshoe]

I'm starting to consider the possibility of HS for ds and have heard that Raymond Moore has some good info about boys and early schooling. Has anyone read his books? Are they worthwhile? Which one is best? TIA for helping out this newbie!

[Lillian J]

I just posted this the other day in another thread. The Moore's have put a lot of research into the parts of their books that have to do with the what we generally think of when we think of as education:

There are some books that might be of help. One is The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Dorothy Moore and Raymond Moore - it was formerly titled something like How to Avoid Homeschool Burnout. I offer that suggestion with a caveat: The Moores unfortunately wove their own religious and parenting beliefs into their books to the point where they can be annoying if you aren't able to just look past them to the more general homeschooling parts. But you can go to the Amazon.com site and click on the link underneath the picture of the book to "search inside" the book - and you can read quite a bit to get a sense of what the book is like. There are a couple of excerpts, one fairly lengthy. You can also read reviews there - there are 16 customer reviews right now.

You can also Google him and find their website - I'd look it up for you, but I need to get out the door for an appointment.

- Lillian

[nolonger]

Here's the link to Amazon's page on the book Lillian mentioned:

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook

and the Moore's website:

http://www.moorefoundation.com/

I also would recommend another one of their books, "Better Late than Early".

It's been awhile since I read the Moores, but I remember getting a lot out of their books and not having much trouble with their religious beliefs. Here is a bit of (unpleasant) history about Protestant Exclusionism and Michael Farris' attempts to discredit Mr. Moore:

The Ravage of Home Education Through Exclusion by Religion

which might help you to better understand the negative reviews on the Amazon page.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

I also would recommend another one of their books, "Better Late than Early".

That's the one I'd most recommend. I was in an awful hurry earlier...

It's been awhile since I read the Moores, but I remember getting a lot out of their books and not having much trouble with their religious beliefs.

I found it easy to overlook too - but I've heard complaints from others. As long as you're aware and open minded, it shouldn't be a problem. There's not all that much.

Here is a bit of (unpleasant) history about Protestant Exclusionism and Michael Farris' attempts to discredit Mr. Moore:

The Ravage of Home Education Through Exclusion by Religion

which might help you to better understand the negative reviews on the Amazon page.

Thank you for mentioning that. Moore has really been raked over the coals for speaking up - it's appalling. I don't agree with a lot of the Moores' opinions about parenting - I found some of it annoying - but I sure admire what they've tried to do in the way of helping people understand about developmental readiness. - Lillian

[slightly crunchy]

I have been reading The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook and found this thread in a search.

So far I am sort of confused by what the Moores are talking about, but it is interesting. I am pretty unclear on what their research actually involved, what methods they used, and how exactly they came to their conclusions. Does anyone know if there another book that perhaps better addresses this?

I was checking around the Moore Foundation website, and noticed that they advocate and sell the Pearl's child training books. Now I am nauseated and not sure I can finish reading this book.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by slightly crunchy

So far I am sort of confused by what the Moores are talking about, but it is interesting. I am pretty unclear on what their research actually involved, what methods they used, and how exactly they came to their conclusions. Does anyone know if there another book that perhaps better addresses this?

I don't recall whether there's information on that in the back of the book - but there would be more in their other ones, Better Late Than Early, and School Can Wait (a more scholarly version of the same research).

I was checking around the Moore Foundation website, and noticed that they advocate and sell the Pearl's child training books. Now I am nauseated and not sure I can finish reading this book.

I recently saw that too, and it makes no sense to me. It isn't "they" though - she died awhile back, and I don't know how involved he is with the site these days. He's over 90. I really have a feeling neither of them would have approved of that book. - Lillian

[chaoticzenmom]

Never heard of Pearl's child training. I looked it up just now and WOW, How horrible. Comparing raising a person to training a seeing eye dog.

Just had to comment on that. I haven't read the other books.
Lisa

[Marsupialmom]

I would also read "Boys and Girls Learn Differently!: A Guide for Teachers and Parents" by Michael Gurian and/or "Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences" by Leonard Sax.

Moore's book "Better late than early" does have good information in it but some of it is dated.