Your article reminds me (in spirit at least) of the efforts of one of my personal heroes in education, John Taylor Gatto.
I have attempted to cross reference Saxon and Gatto unsuccessfully, which is surprising since their work seems to strike so many similar chords.
For those not familiar, Gatto is a champion of the “Deschooling” method of Homeschooling. Beyond breaking from traditional curricula Gatto further promotes the concept that “genius” is something that should be expected and commonplace, as opposed to the extraordinary find. (Gatto’s theory being that the thing we call genius is not rare. What is rare is its acknowledgment and nurture.)
Shibumi,
Gatto and Saxon may be a tough fit. Saxon was a basic, basics, basics guy— with love and cleverness but plenty of sweat.
Gatto is very popular with Education Revolution, where people celebrate ALTERNATIVE ED, any sort of school that lets kids loose. (It’s all a little too hippie for me.) Maybe good for highly motivated kids.
But don’t most kids want structure? Don’t they want to see their own progress? Saxon caters to these desires.