Customer Reviews

Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child's Education

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For a long time there has been a push by many concerned citizens, educators, politicians, and others to improve the education of children by getting them into school sooner. The idea being that the sooner children were taught to read, write, and do arithmetic, the more mastery they'll have of these subjects. I was surprised to learn that a hundred years ago in some states it was against the law for children to go to school until they were at least eight years old.

Raymond & Dorothy Moore spent years investigating the results of early education. They examined other studies and did their own studies. They found that in the early years, up to somewhere around ages 8 to 10, it is best for children to be at home in a loving and supportive environment. They found that children who are kept home until they are ready for school quickly catch up with the early starters.

One of the main points is children can't effectively learn until they are developmentally ready. The book explores readiness issues dealing with eye sight, hearing, coordination, ability to focus, emotional stability, and others. Once children have hit a certain level, then their ability to learn is amazing. The book explores some of the problems that can happen when a child is forced to learn before they are ready.

Another main point in the book is how the home is the best place for young children. It is acknowledged that in some situations, like a working single parent, a child may need to be put in preschool, but that the optimal environment is a home where the child feels secure and is free to develop at his own pace. They are free to make mistakes without 25 other students making fun of them. They feel loved. One of the problems with sending children off to preschool is how many of them feel rejected by their parents.


The second half of the book covers various age ranges and gives insight on what is happening to children at this age and advice on how parents can best support and help their children.


This book is well written. There is a ton of good information in it. If you are interested in how best to help a young child, this is a good book to read.

Though based on research from the 60's and 70's, I found this book invaluable. The addendum makes note that current research only confirms the earlier studies. Essentially, the first half of the book provides numerous arguments to support that children need nurturing loving homes first and foremost. It over and over again contends that formal education is better left until age 8-10. The research and arguments are vast. Resources are plentiful and convincing. Everything makes sense to me, a former educator, who is currently raising children of my own. The research provides a firm foundation regarding my choices for my children. The second half of the book is merely developmental ideas, but sound opinion nonetheless.

Even if you haven't considered homeschooling before, I believe all parents will find some valuable information in this book.

Moore was able to capture exactly what I feel in my heart about child development and schooling. Separation anxiety, peer socialization (no that's not a good thing) and the constant labeling of 'problem students' stemming from the core concept that children are just not ready for formal schooling at the age that we push them out the door in our society. Although the book was written a generation or two ago the problems he outlined are even truer today that ever before. There is enough meat here (resources) to give validation without being cumbersome to read.

If you are even considering homeschooling your family (especially those looking to hs from the start) this book will probably be your selling point and a great resource to hand to doubting relatives (your spouse maybe?).

BUT this isn't really a book about homeschooling, it is about child development and I do think all parents could benefit from reading it.

I love this book. Studies show that starting children too early in school can be damaging. Very few even think about this anymore. If a child is slower than usual parents are encouraged to give them an even earlier start so that they won't be behind children of their same age. What sad advice! We should wait until these children are ready. Then they can excel to their top potential. Every person I know that started school at age 7,8 or later has done very well and in most cases been able to skip grades beyond those student their age and ended up in the top of their class. I also know of many cases where children were started early and they struggled and became discouraged, eventually hating school and not finishing high school. Some early starters do okay but I still don;t think it's the best. When kids are ready to learn, they learn. You don't want to force it before they're ready. Don't worry about them being behind. In the early grades. I'd be more concerned with their education as a whole. Starting kids later is better by far. For the sake of your child I recommend reading this book before you start them in school. Libraries often have it if you can't find it used. It's been a great help to me.

I read this way back in 1980 and immediately became the only homeschooler in my city and the 3rd in NY state!!
I wound up meeting Dr. Moore and the early pioneers of Homeschooling...we were not all that many...and as people began to see the children and the families who listened to the Moores, homeschooling took off like a widfire.

DR.Moore has the experience and knowledge and he is CORRECT in all of his observations. I began to do things my way and let me tell you , I went back to Dr. Moores way.

Both of my kids have done extremely well and we are very close
My son owns his own business,

my daughter has done everything from TV shows to working w/ the disabled..she has several degrees.

While this book does not tell you hOW to Homeschool per se ..it lays the foundations for raisning confident, intelligent children with excellent character and I believe caring parents will gobble this classic up ....especially when you look at what is going on around you

I already agreed with and still agree with the premise of the book, which was recommended to me by a seasoned homeschooling mom. I found the book rather unreadable, however, because of its "scientifically based" presumptions. In my opinion, determining what is best for nurturing the education of children belongs much more in the "art" camp than the "science" camp. Too many matter-of-fact declarations of what is universally appropriate for children (beginning formal education between ages 8-10, not "spoiling" a baby by responding to her every whim), quickly loses credibility because the empirically based "scientific" consensus about these issues is constantly changing and making last decade's assumptions obsolete. Since this book is a few decades old, it comes off in this dated, rather than principled and universally applicable manner.

I think the author had good things to say and arguments to make, but too dry of a format. Although not necessarily directly related, I have been much more inspired and interested by the literature surrounding the "unschooling" movement lead by John Holt, which much more appealingly argues for early education being optimally home-based.

Another vital dimension to this topic is the uniqueness of each child, which this author touches on but still ends up trying to universalize the particulars too much. A great book which highlighted the importance of recognizing the uniqueness of each child was David Guterson's "Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense." I'm sure there are many others, but this book was really interestingly and well-written.

This was one of the early books that influenced my educational philosophy. It gave me the confidence to allow my children to create their own curriculum and enjoy learning in a joyous organic way. They both transitioned beautifully into a college prep environment with very little stress in the seventh grade at 12 years old. My oldest daughter is heading off to college next year, pursued Performing Arts in high school, and excelled academically. My younger daughter made the Varsity Volleyball team as a sophomore, is involved in leadership, and is on track for college as well. Thanks to the authors for putting out this book!

I was really looking forward to reading this book because I agree with the premise but needed some practical suggestions on how to raise my children apart from mainstream culture.

However, this book was published in 1975 and all of the findings presented are from 1973 and earlier. Since then, those who want to push kids harder and earlier have published so heavily that their findings are considered fact and the studies in this book seam out of date and long forgotten.

I also have a problem with the disrespectful over generalizations that the authors make about their opponents and parents who follow there advice. In flipping through the book I couldn't find any of the examples that I wanted just now. I did find plenty of examples of "some children may feel... therefore everyone should refrain." I agree with the statements made but not with that method of justification.