Without Ever Ringing a Bell

Most mothers and fathers can provide deeper security, sheerer closeness, sharper instincts, longer continuity, warmer responses, more logical control and more natural examples than the staff of the best care center or kindergarten. Without ever ringing a school bell, monitoring a recess or opening a course-of-study manual or even knowing the inside of a college, their teaching and care in their home are for their children under eight or ten easily superior to the most skilled professors outside it.

Raymond Moore in Home Grown Kids

Warm Parenting & Delayed Academics

In our family, we chose to follow the Moore Formula approach to education. The focus on work, study, and service helped us keep a balance in our family life while presenting the value of learning to our children in every facet of our lives. I believe that the Moore approach, more than any other, allows learning to become integral to the whole child and the complete family system. With this approach, education is not placed in a box. Instead, the entire world is open to the child in a way that most other types of educational systems cannot replicate.

Sometimes parents who choose to follow the Moore Formula find that they can feel like a fish swimming up the stream instead of going with the flow. That's because they are thinking and teaching outside the norm. Our culture and the educational system are creating learning environments that take the parent out of the educational formula at an early age (preschool). One goal of the present public system of education is to do this at increasingly earlier ages. As homeschool parents, sometimes we forget that these are external, artificial pressures and we take them upon ourselves. Research shows that children who's parents practice delayed- academics later rather than early academics, catch-up with and exceed peers who have been educated formally and  starting at a young age. Not only are delayed-study children beneficiaries academically, but research shows that they exhibit more skills in inquiry and higher-level thinking than their traditionally educated peers. Traditionally "schooled" AND traditionally "schooled at home" children who are not taught by the work, service, study model of delayed academics that Dr. Moore promoted have been found to exhibit signs (across the board) of burn-out by 4th grade. These are only a few examples of the excellence that results in children who received an education with delayed academics.

"School Can Wait" is an example of a very well documented and highly researched book which proves Dr. Moore's educational philosophy. This book is highly research-oriented and the result of a $257,000 federal grant which thoroughly documented the importance of unbroken continuity of parental attachment wherever possible and the dangers of formal schooling until at least eight to ten. In it Dr. Moore states that:

"The preponderance of evidence indicates that the key role of a parent throughout the years of childhood is simply to be the kind of warm, responsive, and relatively consistent person to whom a child can safely become attached. Early development and learning are actively dependent on this relationship. Parents are chiefly responsible for a child's early learning by their attitudes and responses to the child in frequent interactions." [School Can Wait, page 47].

The Moore Formula encourages warm, responsive parenting and a delay in formal academics until eight or ten years of age. It is a plan that has proved itself over and over again. It really does work!

Delayed Academics

Thoughts on Dr. Raymond Moore's belief in delayed formal academics:

It seems that the Moore's emphasized that learning begins at birth. Some of their books outline concepts to be taught starting from birth. They share age-appropriate activities and events that help a child achieve appropriate milestones for their age. So, it seems that their idea of delayed education speaks of "formal" and "school-like" learning. Essentially, most early school concepts can be taught in a variety of ways. Teaching a child to write using finger-paints on a large sheet of paper uses different motor skills (more appropriate) than using a pencil and  paper. The key is to keep learning age appropriate and to avoid burn-out.

In the beginning of my homeschool years I was fortunate to be able to attend a week-end series of lectures by Dr. and Mrs. Moore. One of the key points that struck me was hearing Dr. Moore emphasize that from his experience, most early-schooled children might do VERY well with early learning when taught formally, but that by 4th grade they were generally burned out and it was nearly impossible to bring back the love of learning, exploration, etc. that most of us value so highly in childhood learning. So, although a child may seem to be doing well and advancing properly --- it could be possible that long-term damage could occur in the form of burn-out.

Guided, planned, purposeful experiences that are age appropriate are never out of line. I believe it is wrong to hold a child back when they want to learn. But, I would encourage them to learn in a relaxed, non-paper and pencil, bookish manner. It is so much more fun and interesting for everyone (parent and child) if collections, cooking experiences, field trips, building, etc. projects are done to create that learning rather than relying upon a book.

Harmonious Balance

Research in child development reveals that children receive the best foundation for future development and learning from a secure and responsive home environment in which understanding parents are the teachers. Although early childhood education is pushed and encouraged by many as a necessity for proper child development, many childhood specialists are assenting that most children are better off at home than being sent away to school at a young age. All things must be considered. The whole child is important, as each facet of his or her being works together to create an intelligent, well-rounded individual. It is important to harmoniously balance a child's faculties with his physical and emotional development. The development of the mind is important, but as Dr. Raymond Moore reminds us, "the body is the powerhouse for the young child's brain and central nervous system. A sound body and stable emotions provide a strong foundation for mental and social maturity. Without this soundness and stability, the child will not realize his greatest potential" [Better Late Than Early, page 9].

Freedom to Learn

Adults believe that freedom is an inherent right. At the same time, some adults believe that they are the keepers of their children and should be able to control them and tell them exactly what to do. There may be some merit in that way of thinking, but for children to grow and thrive, they need some degree of freedom and flexibility as well. This allows them to grow naturally and achieve much. The Moore Formula approach to learning teaches that within parental guidance and love, giving children the freedom to follow their creative instincts in work, study, and play allows them to find their own inventive genius! And that no one knows better than the teacher-parent where a child’s natural curiosity leads and what their interests are. Taking this journey of exploration together, as parent and child, is an opportunity that when implemented will be one that will be without regret. 

For more on this subject: Home School Burnout, Raymond and Dorothy Moore – Chapter 1

Piaget, Advocate of Delayed Academics

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and philosopher who studied children from birth through adolescence. He lived from 1896 through 1980 and was influential among educators for decades. He was known for many things, but possibly the best for his theory of cognitive development and the way he advocated for delayed academic studies. His research forms the foundation of educational method that some specialists have built upon in the development of their own educational theories. Dr. Raymond Moore, the ‘grandfather of homeschooling’ in America, and his belief in delayed academic learning is one example of someone who used Piaget’s theories in the development of their educational theory.

Piaget believed that the way children processed cognitive thinking was different than that of youth and adults. He studied children by several methods. One was by researching and charting standardized test scores. Another was by studying his own three children and recording how they developed from birth through to adulthood. He observed children through all ages and stages, both in a learning environment, at work, and home.

His ultimate conclusion was that all children develop in stages and that each one will exhibit very distinct and certain patterns of cognition in each period of their growth and development. These patterns can be recognized as sequential and predictable for each age. He identified four developmental stages. As his theory advocates, they are: 

1) Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

A this stage a child learns through sensation and movement. It is important that they experience touch, smell, taste, hearing, and things to see (colors, shapes, and faces). It is also important that they observe and experience movement at this age. Rocking a child is vitally important during this phase of development. At this stage, children are extremely self-centered and cannot see the perceive the world through the eyes of another. They let their needs be known by crying and requiring immediate attention. 

2) Preoperational stage (ages 2 – 7)

At this stage, a child cannot use logical thinking. These years are sometimes known as the years of magical thinking. Children from two to seven are beginning to master symbols such as language and are starting to be able to form conclusions based upon past experiences. Although initially egocentric at this age, this trait weakens as they grow older. During this stage of development, children are developing their motor skills. It is important to allow opportunity and experiences for this growth, and to not rush a child onto the next stage before mastery of motor skills is achieved.

3) Concrete operational stage (ages 7 – 12)

Children of this age are very concrete in their thinking. In fact, their thinking is limited to concrete experiences. They learn to generalize by drawing conclusions about one situation and applying it to another. As they mature through this stage, they begin to think logically, but that thinking is still very concrete in nature and with practical tools to assist them. Children at this age are no longer ego-centric. 

4) Formal operational stage (ages 12 – adult)

Children in this stage can now deal with abstractions, mental speculation, and the formation of hypotheses. Abstract reasoning occurs and they are able to think logically. They can keep watch or maintain in their thought processes. Abstract reasoning opens up the world of thinking to children at this stage.

The rate or speed of passing through these phases may vary, but the sequence of stages is consistent for all children. When choosing or designing curriculum for children, the method and materials should match the cognitive level of the child. It is important that these principles are applied to how a parent-teacher chooses to home educate the children in their care so that natural, purposeful, and successful learning can result. Rushing a child through one stage to the next can be counter-productive and effectively cause burn-out and learning difficulties for the child. From the studies of Jean Piaget we can conclude that it really is ‘better late than early’ when it comes to academic instruction.

Developmental Psychologist Promotes Delayed Academics

It might seem unusual to mention Dr. Raymond Moore [1916 - 2007] in a listing of educational leaders in history, but his influence upon home education was significant. He has sometimes been called the “grandfather” of homeschooling in America. As a developmental psychologist, his views of education were an application of his research and the opinions of famous educators and/or writers like Piaget, Holt, Elkind, and White. According to the publisher of many of the books he authored, he was successful in bringing together the major disciplines of early learning — the brain, the senses, reason, and social-emotional development — in a way that was both organized and workable. His educational method formed an applied approach to a unique and successful formula for home education. As an early pioneer in the homeschool movement, it was through his influence and effort that homeschooling became legal in all fifty states. He developed what is know as the “Moore Formula” which customized an educational approach to a child’s interests, abilities, and aptitudes. Instead of workbooks or copywork, he emphasized the unit study or projects, both of which facilitated higher levels of learning. His approach advocated an equal time spent in study, work, and service. He was a proponent of delayed academics, even for home education, encouraging parents to delay formal academics until children are 8, 10, even 12 years of age. His research and anecdotal records of successful homeschool families who have used it prove that his approach produces children who are enthusiastic about learning and who have reduced levels of burn-out when compared to children who are traditionally schooled. Students taught using the Moore Formula have been shown to be independent thinkers and strong leaders. They test well academically and are sought after by higher institutions of learning because they are not burned out and are enthusiastic about learning. The service aspects of the Moore approach succeed in developing selfless traits and strong characters. Although the philosophy of Dr. Raymond Moore and the way it is applied to educating students is unique and many time opposes traditional thought regarding education, the result of students schooled with his approach to learning show superior and significant results.


Books authored by Dr. Raymond Moore and his wife, Dorothy are:

Home Spun Schools
Home Style Teaching
Home Grown Kids
Homemade Health
Homebuilt Discipline
Better Late Than Early
School Can Wait
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook

Most of these books are available on Amazon.com.