Part of me envied Julie, because I certainly didn't thrive in my local public school. But the idea of having either of my parents for a teacher? No thanks. Unlike Ms. Brodie, my mother was a trained teacher (who actually taught 1st grade until I came along), so she certainly knew how to teach... just not quite how to teach me (and my father was, until retirement, a college professor). They may not have agreed with the standard curriculum, but I doubt we'd have agreed on one that I would enjoy during a "sabbatical" year.

If you are a parent with an "unusual" child, this may help you take a good thoughtful look at what homeschooling your child can do. As a teacher, there are certainly things I can take from it and think about as I work with students, but the thrust is very much toward "here's what I did and how we did it together". This isn't a fairy tale, there are setbacks and problems, and their inclusion is all to Ms. Brodie's credit.

ARC provided by publisher.