The Ron Paul Curriculum is, in my opinion, truly amazing. It has so much to offer for any student. It helps students develop many incredibly important skills that will be a great boon in life. I am optimistic about my future because of the Ron Paul Curriculum. It fosters self-discipline in students and helps them develop a good work-ethic. It helps students develop a consistent, moral worldview. You can’t get these things in a public school.
The Ron Paul Curriculum also instills the ability to write well and fast, it teaches good personal finance skills, good public speaking skills, good business skills, good economics, good history, and I could go on and on and on. It is certainly not easy and I am definitely guilty of slacking a little myself. However, even if I didn’t follow the curriculum to a tee, I believe I still absorbed its values and what it had to teach very well.
With that said, my experience with the Ron Paul Curriculum makes me think that there is one skill it teaches that stands out from the rest. I believe this is the number one reason (of many) to take the Ron Paul Curriculum. And this skill is the development of a good work ethic. I believe this skill shines above everything else because it is helpful in every single area of life. (However, the development of a consistent worldview comes in a close second for me.) A good work ethic is helpful when trying to learn a new skill. It is helpful in every job or business venture out there. It even helps with being happier because doing necessary work isn’t as dreadful. Essentially, a good work ethic is the base to build every other skill off of, and this is why it is so important.
The Ron Paul Curriculum helps its students develop a good work ethic in a number of ways. One, it is self-taught after grade 3. This means that the student is responsible for disciplining themselves to do the work. There is no hand holding; the parent is not meant to supervise the child. The Ron Paul Curriculum helps to motivate the students to do the work, but ultimately if the student fails to work hard, then they won’t get through the curriculum successfully. And there is a lot of work to complete. The student is required to write weekly essays in every humanities course. Plus, students will read more material than essentially every other curriculum out there. Then add in daily video lessons on top of that and math/science problems. I can testify that it is a lot and one must work hard to complete it.
Two, it is academically rigorous. All the high school courses are taught by college professors or PhDs, and they are designed to be at or close to college level. For example, the American History course is designed to be on par with an Ivy League college course in American History, and I would say that is accurate having just finished the course. I have been able to use the knowledge I have gained from the Ron Paul Curriculum to pass many CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exams, which has earned me many college credits. It suffices to say that the curriculum is not designed to be easy and you must develop a good work ethic to complete it.
To conclude, I believe the Ron Paul Curriculum has mountains of benefits. However, I think the development of a good work ethic stands out from the others. It is necessary to develop this skill to complete the curriculum. I can testify to that from my experience. I haven’t not been perfect either; I have skipped assignments. But, even still I believe even just doing most of the Ron Paul Curriculum will let one realize its benefits. I can’t recommend it enough to any student who wishes to get ahead in life.
Nathan,
This is a great article to sum up all the work you have done. Well written. I could see you referring people who inquire about the curriculum to this article to learn more.