Our learning center's English teacher uses these for middle school and high school classes. Her classes are tough and there is a lot of reading and writing, but the parents and most students feel that it's worth it. They all feel that it's excellent for college prep.
That said, I have no idea about using them at home with me as the teacher.
"Ree-bee," Mom to United States Marine ds 21 * artist dd 19 * motion-loving ds 16 * piano-playing ds 11
"For Miss Minnie loved children and she loved books, and she taught merely by introducing the one to the other." from "A Consent," by Wendell Berry