Wow, what a story you got there. Unfortunately, so many teachers are incapable of captivating the children's interest and would much rather deal with kids dumbed down by drugs...Maybe it's not necessarily the teachers' fault - they too have a boring curriculum to go through and tests, always tests, but you cannot honestly expect children to sit for hours listening to teachers droning...that's unnatural.
I wrote a post yesterday about my homeschooling pedagogy... I couldn't agree more!
Yes, I've just read it. I also believe in reading. I've loved reading all my life and I've always bought my kids whatever books they wanted. I might refuse buying a toy or candy, but never books. My own approach is letting them read what they want until they find their way to the what really interests them.