Really? I had wood shop in (public) middle school, I'm talking about a room full of 13 year olds with industrial sized band saws, tables saws and volatile chemicals. And that was somehow ok (once in a while the teacher would hit the kill switch if he saw someone horsing around). Soldering is like knitting compared to that. I don't see the problem.

Also not sure why you think breadboarding is barely workable, it seems totally workable to me.

Limiting students to alligator clips and "built in hardware" seems like short changing them. I suppose it's better than nothing.

Anyway, Lady Ada and Adafruit are really awesome. If you are doing something for schools, I would contact them directly and let them know.

But I definitely agree with your breadboarding point and overall sentiment. In college I recall a series of labs that built a fairly workable 4-bit computer on breadboards. They're very workable, even preferable, for the right type of circuit/project.