Old Dad makes a great point about graduating and moving on to college at an early age.
I'll add one more thing (and I may be the only parent on earth that feels this way but here goes!) - I don't want my kids going off to college early for a very selfish reason - *me*! And I do think that even though it might not be the highest-intellectual challenge for them, hanging out with family until they are 17/18 still has a lot to offer
polarbear
No, you're not the only one who feels that way. Being a dad is the best job I've got! I don't think I'd be done with dispensing of my fatherly wisdom by age 16, you know, those deep thoughts like when you kid says, "Dad, I was playing Ultimate Frisbee and I rammed my knee into a fire hydrant."...and my reply comes, "Well....don't do that." As well has the most important part of raising children, teaching them good Rock-N-Roll from bad!
I knew a couple who have a son who graduated early. They made what I thought to be a wise move in having their son attend a local community college while living at home for a couple of years before the transfer to state college giving him both time to mature under parental guidance and still get the challenge he needed at age 17-early 18. The summers he spent in an internship as an Electrical Engineer at the nuclear power plant.
