In 2-3 hours of official school time, you can cover MUCH more material with your HG+ child than he'd ever get in school, even if you're not pushing at all. It's only natural for these kids.
So what do you suppose you do with the rest of your day?
You play! You go to HSing events and hang out with other people. You take foreign language or gym classes. You go to the park, to the store, to the gym. You LIVE!
In the 5 months we've been HSing, DS has learned to ski quite well, has played football on a local team (with pads and everything--they even played an exhibition game at halftime of the local pro team's game!), has taken a museum class on caves, and has taken art and foreign language classes that were far more interesting and advanced than he'd have gotten in his elementary school...among other things. That's a lot of ground to cover!
Every one of those opportunities was far more interactive and people-oriented than regular school is. LOTS of social time! Oh, so much!!!
I think going to the HS group activities is a swell idea, Questions. You need to know what you're getting into before you get into it. If you can find a mentor to help you with any questions (
) or problems you have, so much the better. I had two mentors actually, and I'm not sure I'd have been brave enough to take the plunge without them.
Talk to the/an organizer of the HS group. They may even have a mentor program for newbies. It will give you peace-of-mind to talk about your concerns with someone local. And HSers typically are quite happy to talk about HSing. We've all been where you are!
