Just saw this thread, and thought I would toss in my two cents worth. I have been homeschooling for nearly 4 yrs, and LOVE it. I truly wish I had started sooner.
I spent the 6 months before I started (when I was considering it) reading everything I could get my hands on. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. We are definitely eclectic in our approach, and change as needed. My caveat about TWTM is it can seem intimidating -- and when I went through my phase of that approach, I still did a very modified version. I tend to pick out parts that work for us, and leave the rest.
My best advice is to join homeschool support groups -- and if you have any questions, ask. You might get a lot of answers that don't resonate, but by getting a lot of answers, you may be led to the solution to your problem, even if not exactly what anyone said. Look at both local and national groups -- there is a place for both. (Since you have a gifted child, the yahoogroup homeschoolingmensans is a good place to hang out.)
There are so many things my son learned in school, that I wish he hadn't. He learned to NOT focus on his task, to dilly-dally, to memorize and spit back rather than think about things. We are finally, after 4 yrs, shaking off the bulk of them, but it has been a lot harder because those behaviors were reinforced for so many years.
