I think my kids are normal kids, they're also very smart. Their balance, given their parenting, is between fun and normal and smart. What's that they say, he's a nerd but not a geek, or something. I only bother to worry about it if anyone acts like a jerk, then I say something.
I do worry about getting my kids a good education, a solid foundation so I can respect their choices later. I want them to be able to make their own choices later. I think I fall into the category of hothouser, but barely. I think the real hothousers would laugh at my puny efforts. I do child-based teaching of lessons I think a child should learn and at the pace it looks to me like they should be working. I don't worry so much as other people seem to about "making it fun". A lot of it is fun, some of it is not.
This has not led to a better academic fit at school. It has not put him at the head of the class. I've read that whoever's at the head of the class is in a zone called "optimally gifted". It's easy to go past that, to go "beyond optimally gifted". Then again, anyone who does probably would anyway.
I will keep teaching my kids as long as they keep wanting to learn, and I don't mean "had a bad day" or hit a rough spot. But by saying that I believe the more you learn the more you want to learn, and that knowledge fans the flames building a thirst for more knowledge.
