Grinity,
Yes, we do spend out of school time on much more level appropriate learning and exploration. He loves that sort of activity. Case in point he is stuck in 8th grade SAXON math but loves to pull out his Dad's Calculus books and figure out derivatives on his own. He is also working on a Science fair project that in my opinion is much more complicated than most of his age mates. We go to museum exhibitions, music performances and he reads everything under the sun! It is just painful, for him and for us that school provides so little academic challenge and so much challenge in dealing with arbitrary rules, and following rules without much incentive. I agree these skills are good to learn, however, they can be learned with a challenging academic program.
