Hi everyone, thank you SO much for all your comments. We really appreciate it.
In terms of college material, we were not thinking of sending child away early, though on certain days that has crossed our mind
and if child were to work/study, it would be online or locally, etc.
We were kind of thinking like Kriston and passthepotatoes, that even if we went deep and wide, there is only so much deep and wide when the material obviously will be above grade level, eventually. And no matter how deep and wide, once a certain section is covered, it has been covered. We are thinking of doing a lot of other things that wouldn't normally have been possible in a regular classroom, ...
It seems true that much needs to be classified to determine "what grade level" a student is at. We feel a sense of restriction but also that we have to still "play" partially with the system so that when High School/College courses begin to appear we can confidently say to an administrator that we have or have not done something. (Future proofing, I suppose...)
Also, being able to give the child the opportunity to work at the edge of what they know will finally allow the student to develop perseverance, learn to manage their own frustration, learn about hard work, organizational skills, learn about what they themselves are capable of ... and this, for us (at least now, in our ideal state of mind) is what we're hoping for.
We (hubby and I) really thank you for taking the time to comment. I am sure we will return to this thread often ... As I think more about this in the next little while, I will post back here.
