Over the next several posts, I will present our experiences of discovering the joys, struggles, confusion, and thrills of educating our children.  Our story is not unique, but one among many families seeking the best education program for their children.

The beginning of our educational journey with our children began when they turned five.  I decided to chose a few workbooks to complete for reading and math. I wanted to see what level they were at since we were beginning to look at schools. 

But a month later, they were done with them. So I chose a some that were more difficult.  They thought they exercises were fun because they were so easy.

Two months later they were done with the next grade level of materials. It was still not time for them to begin their Kindergarten year, and I was struggling to find appropriate materials at the 2nd grade level for them. The schools we visited in our small town just weren’t an option. I realized my children were not going to spend their Kindergarten year learning to glue, color, cut and count.

So I began the GREATEST research project of my life. This was an intense journey, sometimes overwhelming and yet exhilarating in search of the best methods and curriculum to use; activities, programs, and events available; and finding answers to many of life’s burning questions as one homeschools bright kids.

The first year was tiring, confusing, basically a big trial and error experiment – but that was my experience. My children, on the other hand, spent most of their days in playful imaginary bliss, except for those moments when I tried to get them to sit still and do their learning.

Most days were fine and we had a great time, but increasingly, more days became frustrating for my son, who didn’t like to sit still and focus, and subsequently, my daughter began getting headaches from his tantrums. And, so did I.

I just couldn’t understand why such a simple lessons in reading and math could cause such upheaval and emotional episodes. We weren’t doing anything that seemed difficult , nor was I pushing them to get through material. I simply attempted to establish a routine for doing some lessons for part of our mornings. Why was learning causing so much distress?

[excerpt from my Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented State Conference presentation: Don't Fence Me In - Mastery, Creativity, and Adventure in the Home Education of Bright Children]