I just thought I should post this here

(this was my response to a new reader regarding Z's rectial. I just put so much time into writing this and I think it is an important note to people who are trying to understand what raising some gifted kids is like - so I thought I should post it again on the front page.)

I have had people assuming that I am pushing Z into formal work before. I understand and I don't blame them. It can be hard to imagine a kid would want to do all this.

I remember when she was 2 1/2 and insisting that she do math for 30+ minutes after breakfast. I would have to make her stop.

Then she would insist that I read to her in Spanish and teach her how. Then she would bring me book after book after book, climbing up on my lap and have me read to her until my voice was getting hoarse.

Of course this only took up a small part of the day and the rest of the time she colored or we went to the beach (we used to live across the street from the beach) or we played with friends. For awhile all she wanted to do was play card games - like SET. LOL

These days she has three days a week where we homeschool before lunch. Yesterday when she finished her math pages she sang a song to me about how she wanted more math. For Japanese her lesson was to actually sing a song on the karaoke machine.

Then she wanted to do more journaling. Then she didn't want to stop our geography project to go to the store but I explained the need to have something to eat for dinner beside hot dogs and she acquiesced.

This is what living with Z has been like since she was 2 1/2 years old. (before that I can't remember exactly. I was sleep deprived.)

I used to have to make her have down time. I remember when she was four she said "I hate free time!" But now she actually values it, and spends a lot of time playing imaginary games or being with her friends in the afternoon. Although sometimes she still tries to turn it into some kind of learning experience. Like before we went to France she was choosing to read her French dictionaries during her free time.

So, the reason I am explaining all this is, while there are probably some places where I expect too much from Z, and I will be on the look out for how that it affect her, the "formal" work is what Z really enjoys. And it is not every day all day but 3 days a week or about 4 hours a day.