Published here with permission from The MOORE REPORT INTERNATIONAL - May/June 2001

The Moore Foundation, Box 1, Camas, WA 98607

Questions and Answers

"What About a Child Who is Very Advanced?"

QUESTION: My five-year-old daughter is extremely bright and mature. She learned to read without any help and knows a lot about numbers. What would be wrong with starting her in a kindergarten program?

ANSWER: It depends upon what kind of a kindergarten program you want to start her in. Children learn from birth and we have fun learning programs for young children as described in this newsletter, but a formal program either at home or in a school would be a mistake, I believe.

Let me give you a letter we received which shows a typical response to many bright, even gifted, children who are pressured into early formal schooling, either by flattery or fear at a young age, either in home or in school.

Our 8-year-old daughter was already reading before she entered kindergarten. She shocked us one day by reading a book during our bedtime story time. At first we thought she had just memorized it, but she read another one to us. Because of her reading ability, she was always put at least one or two grade levels above the grade level she was enrolled in. Even in kindergarten, we were told to place her in a second grade reading group, but a wise teacher convinced us to keep her with her own peers.

She was one fo the best behaved students. She always performed at the top of her classes and her teachers only had positive things to say about her. Then she began complaining of illnesses and seemed to try every excuse not to go to school. She asked me what I would do if she got into trouble at school. Needless to say we began to be very concerned. After spring break her complaints grew and she asked us to homeschool her.

So after some prayer and reflection, we took her out of school and have been doing a lot of research. We've read your book, Home Grown Kids and are in the process of completing Home Style Teaching. We've been convicted of many mistakes we've made along the way and wish we had read your books before. We thank God that He showed us these things so that we can begin to live for Him now and to raise our children to love and serve Him in His Kingdom. We like your emphasis on the Bible and feel that is what our family needs the most right now.