That is very true, River. Very true.
(And it's one reason I don't get on any high horses when it comes to homeschooling. What works for one family or even one child, will not necessarily work for another. So my viewpoint is very libertarian in this regard: leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone.)
Unfortunately, the government has a hard time with this concept. And, even more so, in my experience, so do schoolteachers.
The biggest resistance we encounter--when we actually do encounter some--is from the public/private schoolteachers we know, mostly at church. You should've seen the furor we caused because we moved our eldest daughter up a grade in Sunday School.
"But, but, <splutter> she's not technically in the 5th grade!!!"
Um, nevermind, that she only missed the cut-off by 2 weeks. Nevermind that she is doing 5th grade work (and 6th and 7th, and, yes, some 4th grade work too). Nevermind that to have made her stay in the class she was supposed to meant that her 2 closest friends would be gone. Nevermind that to have left her in the class she was supposed to be in meant that she would be the ONLY girl in the class of about 10 boys. Nevermind that WE are the S.S. teachers for the 5th and 6th graders, so we were not asking another person to deal with the situation.
But you know what? We did what we wanted to despite it all. Why? Because we're her parents, and
we get to decide what's in her best interest. Period.
But some people don't get that concept.
Okay, enough venting. Off to clean a house.
Bleah.
Lali