When our oldest son was barely four years old, a park ranger at Carlsbad Caverns expressed skepticism that this small child had actually just read the word "freight" stenciled on the back wall of the elevator. Sean David-undetered-simply pointed to a sign near the door and clearly read aloud, "In case of fire, elevators will be disabled."

Four years later, homeschooling is clearly our best choice for Sean David and his sister Rachael (also accelerated). In addition to the usual benefits of increased family time and personal curriculum choice, homeschooling frees our children to learn at a pace that matches their natural abilities, not their birth dates. What would our local public elementary school do I have to wonder with a 2^nd grade boy who is completing a 6^th grade math book and can mentally solve problems faster than I can look them up in the answer key? Or with a 1^st grade girl who memorizes an entire AWANA book in two months and gets frustrated because her Sunday School teacher won't let her teach the lesson herself?

Yes"very bright, accelerated children are a joy to teach! But they present very real challenges of their own. We believe that they not only thrive on the one-on-one attention they receive in a home teaching environment, but they often require it to keep them focused and interested.

Fortunately, there is a wealth of exceptional resources available to help. We have chosen Susan Wise Bauer's The Well-Trained Mind as the core of our curriculum, and liberally supplement with read-aloud selections from Sonlight. We find that the no-nonsense approach of Spelling Power works well for students who learn faster than workbooks typically assume, and we prefer the traditional math approach of A Beka and Saxon (though we often accelerate the pace). Libraries and used bookstores keep our home well-supplied with fascinating Bible, history, and science books that put traditional textbooks to shame, and annual trips to the homeschool book fairs keep us up-to-date on new products.

Perhaps our favorite learning tool is a superb memorization technique developed by the National Academy for Child Development. Using this technique (which I have detailed at www.katherinebellcom), I record weekly memory selections onto a tape or CD, and the children wear headphones and listen through the dominant ear. With only five to ten minutes of review each day and no testing, they effortlessly memorize 10-15 verses of Scripture each week, along with poetry, lists of prepositions, patriotic songs, math facts-whatever we need.

There's always something new to learn. Being accelerated simply gives us more time to explore the wonders of God's world. The key is to be flexible and creative! This method is too slow? Off to the internet to see what is working for other accelerated families! Tired of reading about pyramids? Let's create one with Legos instead! Bored with math? Let's skim ahead until we encounter something new! Feeling a bit isolated? An impromptu play date with another homeschooling family of eight will solve that!

The available resources are nearly endless. And it's a good thing, too. Two-and-a-half year-old Samuel - hot on the trail of his big brother and sister-just crawled in my lap and insisted that I explain to him the first five lessons of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." Here we go again!

Katherine Bell is a home schooling mom of three, and the author of the Christian novel Jonathan's Journey (Thomas Nelson, 1994). She maintains a website-www.katherinebell.com - where she archives her favorite homeschooling and home organization/decluttering tips.