I totally agree with you about English being a horrible language to try and teach. Not to mention things like 'th' or 'sh' or heaven help us, "ph" sounds. My hope is that if he can read independently, he can sooner start self-directed learning. I agree with you that there is much more to enjoy and teach than reading as an ends to itself, but the other things you mentioned, which involve creativity and synthesis, are arguably more important. I feel like nothing about education or learning is really well known, and we get one shot in life. I'm going to try and do what I think best to try and make my toddler a better person than me (whatever that means).

I think the important point in all of these kinds of essays is that they draw parents who are invested in their children, which is probably what really matters more than "I did Doman's method" or "I spent an hour with flashcards".

What I liked about this essay was the little glimpses into things that he tried that I haven't thought of yet (like alphabet magnets to play with). Some of the links he had to other people's blogs (especially one of the homeschooled kids) made me cringe as it was such unabashed promotion of how great their child was, and here is a picture of his graduation at their house: the kid is by himself with his parents, no other children around. What kind of life is that? What good is it to "create a genius", if that is even possible, if they don't enjoy life?