OK guys - first of all - thank you for all giving your input on this subject. I sincerely appreciate the thoughts that everyone has shared and from PM's I have gotten, I was really overwhelmed by the personal thought and care that went into this. This is about my daughter, who the solar system revolves around - so anyone who posted on this thread is indeed a value to me and I appreciate it.
Now, here is the direction we are most likely going:
1) We have enrolled Maggie in the Duke T.I.P. program. This is a program Duke provides to "gifted" kids (based upon test scores, etc). There is a ton of online activities and opportunities throughout the year for Maggie to take part in, the opportunity for her to interact with other TIP kids locally, and will start to include summer trips to Duke in the summer after 7th grade. Some people get heavily involved in it, some less so. We will let Maggie guide us and her level of involvement.
2) For school next year, we are looking at two options. One is a classical school, the other isn't. We all love the classical model, but the other school is just as intense, it lacks Latin and the literature component of the Classical curriculum however. My daughter started Latin last year and loves it. Either way, both of these schools are university model. she will get 3 days in a classroom setting, two days of home assisted help with her assignments. We feel this is the best way to give her the social aspects of school, as well as professional educators. It also will allow us, on a limited scale, to get a feel for homeschooling and whether we are up to the task. Our abilities to teach were always my main concern -and many have written in support of that. I feel that with my career, it would be difficult to be "all in" on this, and that because I would be pressed for time I wouldn't give her the attention she needed, or would rush her. This gives us a chance to be more involved, but in a controlled environment.
3) There are enormous resources for the homeschooled kids - computer based, etc. This greatly eases my concerns about this, and at some point we may well homeschool. The two schools we are looking at have expressed an acceptance of moving her up at least a couple of years or more if needed. If this were to not happen, I am confident that we could homeschool her if needed.
4) The social issue is interesting. Many kids that are smart are introverted, are extroverted as long as other kids go their way (my sister), or are simply A-holes and tyrants (me). Maggie is unique in that she is very outgoing and friendly and wants friends, but at the same time is impatient and gets tired of them soon. She does love being around people, and she particularly loves her teachers. We think University model will give her enough interactions with kids, but not so much that she gets sick of it.
So - we are trying a "compromise" of sorts. Hopefully this works out, but if it doesn't, I am much more confident in our abilities to homeschool.
