In the long run, it greatly facilitated me, I'd have it no other way.
- I remember being in an old square school house made of wood in the 1-2 grades. The windows were wood and if we wanted air, you just pushed the window open, no screen, and outside, there was a bubbling creek not far away with lots of trees, shrubs, and chirping birds.
- Once in 2nd grade, I freaked out my teacher. I stayed inside one day during lunch break when all the kids were out playing. When the teacher tried to encourage me to go out and play, I told her no because it was going to rain. Then some kids started coming in and told her it was raining outside. You should have seen the look she gave me.
- In 7th grade, I got to skip science class, which that year was based on teaching astronomy, I knew more than the teacher, so the teacher let me hang out in the nextdoor laboratory (now unused, it had formerly been a highschool), there was even a pretty big telescope in it. Then I just came in during test taking. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember my teacher using my answers to grade the other students.
- I pretty much skipped 8th grade (to avoid problems with the law, I was forced to show up about half the time) but still graduated with an A- average. That was my end of the public school.
- No wait--- I went to 9th grade--- it was a pretty new high school but I only went there 12 days. After that I left and spent 2 years at a private high school.
- The private school was the time of my life--- I had great teachers who were real people not under the brutal knuckle of the public school system, made great friends, there were fantastic opportunities at the school (I ran the school paper and also taught astronomy for extra credit, among a few things, and we did some crazy, insane stuff. And it lead to a state scholarship for higher education.
But the experience also taught me a lot more than anything in the textbooks. I wouldn't trade it for anything. And the experience of seeing how the government punished my good father over their inability to do their job just because I didn't fit their preconceived mold of 2-way thinking made me the person I am today.