“I sometimes wonder if my last words on this earth will be something like, 'Oh, I knew this wouldn't work.”

“....my brain works like an etch-a-sketch; even the slightest movement causes it to go completely blank.”

“More important...you've assembled a curriculum that works for him. It's his education. I suspect he's more likely to have a real education, an education that sticks, if he's part of shaping it.”

“I was shocked, however, to discover that homeschooling is not allowed in the Netherlands. I could only imagine that after legalizing pot, prostitution and gambling, they had to outlaw something.”

“At then end of this experiment we call Alice's childhood, I imagine if she's as eager to move ahead with her passions as the graduates I'd just met, and as fond of her family as these kids seemed to be of theirs, I'll have my answer.”

“I still have this nagging feeling that I'm supposed to know stuff without actually learning it, and that anything requiring a mental effort beyond snatching the answer from memory simply proves I was never that smart to begin with.”

“I wanted her to stretch her mind and her self-confidence, but I also wanted her to play with friends, read books, listen to music and glaze over with the pleasant boredom of a long afternoon with no place to be and nothing to do.”