So Martin [the father] threw himself into it the way he had thrown himself into glassblowing, silversmithing, puzzlemaking, and filmmaking, among various other pursuits. He fired the nanny and came up with a plan: They would live on $5,000 a year. They would travel by bus, support themselves with craft shows and the proceeds of the “Erik & Dad Puzzle Co.,” and attempt to feed themselves on a budget of $1 per meal per person (a goal Martin admits sheepishly now they did not always achieve). Martin would work as little as possible.
The father's educational theory went like this: Apart from one hour of home schooling a day, the child should pursue his own interests. They spent a few weeks at a commune in Tennessee, a year in Providence, six months in Chicago. During a three-year stint in Miami Beach, he sat Erik down with a neighbor to see if he was interested in learning Chinese; the language instruction went nowhere, but the neighbor had a computer.
Via Robot Wisdom, [1] Road scholar finds home at MIT [2]
Not only is Erik 20 years old and an assistant professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) [3] but his speciality is in computational origami [4] (and the link there is an article about Erik solving the problem of why maps are so hard to fold) which isn't your everyday ordinary discipline.
I do notice though, that parents that have an interest in their childrens' education often produce intelligent children, reguardless of formal education (as this shows).
[1] http://www.robotwisdom.com/
[2] http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/048/nation/Road_scholar_finds_home_at_MIT+.shtml