Some days, it's just obvious that it's working.

I don't know of any parents who home-school, who don't occasionally wonder whether it's going to work the way they hope.

If we didn't have faith, we wouldn't persevere, of course. But as conscientious parents, we wonder if there's something we ought to be doing differently.

And then, there are the days when we can see that things are going as well or better than we had hoped. I've had several of those experiences lately.
***
I was out in the garden at the crack o dawn several mornings in a row. Jack later woke up and came out to join me.

One morning, he sat near the garden eating an apple -- and answering the birds with their own songs. He was also able to make a formal introduction for me. A little bird had been scolding me all morning from the tree next to the garden. I had been chatting with him, but I had no idea who he was or what he wanted. Jack told me it was a chickadee and pointed out that the little guy had been introducing himself all morning. "Chicka-dee-dee-dee". Once I called him by name, the little bird flew off, evidently satisfied.

***
As we finished up homeschool time this morning, Jack told me that he didn't want to stop, even though he was clearing having trouble keeping his focus. I asked him why and he said

"I want to get through this to get to the Romans. They have been buzzing in my brain and I want to know more about them. I already know about this stuff!"

What could I say? I handed him his choice of books about the Romans.

***

One of Jack's greatest enthusiasms is to dig up one of his science experiment books and do one experiement after another.

***
Jack has been doing multiplication in his head. He isn't really great at it yet, but he really *understands* the concept, even if his grasp on the specifics isn't quite there yet.

Wow.

***
Having been working with him on homeschooling for a couple of weeks, I am starting to reconsider the curriculum. It seems to be giving him "more than he wanted to know" on some subjects and a lot less on others. This has been an extremely valuable interlude for me.