Our own homeschooling experiences were far shorter than I would have liked, so it has been fun watching other family members in their adventures. (It has also been nothing short of astonishing to see what resources are now available, rather like the difference between a gas station convenience store and a Super-Wegmans grocery store.)
It is especially fun to watch the grandkids' schooling, since our own children were in public school at this stage. On the one hand, school time is very short, even for kindergarten, when measured by organized, sit-at-the-table time, and Heather's still working on the best way to balance everyone's needs. On the other hand, education, if not school, is clearly going on 24/7, and one cannot argue with the results.
Jonathan can read. It is still laborious enough that he tires easily, but he has reached the stage where what he needs most is simply to read, which he is happy to do, whether to himself or to others. And not only books, but signs, maps, computer screens, anything and everything.
I think more reading goes on here than anything else. Noah asks to be read to at any spare moment (or not so spare), usually the same books over and over and over again, until he knows the story well enough to "read" it himself. It's a hoot to hear him tell The Three Billy Goats Gruff: You wouldn't understand much if you didn't already know the story, but he has all the nuances and tones of voice down pat, from "It only I, the little billy goat," to "I coming to GOBBLE YOU UP!"
This post clearly isn't going to cover all I had planned, so I'll cut it short and post it anyway. Being part of the adventure doesn't leave much time to write about it.
