How to learn without trying

I have had many, many nervous moments in the past couple of years since we first started home educating. There have been occasions when I have been unable to sleep because of the worry and the whispering voice in my head, telling me how I'm not educating my children well enough for the future, that I am setting them up for failure...the thoughts and torment goes on.

Only recently I had a blip, that I documented on this very blog.

I don't know if ironic is the correct word - I think relief is more accurate.

Eb was in the car and so was his (schooled) friend. There was a pause in conversation, and Eb piped up "Bryan, how many vowels are there in your name? There are three in mine."

Bryan (not real name) replies: "There are two in my name....Br-yan."

Eb: "No, that's syllables, I think."

Bryan: "No, it's vowels."

Eb didn't reply again, but looked sideways at me. Later that night he asked me about it, to check that he was right and I confirmed that he was. He looked relieved and said that he didn't continue talking about it, because he didn't want to make his friend feel stupid, and that it was a silly thing to argue about.

I asked him where he learnt about these things, hoping he would say from one of our literacy lessons.

No.

He told me it was in the hints section of the hangman game he plays online with his sister.

I learnt so much from him today.