Mommio: How Do You Know They Are Learning?

People in my family, and friends who don't homeschool, have often asked how I know the kids are learning, after all- we don't test them. No TAKS tests to evaluate how I am doing as a teacher or if they have memorized the correct things to succeed in life. Well, other than the obvious things like children who can read and do math well above their age/grade level who have never stepped foot in a public school the way I can tell is how they play. When we studied Shakespeare the kids would get together and pretend to be all the characters from the various plays. When we read the Iliad and the Odyssey the kids acted it out for months afterwards. When we learned about Pilgrims, their free time was spent on imaginary ships and building houses. For the last several months we have been learning about World Religions. Some of it has been exciting, but some of it has been quite dull and it has gone on a long time because of the excitement of summer. So, I was wondering if the kids were still interested and still learning new things. Or if they were basically just over it. But then, Avery told me all about how her American Girl doll is Jewish and the holidays she celebrates. And just last night the kids were playing hangman and Gabe (totally on his own) chose the word "polytheistic ascetic" on his turn. And then not only did the other kids guess it- they also all knew what it meant! After Religions we will move onto Poe- I can't wait to see how they play with that one.