A homeschool cannot function without enthusiasm and curiosity. Enthusiasm enables the child to educate himself. A homeschool that runs on the fuel of a child's wonder and imagination, rather than the artificial stimulus of grades, prizes, and happy-face stickers, is on the right track. We cannot apply knowledge to children like we apply suntan lotion to the skin. Knowledge is more the result of what is happening from within, more like the results of a well-digested, nourishing meal.
Children gain knowledge through the act of digesting living books.
When children are in contact with the thoughts of thinkers, they become more thoughtful. As teachers, we should not stand in the way of this contact by constant lectures or excessive explanation. We must not attempt to do the learning for the child. He must do his own learning for the thoughts to become personal, to become his possession. He responds with his own paragraphs as he tells his version of what is read.