I had one of those “Homeschooling is working” moments while on the Cape last week. Susan, my seven year old and eldest child, comes into the kitchen of our rental house looking for something, pacing back and forth, a look of frustration on her face. My husband and I ask her what she is doing.

“I need to read words, Mommy!” she announces. Talking with her hands for emphasis. You can see a new grown-up tooth peeking though where a baby tooth not too long ago fell out.

This is the child who cries when I ask her to sit and read a few pages to me from a Christian Liberty Nature Reader. Getting her to read anything other than a My Little Pony book is quite the chore, so for Susan to be searching for something to read is wonderful to hear. And it wasn’t mommy imposed reading.

This is one of the reasons why we homeschool, isn’t it? To be there when our children discover the magic of losing themselves in the pages of a book. Triumph over the difficult math problems. Take an interest in what turns into a life-long love affair with anything be it science, history or the arts.

Susan’s proclamation of her need for words is going to fuel me to keep going this upcoming school year. I need to remember it when I don’t feel like teaching a tough subject or when the children campaign for a school-free day when we need to get the academics done.

My girl is a reader. Not just a reluctant reader plodding through a page, but a lover of words, lost in the story. A compulsive reader. Knowing I had a hand in making that happen is a wonderful gift.