"You think I'm not listening, but I am."

There are obvious differences between homeschooling and public school classes, and though the above is written in terms of a high school or college class, the premise works for homeschooling as well (though I wouldn't refer to one of my children as "the annoying kid"). You see, the facets of human nature that would make one late to a high school class or make one disruptive exist in all humans, regardless of where their education takes place. In my home it sometimes looks like too frequent and insanely marathonic bathroom visits (and no, these are not due to any health/medical issues, but have led to the removal of reading material in said rooms, though even that hasn't remedied the "issue"); kids getting way too comfortable on couches with blankets and nodding off while we read or watch an educational video; headphones for their math on the computer which project a lot more pop/rock music than math lecture; or squabbling with a sibling over anything and everything just because. Yet when I get exasperated and ask them to repeat what I just read, much of the time they can quote it. When I think a kid is completely checked out and decide to administer a pop quiz to prove my point, the one who can answer all the questions is the one who least looked like he was paying attention. Just goes to show that appearances aren't everything and there is not just one type of atmosphere or position or attitude or attention span necessary for learning. It could be that a kid like the one mentioned above studies on his own outside of class, but as one of my sons likes to tell me, "You think I'm not listening, but I am." 

That begs the question:  how many other things do I say or do, outside of what I want them to hear and pay attention to, that they really are noticing? What am I teaching when I'm not teaching?