For any of you who feel that Lisa's Substitute, or as we fanatics lovingly refer to it, 7F19, ultimately ends on a shallow, sour note (i.e. Homer's "triumphs" are meagre, having not earned Lisa's respect, telling Bart that the first step to failure is the attempt, and simply offering pacification to Maggie), allow me to enforce upon you a witty rejoinder.
The significance of Homer's offerings -- especially on our emotional states -- lie not in the what he does, but in the results. In each case, he manages to empathize and sooth his children, getting onto the same wavelength as it were. We even see a visible manifestation of such a phenomenon in the museum: at the static ball thingy that makes hair go stand up (i.e. WAVELENGTH), we see first Lisa at this ball thing, then when Homer tries to join her, she leaves. They are figuratively not on the same wavelength.
Or something.
-Professor Sir Lee