If you go to Maine, you have to have lobster, right? And one of the most iconic lobster dishes you can have is the lobster roll. Our quest for lobster roll had been thwarted a few times, but we were not to be denied, in spite of how cold it is.
Morning
We had a few things to do before we could enjoy the lobster roll, such as grocery shopping and finding a cell phone plan. Fortunately, there was a Whole Foods nearby and a Verizon and AT&T store, too.
Ethan was also happy because he got a chocolate parfait at Whole Foods.
AT&T won me over
We thought about getting an unlimited data plan for my cell phone while we stay in the States. But after some research and thinking (Dong Eun did the thinking), we didn’t think the unlimited plans suited our needs. I need fast wifi to work on the computer, but neither of the big carriers let you use LTE speeds on your phone when used as a hotspot. And I find it better to work at Starbucks or something similar when I need reliably fast wifi.
So I checked out the cheaper plans and went with AT&T’s $45/mth plan because it gives me unlimited calling and text to Canada (and Mexico, but I doubt I’ll need that). And the 6GB of monthly data should be plenty because I was getting by on 2GB with Fido, even while driving across Canada.
Not to mention the service and workers at AT&T were simply way better than Verizon. At Verizon, I felt like I was in a used car showroom, as that’s how I felt about the staff there. But at AT&T, the staff were friendlier and genuinely nice.
Lobster Roll time
With a newly activated cell phone plan in place, it was time for lobster roll. We went to Bite Into Maine’s restaurant location and loved the lobster roll. Definitely worth the wait. To be honest, we’re not big lobster fans, but the lobster roll won us over.
Ethan had the grilled cheese and loved it.
Boston Museum of Science
Yes, from Portland, Maine, we booted it to Boston after the lobster roll and grilled cheese sandwich. We wanted to keep moving because it’s getting cold and we’re also thinking it’d be a good idea to get home in the next 30 days or so. But the sunsets are sure nice.
Evening – The Boston Museum of Science
Arriving in Boston late in the day on the Friday before Veteran’s Day wasn’t the plan (not a lot is, when it comes to our schedule!), but we made it through all the traffic and got Ethan into the Museum of Science. By the way, we arrived in Boston on the coldest day of the year since March. It was very windy and freezing cold, but we were so happy to have made it to Boston that we sort of didn’t care… sort of.
Anyway, the Museum of Science was fantastic.
The Museum of Science was a wonderful experience for Ethan because it provided a hands on educational experience, rather than simply being an entertainment centre for kids.
Ethan loved the math exhibits and learned how waves are formed, along with learning about many other new things, such as nanotechnology.
The Particle Mirror was also very cool, as well as the dioramas.
There were really just so many things to try and to learn from that we could have stayed an entire day.
There was even an exhibit about mental health, which was nice to see and for Ethan to learn something about this important topic.
And the optical illusions were also a big hit with Ethan, of course.
Hungry for Korean food
We’ve been off Korean food for too long and were very happy to find out there was an H Mart nearby. So we had to go and pick up some things for dinner.
We then went back to Juju Jr. for a hot meal, as it was getting very cold by now.
Tomorrow, we’ll try the Children’s Museum and hope to find some free parking, as well as avoid the cold. Seems like a tall order, but we’ve been quite lucky everywhere we’ve gone, so far.
If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.
Week 11:
Ethan spent some time working on his math workbook. We don’t tell him which sections to work on. Instead, he just chooses what he likes and completes the section. With math, he doesn’t usually ask for help and he really enjoys it.
I really like this approach. It will be interesting to see which sections he skips over or if he gets to content where he needs to learn the preceding steps. He seems quite talented in math and will be able to identify the sections which are or relevance to him. Does he have access to other types of math workbooks to use as other resources or instruction or does he use math apps or games, can you remind me?
Ethan has been getting into photography more and more. He snaps photos every chance he gets. We will post more of his photos as he chooses the ones he’d like to share.
Alexander Graham Bell Historical Site
We saw signs for the Alexander Graham Bell Historical Site and decided to check it out. It was closed, but it was still a nice place to visit. We saw a sculpture dedicated to the first flight by a British subject.
It was a sculpture of the Silver Dart, which Ethan knew about and explained how it’s first flight occurred. We asked him how he knew about the Silver Dart, and he said there was a replica of it at the Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa and that the tour guide talked about it.
We were impressed because we thought he wasn’t paying attention during the tour.
Nice he is retaining and applying prior knowledge! Sometimes it takes seeing the content again to have it sink in. Is he interested in Aviation and Space?
He said that the trick to catching a dragonfly is to be fast and to make sure it doesn’t see you. We think that means you should grab it from behind, which is what Ethan did.
Afternoon – Whale Sighting
We crossed the bridge from Cape Breton Island and noticed a lot of people standing outside of their cars looking at the water. We stopped to see what was going on and were told there had been whales, dolphins and seals in the water here.
Still no sighting yet? I saw a pod of dolphins and three whales at the beaches in San Francisco. Although I grew up there and have been to those two beaches hundreds of times, I saw cetaceans for the first time ever there. I guess it is the first time they have returned to the bay in 65 years!
I got to swim near spinner dolphins today in hawaii. I really hope you get to see whales soon, they are so magical. Does Ethan have a pair of binoculars in the van, they make wildlife observation much better.
Whenever Ethan sees rocks, he’s on them. He loves climbing and exploring, so he had fun navigating his way down to the water and back.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales. We did see some seals, but cooler were the bald eagles that were flying right near us.
The eagles were attracted by the large shoal of fish swimming in the water here. Apparently, so was Ethan.
While waiting for the whales to appear, we talked to a local family. Ethan has way too much Halloween candy so we offered some to the family’s kids, who were quite happy to get some snacks. This is another way for Ethan to learn not to be too attached to things, especially something that can be shared and enjoyed by others. He then spent some time relaxing before we had lunch.
He really has internalized the beautiful value of sharing with others and how that creates wonderful relationship opportunities.
“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”
Not sure why, but Ethan wanted to pose for this shot of him sticking his head out the window. I guess he’s just really happy to be traveling.
I just love this photo!! It could be the cover of his roadtrip travels book/blog/video. He looks so happy and excited about the adventure of being on the road!
Ethan reviewed his Grade 4 assessment one last time before we send it off. He’s learning and improving how to write and show comprehension. This has been challenging for him because he didn’t really enjoy this way of learning. But he’s working on it, so we’re proud of him for putting in the effort to improve.
I appreciate Ethan’s efforts. Please let him know he does not have to do another FSA until grade 7. He has many years ahead of learning more in his own ways. It sounds like he made the best of it and was able to see a bit more value in reading and writing as a way to demonstrate comprehension. Congrats on being done!!
One other thing Ethan has been working on is communicating his feelings/thoughts more clearly. Sometimes, he uses sounds or facial expressions, rather than words, so he’s been practising and getting better at that.
Do you speak with Ethan explicitly about communication? It could be helpful to develop this further by either giving him a list of emotions he can choose and use as he expresses himself or engage him in discussions of non-verbal communication such as eye-contact or facial expressions.
I think it is interesting that there are 6 universal facial expressions which are recognized across cultures.
https://www.paulekman.com/universal-facial-expressions/
https://www.kairos.com/blog/the-universally-recognized-facial-expressions-of-emotion
November 6, 2017
Ethan then got to work writing in his bullet journal. First up was a list of the food he has tried on the trip, and his review of that food. I’m guessing poutine might be one of his favourites.
Wow what an exercise in recollection! Poutine is so delicious.
He then wanted to catalog his markers and pencil crayons by colour. He has mentioned a few times that he’s going to be much more organized when he gets home, so I guess this is an example of that skill in development.
I imagine so. I loved putting my pens in rainbow order. It just makes so much sense when you are using them.
Ethan spent some time playing chess on his Kindle. It’s actually a book about chess, and it gives you chess problems to solve.
Super cool! I wish he could play chess with my other grade 4 learner. Maybe they can online someday.
Ethan loves science centres because there is always something that captivates his attention. It also gives us insight into what he’s passionate about and what he’s good at. For example, we know that he loves building things and experimenting with how things work. Luckily, the Discovery Centre had activities that matched perfectly with Ethan.
When we see him building things, and spending ample time trying different designs, we feel like this is why we wanted to homeschool. If Ethan was in traditional school, there would be little to no time for him to create. Little if any time and very limited resources and space to do so. He is such a natural builder and designer, it is such a gift to give him so many opportunities to do so.
Anyway, the Discovery Centre was a big hit, including the alternative energy exhibits. Ethan talked about how we should install a wind turbine on Juju Jr. to help produce energy to charge his auxiliary battery. Awesome idea! Such an awesome idea! Why don’t all cars have them? There is so much wind when one drives. Brilliant, so obvious, Ethan has such an innovative mind.
I guess many other people have debated and explored this idea as well:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/add-a-wind-turbine-to-a-car.180442/
Ethan had been talking about making an app or a game, so we asked him to draw out how the app would work. If he can get the basic premise of the game down, we can have the app made.
Ethan then worked on creating badges as a way to motivate himself to do things.
I love this! Where did he get this idea for badges? I just found my mothers girlscout sash with all of her badges on it. Maybe he is also gonig to earn badges when he masters or completes something?
Here are the badges the Boy Scouts use, but he could easily just continue to create his own. I doubt there is a bidge for creating your own video or gif 🙂
https://www.scouting.org/meritbadges.aspx
We had to check out the Halifax Citadel. This was a cool place and we learned about the massive Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917 that killed nearly 2,000 people and injured 9,000.
At the Discovery Centre again, Ethan loved the hands on experiments, especially when he was making parachutes to test in the wind tunnel. Ryan from the centre from awesome in helping Ethan and also just letting Ethan do things, instead of taking over.
Does Ethan know much about hang gliding, parachuting (base jumping) and paragliding? Fun ways the humans use all sorts of parachutes and wind to fly.
After dinner, Ethan worked on more math problems and created a word puzzle where you need to answer the math problem in order to figure out the word. Fun integration of math and language arts.
November 9, 2017 – In the USA
Ethan was working on a new origami design called the double ice cream cone and wanted to make a video about it. He also made a video about folding a standing up penguin.
Ethan figured out how to convert MPH to KPH
One thing that I was worried about was how fast we were actually going. Juju Jr. only shows speed in kph, so I asked Ethan to make me a cheat sheet. He did that, but then he figured out that if you use the 5 times table and the 8 times table, you can easily figure out the conversion.
So for example, if the speed limit is 50mph, that’s 5 x 10, which you then multiply the 10 by 8 and you get 80kph. Brilliantly simple and were quite impressed that Ethan figured this out and was able to teach it to me.
This is so great!! I shared it with my mom and friends. Was he able to see this relationship based on the cheat sheet?
I use a similar sort of conversion when converting between celcius and farenheit:
Double temperature celcious and add 30
So 10 degrees C= 2x 10 + 30= 50 degrees F
Or -20 degrees C= 2x-10 =30= 10 degrees F
This works pretty well and you can just do the reverse when going from F to C
November 10, 2017 – Boston
The Museum of Science was a wonderful experience for Ethan because it provided a hands on educational experience, rather than simply being an entertainment centre for kids.
Ethan loved the math exhibits and learned how waves are formed, along with learning about many other new things, such as nanotechnology.
There was even an exhibit about mental health, which was nice to see and for Ethan to learn something about this important topic.
And the optical illusions were also a big hit with Ethan, of course.
I thought Ethan would love this trick for doing multiplication trick. There are explanations online of how and why it works too.
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/Maths2_Multiplication.html
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