It’s been a busy week so I’m going to recap what happened from December 18-23 to keep everything in one place. It was busy because we got ready for Christmas and because Ethan found quite a few things to work on.
December 18
We have a membership with NatureKids BC because we wanted to join their monthly activities. The membership includes a subscription to Nature Wild magazine, which is kind of like National Geographic for kids.
Ethan quite enjoyed the magazine and was quite eager to share what he was reading. For example, he told me that water that’s been boiled has no oxygen. That means you can’t put fish into cold water that was previously boiled because there’s no oxygen.
He also read that if you sleep 9 hours a night, that would equal 3,285 hours a year. I asked Ethan how many days that equalled and he learned that in these situations you need to use division. But since there was a clue, he knew the answer had to be 365 days.
Morning Workbooks
Ethan is trying to complete his workbooks early in the morning to get the done and over with for the day. It seems to be working, as he’s getting the work done consistently.
Each section of the English workbook contains a grammar lesson, so we’ve been going these sections to help Ethan understand the grammar point. Grammar is one of those things you have to constantly work on to remember, so hopefully, we can find other ways to practice.
Healthy eating habits
One thing we like to do is ensure that we eat healthy and I think being able to monitor what Ethan eats is another benefit of homeschooling.
After breakfast, Ethan worked on some projects in the Mindbenders book he got from the library. The projects are puzzles that require some spatial thinking, so this turned out to be a big hit with Ethan.
He than decided to build this structure using wooden domino pieces.
A haircut for mom
Next, he gave Dong Eun a trim after they watched some YouTube videos about cutting hair.
He loves the wooden marble roller coaster set he got and spends time almost every day working on new designs.
For lunch, it was bibimbap style rice with homemade vegan kimchi, and some Korean style miso soup.
Tetrominos and Pentominos
Ethan learned about tetrominos and pentominos from the Korean math book he borrowed and decided to create his own samples of these shapes.
Outdoor time
Dong Eun had a dentist appointment, so Ethan and her walked to the dentist, then Ethan played at the playground for 30 minutes.
Algodoo
After playing outside, Ethan worked on Algodoo on the computer for 30 minutes. He loves Algodoo but we try to limit screen time.
French CD fail
We borrowed a CD from the library to learn French but Ethan didn’t like the lesson style. We’ll try to find something else to practice a second language with.
English workbook with Dad
After dinner, Ethan did some work in his English workbook. Doing the grammar section together has definitely helped him feel more comfortable practicing.
Flowers for Grandfather
Ethan’s paternal grandfather passed away well before Ethan was born and the 19th would be the anniversary of his passing. Koreans traditionally have a memorial ceremony, but we do something simpler. So we purchased some white flowers and had Ethan help with preparing them to go in the vase.
Ethan then practiced making sentences using some flash cards we’ve had for several years. Adjectives, verbs and nouns are things he’s learning more about in the English workbook.
And that wrapped up December 18th.
December 19th: Snow & DIY Christmas Cards
It snowed today, so took advantage of it and spent a couple hours playing outside. And since we needed some Christmas cards, Ethan made some custom cards that we will be giving to family this year. We always encourage him to make something, rather than buy and he really enjoys being able to create in this way. The following photos are the projects and activities he did on this day.
DCIM100GOPROG0025526.
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December 20th: Area, Volume and Dimensions
Ethan practiced area, volume and dimensions using the Korean math book. This has also been a great way for him to brush up on his Korean. He also made some more Christmas cards and worked on his math and English workbooks. In the evening, he watched another of the Harry Potter movies.
Dong Eun also talked with him about good manners, which seem to be helping. She’s finding that talking to him about different topics like this a little bit each day is having a positive effect.
Ethan tried an app to learn French and it turned out to be quite effective and engaging. We’re undecided about letting him use the app so we’re going to see if there are other ways for him to practice languages.
Here are photos from the day.
December 21st: Science World
We made plans to go to Science World with another homeschooler that Ethan is friends with. The other boy, Kenson, is two years younger than Ethan and they play quite well together. It’s a little like having a little brother for Ethan. When we go out, we usually try to pack some food to show Ethan that it’s easy to bring our own food and not have to spend money when we don’t really need to.
December 22nd: Quiet Day
Ethan spent most of today chilling out.
December 23rd: DIY Christmas Tree
We needed a tree for Christmas so Ethan found some ideas for DIY trees and we all worked together to make a tree. Ethan arranged and stuck all the pieces onto the wall and also made the star. He also made some paper mistletoe and a sign for people to stand under it. We wanted a Merry Christmas sign so Ethan made one with the letters jumbled up for fun. We then made some snowflakes to put near the tree.
And that was the week! Hope you had a Merry Christmas.
Nobody said homeschooling would be easy, especially since we’re taking more of an unschooling approach with Ethan. So, every day is a journey for us and a constant evaluation of what we are doing. Of course, we want to minimize the impact on Ethan and are aware of what his interests are and how he wants to approach learning.
I’m sure everything will work out, especially because we’re getting back into the swing of things after the road trip. Ethan, in particular, has needed more time to get back into his pre-trip study habits and routines. And we’re also working on being more creative in how we help Ethan learn.
I am glad to hear you are feeling more confident and back in a routine now that you are home. Yes homeschooling and teaching in general is such a journey. It is an artform where one experiments, makes mistakes, transforms them, tries new techniques and experiences the gamut of emotions. It sounds like the whole family is taking an active part in co-creating this experience together. You are all very caring, creative and thoughtful individuals so I too am confident that Ethan will continue to develop and learn in the ways he needs and is ready to.
Math at Dim Sum
Here was an example of where we found a way to have Ethan practice his math in an everyday situation: Having dim sum. Before the bill arrived, we asked Ethan if he could calculate what the bill would be.
He found this pretty fun. He started by looking up the prices on the menu, then adding up how many of each dish we had. The restaurant charges for tea by the number of people at the table, so he had to figure that out and add it to the total. He then worked out how much the total would be before tax and we even worked on calculating what the total including tax would be. It was a bit more challenging because this particular restaurant gives a discount if you pay your bill before 11am. Anyway, it was a fun exercise that Ethan really seemed to enjoy.
Fantastic! And Ethan enjoyed it. He could see how math is used in everyday life and how it is important to not rush and catch all the details in order to get the right amount. Did you introduce the concept of tipping as well?
This is a great opportunity to introduce percentages too.
Dong Eun suggested that we should prepare a bit by practicing how to calculate taxes and tips before our next time eating out. Definitely a good idea. Yes! I like to use the trick of figuring out what 10% is of the bill by simply moving the decimal point over
10% of $30.00= $3.00
Then you can either leave a 20 % tip by doubling it = $6.00
Or divide by 2 to get 5%= $1.50
Sp 10% plus 5%= 15%= a tip of $4.50
Eye Exam
Ethan has complained off and on about not being able to see things far away. We weren’t sure how his eyesight really was, but this past week, we noticed that he was squinting while watching Harry Potter on the computer that was about 6 feet away. So, we set up an eye exam and found out that he definitely needs glasses for seeing distance.
He hasn’t had any issues with viewing things up close so we’re not sure if we should have him wear glasses all the time. From what I’ve read, it seems that he should wear them all the time but if the majority of the time he doesn’t need glasses, should he still be wearing them? More research is needed.
I am not one to know that. I know my partner is also nearsighted and can’t see far. He uses his glasses for driving and when he is in crowds or reading a board. I am sure more research will help you decide what is best for Ethan. How does he feel about having his new glasses? And taking care of them? Keeping track of them?
DIY Math Games & Songs
As I’ve talked about previously, Ethan doesn’t really like the workbooks but has been getting better about practicing with them.
Today, he worked on the two to nine times tables. But what was great was that he wrote down the times tables in his notebook to help with memorizing them. (There’s a part about polite words that I’ll explain later.)
I am like that I find writing down things really helps me memorize them. Has he considered making his own flashcards for the times tables?
Since Ethan loves making things and has made board games in the past, he decided to make his own math board game. He drew the board and came up with questions for the cards in the game.
The object is to simply get from one end of the board to the other before the other players. But the cool thing was that Ethan made questions about probability, along with the standard math operations, and even added a time limit for answering each question to make it more challenging.
Probability came up because he was watching a video about calculating the probability of rolling dice and getting certain numbers. He was quite engaged with what was being taught in the video and was able to use his knowledge to help make the math board game.
He is so talented at applying the concepts he is learning in engaging and fun ways which others can enjoy! I encourage you to have him make new math games as he learns new math concepts. Maybe he could make one about restaurants and money?
Minding his manners
Today, Ethan got a call from his best friend Eldon. They hadn’t spoken since a phone call during our trip when we were in Manhattan (I think), so Ethan was pretty excited to chat. But we noticed some behaviour in terms of his conversation and phone etiquette that we want him to work on.
We feel that it’s important to learn how to be polite and courteous when speaking on the phone, even though it was with another kid. That type of behaviour can carry over to other situations and we thought that Ethan should be mindful of how he speaks to others.
So he made some notes about polite words he can learn to use more often. That’s the stuff on the right side of the page, next to the times tables.
We also looked for some stories with characters who display good manners, so Ethan can learn in a slightly indirect way. We found some fun-looking books on manners for kids that we hope will be helpful.
Also, Dong Eun was saying that it would be good to have Ethan spend time with kids who are well-mannered because it makes a difference who you hang out with.
Absolutely! It can be helpful to do role plays as well. You can “pretend” to call Ethan and he can practice some of his developing polite phone etiquette. I have had students answer pretend calls from friends, the vet, family and have them take messages and interact appropriately on the phone.
Working the English workbook
We’re finding that Ethan is more willing to practice English reading and writing if we sit with him and give him some coaching and encouragement. In particular, it’s helpful if I’m there for the reading comprehension and grammar.
Yes he might need your one on one support for a while in this area. It is a good opportunity for you to ask extension questions, check for understanding and generally just support his process.
Today, Ethan needed some help with understanding adjectives and adverbs. He eventually figured them out, but I was a bit too eager to have him practice more. I asked him to rewrite the sentences from the exercises he just completed with different adjectives and adverbs to demonstrate his knowledge. He wasn’t happy about that and I thought he was whining and complaining.
Have you ever done ad libs? They are a funny way to practice parts of speech. He might enjoy them. Basically you ask for the parts of speech (noun, adverb, verb etc) and he does not know the context in which they are placed so it can make for very entertaining outcomes. Here are a few examples, but there are so many you can print off of the web. There might even be some programs where you could do them directly into an app or program.
http://www.madtakes.com/index.php?page=2
http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/madlibs/2/
http://www.madlibs.com/content/uploads/2016/04/VacationFun_ML_2009_pg15.pdf
What I didn’t realize was how much other work he had already done and that he just wanted to stop after this grammar section. It was a lesson for both of us.
For me, it was perhaps digging a little deeper to learn where the resistance is coming from. For Ethan, it was probably learning to communicate more clearly, rather than whining about not wanting to do something.
Anyway, we’re quite proud of him for working hard through the workbooks, even though they are his least favourite activity. He seems to be challenging himself and working through things he does not always enjoy.
Forgotten art
Ethan has always enjoyed drawing and painting, even as a baby and toddler. We found some artwork he did recently but forgot to include in the blog, so here are some things he has done.
The one with the three circles was the latest, I believe, and was an experiment in combining colours.
The next three are related to him and Dong Eun. Being a homeschooler has given us more opportunity to connect with Ethan, and this is especially true when it comes to Ethan’s relationship with Dong Eun.
And finally, he drew a layout of our condo. Ethan marked the areas that Dong Eun cleans and the one area where she shouldn’t have to: Ethan’s room.
This made me smile! Great 2D mapping skills developing here and seeing things from a “bird’s eye view”
It’s been a busy week so I’m going to recap what happened from December 18-23 to keep everything in one place. It was busy because we got ready for Christmas and because Ethan found quite a few things to work on.
December 18
We have a membership with NatureKids BC because we wanted to join their monthly activities. The membership includes a subscription to Nature Wild magazine, which is kind of like National Geographic for kids.
Ethan quite enjoyed the magazine and was quite eager to share what he was reading. For example, he told me that water that’s been boiled has no oxygen. That means you can’t put fish into cold water that was previously boiled because there’s no oxygen.
He also read that if you sleep 9 hours a night, that would equal 3,285 hours a year. I asked Ethan how many days that equalled and he learned that in these situations you need to use division. But since there was a clue, he knew the answer had to be 365 days.
Are there ways you could possibly develop writing activities from the reading in NatureKids?
Morning Workbooks
Ethan is trying to complete his workbooks early in the morning to get the done and over with for the day. It seems to be working, as he’s getting the work done consistently.
Each section of the English workbook contains a grammar lesson, so we’ve been going these sections to help Ethan understand the grammar point. Grammar is one of those things you have to constantly work on to remember, so hopefully, we can find other ways to practice. Yes try to find examples of the different grammar concepts in magazines or books you are reading, this will help reinforce and show how it can be applied or found in everyday text.
Healthy eating habits
One thing we like to do is ensure that we eat healthy and I think being able to monitor what Ethan eats is another benefit of homeschooling.
After breakfast, Ethan worked on some projects in the Mindbenders book he got from the library. The projects are puzzles that require some spatial thinking, so this turned out to be a big hit with Ethan.
A haircut for mom
Next, he gave Dong Eun a trim after they watched some YouTube videos about cutting hair.
She is very trusting to let him cut her hair. Youtube really does have videos on everything!
He loves the wooden marble roller coaster set he got and spends time almost every day working on new designs.
Tetrominos and Pentominos
Ethan learned about tetrominos and pentominos from the Korean math book he borrowed and decided to create his own samples of these shapes. These are awesome. I really like this Korean math book! A great supplementary resource for sure.
Outdoor time
Dong Eun had a dentist appointment, so Ethan and her walked to the dentist, then Ethan played at the playground for 30 minutes.
Algodoo
After playing outside, Ethan worked on Algodoo on the computer for 30 minutes. He loves Algodoo but we try to limit screen time.
French CD fail
We borrowed a CD from the library to learn French but Ethan didn’t like the lesson style. We’ll try to find something else to practice a second language with. As they say here in Canada, “fair enough”
English workbook with Dad
After dinner, Ethan did some work in his English workbook. Doing the grammar section together has definitely helped him feel more comfortable practicing. Yes that one on one support probably makes it feel less intimidating.
Flowers for Grandfather
Ethan’s paternal grandfather passed away well before Ethan was born and the 19th would be the anniversary of his passing. Koreans traditionally have a memorial ceremony, but we do something simpler. So we purchased some white flowers and had Ethan help with preparing them to go in the vase.
Ethan then practiced making sentences using some flash cards we’ve had for several years. Adjectives, verbs and nouns are things he’s learning more about in the English workbook.
And that wrapped up December 18th.
December 19th: Snow & DIY Christmas Cards
It snowed today, so took advantage of it and spent a couple hours playing outside. And since we needed some Christmas cards, Ethan made some custom cards that we will be giving to family this year. We always encourage him to make something, rather than buy and he really enjoys being able to create in this way. The following photos are the projects and activities he did on this day.
December 20th: Area, Volume and Dimensions
Ethan practiced area, volume and dimensions using the Korean math book. This has also been a great way for him to brush up on his Korean. He also made some more Christmas cards and worked on his math and English workbooks. In the evening, he watched another of the Harry Potter movies.
Dong Eun also talked with him about good manners, which seem to be helping. She’s finding that talking to him about different topics like this a little bit each day is having a positive effect.
Ethan tried an app to learn French and it turned out to be quite effective and engaging. We’re undecided about letting him use the app so we’re going to see if there are other ways for him to practice languages. Hmm could it be one of the ways maybe and find one or two not on the screen?
Here are photos from the day.
December 21st: Science World
We made plans to go to Science World with another homeschooler that Ethan is friends with. The other boy, Kenson, is two years younger than Ethan and they play quite well together. It’s a little like having a little brother for Ethan. When we go out, we usually try to pack some food to show Ethan that it’s easy to bring our own food and not have to spend money when we don’t really need to.
December 23rd: DIY Christmas Tree
We needed a tree for Christmas so Ethan found some ideas for DIY trees and we all worked together to make a tree. Ethan arranged and stuck all the pieces onto the wall and also made the star. He also made some paper mistletoe and a sign for people to stand under it. We wanted a Merry Christmas sign so Ethan made one with the letters jumbled up for fun. We then made some snowflakes to put near the tree.
He is so creative and innovative. I need to think of alternative Christmas trees for next year as I did not have one at all and something would have been nice.
Nobody said homeschooling would be easy, especially since we’re taking more of an unschooling approach with Ethan. So, every day is a journey for us and a constant evaluation of what we are doing. Of course, we want to minimize the impact on Ethan and are aware of what his interests are and how he wants to approach learning.
I’m sure everything will work out, especially because we’re getting back into the swing of things after the road trip. Ethan, in particular, has needed more time to get back into his pre-trip study habits and routines. And we’re also working on being more creative in how we help Ethan learn.
Math at Dim Sum
Here was an example of where we found a way to have Ethan practice his math in an everyday situation: Having dim sum. Before the bill arrived, we asked Ethan if he could calculate what the bill would be.
He found this pretty fun. He started by looking up the prices on the menu, then adding up how many of each dish we had. The restaurant charges for tea by the number of people at the table, so he had to figure that out and add it to the total. He then worked out how much the total would be before tax and we even worked on calculating what the total including tax would be. It was a bit more challenging because this particular restaurant gives a discount if you pay your bill before 11am. Anyway, it was a fun exercise that Ethan really seemed to enjoy.
Dong Eun suggested that we should prepare a bit by practicing how to calculate taxes and tips before our next time eating out. Definitely a good idea.
Eye Exam
Ethan has complained off and on about not being able to see things far away. We weren’t sure how his eyesight really was, but this past week, we noticed that he was squinting while watching Harry Potter on the computer that was about 6 feet away. So, we set up an eye exam and found out that he definitely needs glasses for seeing distance.
He hasn’t had any issues with viewing things up close so we’re not sure if we should have him wear glasses all the time. From what I’ve read, it seems that he should wear them all the time but if the majority of the time he doesn’t need glasses, should he still be wearing them? More research is needed.
DIY Math Games & Songs
As I’ve talked about previously, Ethan doesn’t really like the workbooks but has been getting better about practicing with them.
Today, he worked on the two to nine times tables. But what was great was that he wrote down the times tables in his notebook to help with memorizing them. (There’s a part about polite words that I’ll explain later.)
Since Ethan loves making things and has made board games in the past, he decided to make his own math board game. He drew the board and came up with questions for the cards in the game.
The object is to simply get from one end of the board to the other before the other players. But the cool thing was that Ethan made questions about probability, along with the standard math operations, and even added a time limit for answering each question to make it more challenging.
Probability came up because he was watching a video about calculating the probability of rolling dice and getting certain numbers. He was quite engaged with what was being taught in the video and was able to use his knowledge to help make the math board game.
Minding his manners
Today, Ethan got a call from his best friend Eldon. They hadn’t spoken since a phone call during our trip when we were in Manhattan (I think), so Ethan was pretty excited to chat. But we noticed some behaviour in terms of his conversation and phone etiquette that we want him to work on.
We feel that it’s important to learn how to be polite and courteous when speaking on the phone, even though it was with another kid. That type of behaviour can carry over to other situations and we thought that Ethan should be mindful of how he speaks to others.
So he made some notes about polite words he can learn to use more often. That’s the stuff on the right side of the page, next to the times tables.
We also looked for some stories with characters who display good manners, so Ethan can learn in a slightly indirect way. We found some fun-looking books on manners for kids that we hope will be helpful.
Also, Dong Eun was saying that it would be good to have Ethan spend time with kids who are well-mannered because it makes a difference who you hang out with.
Working the English workbook
We’re finding that Ethan is more willing to practice English reading and writing if we sit with him and give him some coaching and encouragement. In particular, it’s helpful if I’m there for the reading comprehension and grammar.
Today, Ethan needed some help with understanding adjectives and adverbs. He eventually figured them out, but I was a bit too eager to have him practice more. I asked him to rewrite the sentences from the exercises he just completed with different adjectives and adverbs to demonstrate his knowledge. He wasn’t happy about that and I thought he was whining and complaining.
What I didn’t realize was how much other work he had already done and that he just wanted to stop after this grammar section. It was a lesson for both of us.
For me, it was perhaps digging a little deeper to learn where the resistance is coming from. For Ethan, it was probably learning to communicate more clearly, rather than whining about not wanting to do something.
Anyway, we’re quite proud of him for working hard through the workbooks, even though they are his least favourite activity.
Forgotten art
Ethan has always enjoyed drawing and painting, even as a baby and toddler. We found some artwork he did recently but forgot to include in the blog, so here are some things he has done.
The one with the three circles was the latest, I believe, and was an experiment in combining colours.
The next three are related to him and Dong Eun. Being a homeschooler has given us more opportunity to connect with Ethan, and this is especially true when it comes to Ethan’s relationship with Dong Eun.
And finally, he drew a layout of our condo. Ethan marked the areas that Dong Eun cleans and the one area where she shouldn’t have to: Ethan’s room.
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