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.

This first one was the latest, I believe, and was an experiment in combining colours.

These 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, this is 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.

The post Home Learning Journal December 17, 2017 – Finding Our Way appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.