No chance of picturesque #vanlife Instagram shots. That meant I had to sleep reclined in the front seat, but it was totally fine.

Morning

I got up early this morning to work on this blog and get the observations for learning ready for Ethan’s Learning Consultant (LC), Natasha. Natasha reviews what we have observed over the course of a week and provides feedback on what we’ve done.

We find that because we’re with Ethan all day, every day, we have a good sense of what his needs are; however, it’s always good to have a third party looking out for Ethan.

Today, we stayed the entire day in Port Aux Basques, NL, waiting for the ferry. Ethan finished reading the Harry Potter series, so we’re now looking for other books for him to read. I downloaded The Swiss Family Robinson for Ethan, but so far, he hasn’t been too interested. Not sure if it’s at the right age level for him.

But we did find some math books on Kindle Unlimited that Ethan enjoyed. The books were about easy ways to remember times tables. He likes any kind of hacks or tricks to help with learning.

Snack time!

Dong Eun came in with a nice surprise… peanut butter and bananas rolled up in a pita. This was like the chapati snack we used to have in Mysore, India. I’m still amazed at what she comes up with for food each day.

Afternoon

We found out that the ferry would be boarding this evening, so we wanted to pick up some groceries for dinner and breakfast. Every grocery store in a new place is fun to visit. I felt this way even when living in Korea.

After grocery shopping, we went to the local library. But first, we wanted to try the locally made tea buns. We don’t usually like anything with artificial flavours, but since there wasn’t really anything else too bad, we gave these a try. And wow, were we ever glad we did because these things were delicious.

They were a bit like a scone, but more moist and less crumbly. They also tasted great on their own.

At the library, I got some work done while Ethan spent the afternoon reading.

After the library closed, we decided to stay in the parking lot and wait until it was time to board the ferry.

Battery Needs Charging

I noticed that Juju Jr.’s auxiliary battery level was already at 11.8v. That meant the level could dip low enough by the time we get to North Sydney, NS, that the fridge would turn off. It happened once before and we were lucky we got the fridge to start up again. Our fridge is a little finicky, in that it sometimes won’t get cold if you turn it off.

So I needed to find a solution and the best would be to plug in and recharge. But where were we going to find a plug outside?

Luckily, the building adjacent to the library, and that shared a parking lot with the library, had a plug on the side of the building. So, we plugged in and got the battery pretty much topped off, which is great. I’ll have to remember to find a plug at least once a week for a maintenance charge to keep Juju Jr.’s battery happy and healthy.

I knew that owning a VW Westfalia and driving it cross country wouldn’t be easy, but Juju Jr. has been awesome. We just need to pay attention to his needs to ensure he’ll continue being reliable and a joy to live with.

Evening

Dong Eun made beef stew with couscous for dinner, and Ethan wanted to know what couscous was. We found out it’s a form of crushed durum wheat semolina and is related to pasta. We also discovered that it’s not as healthy as people think, since it’s a form of refined wheat. Whole wheat couscous, however, is healthy.

Whatever the case may be, the stew was delicious.

Korean & English Practise

This evening, Ethan wrote in Korean to his Auntie Dayoung. He hasn’t written in Korean for some time, so it was a little more challenging. We feel that maintaining his Korean language skills would greatly benefit him in the future, so we want to encourage him to practice as often as possible.

He also wrote a postcard to his best friend Eldon.

Ethan also helped with calculating our expenditures for the past month. He helped organize the receipts by date, then helped with adding the amounts. This is all stuff that counts as part of his homeschooling, as he’s doing math, reading and writing. It’s not the “traditional” way other kids would do it in school, but it’s been a great experience.

Getting VERY cold

As I was sitting writing this post tonight, we noticed some small snowflakes (yikes!). Yes, it’s getting cold here in Newfoundland and is likely a sign of things to come as we go back to Nova Scotia, and eventually go to the US.

Time to get ready for the 7 hour ferry ride. Let’s hope it’s a smooth ride and we can all get some rest on board.

Ethan’s ingenuity shines…I loved his ghost emoji costume. So cute and easy given the supplies and time he had. His videos are great! I especially enjoyed the command tutorial for mac users. He is often thinking of how to share his growing knowledge with others. Having his blog is such a wonderful way for him to express himself and share his experiences. 

I see that Ethan has some personal goals for increasing his followers. Does he follow other children bloggers himself? 

Are there other sites which really inspire his work? 

“However, he does like working on math and asks plenty of questions. For example, he wanted to know why multiplying by zero equals zero.

Dong Eun observed that the questions he’s asking are to help him understand why something exists so that he feels like there is a purpose to what he’s learning, rather than simply memorizing facts or rules.”

Once again Ethan is asking big questions which guide his exploration and understanding. It agree it is much more valuable and engaging to understand and use math in purposeful ways, then just to solve equations. 

He is engaging with the meaning in his learning not just the matter or the rules. He is a deep thinker. 

I love the way you gave Ethan the freedom to explore and feel what eating all the candy he wanted felt like. 

I remember when I was about his age, I ate all the candy I wanted the first night. I remember waking up and even eating it throughout the night. I too felt terrible the next day, my stomach and teeth ached. I actually never forgot the experience and have been wary of overeating sugar ever since. I think those visceral experiences, the ones you can really feel are sometimes the most potent. The child who touches the hot stove and gets burned never forgets. You allow Ethan the freedom to learn for himself. It shows a trust and letting go that is powerful. I guess there are many who agree, let your kids eat all the candy and feel what happens for themselves.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2013/10/halloween_candy_let_your_kids_eat_it.html

How has your search for a new series going for Ethan? I would think that the Swiss Family Robinson would be quite a switch from Harry Potter. I can imagine not quite as mesmerizing and engaging. Have you looked for a series that is more similar to Harry Potter, maybe in a similar genre? Here is another list to check out. 

http://www.readbrightly.com/10-series-to-read-after-harry-potter/

I appreciate how you use Ethan’s questions about the world around him as a natural learning opportunity. For example when he asked about couscous, you helped him research, find the answers and then apply the knowledge to how nutritious of a meal choice it is. This is natural learning or self designing at it finest. I find this is how we learn as adults to. As topics or activities become of interest to us we learn and explore this. Isn’t this what education should be like for our children as well. Not simply dictated by a curriculum, but actually tied in deeply to each child’s interests and passions? 

Thank you for writing about Ethan’s Korean writing. I actually did not realize he could read and write in Korean as well. It is very important to keep practicing these skills to keep it alive and continuing to grow. I wonder what sorts of other opportunities you can create to keep this writing practice happening? Have you considered other penpals for him? 

It sounds like Ethan is adaptable and flexing these muscles so to speak quite a bit on this roadtrip. He also seems to benefit from having a heads up or some warning as to what could be ahead. 

Here is a nice link on national geographic to wind and weathering. I imagine you will see a lot of influence of the weather and erosion especially on the coast:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/weathering-erosion/

Ethan always finds things to play with and have fun, seemingly out of thin air. We want to nurture this quality, as we think it’s part of his creative nature. It’s one of the main reasons why we wanted to homeschool him, and specifically, follow more of an unschooling format to this learning.

This seems to be a rarer and rarer skill in this day in age, when there is so much stimulus and prefabricated games and toys. Such a beautiful quality to nuture in a child. 

The post Road Trip Journal November 4, 2017 – It’s Cold in Newfoundland appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.

Morning

We had a long day of driving ahead of us, so it was all hands on deck. Gros Morne was nearly 4 hours away, and considering that we only drive 90kph, we would need that full 4 hours, plus time for breaks. But first, a breakfast of oatmeal with dates.

Meeting again at Canadian Tire Gas+

On the way, to St. John’s, we stopped for a night in Grand Falls-Windsor and got some water from the nice people at the local Canadian Tire gas station. We needed gas on our way back to the ferry, so we again stopped at the same gas station. We actually wanted to find a station along the highway, but Google was telling us that the nearest station was the Canadian Tire one.

The wife was working on her own today, and we chatted about our time in St. John’s. Her and her husband are such nice people. If you need gas anywhere near Grand Falls-Windsor, make sure to stop by the Canadian Tire gas station across from the Walmart.

She even gave Ethan a bag of candy as a parting gift.

Afternoon

The rest of the day was spent on the road, getting out to Gros Morne. Throughout this long drive, Ethan was very good. It’s not easy for anyone to drive long distances without many breaks, so we’re proud of him for handling the drive like a champ.

The drive was a very windy one, as the weather was shifting between sun, clouds, showers and strong winds. When we finally arrived in Gros Morne, it reminded us of driving up to Whistler along the Sea-to-Sky Highway. It was certainly nice, though.

Another van from BC… via China!

At one of the scenic view points, we noticed a minivan with BC plates. We were more surprised to find out it was an old retired couple from China who had rented the van in BC. They drove up to Fairbanks, Alaska(!), across the Yukon, then all the way out to St. John’s, NL.

They told us they’ve driven over 13,000km and that they did a 32 state trip across the US last year. They also mentioned how they sleep in the van for a few days, then check into a motel for a night. We were so impressed by their stamina, enthusiasm for travel and how nice they were. We’ve gotten an invitation to visit them in China.

We also managed to find another set of the Canada 150 red chairs that Juju Jr. could even get close to.

One final stop at Lobster Cove Lighthouse and we had to head toward Port Aux Basque and the ferry terminal.

Evening

This was probably the most difficult drive, so far, as the wind was quite horrendous. Along the way, the full moon was quite a sight because there is so little light pollution out in the middle of Newfoundland. We enjoyed the somewhat clear skies while they lasted because it soon got very dark.

And we were running low on gas.

The distances between gas stations is rather far. We planned on stopping for the night in Corner Brook at the Walmart, but decided to keep going because we could see on Google Maps that there were a few gas stations along the way. We also thought we could stop at another 24hr Tim Hortons.

We were wrong about the gas stations.

The stations on Google Maps didn’t exist. One had recently closed down, and another was simply a bunch of trees along the highway. Not good. Our last chance for gas was an Irwin station we stopped at on our way from the ferry when we first got to Newfoundland.

Unfortunately, it was CLOSED!

I saw lights on and people still inside so I went and asked if we could buy some gas. We had less than a quarter tank left and I didn’t feel confident that we could make it the 94km to Port Aux Basques and the Tim Hortons there.

Luckily, the manager was kind and let us fuel up. They had just closed a few minutes before we arrived and were finishing their paperwork before heading home. Whew!

We decided to make dinner here before driving the rest of the way. It would be at least 10:30pm before we could get to Tim Hortons, so food was necessary.

No ferry service

I called the ferry company, Marine Atlantic, to ask about reservations for Saturday morning. I was told that due to high winds, there was a possibility the sailing would be canceled. Unfortunately, it was and we had to book a Saturday evening ferry, instead.

But we still needed to make it to Tim Hortons to camp for the night, so it was back on the road.

Fog… A lot of fog

With gas to make the trip to Tim Hortons and full bellies, we were feeling pretty good… until we encountered fog. We were following a semi-truck and letting it lead the way, but soon after, the fog became so thick that I couldn’t see more than 6 or 7 feet in front of the van.

That meant I had to drive about 40kph because it was pitch black and we had been warned many times about moose. Luckily, there weren’t any moose, and after about 20 minutes, the fog cleared and we were back at full speed.

Thankfully, we arrived safely at Tim Hortons and were able to camp for the night. There is still a chance the Saturday night ferry will be cancelled, so we’ll have to see what happens in the morning.

The post Road Trip Journal – Gros Morne National Park & Trying to Leave Newfoundland appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.

Video to come!

Morning

The overnight ferry was tiring for all of us, but especially Dong Eun and Ethan. Ethan fell asleep relatively quickly, but Dong Eun had a hard time getting comfortable. I was pretty ok, as I can usually sleep anywhere, but it still wasn’t a restful night’s sleep. We all agreed that on the way back, we’ll take the daytime ferry.

After getting off the ferry, we still needed to drive. St. John’s was still over 800km away, which would be a two day drive for us. So we had to first get to Grand Falls-Windsor and on the way, stop to have some breakfast. But first, some sights and heart shaped bread.

It was incredibly windy this morning and Juju Jr. was being constantly tossed around by the wind. And after a not so smooth ferry ride, this didn’t help Ethan and Dong Eun feel any better. But Ethan is usually in good spirits, in spite of the circumstances.

We eventually stopped at a gas station with a large parking lot to have some breakfast.

Ethan then did one of his chores, which is sweeping the floor and cleaning the mat.

Ethan also wanted to wrap up his Grade 4 assessment, as he only had the review section to complete. It was more writing, but he has a different perspective on writing after our little breakthrough the other day.

It was time to get moving and do our best to reach Grand Falls-Windsor.

Along the way, we made another pit stop to use the wifi from a local library so I could complete some work. It also gave Ethan time to work on his latest video. He is having a great time teaching French with his animated videos.

Ethan had some leftover apple pie we picked up in North Sydney, so that was a small reward for having completed his assessment.

Afternoon

We got back on the road and stopped occasionally for a break. At most of these pit stops, Dong Eun will prepare something to eat, while Ethan and I get something done. Ethan will do his workbooks and I’ll catch up on this blog or other work.

We’ve been learning to make better use of our time to be productive, since we’re on the go most of the time. It’s a habit that Ethan and I both needed to get better at, so the road trip has been a good learning experience in that way, too.

With a long drive ahead, we decided it would be a good idea to make sure we had enough gas. Most gas stations on this portion of the highway only have 87 octane, while Juju Jr. prefers 91. The stations that had 91 were also quite pricey, so I’m thinking of only using 87 while we’re here. Juju Jr. is ok with 87, as long as we don’t go too fast up hills (which never happens, anyway!).

And gas stations are always a great time for Ethan to help with washing the windows, which he really enjoys.

Dong Eun and Ethan are very good about enjoying the moment and took some time out at the gas station to enjoy the beautiful fall colours. Ethan found a nice looking leaf and put it in Dong Eun’s hair.

A few more stops along the way of what turned out to be a nice, scenic drive. The landscape changed so much along this stretch of the Trans Canada, from windy and barren, to mountainous lush and green, and everything in between. Driving across Canada has been an amazing way to enjoy our beautiful country and connect with each other.

Evening

We finally arrived in Grand Falls-Windsor where we did some grocery shopping and set up for the night. However, we were running low on water so needed to figure out how to refill the fresh water tank. But first, some more work and by Ethan’s request, hot dogs for dinner!

But the water… We heard from Loretta and Dan that they got fresh water from Canadian Tire stores, so we called the one down the street but they said their hoses and taps were shut off now. There was also a Canadian Tire gas station across the street, and as luck would have it, they said it would be ok for us to use their outdoor tap.

It was the owner of the station I talked to and he and his wife turned out to be super nice people. They were quite interested in the van and our trip, and the wife talked about how much she loved visiting BC. We also got some tips about places to eat at in St. John’s, which is always handy. Big thanks to these kind people for helping us out.

Back at the Walmart, Ethan saw that they sold flash cards and wanted to buy some. But instead, we suggested that he could make his own and so, that’s what he did. The store bought cards were nice, but they weren’t as nice as custom ones Ethan could make for what he wanted to practise.

We’ve been quite frugal during the trip, and we were also that way at home, too, but we’re trying to show Ethan that it’s not always necessary to buy something, unless it’s essential.

So that was our first full day in Newfoundland. Tomorrow, we’ll try to get an early start to get to St. John’s.

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.

The post Home Learning Journal October 27, 2017 – Newfoundland & Labrador!! appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.