June 10

Ethan was super-excited that he was going to Playland with Eldon, though it may not exactly look like it from this photo.

He had to fill out an order form for the pizza they were having because they were going to Playland for Eldon’s sister’s birthday party.

While Ethan was gone, Dong Eun prepared a beautiful cake for my mom’s birthday. She made the cake and even made the whipped cream. It was to be garnished with fresh strawberries.

Simon, Eldon’s dad, sent us some pics from Playland.

Proud winner of a poo emoji hat.

When Ethan got back, my family had come over. My sister, brother-in-law, Ethan and I played a bit of tennis before dinner.

Dong Eun prepared a huge feast for us that included ribs and chicken wings. She roasted the ribs in the oven and they turned out perfectly.

Ethan’s couins also came over. These family events are a great way for Ethan to see us all spending time together as a family. I can see how when he grows up, he’ll likely spend time with Cheryl and Cecilia doing what we do now.

The cake turned out awesome.

Ethan won himself a poo emoji hat at Playland that he was quite proud of. He brought his own money to Playland and enjoyed spending it on games and having a good time.

It was a busy day that Ethan finished off by reading “What If?” before going to bed.

June 11

Science to start off the day. This is a book he liked and we decided to buy him his own copy.

One very cool thing about homeschooling is the flexibility when it comes to time. We used to be so rushed in the morning, but now we can flow with the day and with what Ethan is drawn to. It’s nice.

Violin practice with Garage Band. Here he is editing the track he recorded.

Poo emoji working on a Canadian Reader article.

Learning about whether breakfast is an essential meal or not.

We subscribed to Nature Kids and renewed the membership because they send a cool magazine along with ideas for helping to conserve nature.

He completed questions about obesity and nutrition.

Then he did some work with square roots and triangles.

Writing a story about exponents.

Our neighbour Jane asked Ethan to sort some old money she had from different countries. Ethan had to find out which countries the money came from and how much money there was.

June 12

Ethan started today by reading “The Boy Who Loved Math,” a book about Paul Erdös.

Still loving the poo emoji hat… even when practicing violin.

He moved onto some Grade 5 word problems.

He answered questions about an article about the International Space Station from Classroom Ready Science News.

He also read and answered questions about crowds.

Practicing more square roots and also doing word problems about measurements of triangles.

He has been writing a little bit in his journal, too.

Off to violin and taekwondo practice.

Reading about coding in Scratch.

Learning how to improve his study skills.

We’ve really enjoyed reading his writing. He always includes something funny or quirky in his writing, which makes reading it quite entertaining.

We read more of “The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood” before going to bed. He really enjoys this book, even though it is written in old English.

 June 13

A cloudy and rainy morning is a perfect time for a walk along the seawall.

Ethan and Dong Eun picked some flowers while they were out.

Some violin practice again. He practices nearly every day lately.

Doing some pull-ups!

And push-ups!

More violin practice.

Some yoga practice with Dong Eun.

Yoga done, now time for math word problems. Grade 5 level problems.

Reading about how to ace middle school science.

We went out to the bookstore because they were having a closing out sale.

“Thing Explainer” is by the same author as “What If?” so of course, Ethan was fascinated. We didn’t end up buying anything, as most of the books were still cheaper on Amazon.

Sushi for dinner!

Back home and Ethan and Dong Eun having a chat about what he’s learning and thinking about.

June 14

Morning cold drink and a chance to see how ice sticks to your skin when it’s a bit wet.

Working in the morning after breakfast.

Checking his sentences and book summary.

He was drawing graphs after reading about them in the how to ace math book.

After swimming, we hung out at the library where Ethan read Calvin and Hobbes.

Back home and more reading.

Helping Dong Eun make chocolate chip cookies.

For dinner, we went out to the usual Chinese restaurant. This time, there was a cousin visiting from Hong Kong for a day during her layover.

June 15

We found this book at the bookstore and it happened to be a book that Ethan had placed on hold at the library.

Ethan worked on some math word problems after breakfast.

He spent some more time reading “What If?”

and he also read about world history and language arts.

Violin practice using the internet and GarageBand.

Practicing finding the missing angle measurements. Ethan made the problems himself. He drew each shape, labeled them and then solved for the missing angle measurement.

It was hot that day, so he hit the pool.

Today was Ethan’s taekwondo belt test.

Demonstrating punches and patterns.

Enjoying the moment.

Getting set to demonstrate his pattern.

They had to do 50 pushups!

Time for board breaking technique.

Handing over the board to his mom.

Just before getting their belts.

Congratulations! Blue belt acquired!

Having sushi for dinner to celebrate.

Helping to make some bananas for ice cream.

Reading “What If?” and telling us about it.

It was nice out, so we played some tennis.

Dong Eun started making kombucha so here’s Ethan checking out the result.

June 16

My parents, sister and brother-in-law were coming over for brunch. While waiting, Ethan noticed how his orange juice was under the water in his tumbler.

Ethan helped mix the waffle batter.

And we all enjoyed a wonderful waffle brunch. My sister and brother-in-law were leaving later today so we decided to go with them to Richmond and spend time there before they boarded their flight home.

We met at the Richmond outlet mall.

Nice that they had a playground and the mall was an outdoor mall.

Being so close to the airport allowed us to watch planes fly directly overhead as they were landing.

We didn’t intend to buy anything but Ethan ended up with a new t-shirt that he chose that has a cactus and the caption, “Looking Sharp” and he also got a new pair of runners.

Then it was off to another mall to shop at Daiso, the Japanese dollar store. But first, we had some food at the Korean supermarket.

Daiso is huge and Ethan found these oil and water toys to play with.

We also found him a new set of headphones.

We finally made our way to Ikea for dinner and a last bit of shopping. Ethan found Juju sleeping there. We all needed a long sleep after all the shopping we did today.

And that was the week!

The post Unschooling Journal June 10-16, 2018 – Grandma’s Birthday & Taekwondo Belt Test appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.