A bit later than usual getting this out, but here’s a recap of Ethan’s week of unschooling from March 4 to March 10, 2018. The more we unschool, the more comfortable we seem to be getting. However, there is always that slight nagging feeling that we should be doing more, or somehow introducing more things to Ethan to pique his curiosity.
For example, Ethan has been really into coding lately; so much so that he hasn’t been paying attention to other things that he previously enjoyed. We worry that he’s trying to quickly get through his other topics/interests so that he can spend more time coding.
So what Dong Eun told him was that he could do the coding first and then do the other things on his list. We’ve also started setting a time limit so that he learns to manage his time better and not leave any room for his other tasks.
Anyway, here’s Ethan’s week of unschooling…
March 4
Asked what a millisecond is. We looked it up online and read a list of how fast some things are. For example, a housefly’s wingbeat is 3 milliseconds and C4 will detonate 3.4 milliseconds after initiation. Ethan said that a fly could potentially get away before the explosion occurred.
Read Anne of Green Gables. He’s interested because Dong Eun is listening to the audiobook and reading it, as well.
Showed me the size difference between different types of stars.
Worked on a new flip book animation.
Did some math practice. I think this was for squaring 15.
Noticed that his pencil eraser looked like a face if he peeled the eraser back.
We invited Ethan’s grandparents and cousins over for a Western-style brunch of bacon and eggs.
Ethan then spent the day playing with his cousins.
He also tried to teach Cheryl how to play the violin.
Brunch and time hanging out turned into going over to my parents’ house for dinner.
After we got home, Ethan checked out some Python coding projects he wanted to try.
He then wrote out the types of games he wanted to make in Scratch.
The coding books are popular ones for Ethan to borrow nowadays.
March 5
This was Monday and Ethan started the day by doing a bit of coding in Scratch.
For breakfast, Ethan wanted to try out the old waffle maker we got from my mom so he helped mix the waffle batter. We found a recipe online for whole wheat batter so we were eager to try it.
The first batch didn’t turn out so well. Needed more oil on the waffle maker.
Success! And a yummy success, too.
Ethan has been really into space lately. He watched some videos about black holes and how stars are formed. He finds the destructive power and mystery of black holes fascinating and loves to share what he learns.
Ethan also worked on solving some algebraic equations. He’s getting better the more he learns and practices.
Dong Eun wanted her hair trimmed so it was Ethan who helped out.
A trip to the library to hang out and pick up some new books.
He was quite excited about getting this math genius book.
And he borrowed some fun books to read, too, which is just as important as the academic stuff because it’s a good way to spark his imagination and creativity.
March 6
This morning when I was making my coffee I poured out the coffee grounds and this little happy face pattern randomly appeared! Ethan loved it.
Ethan was more interested in his math genius book and learning more about pi.
He then put in some violin practice. He loves playing the violin.
He made some music using Garage Band on the iPad.
He then read up on how to write and illustrate a book.
Drawing emojis.
And drawing 3D shapes that are optical illusions.
Emoji practice.
The emojis turned out to be a book with silly jokes that he wanted to write.
Watch out for the hole!
He loves the 3D drawings.
He had violin and taekwondo class so he took a break from the drawing.
After he got home, he watched some videos on Discovery Education about how the Earth was formed.
Next up…coding.
He also read some more about coding and different games he could make.
Finally, he spent the night playing with his Snap Circuits set.
March 7
It was a beautiful sunny morning and Ethan was excited about spending the day at nature school after a healthy breakfast.
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Ethan asked this today and this led to him asking if a star comes first or a black hole.
He explained the Direct Collapse Theory, which hypothesizes that space dust could collect into a sphere and that the gravity holding the dust together could cause the dust to collapse, become denser and eventually become a black hole. Fascinating!
Before nature school finishes, the kids gather in a circle and listen to a story or do some kind of game.
We had to pick up Kal today and he was coming over to hang out, too.
Working on Snap Circuits and reading comics is a great way to spend the late afternoon.
After Kal went home, Ethan watched some videos about comparing and ordering fractions.
Ethan also worked on a kind of shooting game in Scratch with a witch firing energy balls at other creatures.
He also practiced violin.
He then worked on some ideas for new books using a chart we found in a book about writing reports. He didn’t end up finishing this chart but hopefully, this is the start of consistent writing practice.
Learning how to solve word problems.
March 8
Ethan shared some fun facts and questions from his wasp versus hornet book. We borrowed this series of books so Ethan could practice some critical thinking skills.
He learned about making some cool mini weapons using popsicle sticks.
He then watched some videos about space before heading off to taekwondo practice.
That night, he read through the numbers book he borrowed from the library. He’s borrowed this book before and loves the fun number facts. God’s number, below, is the number of moves you need to solve something, such as the Rubik’s Cube.
God’s Number for the cube is 20, which means you can solve the cube in only 20 moves.
Ethan thought it would be fun to write down some of the big numbers he learned about in the numbers book.
He watched an interesting video talking about how 9.9999999999 (and so on) is actually 10.
Nearing the end of the day, Ethan did a bit of planning for the next day.
March 9
Today, we went on a Gulf of Georgia Cannery tour with other home learner kids. I wasn’t sure how to get there because it was way out in Steveston, so I had Ethan be my navigator and we weren’t going to use Google.
And we made it on time!
It was a beautiful day out and a great time to visit Steveston.
The tour begins!
Some orientation and history about the cannery.
Learning how many canneries there used to be and how there’s only one left.
Watched a kid-friendly short movie about the cannery and the history of the fishing industry.
Learned about the types of fish in the local waters.
How fisherman used to work in wool and cotton while spending an entire week at sea.
Later, when motorized ships were common, they had a lot more amenities.
Oops! Sorry.
We learned about different methods of fishing and their impact on the environment and fish stocks.
Taking in the views of the ships.
The kids learned why we need licenses and limits in order to protect our oceans and fish stocks.
They were allowed to fish as much as they wanted but this depleted the “ocean.” Each kid was handed a licence for a certain type of fish and a set limit. They also learned about “by catch” and how we can protect fish stocks.
Some practice moving fish.
A look at how the fish was prepared and canned.
All the labels they used to use.
After the cannery tour, I brought Ethan to work with me at the law firm. He worked on his coding, trying to do the things in his task list.
Sitting in on our weekly team meeting.
Showing the team the games he made in Scratch.
Everyone is so great with him. I’m sure he loves the attention.
After work, we needed some groceries for brunch the next day so we did some shopping at Costco. Enjoyed some free food, too!
At home, Ethan continued working on a new game in Scratch.
He then made an animated presentation about the life cycle of a star.
He then watched some math videos about fractions.
He shifted gears and talked about stars. He drew this diagram to help us understand what he was telling us.
This was a video comparing the size of planets and stars in the universe.
He wrote a story about the life cycle of a star.
And he practiced ordering fractions.
Fractions are still a bit challenging so he did some review with Dong Eun and looked at some of the basics about fractions.
March 10
Today was a family waffle brunch and Ethan’s cousins were coming over.
But first, some reading about the solar system.
He made some math flash cards to help him practice.
Waffle time!
Ethan’s job was to take each person’s order while Dong Eun and I cooked.
My cousin’s wife loved the kimchi we gave her last time, so we spent the afternoon making kimchi. Dong Eun taught her how and we ended up having dinner together, as well. Ethan spent the day mostly playing with Cheryl.
After everyone went home, Ethan did some 3D drawing on his laptop with a new drawing app we found.
He then printed out some worksheets to practice multiplying fractions.
And that was our week! I think the big takeaway was just how much learning Ethan does throughout the day. This aspect is the greatest thing about unschooling and we’re so grateful we can share this journey with Ethan.
A bit later than usual getting this out, but here’s a recap of Ethan’s week of unschooling from March 4 to March 10, 2018. The more we unschool, the more comfortable we seem to be getting. However, there is always that slight nagging feeling that we should be doing more, or somehow introducing more things to Ethan to pique his curiosity.
I really think Ethan’s curiosity is piqued in many arenas. There are a few approaches you can try to “do more” but I really think Ethan is proving to be an excellent guide at this point. You can do a combination of diving deeper into topics like he has in space as the research possibilities are endless and explore space through various lenses such as language arts, as he wrote the story, watching films, math, humanities, science, creativity…etc. Another thought is to introduce something totally new once in a while that he may have not thought of such as an animal or creature study, new food from anther culture, visiting a new place (like the cannery). I do think Ethan has access to such a wide variety of experiences so please rest assured that you by all means are doing more than enough.
For example, Ethan has been really into coding lately; so much so that he hasn’t been paying attention to other things that he previously enjoyed. We worry that he’s trying to quickly get through his other topics/interests so that he can spend more time coding.
So what Dong Eun told him was that he could do the coding first and then do the other things on his list. We’ve also started setting a time limit so that he learns to manage his time better and not leave any room for his other tasks.
I really appreciate your observations of Ethan’s coding and how you are supporting him to manage his time and still do a variety of things. I know how consuming computer time can be so enforcing time limits and breaks is so supportive especially since he is probably too young to do it completely on his own.
Ethan did all sorts of math this week, I pulled out a few highlights.
Did some math practice. I think this was for squaring 15.
Asked what a millisecond is. We looked it up online and read a list of how fast some things are. For example, a housefly’s wingbeat is 3 milliseconds and C4 will detonate 3.4 milliseconds after initiation. Ethan said that a fly could potentially get away before the explosion occurred.
This is just brilliant, i love seeing his reasoning and calculations in this statement!
Ethan also worked on solving some algebraic equations. He’s getting better the more he learns and practices.
Space Studies
Ethan has been really into space lately. He watched some videos about black holes and how stars are formed. He finds the destructive power and mystery of black holes fascinating and loves to share what he learns.
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Ethan asked this today and this led to him asking if a star comes first or a black hole.
He explained the Direct Collapse Theory, which hypothesizes that space dust could collect into a sphere and that the gravity holding the dust together could cause the dust to collapse, become denser and eventually become a black hole. Fascinating!
I have to admit, I am even lost here. Ethan has a much better understanding of black holes and stars. He is making incredible hypotheses here, wow. I need to do some research! Maybe I can have a phone conversation with Ethan sometime as a direct contact and he can explain it to me directly!
He wrote a story about the life cycle of a star. This is an awesome example of him synthesizing his understanding and applying what he knows in a creative way. High level thinking at its best!
Working on Snap Circuits and reading comics is a great way to spend the late afternoon.
Here are 101 creative ways Ethan can show what he knows be it math, space, coding, novel studies. These are just ideas to show how many ways he can explore and express what he knows in creative formats. He already does so many of them…
The emojis turned out to be a book with silly jokes that he wanted to write.
I love how Ethan follows his interests as the evolve into other things. This example of beginning to draw emoji’s and then turn them into a book with silly jokes is a perfect example. His imagination is alive and thiving right now. I thought I might share a few ideas for writing from my other grade 4 homeschooler.
I think number 4 would be interesting to do with Ethan to see if he can identify errors and edit other’s writing of course it could be on any topic, just like how he wrote a story about how a star is formed:
She did a few different writing activities this week:
1) She wrote a descriptive, imaginative story all about a science experiment gone wrong.
2) After looking through our magnificent Smithsonian Picturepedia, and learning some new info about Anarctica, she wrote a research log of her imaginary trip to Antarctica, in search of the elusive “wooly mammoth bear”. Very funny.
3) I cut 18 cartoons out of the New Yorker magazine (without the captions), and she wrote funny captions for each. The goal was to make Peter laugh when he got home and read them. I told her that she could have a chocolate chip for every cartoon that got a laugh from her dad. She tallied up his laughs and claimed her prize. (She did this activity after Monday’s Photojournalart class, which had a guest cartoonist from the Haida Gwaii Observer. He taught the kids some tricks of the trade, and showed them folders of his funniest cartoons for inspiration, then they all wrote their own. She did a few funny ones, learning the art of cartoon-drawing too.)
4) I’ve been picking incorrectly spelled words out of her writing, and making spelling lists, which she does twice a week, copying the words out in a sentence, in cursive.
5) She wrote a song about horses (any topic of interest of course works).
I thought Ethan might enjoy seeing my perspective of flying in a helicopter on a bluebird day. It is truly an incredible experience to float over the mountain passes all glistening with snow. I had a beautiful and fun filled week up there. Thank you for your patience in my responses.
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