The last week of May is also the last week of Ethan’s official school year with SelfDesign. Curiously, the upcoming week will be the first time that students will be able to return to regular school here in BC.
The situation hasn’t affected Ethan too much but he did express that he has missed spending time with his friends.
I’m sure this has been the experience of most children but perhaps the impact is greater on students like Ethan who already learn from home and depend on activities and outdoor play times to have social interaction with other kids.
Ethan has been having video calls with a few of his friends and we have had a social distance play date outdoors with another family who we’re good friends with. However, it’s not the same. Fortunately, Ethan seems to understand why things are the way they are because of the coronavirus. And as mentioned, it’s likely easier for him since he’s already a home learner.
Ethan has enjoyed the online classes where they allow questions to be asked in the chat boxes. The other online classes are less engaging for him because of the lack of interaction.
On days when it was nice out, Ethan has gone jogging in the morning and then we’ll play tennis in the afternoon or in the evening before dinner. He’s gotten a lot better at tennis these past few months.
He also likes to bring his skipping rope out to the tennis court and will practice skipping after getting tired of playing tennis. He has a lot of fun skipping rope. His record for consecutive skips is now 65, up from 49. He could barely do 10 mere weeks ago. (UPDATE: Ethan can do up to 71 skips)
In any case, here is what Ethan was up to this past week…
May 24
Ethan has been preparing some breakfast for himself and for us, too. He’s gotten better at cooking scrambled eggs, for example.
May 25
Carl: Ethan used the stop motion app on my phone. He did all the filming. I set up the phone and provided the background, which is a photo reflector.
Here’s the edited Pac-Man stop motion video…
May 26
May 27
May 28
May 29
May 30
Carl: I’ve been reading this book to Ethan before bedtime. He has really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and borrowed the complete Sherlock Holmes collection from the library (it’s one giant book!).
And that wraps up another week of learning for Ethan, as well as our year with SelfDesign. Thank you to Natasha for your support and encouragement and we look forward to reconnecting with you in the new school year.
Another year of self design! Grade 6 complete and the learning and creating continues for you of course.
Well as I imagined it would be your Pac-Man stop animation film is superb!!
I showed it to several friends already. They were impressed with the sound editing and your accuracy to the video game. What a fantastic job Ethan.
You wrote that you are coding a website. Do you have a website in mind you would like to create?
Thank you for responding to last week’s questions. I did not even know I included a career test, cool? Did it tell you what sort of career you might want to pursue? I imagine it would be in the sciences or computer programming…
I remember I took a career test in grade 9 or so and working with people, social services and teaching all were matches…
Are you going to incorporate the [Pac-Man] manual into your [Pac-man] stop animation film in any way?
well… that might be a nice idea… Probably not though, because all the stuff in the manual is in my “how do the ghosts in pac-man move?” video. maybe I will look into it if I have time!
What is your interest in decibels? Is it the math? Are you interested in how it relates to sound in general? please tell me more.
umm, I think it’s COOL that you can relate loudness and sound in such an equation! and it’s very simple too. that is why I like it.
And, no, I do not Know what a sound engineer is! sounds fine to me!
also, THANK you for sending me those links. they’re fascinating! I like the career test thing! 🙂
The last week of May is also the last week of Ethan’s official school year with SelfDesign. Curiously, the upcoming week will be the first time that students will be able to return to regular school here in BC.
The situation hasn’t affected Ethan too much but he did express that he has missed spending time with his friends.
Some of the playgrounds are starting to open here. It might be a chance for him to play outside more with some friends.
I’m sure this has been the experience of most children but perhaps the impact is greater on students like Ethan who already learn from home and depend on activities and outdoor play times to have social interaction with other kids.
Ethan has been having video calls with a few of his friends and we have had a social distance play date outdoors with another family who we’re good friends with. However, it’s not the same. Fortunately, Ethan seems to understand why things are the way they are because of the coronavirus. And as mentioned, it’s likely easier for him since he’s already a home learner.
I wonder how much longer we will have to socially distance for. Does Ethan have any guesses?
Ethan has enjoyed the online classes where they allow questions to be asked in the chat boxes. The other online classes are less engaging for him because of the lack of interaction.
On days when it was nice out, Ethan has gone jogging in the morning and then we’ll play tennis in the afternoon or in the evening before dinner. He’s gotten a lot better at tennis these past few months.
He also likes to bring his skipping rope out to the tennis court and will practice skipping after getting tired of playing tennis. He has a lot of fun skipping rope. His record for consecutive skips is now 65, up from 49. He could barely do 10 mere weeks ago. (UPDATE: Ethan can do up to 71 skips) Skipping rope is such great exercise!
Great news about skipping rope, check out all of the benefits:
Jumping and the brain surge benefits.
Jumping can make you smarter. Research has shown exercise and jumping rope are a great for your body to release Endorphins. These stimulants give us a sense of well-being and relaxation. A few more examples of jump rope benefits to the brain:
- Studies have demonstrated jumping helps to develop the left and right hemispheres of the brain to further improve awareness, reading skills, increases memory, and mental alertness.
- Jumping on the balls of your feet requires your mind and body to make neural muscular adjustments to imbalances created from continuous jumping. As a result, jumping improves coordination and dynamic balance.
- Skipping rope encourages your child to be creative. It’s remarkable what can be done in freestyle jumping. Scissors, criss-cross, heal to toe, up and overs, one foot circles, and many other moves make performing and watching a fun time for kids!
In any case, here is what Ethan was up to this past week…
Happy summer Ethan! I hope you get out onto the water and out in nature a lot this summer. I am looking forward to exploring some new wilderness areas and getting onto the lakes with my kayak and SUP. I might come to the coast sometime in July or August and if I do I will for sure let you know and we can visit in person again.
I can not believe you are doing AP Calculus on Khan academy (squeeze theorem) . You know that it is a university level course right? Congratulations Ethan I think you are making amazing progress towards your goal of getting into MIT and working for NASA someday.
All the best and keep in touch
Natasha
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