Since arriving home last week Wednesday, we’ve had a slight transition period, as it’s been slightly odd to be home and trying to re-establish a routine. But we’re getting there and so is Ethan. He was somewhat reluctant to work on academics in a more scheduled way, which is totally understandable since we were quite unstructured while on the road.
This is what happened the day after we arrived home from the road trip…
Baby steps or dive right in?
If we just took it easy and slowly worked our way back, who knows how long it would take? I think Dong Eun recognized this immediately, so she got Ethan to jump right back into things the day after we came home. But first, we had a sushi dinner that we had promised Ethan we would have the first night after getting home. (And some leftover spaghetti and meatballs, which was amazing!)
New toy roller coaster
My friend Charles gave Ethan a beautiful wooden roller coaster set, which Ethan said was exactly what he wanted. Ethan was very excited to put it together and try it out because he loves using his marbles and building roller coasters. Thanks, Charles and Dena!
Getting ready for Christmas
Coming back in December, Ethan has been excited about Christmas. I think he was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be back in time.
So we started getting ready and talked about a Christmas tree. Our condo doesn’t allow live trees and we don’t want a fake one, so we decided to be crafty and make something. Ethan started doing some research on YouTube and found an origami Christmas tree how-to video.
After he got the hang of how to fold the tree, he asked us to help him fold more sections and taught us how to fold. That’s something very valuable, being able to teach other people what you’ve learned.
And then finally, we had a tree! We’ll make more and might even make a larger version.
We also put up some lights that Ethan used to use as night lights under his bed. Ethan then found a place to display the tree.
Visualizing the trip
The next task was something fun and creative that Ethan enjoyed… Taking all the memorabilia from the road trip and putting it on display. This turned out to be a great way for us to visualize what we did and it reminded us of all the great memories we had.
Drawing in 3D
From Christmas origami to travel mementos and finally, drawing 3D shapes, these are some of the many unschooling moments we experience on any given day. Not sure how it happened, but Ethan found some tutorials on how to draw 3D shapes and wanted to practice.
So, even if we had wanted to ease back into things, Ethan was ready to get right back at it. The learning may not always take traditional forms, but the learning opportunities are always present.
Let’s see what the next few days will bring and please let us know your thoughts/experiences, too.
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