Unschooling Journal April 15-21, 2018 – Jogging and Large Negative Numbers

Unschooling seems so easy at times but there are things to watch out for. Sometimes, these are things that you as a family value and other times it’s what you see happening with your child.

For example, Dong Eun has been talking about how we need to help Ethan develop learning skills so that he can tackle real-life problems as he gets older. She feels that it’s imperative to be able to think about situations and consequences, to think critically and creatively, and to be around others who also value learning. And she’s right.

With homeschooling, we have an opportunity to shape Ethan’s learning and give him the skills and tools to thrive in anything he chooses. Why wouldn’t we try?

A great book that Dong Eun introduced me to is “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way” by Amanda Ripley. The author discusses the differences between schools, cultures, students, parents, teachers, etc. and how a proper learning environment and attitude about learning are critical to success.

With that in mind, we’re going to try and give Ethan more reading comprehension, as well as reading classic novels with him. He’s always loved reading so this shouldn’t be too difficult.

We’re also limiting his computer time to one hour a day but he must complete his learning activities first.

Let’s see how it turns out…

April 15

We went to the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch to find some books on astronomy and measurement since Ethan has been into learning about units of measure.

After we got home, we went to the playground for some basketball.

Then Ethan drew this intricate maze on the playground using just his foot. He added deadends to make it harder to get through.

After we came home, he read “Help Your Kids With Science.” He said this one wasn’t as good as the math book because he already knows many of the things taught.

After, he practiced some math word problems.

We were surprised that he picked up “Peter and the Shadow Thieves” because we’ve had this book for a few months but this is the first time he’s read it. We find that as long as books are available, he’ll eventually read them.

We talked about setting goals and Ethan put some of his goals onto his corkboard. Interestingly, the goals are for getting belts and awards in taekwondo.

Ethan wrote a story about someone climbing a volcano who suddenly receives a letter from an overhead airplane letting him know that he had won the lottery.

He practiced some multiplication and division word problems. The sheet with all the red is practice converting yards, feet and inches.

And he read an online article about a Jupiter-sized planet that was recently discovered.

We are trying to use the Canadian Reader series to help with comprehension and writing. We like the literacy focus that is featured in each issue, as that helps us find something to work on with Ethan.

While working on his self-assessment for the BC Ministry of Education, he made a video about collaboration and what it doesn’t look like.

Here’s the video…

April 16

When we make coffee, he’s fascinated by how the coffee mixes with the milk. It does look pretty cool. Ethan took this photo, btw.

That morning, Ethan attended a class at the library called Making Art With Code. The code was Python so we thought Ethan would enjoy it.

There were only two attendees, including Ethan, so it was a great opportunity to get some focused learning and attention.

When he got home, he read about coding in Python. This is great because it shows how he will continue to engage with a topic he finds interesting.

Doing some math word problems.

We used a story about Canada’s new Governor General from Canadian Reader for reading comprehension. We’re learning to ask questions to check his understanding so it’s good practice for all of us.

We could also see that Ethan isn’t that interested in writing complete sentences and seems like he just wants to be done with the work so he can move onto things he likes. We’re trying to teach him to do his best no matter what the activity.

This was more fun…typing practice to wrap up the night.

April 17

Wake up. Read. Rinse. Repeat.

Violin class today, as well as taekwondo and his mindfulness class.

More reading about space. He never tires reading books about space.

We’ve decided to let Ethan focus completely on the subjects he enjoys. Since he loves space so much, we’re going to try and use that topic for things such as language arts, too.

But in addition to that, we’re introducing (or rather, re-introducing) classic books. Currently, it’s Black Beauty and I was surprised that Ethan was into this story. I read the book to him so it’s also a good way for us to bond and do something together.

We had a discussion about how to check one’s pulse and this led to how many breaths we take per minute. I was mentioning how animals like dogs have shorter life spans because they breathe much more rapidly.

Dong Eun and Ethan each tried to take slow, deep breaths for a minute to see how slowly they could breathe. Hopefully, this becomes part of a meditation exercise.

As part of our focus on space and science, we used this story about SpaceX from Classroom Ready Science News to work on comprehension.

Afterwards, Ethan read the Smithsonian’s Knowledge Encyclopedia before calling it a day.

April 18

We’ve been jogging in the morning to start each day and it’s been a fun thing to do.

Reading some history in the Smithsonian’s Knowledge Encyclopedia.

Did some fractions word problems. Since learning about the PISA test and reading “The Smartest Kids In The World,” we’re trying to find more word problems for Ethan to work on.

Here he is responding to Natasha, his SelfDesign LC after she asked him questions about what he’s interested in and wondering about these days.

We shopped at the local Persian market and found some green almonds. We thought they contained the hardened almond inside but were pleasantly surprised that it was a fruit! A little sour but we enjoyed it because it was new and different.

We also had some Persian barbari, the flatbread. It too was very good and a new experience for us.

Afterwards, Ethan read a bit of “Black Holes and Baby Universes” by Stephen Hawking. I got him this book from the library to see if we could deepen his understanding of space and physics, since he’s so into this topic.

Some typing practice again to finish off. We also read Black Beauty before Ethan went to bed.

April 19

Today was swimming lessons and then taekwondo later in the day. After taekwondo we went to the library to hang out for a bit and pick up some books on hold. Most of the books were about space, of course.

We’ve been using the SelfDesign Library more often and have found some great resources. Not sure why we never explored the SelfDesign Library before!

Ethan started using Prodigy Math this week and we have mixed feelings about using apps to practice math. We understand how it can help, but we are concerned about the gamification of learning and how the kids are motivated by achieving new levels or prizes.

We are also concerned that Ethan will find non-technology based learning to be less interesting. We’ve already experienced times when Ethan said he’s bored after spending time on the computer.

But for now, we’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Today, he was working on multiplication and remembering where to place numbers and the zeroes as a placeholder, so that was good.

That night, we reviewed his answers to questions about the SpaceX story.

This was one of the books on measurement that Ethan borrowed.

We read Black Beauty to finish off the night. I like how the story is told from the horse’s perspective and I think Ethan enjoys it for that reason, too. The language is not easy to understand or even to read, but the main thing is that Ethan is enjoying listening to me read it.

April 20

Subtracting large negative numbers. He wanted to challenge himself so he tried subtracting 9 digit numbers with a larger subtrahend. He got frustrated because he couldn’t figure out how to subtract with negative numbers.

Dong Eun showed him how to do it using a number line and working with smaller numbers.

He eventually got it and was quite proud.

Afterwards, they went out to the beach to unwind and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Ethan and Dong Eun collected rocks and organized them into piles of similar rocks.

They had to eventually move the rocks because the tide was coming in. So they found some bark to make the move easier.

When they came home, Ethan worked on multiplying decimals.

We love the concerts he puts on for us while he’s practicing the violin.

He read an article about Montreal’s underground caves and did some comprehension questions about the story. I asked him questions about the story to check his comprehension and he did really well.

Typing practice with the keyboard covered so he can’t see his hands!

Writing a story about time.

We were invited to dinner at Ethan’s friend Kal’s place. They’re Bulgarian and vegetarians so it was great to try some new food! It was delicious.

We came home and read a little bit of Black Beauty before Ethan had to go to bed.

April 21

No book? Hmmm. Must have been very important.

We went for a jog and this time, Ethan’s friend Kal came with us.

Afterwards, it was time to do some multiplication of decimals.

This is turning out to be a handy and interesting book about math. It’s laid out in a non-textbook way so it’s easier to follow and understand.

Yes, it’s for middle school but we don’t want to limit what Ethan is exposed to in his learning. If he finds it too difficult, it’s easy to fall back on something easier. But if he likes it and finds it challenging, that’s a win-win situation.

We just wanted to also see if he would read it because it contains more challenging math than the book we already have. That book, “Help Your Kids With Math,” Ethan has read through so Dong Eun was curious if he would find this new one as interesting.

He spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Kal at the beach.

They built a wall inside lived a beetle, at least until it was time to go home.

They came back to our place and Ethan asked Kal to help him put together a scale model of the solar system. He mentioned that to get the right distances from the sun, he used 1cm = 10M metres.

That night, he wrote a story and we again read Black Beauty before heading to bed.

Any comments or questions?

LC short response