Today, we had plans for a playdate with Ethan’s cousins again, but this time, Ethan would visit their place. He was quite excited but had to wait until the afternoon. Luckily, Ethan’s pretty good at finding things to do to occupy his time.
Morning
Ethan woke up and started folding paper airplanes. The designs were from the science book he borrowed this week and I think this was his first attempt at making these planes.
This one flew very straight.
This second one had some different design details, such as a rudder and ailerons that affected how the plane travelled through the air.
The book explained what should happen and Ethan experimented with folding the rudder and ailerons in opposite directions to see what would happen.
Making eggza for breakfast
Ethan wanted to make his breakfast and settled on his favourite recipe…eggza!
He added some corn and the all-important ketchup. This eggza was quite yummy because he fried the potatoes until they were a little more crispy.
Next, we all went out for a walk along the seawall and to do some shopping for some craft supplies that Ethan wanted. It was a beautiful sunny day, so it was nice to get out for a walk together.
One thing I’m not sure how to discuss with Ethan is when there are clear signs about a bylaw prohibiting dogs on the beach and yet, there are plenty of people bringing their dogs onto the beach.
I guess it’s doing what is right or in this case, lawful, rather than just following what other people do.
Ethan has always enjoyed making me follow the trail he makes in the sand. He’s been doing this for years and it’s still fun.
Dong Eun and Ethan demonstrate how to turn themselves into a big compass to draw a circle in the sand.
Eventually, we were going to get to the mall but it was just too fun and too nice out.
Ethan wanted some balloons and elastics to do some crafts and make some things he saw in a science project book he has. Of course, he wanted to check out some of the other goodies they sell at the dollar store.
One thing that Ethan wanted to do was buy his supplies using his own money. It was good for him to pay, deal with the store clerks and manage his own money.
Dinner
After our shopping, we dropped Ethan off at his cousin’s place and met up with him again at dinner time. We were having an early Chinese New Year dinner with family.
Ethan enjoyed playing with a distant cousin from Beijing who is a year younger than him. They’ve met once before and had a great time. Eric speaks English very well so it was easy for the two boys to play.
It was also nice for Ethan to be around a larger group of extended family. At the dinner were my parents, my cousin with his wife and two daughters (the ones Ethan often plays with, my cousin’s cousin from his mother’s side, that cousin’s husband, son and her father, plus a couple who are from the same village as my mom and cousin. Got all that? 🙂
And there was of course, a lot of amazing food!
So that was our Saturday. As you can see, Ethan uses whatever time he has to learn and try new things. We love that learning has become a constant thing that happens throughout the day, not just at set times.
Even at dinner, Ethan was learning table manners and how to behave when eating at a crowded table.
“None of the things children are to learn should ever be made a burden to them, or imposed on them as a task. Whatever is so imposed presently becomes irksome; the mind takes an aversion to it, though before it were a thing of delight.” ~ John Locke
Here is a great idea from another grade 4 home learner:
I got a stack of New Yorker magazines from the library, and I have been showing Layla some of the comics. The last page always has a comic in need of a caption. I opened six magazines to the last page, gave Layla six pieces of paper, and had her come up with a caption to go with each comic. Her blurbs were really funny. If the magazines hadn’t been old, she could have sent them in to the monthly contest! We’ll keep coming back to this activity. Good to develop sense of humour/wit!
I absolutely love this quote! It is so powerful and flies in the face of so much of institutionalized education. It is definitly the journey of unschooling to bring this into the light and practice. It is a deep meditation for me to reflect on as an educator, thank you for sharing.
“None of the things children are to learn should ever be made a burden to them, or imposed on them as a task. Whatever is so imposed presently becomes irksome; the mind takes an aversion to it, though before it were a thing of delight.” ~ John Locke
I will not be making comments on this particular submission: I will instead be working on the Winter Connections this week. I have read the learning activities in this week’s Observing for Learning and collected Highlights of Learning. Thank you so much for all that you share and contribute. After February 18th, you can find my LC version in the Winter Connections page nested under “Learning Communications” in the left hand menu.
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