Unschooling Journal October 20-26, 2019

by | Oct 29, 2019 | Blog, Home Learning, Homeschooling, math, Unschooling, 언스쿨링 | 0 comments

This is what happened to Ethan and the stuff he did this past week.

Ethan did a lot of graphing in his math studies this past week. He mentioned that he really enjoys this part of math because he finds it fun to draw the graphs.

October 20

Ethan had his creative writing class today. They worked on creating ads for products but they had to think of new uses for the products.

in the morning, Ethan did what is called a cyclops number.or a glitch prime.
then, he wrote a program that tells you what the factorial of a number is. a factorial is when you take a number, n, and multiply that by n-1, then multiply it by n-2… all the way to 1. so, 100!(factorial)=100*99*98*…*3*2*1

October 21

In addition to what he did at home, Ethan had taekwondo class and violin class.

in the morning, Ethan read “Things To Make And Do In the Fourth Dimention”.
le learned about the utilites problem.
the puzzle was, can you connect a bunch of 3 utilites to 3 houses, but no two of the lines cross?
then, he learned about transforming sinusoidal graphs.
teaching time, as always.
physics was about a “loop de loop”!
teach, teach, teach.
chatting with his friend.
learning about pig latin. Ethan was using pig latin to communicate with his friend.
it was in this book!
some language practice. this is spanish, of course.
writing!
learning and writing.
today, it was about the trappist-1 system.
here is the blog post!
history! about the forbidden city in China ooh so spooky…
cursive practice. the capital letters P, Q,and R
violin practice.
after he got back from taekwondo, he told Dongeun that he got all his answers right in his violin “homework”!
chatting again. with his friend.
at the end of the day, Ethan checked what to do for his haloween costume.

October 22

Ethan had mindfulness class today.

in the morning, Ethan did some probibality practice… with a coin!
then, he made a program that simulated a coin. he made it all by himself! it will take your number, and take 2^(your number). it will basically calculate, if you have that many coins, how many sequences there are. for example, for 3, there is: HHH,THH,HTH,TTH,HHT,THT,HTT,TTT. there are 8 possibilities, and that is 2 cubed, or 2 to the 3rd power. so, that is why if you take 2 and raise it tio the nth power, n will be the number of coins if flips.
then, he kept learning about transforming sinsudoial functions.
then, he kept teaching about it.
more loop de loop problems!
more teaching about loop de loop problems!
simulating a star being ripped apart!
there is a black hole in the middle, if you can see it.
here is the writing about the star being ripped apart! Ethan also wrote a blog post.
to finish, he did canadian reader, and cursive practice!

October 23

Ethan spent the day at Soaring Eagle Nature School. They went to Maplewood Flats to hear stories from some members of a local indigenous tribe and explore the flats. In the evening, Ethan had taekwondo class.

after natureschool, Ethan did this optical illusion drawing! it is a perpetual motion machine!
for mindfullness, ethan made a “brain jar” where each piece of glitter is a thought.
eventually, when you calm down, your “thoughts” sink to the bottom.
currsive!
prodigy.
to end the day, Ethan did another perpetual motion machine drawing.

What happened at Soaring Eagle Nature School today from Mink, Ethan’s teacher:

It was a refreshing change this week to explore the new landscape of Maplewood Flats. The day started with some very enthusiastic games of “Beat MasteR”, (which involved ridiculous dance moves) followed by the even more dramatic “Handshake Murder”. Kids were dropping dead left and right as the mystery murderer moved from subject to subject, giving the dreaded double-squeeze handshake, and the detective stood by trying to figure out who was at fault. Meanwhile, lots of folks got their hands in on making some thoughtful thank-you cards for the presenters.

Ocean and Sinaqwila of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation were our presenters for the morning, sharing many beautiful words and traditions from their culture. After some brief introductions and a story translated from their native language, we split into two groups for a foray into the landscape. Both groups had a chance to spend time with Ocean and Sinaqwila, learning about some of the local medicinal plants and customs of the Tsleil-Waututh. After the guided walks were through, everyone joined back together for lunch and the thankyou cards were delivered.

Ocean and Sinaqwila said their goodbyes and folks returned to their usual groups for the afternoon. Everyone missed Craig, who was too sick to come to program, but it was fun to mix it up by having members of his group join other groups for the day!

Scott’s group invited Musa and Ryland to join their group for the afternoon, and everyone was excited to continue playing “Handshake Murder”. Scott is curious about who can come up with a nature themed version of this game! After this, everyone crowded around a map of the park and Scott gave everyone a challenge to use the map to find the way to a particular spot that he pointed to on it. This brought on a lot of excitment and had everyone working together and moving quickly into the park. The group explored the whole outside of the bird sanctuary and ended up seeing a great blue heron and a bushtit nest! After this everyone found their way back to the parking lot in time for a final game of “Butterfly Catch”.

Mikaela’s group started their afternoon adventure with a map of Maplewood Flats in hand and the goal of reaching an observation platform over West Pond. During their walk, challenges were in place to spot a Bushtit nest (looks like a grey sock), a Pacific Tree Frog (looks like tiny jewels on Blackberry leafs), and as many wooden bird houses as they could! The journey also had them recognizing landmarks and using them to find their location on the map; many shared that, after the day, they now know how to use a map! The group should anticipate some compass and map challenges in the future! On the platform, Mikaela’s group played Icky Stick, which had them jumping over, crouching under and using ninja-like moves to avoid getting touched by the stick held by Mikaela. They were also up for the biggest challenge of Where’s My Pumpkin, which required working together as a team to retrieve a ”pumpkin”. The group was successful at the last minute before needing to return to the big group at the end of the day!

Mink’s group made their way to a nearby clearing to play one of Mink’s all-time favourite games: “Scout Sword”. The game involves a blindfolded ninja bearing a pool noodle, who is surrounded by sneaky scouts, attempting to attach clothespins to their body. The game was played with gusto and tact for many rounds! Afterwards, the Raven’s volunteered to guide Beatrix’s grandmother and little brother to Mikaela’s group, who were located way on the other side of the forest loop! It turned out to be quite a trek, with some cool nature sightings along the way including a great blue heron. Once the delivery was complete, another final round of Scout Sword was played (as promised!). Auden (from Craig’s group) made an excellent and challenging ninja opponent. On the way back, there was a competition to see who could find the BIGGEST big leaf maple leaf, and the smallest cottonwood leaf. It took the group much longer than anticipated to get back, with some complaints of very tired legs which refused to move! The Ravens arrived back late after all, (sorry!) having had a very full and eventful day.

Thanks for another sweet day yall, see you next week!

–Wed North Van Crew

October 24

Today, Ethan had his swimming lesson today. This is the home learners class so there are only 2-3 students. He said he prefers the larger group swimming lesson on Saturday because he feels more motivated with other kids around.

in the morning, Ethan did some canadian reader: The First Canadian Tennis Star.
then, some cursive.
then he learned about how to convert from degrees to radians.
then, he did a classic centripital force problem. mass swinging in a horizontal circle.
violin practice.
now, teaching time, as always.
making an expandable little fruit.
at the end of the day, Ethan read some books

October 25

In the morning, Ethan did math! periodic function graphs and what their equations are.
teach, teach, teach.
writing a blog post about some exoplanets colliding.
here is the NASA article.
here is the writing!
doing a question about hurricanes.
spanish, as always.
cursive, as always. he finished the book!
learning about the printing press. this is for history, as always.
the Wikipedia entry!
physics! gravity. again, as always.
teaching!(as always) we are using new chalk markers.
listinging to audiobook.” the world according to Humprey”
making origami. just stuff. random stuff. just free folding.
drawing with chalk marker.

October 26

Saturday. Ethan had his symphony class in the morning, then his group swimming lesson. In between those classes, we went to the library.

in the library. in the morn.
learning about the enigma.
shuffling a pack of cards as he watches the video.
then he learned about the game of cat and mouse.
Carl: Ethan learned about a math-based problem from a YouTube channel called Numberphile. The mouse is in a pond, while the cat is outside the pond. The object is to calculate where and when the mouse can swim out then run away from the cat.
here is the simulation.
Carl: The challenge is that the cat is four times faster than the mouse when the mouse is in the pond. But once the mouse reaches land, it is faster than the cat. The simulation shows the scenarios
explaining time!
Carl: Ethan learned how to use math to calculate how the mouse can escape without getting caught by the cat. Ethan watched the video, used the simulation and then explained how the mouse can escape.
here is where he found it.
Carl: Ethan really enjoyed this type of problem. He found this problem and discovered ways to learn it on his own. He likes to challenge himself and enjoys finding new things to learn. We were worried about not providing challenging materials for him but he’s been able to find them himself.
here si thc coding for the first 277777788888899.
Carl: Ethan learned about multiplicative persistance. The number 277777788888899 is special because when you multiply the numbers together, the answer becomes smaller until you end up with zero.
here is Ethan’s code!
Carl: Ethan tried the code himself to do the calculation.
learning about the number 277777788888899. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wim9WJeDTHQ
Carl: This is Ethan’s explanation about this.

LC Response

Hello Ethan and Carl, 

I had a conversation with Catherine Dinim about options and resources for Ethan this week. 

I will be sharing the content more at length when we have our Zoom meeting 10am Friday Nov 8th. 

She had a lot of great ideas, resources and insights for Ethan since he is working way beyond his grade level in math and science. 

She also explained more to me about how the grade 10-12 works in Self Design and other options for highschool online and applying to university as a homeschooler etc. 

If Ethan is interested in taking a university level course online at all this year, just to try it out she recommended Coursera, maybe a course in physics, chemistry, astronomy, calculus….

https://www.coursera.org/

Some reflections on week 9:

New chalk markers are super nice. I think it will only help his chalk board teaching/explanations! I think it would be neat to compile all the photos you have of his chalk board work into one photo montage. It would show the progress and progression of his work….just an idea. 

Carl: Ethan learned about a math-based problem from a YouTube channel called Numberphile. The mouse is in a pond, while the cat is outside the pond. The object is to calculate where and when the mouse can swim out then run away from the cat.

here is the simulation.

Carl: The challenge is that the cat is four times faster than the mouse when the mouse is in the pond. But once the mouse reaches land, it is faster than the cat. The simulation shows the scenarios

Carl: Ethan really enjoyed this type of problem. He found this problem and discovered ways to learn it on his own. He likes to challenge himself and enjoys finding new things to learn. We were worried about not providing challenging materials for him but he’s been able to find them himself.

I am so glad you found Numberphile. He is challenged and is asked to apply the mathematical theory he is learning in an applied way! I hope there are many more scenarios for him to consider and try to solve. 

I suppose he can see if there are any links or suggested Youtubes from Numberphile. He is very good at finding more material to explore. 

I found this site this week, it is part of NASA so he might already be familiar but I thought these are other hands on ways to explore. I think he may have done some of these before:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/stem-activities-for-families/

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/

then, he made a program that simulated a coin. he made it all by himself! it will take your number, and take 2^(your number). it will basically calculate, if you have that many coins, how many sequences there are. for example, for 3, there is: HHH,THH,HTH,TTH,HHT,THT,HTT,TTT. there are 8 possibilities, and that is 2 cubed, or 2 to the 3rd power. so, that is why if you take 2 and raise it tio the nth power, n will be the number of coins if flips.

The program writing he is doing is impressive here! So cool that he did it all on his own. Which program is he using. Would this be considered coding as well? Please excuse my rudimentary knowledge of program writing here…

I can’t wait to see what next week brings. 

Thank you for responding to my questions, such thoughtful and reflective writing Ethan. I included it here in your reflection for week 9. 

My next question for you is

What are some areas of challenge for you these days? 

Do you want to pick one to focus on developing? 

I look forward to our fall reflection conversation and your work on the SD competencies. 

In case you are interested this is how the BC Ministry is incorporating Core Competencies into the new BC Curriculum:

Core Competency
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uP4ndQ5ckoY%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26rel%3D0%26wmode%3Dtransparent

View in popup 

Ethan responses to week 8

Hello Natasha! 

how are you doing?

I’m fine, just learning new things.

here are the answers to your questions.

Ethan, can you imagine a life with no computers, apps, digital computers, videogames, online research, and programs? 

yes, because you can always learn about things with books, and I don’t play video games. I think homeschooling would be hard, and if I wanted to know something, I would ask others.

What is Ethan using this periodic table for? 

I’m using the periodic table as a giant reference of the elements, and I use it when solving chemistry problems.

Seems like it has been a while since he played[four player chess].Any new insights or is he just keeping up with his skills?

well, I saw a link to four-player chess. then I clicked on it, and it was fun again!

Tell me more….does the pumpkin explode.

no, it just kinda pops open and shows a creature with bat ears. here is the link that I used.

Halloween this week, making your costume, plans? 

yes! I just started on Oct 27! this year, I’m making a pumpkin pi! so, it is a pumpkin with the digits of pi around it!

Ethan are you interested in doing more photography or were you learning this to make your 3D pictures pop more? 

I’m not interested in photography, I was just learning this just to make my 3d pictures pop more.

How have you recent studies of force and acceleration influenced the ways you see objects, vehicles, etc. in motion around you?

I was so interested in other things(hypothetical things) that I kinda forgot about those things, but maybe I should pay more attention to that now!

What are you learning from the book? [things to make and do in the fourth dimention]

crafts to make for math! some creative things to do! if I’m bored, I will refer back to it to see if there is anything to do. for example, if you have a square 70×70, that will make a square 4 900 in area. now make each square into a sphere. then, stack them in a square pyramid 24 spheres tall.so, there are 4900 spheres. this is my favorite “cannonball” number, and I can guarantee it is your favorite as well…because 4900 is the only number that works! that is what I am learning about in the book. that is why I like it!

Have you tried any of the games and puzzles? 

yes! like, the trihexiflexagon. the trihexaflexagon is a lot like the hexaflexagon, but it is a square.

Will you be making any videos based on the book? 

Have you watched any of his video talks?

(a) I don’t think so, because I have so many videos to make, but maybe I might! and (b) yes, I watched the one you sent me. that was very exciting and funny!

Are these the proposed solutions to an asteroid heading toward the earth?

yes, and they have been scientifically proven! interestingly, spray painting an asteroid will work, but you have to spray paint it about 10 years before it hits.

Ethan, you are learning so much theory and equations any desire for hands-on?

not really, but if “hands-on” is fun, yes, sure!

How about some ideas for building new science and physics projects?

sure, if it is fun! it sounds fun… so… yeah, I guess! sounds fun! I don’t have any ideas right now, but I will think about it!

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