Hello, everyone! Can’t believe the month is almost over! So much has happened since I last posted here and I’m still surprised that it’s that time of the month again when I would write about Ian’s homeschooling highlights.
This month for his subject, Math, is all about learning the properties and application of Multiplication in Math. Ian has been great at Math since preschool, so I never had a hard time teaching him how to add, subtract, and multiply. As part of his performance task, I made him prepare his own multiplication table and then had him watch helpful videos on YouTube that will help him calculate product mentally. We are taking our time with this lesson.
I have recently gotten hold of a book containing STEM projects inspired by the game, Minecraft. Ian quickly browsed through it and the first thing he pointed at that he wanted to do was the slime project. I like how simple this project was and how easy to make. After we made the slime, I made him watch a video about polymers so that he will understand what really happened during the slime-making session. This was his favorite project his month!
Ian’s Nether Lava Experiment
The Nether Lava was another project we did referenced from the same book. I explained to Ian how the experiment with baking soda, food color, and oil, demonstrated how a real molten lava would have its own convection current. I also explained, albeit lightly, how some portions of a molten lava would solidify and sink and some would be light enough to float thus, creating a convection current within a column of lava. I also made him watch videos of lavas cascading down slopes.
This month has been hectic for me that stress eventually took a toll on my health. I had two ulcer attacks this month alone! So the kids have tried their best to help out which includes sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, putting up our Christmas decors, and organizing their toys. Ian was so sweet that one time I went out to get meds for my tummy and left him with exercises to finish. When I got back, I saw this “get well soon” note written by him at the bottom of his exercises. I’m so lucky to have such a sweet son!
Computer:
Projects using Gimp App
My thesis co-adviser who is currently helping me learn Matlab told me about Gimp, a photo editing app that I can substitute for Photoshop. The app is free so I downloaded it despite having Photoshop already installed on my PC just to try it out. We instantly fell in love with it, most especially Ian!
As part of his computer lesson, therefore, we have been watching photo editing hacks on YouTube that will help us enhance photos and do tricks on photos for fun, mostly.
Projects we’ve done so far include putting Ian’s brother’s face on grape along with Harry Potter; juxtaposing our photo onto Eiffel tower background; adding grids in photos; manipulating photos into artistic piece (right photo); and most importantly, enhancing photos to make some details pop.
One of the most important works we’ve done with Gimp is enhancing some of our photos from our Batanes trip in 2019. For example, we had this photo of an old bridge in Batan Island that was built during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. We wanted to see the details in the dark areas so we had to manipulate the photo using Gimp. Ian did the same technique for other photos.
As part of his computer lesson, Ian also used Canva to make presentations like the one below which is about the Indigeous Peoples of NCR:
Aside from the video he’s prepared about the indigenous peoples in NCR and Philippines, I showed Ian two items at home that were made by the IPs in our country. The blazer Ian is holding in the photo below is a handwoven piece by weavers of Abra while the basket was made by Palawan tribe we met in Puerto Princesa during our trip in 2017. When Ian could not remember how the tribe of Palawans look like, I made him watch this video of him while the Palawan tribesmen were playing their musical instruments:
Ian and I had also attended the World Tsunami Awareness even of PHIVOLCS. This webinar was done by PHIVOLCS and opened to the public to let people know that the agency has been giving Information Education Campaigns (IEC) around the country especially those living in the coastal areas.
Now that pandemic restrictions have eased a bit, the kids and I were able to visit my university, eat out, play outside and in arcades, as well as swim with friends. In the photos are Ian and his friends while swimming in our community pool. The fourth photo is Ian playing in one of our university’s play areas for kids.
I was able to bring Ian in the mall for the first time too. That day his brother couldn’t come with us because of his school activities and Ian promised he’d buy something for him instead. I gave him a budget and let him decide what he will buy for his brother using the money I gave him. He did all the choosing and math in getting his surprise gift for his brother and it was such a joy to see him pick items in the store and calculate whether they would be within the budget. That activity alone was already a good performance task where he got to apply everything he’s learned so far in math!
All about plants:
This month Ian also studied about parts of a plant, how seeds are propagated, and how plants make its own food. He drew this part of a seed using our soft pastel set. His assignment for the next few weeks is to observe the growth pattern of the sunflower seeds he just planted.
Art
Watercolor and Soft Pastel Artworks
I don’t think we will ever skip art day. We just love creating with our hands! This month, Ian painted toys using watercolor with his teachers at Watercolor Afficionados. We also explored gouache and soft pastels for art this month. I will post my artworks using gouache in my next article as I can’t wait to tell you how much I am loving this medium.
Ian also learned how to trace complicated line art like Super Mario and Yoshi (photo below) using this light pad that we bought for this purpose. Featured also in this section is his watercolor painting of Mr. Potato Head and Pop-it toys.
The Fabulous Scientist 