Saturday, August 15, 2020

Mid-August update

 Hard to believe summer is winding down and it's almost fall! We haven't done much this summer, it's hard with all the restrictions but we are trying. He has been getting out with friends, to the park and such, and now that his splint is off he's able to get back to the monkey bars and everything. Today we wanted to hit a beach. We tried one in Ottawa but it was packed and I was uncomfortable with staying there so we went over to Gatineau to Lac Leamy and it was fine. The water was pretty good, not Caribbean Ocean good but not weedy and gross so that was a nice thing. He got a bit of a burn because he felt he didn't need to wear his rashguard since he's a "man" now. Hopefully this will be a lesson but we'll see! He got clean at least. We will be going to the aviation museum before school starts as well, he's really into planes right now so I thought it would be a good choice. It's the other end of town, and closed a couple days, you have to buy tickets in advance, but I think it will a good day trip kind of thing. A few hours any way. 

I have decided to send him to the classroom. I am not sure it's the right choice, I hope we get more information from the school before it's time to go back, but he wants to go and there will be a couple friends there for sure, but also many doing online. If it come to it though, I'd likely just pull him out completely and say let's homeschool. The online plans are actually decent to me, at least what the ministry is saying has to happen. But I have no idea how the school will roll it out, and that's the worry. He went through a day or so where he thought staying home would be better, but when he learned it's mostly synchronized learning, so he has to be logged on with a teacher for 225 minutes a day, he said no way. 

I am waiting for details on how school will work, who his teachers are, the classes, who will be there. I believe they will split the immersion and non immersion kids, so he won't be in class with his little nemesis. But I am not sure if they will all be going to recess together or kept separate there too. Which is good, but also one of his friends in in non-immersion. Funnily, the few kids he has been playing with this summer, will not be going back to in school. One may start up again in November, I guess depending on how it goes. And I am not sure we'll make it that long. Any sign of trouble, whether covid or with teachers, we will just not be doing it. I'm tired of all the difficulties we have had with him in school, and while he has had a lot of time to mature in the almost 6 months since school wrapped up, I suspect there would still be some problems. So... I'll be working from home (forever if I have my way) and so we can homeschool in the unschooling manner, with projects and self directed learning. I am sorely tempted to do that any way, but am giving grade 6 a chance before we make that decision. 

In the meantime, I am doing a lot of homeshooling research, and we are doing some learning. Planes right now and an eye to how to become a pilot or design planes, what do we need for those career paths. We've talked about air cadets when he's 12, and how that is a great (and pretty much free) way to learn some basic flying. Aerospace Engineering as a career, what courses would be good to have towards that. Now, we'll just have to get him over the fact the throws up even at the thought of being on a plane. 

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