Hello everybody! Here is where we will write about all the things we are doing to try to learn while still at home. This is told in different perspectives from Sumay and Aila. I hope you enjoy and come back to find out more.
Aila’s story
The first time I even knew that there was a virus in China was when it was Chinese New Year, my family was having a party to celebrate. I was watching the TV, and after a dance, they did boring talking for a long time. But then something came up on the screen. It looked like a hospital with these people in it and then they started to talk so I decided to not pay attention.
But when I went to school the next day I learned a little bit more about it because when I got there, people kept saying stuff about this coronavirus. I did not know what it was so I asked my friend who told me all about it. After I got some information about it, I still had a bunch of questions so I asked my mom all of them. I think that made her kinda of annoyed because she did not want to answer all the question.
A month later we were walking back home. Then my mom finally said that my dad was not going to let us go to school the next day. I was mostly happy but also kind of sad.
But I was not happy the next day because I had to work all day, well it felt like that. I learned about cosmology that I thought would be pretty boring but to my surprise it was actually pretty fun since I was with my sister. Then we made a presentation but I think the writing was all my sister's. Whoopsies! After that, I had a super long break which ended up as me, my sister, and my mom biking to my school's playground. I was kind of happy about that because I didn’t have to work anymore.
The next day was a break day so I played a math game almost the entire day. And then I went bike riding again to my school's playground.
Sumay’s story
At first, I didn’t even know about the virus. But then on Chinese New Year my family hosted a party. And in the background we were playing the Chinese New Year show. Everything was all “Yay! It’s the new year!” and “China’s great!” until they started talking about the new virus. All these nurses were in snowman suits saying that they felt really safe and cold in them. That was when I first found out about the coronavirus and the impact it has been taking on China. I was also very glad that I was not at the show because if one person had the coronavirus there… sorry to break it to you China, a whole lot of people are gonna get it too.
The night before schools closed, our dad took us out of school. At first we were really sad and thought about all the things we were going to miss out on while we were gone. But the next morning, the school sent out an email saying school was closed! Honestly, I wasn’t giving a big hooray at this. Because, Yay video games! was not an option or of interest. And doing school at home was just school, but without other people around. It was pretty much going to be week after week of cabin fever and boredom. But it was also a great learning opportunity for us. My dad sent me and my sister to bed and said “Talk about what you want to learn, and stay up late.” I wasn’t very excited until he said the thing about staying up late. We talked a little bit about what we wanted to learn about. And decided we wanted to learn about all the things we could learn about. After discussing this for no longer than ten minutes, we proceeded to do my dad's next order “stay up late.” You’re welcome dad!
We woke up the next day and started looking at all the subjects on Khan Academy but we didn’t take their courses, because, sorry Khan Academy, but I’d rather watch Elmo. We looked at all there was on Crash Course, and there was a lot! We found 600 videos, all of which were Crash Courses. My sister and I decided that our calling was cosmology. We searched it up and something called “Big History” came up, which is basically history to the ultimate level starting with the Big Bang. Then we made a presentation about all the things we learned about cosmology. And what we did was a lot more fascinating than what we did at school. It felt great to finally get out of the fifth grade curriculum and to follow my own interests. After writing about cosmology and big history, we decided we couldn’t be cooped up in the house forever, especially since we were already feeling extremely bored and ready to go somewhere other than our house. We decided to ride our bikes. And rode somewhere pretty far because I didn’t want to get back to our house anytime soon, and because I was starting to smell like the chair I was sitting in. I loved the wind in my face as I zoomed away on my bike. Quick correction, I hated the wind, it was so cold. But what I loved was that I stopped smelling like the chair I was sitting in! Now I smelled like my bike! It was a great afternoon, despite the wind, and I was feeling great. When we got back home we put our bikes away and ate dinner. I collapsed on my bed, exhausted.
I woke up thinking I was going to a bunch of work, so I put on my ultra thick underwear because it was gonna be a pain in the butt. But no, I actually ended up playing a math game the entire day, so my ultra thick underwear was put to waste. Sorry ultra thick underwear. I was glad that I got a break day, but for some reason I went to bed feeling even more tired than the day before. I figured this cabin fever thing was catching up with me.
I woke up the next day knowing that we were going to have to do work, and feeling sad that my ultra thick underwear was dirty. I made myself breakfast and prepared myself for all the work that was to come. It was actually pretty fun since I was with my sister. And I also realized how self absorbed we humans are. I know this because for every video, my sister and I wrote about one page about it… but when we started learning about human evolution we had to add a part two… and a part three… and we’re still not finished with the 16 minute video because we were tired. So we decided that we should play some fun math game! Because what’s more educational than a math game that is 99% fun and 1% math, huh? But then my dad came and said that we needed to stop with the “math game.” So then my sister and I decided to draw. Except drawing apparently wasn’t very educational either, so now we have to write this. Please join me later in finding out more about my ultra thick underwear and what will happen to me in this ever increasing boredom.
Thank you for reading our stories! I hope you come back to find out what will happen next!