This is the second part of our trip to the Europa-Park. As I had the opportunity, I asked the boys about their experience with homeschooling and got some really interesting insights.
Video Transcript
Eric: We are going on a VR roller coaster!
Cédric: How does that work?
Eric: It’s a roller coaster and you wear VR goggles.
Cédric: That’s a first for me. Sky explores. Alright, let’s go explore.
After the VR ride…
Pretty cool experience. Mine did not calibrate at the beginning so it went sideways for the whole ride. But other than that, pretty cool!
Eric: It was really real!
Cédric: Eric, what’s your favorite so far?
Eric: Blue Fire.
Cédric: Why?
Eric: Because it’s crazy.
Riding the same roller coaster until I solve a Rubik’s Cube
To my left is the start of the Blue Fire. It goes from zero to over 100 km/h in less than three seconds like a very good sports car.
***
Cédric: Finally, a line is long enough so you can work on your Rubik’s Cube.
Eric: Yeah.
Cédric: Now you’re on camera, the pressure is on! How long does it take to solve it?
Eric: About 30 seconds.
Cédric: Good job!
Cédric: Now we’ll have to ride Blue Fire for as long as it takes me to solve a Rubik’s Cube while we’re waiting in line. And it’s not a very long line so…
Eric: Can you solve the Rubik’s cube while you’re riding?
Cédric: That’d be a pretty cool video. Another time here.
Making progress
Cédric: I’ve solved the bottom, all the edges, and corners. Now, what’s the next step?
Eric: The next step is to solve the second layer.
Cédric: Second layer? This one here?
Eric: Yeah.
Cédric: Okay, so now I’ve got to solve the edges on that second layer and I found one orange and green which go here.
***
Cédric: Boom! Two layers solved. Now let’s see if we can solve the top layer before we get on the Blue Fire. Otherwise, we have to go again.
***
Cédric: Alright, so we solved the two bottom layers but not the top one yet so I guess we’re going to go again after this ride.
Eric: Yeap!
Cédric: We won’t stop until the Rubik’s cube is solved.
Going into the 4th ride…
Cédric: Alright. I’m feeling a little dizzy.
Eric: We’re feeling VERY dizzy.
Cédric: Somewhere between a little dizzy and very dizzy but that’s not going to stop us from going again. Because we have a Rubik’s Cube to solve and we’re not going to stop until that Rubik’s cube is solved.
***
Cédric: So we’re on our way to the third or the fourth ride on the Blue Fire. I’ve got the two bottom layers solved but we’re having a bit of an issue with the top edges.
Ride number 5 and the Rubik’s Cube is solved!
Cédric: Look at this! Beautiful! I solved the Rubik’s Cube in four rides. It’s solved and this is our last ride. We have about two minutes left until we get to the top. So let’s see how quickly Eric can solve the Rubik’s Cube. Alex, you mix it up.
***
Cédric: We have about a minute left until we get to the front.
Eric: It’s fine, I already solved it.
Homeschooling insights on our way back to Switzerland
Cédric: We’re back in Switzerland. Did you guys have a good time?
Eric: Yeah, it was amazing!
Cédric: It’s a Tuesday today and you guys were able to come to Europa Park. You’re going to school at home, right?
Eric: Yeah.
Cédric: What do you think are the biggest benefits of that?
Alex: Definitely flexibility plus time.
Eric: I would say flexibility and second is you can focus a lot more on individual interests. I was doing a job shadow with an architect in Zurich. And that wouldn’t have been possible if I had been in a public school because they have a designated time for that. Our mom teaches us so we get up and we eat and we start around 9. Some of the things that mom can’t teach such as languages, we’ll do with teachers over Skype. And many subjects we’ll do online.
Alex: We don’t really ever have a certain time of ending. If we finish the list, we’re done. And if we finish it faster, we’re done sooner; if we finish it later, we’re done later.
Cédric: What are you guys’ favorite subjects?
Eric: I would say math is one of my favorites.
Alex: I love history. Learning about what people did earlier.
Is homeschooling the future of education?
Super cool insights on homeschooling. Something that before I met these two fellows, I was always a bit critical of. I’ve thought more about it. What Eric said – that it’s probably not for everyone – but there are some people who it has a lot of benefits for. There are some interesting models out there in terms of what education could look like in the future.
And with that, see you tomorrow.
You can listen to the audio version here:
