Learning Through Our Family Vacation Home

 

One of the biggest learning experiences I've had recently has been working on our family's new vacation home near Tampa. We purchased the home because it's right on a river, and we completely fell in love with the location. From our backyard, I've already seen manatees, turtles, stingrays, sharks, and even dolphins. The house itself is definitely a fixer-upper, but that's part of what makes this project so exciting. It's been fun imagining what it could become and working together as a family to bring that vision to life.

Since this is my first time being involved in a project like this, I've had to learn so much. I've been researching renovation ideas, comparing prices, watching home improvement videos, and using Google Sheets to organize everything from furniture and supplies to renovation costs. Having everything in one place has made the whole process feel much more manageable. Muljana and Luo (2023) explain that self-regulated learning happens when people take ownership of their own learning, and I realized that's exactly what I've been doing throughout this experience.

This project has reminded me that some of the best learning doesn't happen in a classroom. It happens when you're solving real problems, figuring things out as you go, and learning alongside the people you care about. Even though we have a lot of work ahead of us, it's already become one of my favorite family projects, and I can't wait to see what our little vacation home looks like in a few years.

Reference

Muljana, P. S., & Luo, T. (2023). Pursuing professional learning by using social media: How do instructional designers apply self-regulated learning? Research in Learning Technology, 31. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v31.2934