This post was written after our first full year of homeschooling around the world. We continues homeschooling worldwide for another 6 years until lockdowns forced us to stop home or world schooling. This is our year end wrap up after homeschooling in Sri Lanka, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the UK and many more countries. We even took a homeschooling cruise and found many educational oportunities there. The following is what I originally wrote at the end of 1 year of homeschooling in the world.
“It’s really hard to quantify learning. The knowledge the boys have acquired through our 1 year journey, 4 continents and 12 countries, is immense, quite staggering really. Here are some of our homeschooling, or, if you prefer, world schooling or unschooling, highlights.
We didn’t just try worldschooling for a year, my kids’ whole education has revolved around worldschooling, but this post was written at the end of our first 12 months of travel. Find out more about around the world travel with kids here. This post should give you an idea of what and how much kids can learn out in the real world, instead of confined to classrooms.
I’m not talking about the personal qualities and emotional development here, nor the book learning, just the things that most people would recognise as “school” that the kids have picked up naturally through global strewing without having to attend. That is almost what is called unschooling, it is worldschooling or natural learning.
Unschooling is by definition fully child lead learning. There are a lot of definitions in the homeschooling world, we mostly ignore all of them and just do what works for us.
These are just the highlights, the things that spring to my mind right now, a taster if you like. There is so much more. If you’re anxious about taking your child out of school to travel, please, don’t be. Just read and get a feel for the sort of learning travelling kids pick up. It’s pretty phenomenal.
If then you want more, try our guide to world schooling.
This post was written when both boys were under 10. I think I had a 7 year old and a 9 year old. Now I have a worldschooling teenager in his high school years and an 11 year old. Their unconventional education and interesting nomadic lifestyle is still keeping us all happy and the knowledge flowing. They and we are very happy with our choices.
The Learning Travelling or “World Schooling” Kids Pick Up. A Taster
Countries, Continents, Oceans and Seas.
They’d beat most adults on this!
They’ve crossed the Atlantic twice and sailed through the Sargasso Sea. They’ve visited the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean.
They know where Laos is and what it’s like. Plenty of adults don’t.
They know that Central America is part of North America. (same)
They’re good.
A lot of our Geographical learning came from our favourite Explorers book that we read over and over again in Thailand. There is a link to the book in this post.
Blogging and Computer Skills.
Both of them can now use the WordPress interface, write and publish a blog post. That’s not a school skill, it’s a job skill.
They also made a video post, planned, produced and scripted themselves. Boo interviewed his brother. His blog is called Boy Around the World and it was on wordpress.com, a free blogging platform. If you are interested in setting up a real blog or website, like this one, you can find out how here.
Photo Editing Skills.
They can crop, enhance, re-size, add captions and effects. More importantly, they love doing it. This is one of Boo’s efforts for his blog.
Languages.
They know a decent amount of Spanish and words of greeting in many languages. It’s a good start.
We’ll continue with our Spanish over the summer, maybe work on our French too. They know why so many countries speak Spanish and that there are many variations on the language.
Maths
My 7 year old can convert between Baht, Laos Kip and Dollars faster than I can!
Basic arithmetic comes easily and naturally, particularly when they have plenty of practice.
History
History has been huge. You can’t escape history as you travel and learning history from the real world is absolutely the best way to understand and discover.
The Spanish conquest of Central America has been a big topic.
They know everything they need to know about the Mayans thanks to 7 weeks in Central America and an amazing guide at Tikal.
The Mayans are still around today, we stayed in a Mayan town, heard their language and watched them worship.
The spice trade, ancient conquests and trade routes cropped up over and over again.
The history of the USA, slavery and the civil war was something we re visited.
We learnt more about World War II history in Kanchanaburi, at the bridge on the River Kwai and related museums.
Vietnam war history in Laos was inescapable, we saw that the effects of the American cluster bombings still continue today.
This post was written after just one year of worldschooling, one year of full time family travel. We continued this journey for many more years and have other posts on travel as education on this site.
Music and Dance
We have watched classical Kanyan dance in Sri Lanka along with flamenco, jazz, Latin and jive on a cruise ship.
They have seen tribute bands perform Elvis, Katy Perry, Frankie Valley, and the Beatles. D got up on stage to sing with the Fab Four and sang 80s karaoke with his team of lovely backing singers several times.
We have car-sung our way around the USA, seen live jazz and blues performed on the streets in New Orleans and really got to grips with the development of music in the South from slave days to Elvis.
We sang Christmas carols for pensioners on a wonderful evening with the vicar and her crew in Wales. Our travel has brought endless musical opportunities. I’d take this over learning to play the recorder any day.
Art
The boys have seen hundreds of works by Salvador Dali at his Theatre Museum in Figueres, Catalonia and watched his movie collaboration with Walt Disney in the art gallery on Norwegian Getaway.
They have briefly visited London’s National Gallery to see the Van Goughs, we ‘ll be back for more.
They know something about Islamic art and why it is as it is and they’ve visited The Tate Modern several times.
Science
We spent just 3 hours at London’s Science Museum and recapped simple machines, Newton’s laws, magnetism, electricity generation and circuits. I watched a few dads fail to set up the circuits correctly, we got it right!
We visited Petrosains, another science museum, in Kuala Lumpur, it focussed more on the petrochemical industry. (This would be one of the best places to take kids in Kuala Lumpur)
The kids helped care for injured turtles in Sri Lanka. They already knew about the dangers of marine pollution thanks to our work with Tangaroa Blue, but this brought it home even more strongly.
We’ve talked about flower structure and function on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka.
We’ve addressed pollinators and pollination, crop rotation and farming methods.
Is all this science or geography? the division is blurry, it’s great that we can approach subjects as a whole not put them in boxes.
Sports and Games
The boys are now good at pool and darts, D even won a certificate for darts in Malaysia. They’re happy to take on adults and have done, often. Say what you will, both games are good life skills.
On both cruises they have played team and individual games with other children in kids’ club.
They became proficient kayakers on Ko Phangan, D is as good as us and just as confident on the water.
The kids tried real archery in Kuala Lumpur, something they’ve been desperate to try since a friend produced home-made bows and arrows for them back home.
As a family we have played boules, Laos and Thai volleyball.
Tested their physical skills and bravery through tubing, caving and kayaking in Laos and taking on huge climbing walls on both cruise ships was great for them.
I will never forget them both dancing standing on kayaks as we floated down the rapids while new Korean friends sang Gangnam Style for them.
Religion
These children of mine have visited Cathedrals, Churches, Buddhist Temples, Mosques, Hindu temples and seen ancient Mayan religious practices.
They know which religions belong where on the globe and they know all that they need to know about Jesus , the Romans and Christianity after spending Easter in Guatemala.
We visited with the Amish in Pennsylvania.
They know that you have to dress in a certain manner and respect different religions, each in their own way.
Heck, they even know all about voodoo!
Hover and click, add this to your Pinterest collection. This photo was taken at a science museum in Kuala Lumpur and you can find out all about it in our Kuala Lumpur with Kids post. It’s a worldschoolers’ dream of a city!
Health and Hygiene
Vaccinations, immune reactions, personal cleanliness and health risks crop up again and again.
My scientific background is very handy here, I’d say they were on high school level already.
Homeschooling Around The World For A Year – Other Learning
Sorry, I forgot to mention a few things the kids learned from homeschooling worldwide.
- The Smithsonian aviation museum in Washington DC where the boys tried their hands at flying planes, learnt about the Wright brothers and saw the Enola Gay, sparking questions about the end of the war. They saw their favourite explorer’s actual flying suit and know what an incredible woman Amelia Earhart was.
- The New York Natural History Museum, the Night at the Museum one, where they got a taste of Indiginous North American peoples and their lives. They saw totem poles for the first time and then saw more on our day in the Everglades.
- They watched a solar eclipse.
- We saw a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral and toured Kennedy Space Centre for the second time, there’s not much they don’t know about space exploration. They met an astronaut!
- We’ve compared and contrasted climatic zones and ecosystems. We saw our first sub-tropical rainforest and how different it is to those we know well from living in the tropics, the tropical sort.
- Adaptation of plants and animals to their environments were big topics. We saw a live octopus in a rockpool, blue whales and mongooses in Sri Lanka and black squirrels in Canada.
- They have seen chocolate being made, silk worms and weavers at work to make fabrics, watched craftsmen make every kind of wooden or woven object. The kids owned a Laos violin for a while and busked with it, just for fun. They have seen that there are many, many job possibilities in the world beside teacher, fireman or doctor.
- They’ve seen the variation in staple foods around the world and seen the effort that goes into their production.
So what do you think, have I convinced you? I can’t post photos of the friends they’ve made, from all cultures and countries and of all ages, but there are many, some, I hope, we will see again. What do you think, school or travel ( world schooling) ? Which gives kids the most extensive and amazing education?
If I haven’t convinced you, let me know, I’ll keep on trying. This is an old post written during the boys’ first full year of travel. We’d only been worldschooling for a year. What they have learned through travel and exposure to the world ( alongside conventional online tools and books) has been quite phenomenal. If you’re looking for information on what one year of worldschooling costs or how to afford worldschooling, that information is also on our website. We also have a post on equipment you need to worldschool. Sign up to follow and share with your friends.
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Sorry it is so late thanks for replying
It’s mid-morning here 🙂
I’m not an adult yet or a parent but I think this sounds amazing and when I do have kids would love to do this
That’s good to hear Jessica. When I was younger I always wanted to homeschool, but when my kids came along there was a lot of peer pressure to conform and put them in school with all the other kids. It’s hard to break free of what everyone else is doing and a lot of people will dislike you for it. But stick to your guns, believe in yourself and in your kids. I have the proof and the outcome right here. Don’t be a sheep.
I found that travel is by far the most educational experience I’ve ever had, so no need to be convinced. I am at the moment grappling with basics. How does one set up an “area” where kids can keep up with more traditional curriculums like math? I am prone to chaos and disorganization, so I find that my first concerns are: How will I keep things tidy? Where will I store stuff? And…how will I provide a clutter-free, designated space to work?
So you’re talking about worldschooling not homeschooling right? If you choose to do formal learning like that ( which most don’t it’s not necessary) you’ll be doing it in hotels , cafes, bars and restaurants. Wherever you can sit quietly at a table for an hour or so. You just have a couple of books in your bag and a laptop or three, so there’s no mess consideration at all. There’s no ” keeping up” because there’s nothing to keep up with. You’ve left the system. You have to carry your gear, so you keep it minimal. Online tools such as Studdy Ladder, Khan Academy, there’s loads, plus either a note book or work book each and some pencils. But I’m telling you for a fact that kids pick up the basics of maths without any teaching required at all and once they get to high school level the content isn’t relevant to life. So you make a choice. Are the kids going to continue to learn formal maths for the purposes of passing exams…and that is the only purpose. Or do you leave them free to explore subjects, topics and elements of life that they enjoy – which could be maths- but more likely something they will create their future income around.
YES! I love this so much! There is SO much to learn in the world and your kiddos are getting a first hand account! Keep doing what you’re doing!!
Thank you Taryn. And that was only year 1 !
This is so amazing!!! I love this blog! The best!!! We are starting our one year world tour April 1st 2020!!!
as well. We are NV residents. They are homeschool under that law. Its easy no state test etc requirements unless I want to test them.
I’m excited for my girls! They are 11 & 8 they will continue gymnastics, dance and volunteer work on the tour..
I learned so much from your blog!!
My question is this…
What country are you originally from?
Who regulate it?
Nevada , USA isn’t strict so that’s the good news!
I want to be compliant… I guess! You seem to have tons of knowledge!
We do have 9 subjects. I need that structure because I have a Mobile Ministry and two companies!
Thank you in advance! Please don’t laugh at my ignorance on this matter!!
We are British Taryn. The UK has great homeschool regulation. Parents simply have to provide their kids with a quality education. They can either do that by employing a school or some other way. This is a very, very old post, maybe 7 or 8 years old. I’m surprised you found it. I’ll need to re-read it and see what’s in it.
This served as an inspiration for our family. We are embarking on world schooling slowly.. ????????
Hi Alyson,
I too, like the many of us applaud your approach, choice, life. Your children will look back and owe so much to these years of sacrifice. I am comparing your journey(s) with my plans…. We live in the US, but My family is from Suriname and I was born in The Netherlands. I am no longer willing to send my daughters to a substandard public school, instead I am planning to take them to meet and learn more about their family and culture. and I am already experiencing so much negativity….I’m sure I don’t have to go down the list… reading the many comments have encouraged me more and I am now determined to do this! I would like more information about how you manage to fund everything and what your opinion is on doing this as a single mother, perhaps you know of single parents already engaged in this wonderful life style….?BTW, I am really excited about finding your site and I hope that we can exchange experiences and information.
Thank you!
-Monique (Mother of a 8 and 10 year old)
Hi Monique. If you go to our money section, under categories, you’ll find posts on how we saved for a year, spent $30K in our first year and now fund our further travels through blogging and some casual work. Try here https://worldtravelfamily.com/category/money-to-travel/
All the very best of luck, sounds like a wonderful plan. I know two single mums, both bloggers, Lainie Liberty of Raising Miro and Project Worldschol and Ruth Johnson of Explorermum and Explorerson. Catch you later!
Hello! I just stumbled across your blog and was curious to know if you and your family are still ‘on the road’? We recently embarked upon a similar journey, and I am curious about your methods of teaching. I, too, am home/un/world schooling (whichever you want to call it), and I wondered how you plan your days. Do you schedule your days/weeks/months in advance, based on where you are, or do you just see what each day brings and make a learning opportunity out of it? I have 3 children (10, 4, and 2), so they’re all learning at very different paces. We’ve been on the road for 4 months now, but I don’t quite feel like we’re in a comfortable place where we’re maximizing our opportunity to learn about what’s around us. I appreciate any feedback! I can’t wait to read more of your posts!
Yes we are. We’e in Nepal, just returned from Everest region. Too much information to put in a comment, sorry. Maybe I can write a post for you or put this question on Facebook. Did you sign up to follow?
Lovely. Nepal is definitely on our list of places to visit.
Thank you for your reply. I do believe I went through all the subscription steps. You are welcome to post my question on Facebook. I will try to find you on there to follow as well.
Looking into taking a year off of public school and travel with my sixth grader (will be 11). We have traveled all over Europe but will be heading back to the states this year. Do you work while you ‘world school?’. I am a teacher but will be taking the year off and I’m trying to figure out how to finance this and make it a reality for my kid. I do have some money saved but was looking for helpful advice.
I’m a professional travel blogger April. My work brings in maybe enough to fund 1 person on the road. Mostly we live off savings. But while we travel I hardly focus on work, there’s just no time unless we stop somewhere for a month. I work from 4am, while the kids are asleep, but in India, with mostly no in-room wifi, that has been impossible. There are lots of posts about money on the blog. Try here https://worldtravelfamily.com/6-ways-change-life-become-free/ or here https://worldtravelfamily.com/cost-breakdown-1-year-travel/
Hi Alison,
We’re also from Queensland! My main concern is, if our children choose to attend UNI how is that done without any proof of ‘conventional ‘ schooling and a certificate? Our children are 12, 12, 11, & 4. They love travel and are constantly asking when are we off again. We are wanting to go abroad for 12 months, the children have no anxieties about leaving it all behind for a year long adventure, I however, have no idea where to start!
There are many alternate pathways. Some attend TAFE and go in via that route. You need no proof of schooling, no record, that is a misconception. You could just go back to school for the final year and do the exams, some do open unversity courses and get in that way, some get in through their own merit, through portfolios of whatever it is they are passionate about. I don’t know the Australian system well, I’m British, mine will be using the UK system. May I suggest you find Homeschool Australia and ask there, you’ll get more knowledgeable responses from parents, and grandparents, who have already been there. There are many reports and studies online reflecting how universities give preference to homeschooled kids because they are there because they want to be, not just following the herd. Entry requirements are similar to those for mature students, ie. different.
Hi,
I just wanted to say WOW! This has been my dream for so long, and after falling pregnant unexpectedly, I thought that was it. Your blog has completely opened my eyes! I will definitely be following your blog from now on and hopefully starting to plan for our own escape!
Thank you so much!
Sophie
Hi There,
We are Aussies travelling the world with 3 kids aged 3, 6 and 9. I am a teacher but I am in a phase of “are we doing the right thing??” I was really pleased to stumble across your blog. I would love to contact you personally to ask a few questions and just make contact with a like minded person. Do you mind emailing me please? nic@mozzee.com
I hope to hear from you:) I am dreadful at finding the blogs I visit after having visited them:-)
Thanks,
Nicola
My kids keep asking me when am I going to stop working so I can stay home and teach them! I think they learn an amazing amount of life skills and knowledge about our world on our adventures. I love your post.
I’ve lived a similar life. It’s interesting and builds a lot of personality. Really important at a young age and most won’t realize it’s benefits until they get to a certain age of appreciation. Thanks Alyson
Thanks for sharing this! We have loved the idea of traveling with kids (hope to one day with our kids) and you guys are such a great example of how this can be done! Kudos! Your kids will never forget their time traveling! We have loved the quote “I don’t want to know how much you know but how much you have traveled.” Because this is really how you learn about life! Thanks for the post!
So fascinating!!
I ran into som Germans also when travelling and they were shocked that I could just take my kids out of school with just an email to the school board.. My high schooler did his courses online, he is still not back in school but when he returns in September he will be one credit ahead and hopefully he will be finished high school a half year early so he can go to Asia for 6 months with us (we are Canadian and he is just finishing grade 9 and we go to grade 12 here).
I have three that are school age and each of their schools were supportive of them leaving school to travel, funny how different countries see it so differently! One couple from England said they would be fined if they took their kids out even a day early for vacation…so odd!
Your giving your kids a great education!
You’re right, in the UK you’re not allowed to take kids out of school during term time. They cracked down after so many parents did just that to take advantage of cheap package holidays. But that grand word “travel” is a totally different animal. Taking them out of school and registering them as homeschooled is also completely different. Homeschool registration in the UK is very simple. I met a German dad once, a teacher, who was travelling full time specifically so that he didn’t have to put his daughter in school, he didn’t want that for her so he’d voted with his feet.
Awesome-that is all!
The definitive post on #unschooling #travelschooling #worldschooling. Bravo!!
And yes, it takes a lot of time, energy and effort to enable the degree of engagement you have been able to facilitate for your boys. Well done you and Chef. I often think unschooling can be a lot more work for parents than traditional homeschooling. I am so looking forward to relinquishing the cares of a home and traditional domesticity when our rental tenancy is up later this year. Have you found the freedom away from such things to be a bonus, during your past year of travel? And as always, thanks for sharing everything. You guys are such an inspiration!
They definitely pick up so much when they’re fully engaged, and travel is a great way to turn that engagement on. The teachers at school ask us all the time if we teach our kids at home and we don’t – we just go places, see things, answer questions.
What a wonderful year for the boys. My 2 kids are also homeschooled and every year I think what have we done this year and am then super amazed when I put together their end of year reviews. We live near Washington Dc and travel when possible (mainly I the USA).
Hello Alyson,
I think you are doing a wonderful job, and I firmly believe that only by travelling the skies, the crescent becomes full moon! (some arab philiosopher said this once.) However, I do wonder how long you can unschool/worldschool your kids. Eventually they may need/want a college degree of some kind, no? And some of the skills you need to obtain a degree are basically taught … at schools. I don’t want to make you doubt – on the contrary, the twow unschooled kids I know who wanted to go to college (one to become architect, the other to start a horticultural degree), went to senior high school when they were 18 … and got their high school diploma (baccalauréat) in one or two years. They both tried to do the baccalauréat without any “traditional schooling”, but they lacked the basic methodology to succeed. What do you think?
I’m sure the kids won’t be travelling with us at 18! It’s 9-10 years away, I’ll be almost 60. No, they don’t necessarily need any sort of high school certificate to get into university, there are alternate entrance criteria, in Australia they can go in via Tafe or Open University style qualifications, which they can start younger than 18 if they want to. Or they could do those school exams if that’s their choice in a couple of years which makes a joke of all the years the other kids spend in school. I’d be perfectly happy for them not to go to university, it’s only really useful if you have a particular career in mind, I know my degree was , career-wise, a waste of time and many of my peers ended up drifting into teaching because they just couldn’t think of anything else to do with their degrees. Loads of others went into things like retail management, my 2 best friends became secretaries after getting degrees. I’m not sure what skills you mean to get a degree, writing an essay is very formulaic, research is a million times easier than it was in my day, there wasn’t much of that at degree level anyway, that only really started when I was doing my masters, don’t know, sorry. An excellent memory and writing fast were the best skills I had, but these days I think they type everything. I hardly even turned up and still got honours, I just read the text books. I reckon Boo will be running several companies by the time he’s 12, he’s an entrepreneur, like my brother ( incredibly successful business man, started his own company not long after leaving school at 16). D wants to work in a book shop. We shall see! That said, university was amazing fun for me, but that would be spoiled these days because the grants have gone so kids have to get jobs and they all end up in debt for years. Another reason not to go. I’ve told them since birth not to be doctors, so not much chance of that happening I don’t think! I don’t know Talitha, I’m rambling a bit, but the short answer is, no, I’m not worried. Another thing I wanted to say, in conversaion with a high school teacher the fact that so many more kids pass exams at high levels came up. She said “Yeah, it’s because of all the project work, their parents help them.” I showed my disgust, she said ” Yeah, well you’ve got to give the less able kids a chance”. Makes a mockery of the whole thing really.
I admire you, Alyson, I really do. I tried homeschooling, but it was a total disaster for me (it turned out I had no patience whatsoever with my own kids) – our kids have certainly learned as much from our travels as they have at school. But in my eyes, it’s 50/50. Then again, my kids have until now done very well at school, they are quite happy to go actually … so that makes it easier for me to see the good sides of the school-system (they did a Theatre-highschool, a Sports-high school, and the youngest is learning Japanese and in autumn will be going to Japan with her school) . I have the feeling (but this may be just an impression) that here in France you have to be able to show some kind of degree if you want to work in certain fields. My oldest is training to work in the equine-tourism-industry, and without the proper diploma, she can never get a job in that sector.
Maybe I’m just terribly conformist and narrow-minded?
Talitha, I have no answers. If my boys got to go to a great school, as I did, I’d have no problems. But the school D went to actually sent him backwards, so it was a no-brainer to take him out. For now, homeschooling is absolutely the best choice for us, but in 6 months, a year… I don’t know.
Is a diploma a university qualification? I think not, but in France would it be?
Diploma’s come in all sorts here in France, and university is not my favourite option (though if you’d want to be a doctor, for example, it’s the only option.) You can get diploma’s from the age of 16 onwards – and there a quite a few alternatives to mainstream education.
I think I would not have kept our kids at school if I had felt they were suffering, or if they had been sent backwards, like D. I think it basically all depends, doesn’t it? If your kids are thriving (like they seem to be) what would you need school for, right now?!
This was really helpful Alyson, I see what you mean now. Maybe there is not so much to fear after all 🙂
Nothing to fear Erin, but you do need to be pro active about it, I put a heck a lot of effort into this level of unschooling. I hope it’s working!
This is awesome Alyson! They have learnt soooo much. We didn’t need convincing that Unschooling is the best choice for our kids, but you have just sealed the deal that travelling IS the best way to Unschool 🙂 Thanks, love ya work!
Thank you Gina. But obviously, we travel with education in mind, we seek out these experiences, It’s not going to work so well on a beach holiday!
Love it! Book learning and school excursions just try (and fail) to replicate the real world. Love that you picked up on the overlap between science and geography (I have a BSc in Applied Physical Geography – much overlap!).
I know Ingi! as a biologist, I talk about physiological and structural adaptations to environment in both plants and animals constantly, you can’t separate that from the physical geography around you. Another thing I should have mentioned is all that geography stuff about natural resources, why ports are where they are, why towns grow around them, we see that stuff all the time. And now I ‘ve just remembered all those lovely fossils we found and the rock formations and layers we saw. It just goes on!
I am also finishing a school year and traveling with my 12/13 yr. old son (he just turned 13). I love how you summarized you learning experiences! We will have to do it officially for the school through which we are doing independent study. It was a great year, and although we didn’t do much pen and paper work, so much learning, adjusting, relating, and understanding happened! I wish we had crossed paths along the way!
In total amazement people knock homeschooling/ unschooling!
We are homeschooling in a country outback town in Australia. I would love to make the world our classroom. We have visited Bali and amazed with what the children were exposed to and the interesting questions our children asked plus how they compared Australian cultural differences and Bali cultural differences along with currencies…to name just a few
It’s hard when you’re stationery Julie. I know my boys know a lot about our tropical environment back home, but they’d got just about as much as they could out of it, it was time to move on. Otherwise you’re left with book and internet learning and that’s a. often inaccurate and b. terribly dry.
Amazing, isn’t it?? I can’t wait to hit the road. We got our house for sale. It will be soon. 🙂
All that in ONLY 1 year!!! And that doesn’t include all of the academic stuff you do too (like helping with their reading etc). BRILLIANT stuff…. when you put it all together you can see how rich their year has been 😀
Hope you never doubt how awesome unschooling and world learning is ever again! You’ve proven how great it is!
Wow this is so inspiring alyson! That is far more than they would learn in school and isn’t even covering all the little things that travel teaches to about dealing with so many different people and cultures. It sounds like lots of fun too! I’m bookmarking this so I can send it to others when they no doubt question our choices in years to come.
Thank you Heidi, deeply, thank you.
Oh I love how you summarized this. We will be homechooling, unschooling whatever it is called this next year. This is so helpful and you even taught me about the Sargasso Sea! I had no idea there was a sea in the Atlantic and I am from the US! So sad. I should really document all we have learned in the past 21 months too, being based in Spain. It is nice to see it in this format. Thanks!
Anyway, we love you guys and so glad we are internet friends Alyson. Can’t wait to meet you guys one day. I am in the middle of writing up a post answering a reader question about “what are you doing about the kids education while you are moving around Asia?”, so I may link back to this one for support!
This is an amazing and formidable list but I’m sure they have experienced so much more too. Their knowledge and awareness of other people’s way of life, their beliefs and customs not to mention all the geographical and historical knowledge they have is wonderful. They are very fortunate to have parents with the get up and go to make it all happen.
Wow! That’s impressive, the French schools our kids go to would take 5 years to cover all that, not one! Keep going, am dead jealous x
Thank you Sonia. I need a bit of reassurance on this one, there will be so many doubters.
Is this awesome or what! My dream is to homeschool my kids, but it is against the law in Brazil. How stupid is that?!?
Really? Brazil too. I’ll add that to the list. So far I only know about Sweden, Croatia and Germany. Terribly sad.
Hi there! We are so envious of you guys and can’t wait to do the same soon. Update your list of ‘illegal-to-homeschool- counties to include Germany, Greece and Greenland too 🙁 Much love x
Hi. I have enjoying following you just over the last couple of weeks and this caught my attention – no home schooling in Brazil. Wow! We are a family of two boys planning to move from New Zealand to Brazil in May 2015!! Just because we can. My husband plans to work at an International School so we have a school option there but I plan to work from home on my online business/blogging (all new to me) and spend more time with the kids. Oh well, the life of travelling has some hiccups along the way and this non-home schooling is one. You learn to roll with it I guess. No doubt I’ll touch base with you along the way if that is ok. Many thanks!
Just do it anyway! Who is going to tell on you? There are so many street kids that don’t go to school and the government is not enforcing the law. I am from Brazil heading that way soon and I will be homeschooling my kids. There are a few families already doing it in the country.