Homeschooling a child under 10 whilst doing "the lap"

[Wazza2 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wazza2]

So the idea was put on the table to head for Cape York in 2014. This then extended to a possible lap of this great country. My long service leave needs using for what it is, the holiday of a lifetime. If I could haggle half pay that might give us 24 weeks. If!

But what about school for our daughter?

No doubt pros and cons for going this way and also for just extending an existing school holiday break.

What do you think?

Can any PPers share their real life experience of a similar break from mainstream schooling?

[smakb Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close smakb]

We were not gone for as long, but the school for our kids said that the experience was better education than what they could give them. With that we did several things:-

1, Took a maths book and did maths in the car whilst driving.
2, they wrote up reports on each leg that were submitted to the English and Geography teacher for assessment.
3, connected to her class once every two weeks via a laptop and Skype and gave a report on what had been seen. We always made sure we were in a interesting place for when these were planned.
4, collect dirt samples from around the country for comparison.

Just keep involved with the education and they will be fine.

Contact the school as they will assist with what they want. Once they are in high school it becomes 10 x harder. 10 to 12 years of age is perfect as it will not mess up there education and they are old enough to remember it.


Steve

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

Sounds like very good advice above.

[pradogang Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pradogang]

Contact the Brisbane School of Distance Education for advice. As a former teacher I would say go for it as they will learn a lot about our great country.

cheers

Jim

[Wazza2 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wazza2]

Thanks for the replies.

Steve there's some good options in how you did it. Connecting with her school regularly would help keep the excitment going and alleviate some of the angst about leaving the established friends for so long.

Great to hear some schools respond positively this sort of thing too

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Our daughter Lily was only 5 when we did our 6 month lap in 2010. We took along exercise books and worked out of these regularly.

We met a family travelling with girls aged 7 and 9 and spent a lot of our trip travelling together as it turned out. Their mum was very involved in school support and is now training to support kids with learning difficulties. She just had the kids write a journal most days. Yelling at their youngest who was reluctant to do her journal each day became an evening ritual that gave us all a laugh. When we returned they said their kids were bored in school because they had over-taken the school classes for reading and writing.

If your kid's in a class with 20 other kids it's unlikely they'll get the same 1 on 1 time with a teacher that they'll get with you spending just a little time each day or so. Aside from regular learning Lily learnt plenty about Australia, seasons & climate, animals and people, the stars and self reliance that can't be taught so easily or engagingly in the class room.

Lily was very shy at first but her desire to play with other kids made her bold and she never seemed to have any trouble finding friends to play with on the trip. She got pretty good at identifying camper set-ups with beds for kids (Jayco's and vans with bunk windows). When there were no kids she'd bail-up some grey nomads and talk to them.

Hope this helps.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

As a former teacher I would say go for it as they will learn a lot about our great country.

I'm a teacher as well and I would say go for it, not that you need my approval. Your daughter is at an age where she could record a journal as well, be it in a paper form or in an ongoing word document on the laptop (if she doesn't all ready have a phone or camera get her one so she can take and upload pictures to add to her journal. Got my teacher hat on now, but you could probably be as lazy as you want when it comes to school work and I'm sure she will take a lot out of the trip anyway, or you could integrate your trip around Australia into a unit of work that she doesn't even know is happening. You've got all sorts of activities within your trip, like recording how many kilometres you travel each day and adding them up, creating a tally sheet and recording things she sees. e.g animal warning road signs. Record which state or territory she see's the most registration plates of( my mum got us to do this when we went to America we had to try and see if we would see every state plate and record which one we saw the most, it got us looking out the window more often on our trip). You can get her to write on a post card from each town and send it back to her class as well to keep her writing as well.

Anyway there is heaps of learning to be had on a trip around Australia and it doesn't necessarily have to just be out of text books or activity books that you buy from a book shop or educational store, so be creative and make it fun and if she can link up with her current class or classmates on skype whilst on the trip it would certainly help her fit back in when she returns to boring old school lol.

Depending on the sort time she is gone and how supporting your school and teacher is the only issue you may have would be to do with the legality of school attendance. If she is not attending a school for a certain period you may find she has to be enrolled in distance education. So worth talking to the school about your options there.

[Wazza2 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wazza2]

Mcgonical it sounds like you had the trip we are thinking of. No doubt it happens a bit that families end up travelling similar routes and building friendships in so doing. Your "evening ritual" is easy to picture. Always good to have entertainment with you Also, our Laura sounds similar to your Lily in being a bit shy at times. The trip could help crack that shell

Playdoh completing some of the recording/writing you mentioned seems a great way to incorporate learning within the trip. With 2 geeky parents the linking up via skype should be an option too. Should be......

I've been sharing the replies with my better half and the whole idea is growing on her too. Thanks heaps for sharing your ideas and experiences

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

good thread.

I have got a 4.5 and a 6.5 year old, I will be heading off on trips starting next year. My wife was a primary school teacher and we have discussed this a few times, she wasn`t worried about it. Kids can be doing a daily journal and using maps, camera, video camera, laptop and whatever we think we need to keep them occupied. I got a few books on Birds, Australian Amphibians and Reptiles and Plants, that will come in handy. Be great to put a dvd/presentation together to show class and grandparents and keep for down the track.
Math exercises can be done in the car using number plates and other things.
Get them involved in planning trips on the map and planning of dinners, lunches and walks.