Best grades to pull kids out for travel-schooling?
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Anonymous
Thank you for this perspective. The 1/2 year (or 3/4: Jan-Aug) is definitely something I'd consider as well. My older daughter is less social, quite academic and learns well from me so I think it would actually work quite well for her - it's my younger daughter I'd worry more about from that angle, as she is more social / doesn't take instruction as well from her parents. Though at this point the 2 get along really well and are currently each other's best friends, so that would at least work in favor of the idea, and the younger one would at least still be in a relatively early grade. |
Anonymous
| People does this?! It's my dream but didn't think it was a rational one. |
Anonymous
| Gah, do. |
Anonymous
I know some folks do. Have really been realizing lately that the only one who can pursue my dreams is me, so trying to figure out if this is something I really want, and if so to try and make it happen. And while it still may never work out, I also know that if I don't think / plan for it then it definitely won't. -OP |
Anonymous
Yep. I'm the one who did this for two years. The hardest part was (for me) homeschooling abroad, and re-entry back to the US. We came back twice a year (one week in the summer, one in the winter). |
Anonymous
OP back. PP - can you talk more about your trip? How did you decide on that time frame / those locations? Did you stay in the same locations while there? Was the whole family off at once / anyone working? Interested in general to hear more about your adventure, and of course particularly interested in how you managed all the logistics of making it work. Also any lessons learned you care to share! |
Anonymous
Yes, it is. |
Anonymous
We wanted to teach the kids Spanish and French originally and knew total immersion would be the way they'd REALLY get it. Then DH was like "I'm Italian, you're half Italian, they should know Italian!" We'd done a summer in Europe and it was Just. So. Hectic. DH has relatives in Italy, I have a friend in Paris (and another in Belgium) and a friend in Barcelona. All American transplants. We kind of contacted them and said, "If we moved here for a while, how would that work?" The kids were pushy about wanting time to explore and didn't want to be stuck in school the whole time. We wanted them to be immersed long enough to really grasp the languages. We did stay in the same locations in each country, though we traveled on weekends and during school breaks. So the kids got to hear both Spanish and Catalan, for example. Both girls got a huge kick out of taking ballet in all three countries. We were able to rent out our house while we were gone. The hardest part was to see the kids learn the languages faster than we did. DH owns his own business so having someone manage for him was his biggest logistical challenge, and he came back to the US every 2-3 months for a week. The kids were surprised at a lot of things in Europe (washer/dryer in the kitchen, or the Italian grocery stores, for example) and some they were not excited about at first (two bedroom, fifth floor walk-up in Paris, for example). Ex-pats are pretty cool about sussing you out - someone went running down the block behind us in Italy screaming "Are you American?!" and now Claudia is one of my best friends. I was glad to come home, but also kind of would be happy to go back and do it again. If you do it, plan that when you come home you'll keep things very low key for the first week. No welcome home party. Americans are LOUD, and talk SO MUCH. Also, LOUDDDDD. Certain words still sound funny to the kids. Anyone named Tom, the girls call Tomas - they feel that the American "Tom" sounds way too flat to their ear. |
Anonymous
l My kids love school, love their teachers and enjoy being on their sports teams. Traveling in the summer no problem, traveling and missing a year of school, not so much. I also don't see myself as a great teacher. Socially, they like being around other kids. That does not mean their not happy at home. It means they are balanced and like a home life as well as a kid life. |
Anonymous
My kids would feel the same way. They'd miss their activities, parties, school, schedules, friends, family, home, etc. after an 8 day trip this summer, during which we had a blast, both kids were happy to be home. |
Anonymous
| If you do this internationally, please be sure to check the status of homeschooling in the various places you're thinking of going to. It is flat-out illegal in some countries (Germany, for example) and severely restricted in others. |
Anonymous
Well my kid is bored at school and thinks it takes too long. He likes his teacher and his friends, but he is happy to take the time off to travel. He LOVES to travel, and he's been to lots of different places. He loves learning about the places he's going to and experiencing the different things to do and see and eat. No way he'd ever turn down a chance to travel because he'd miss school. I thought all kids were like that. |
Anonymous
How interesting! I know a lot of expat families from my time abroad for work/ husband's work, but they aren't traveling so much as living somewhere because of an opportunity that comes up via work. Obviously you do a lot of travelling once you live somewhere, but its less time off obviously if you are working a regular job, just in a new place. Your post made me laugh though, my family in Italy and my family here, when we are together.....its LOUD. Its probably one of the things that bridges us being that one branch of the family is distinctly American after 3 generations- the loudness, the language (although that has shifted big time, my Italian is crap) and the view of family is the bridge for sure. |
Anonymous
My daughter loves to travel also and we've been all over the world- but she also loves school (she's engaged and happy there). DD may not mind missing a week of school, but anything beyond that she wouldn't be happy with. |
Anonymous
| We moved to another country for 3 years just for the purpose of travel. DH had office their, and I found another job. Older kid did 3 years of middle school in American school overseas, and younger started ES there. Overall, it was a great experience. They were sad to part with some of their friends in VA, but two of the best friends came to visit us and they stayed in touch via emails. We lived in the same place for three years. We travel a lot during school year (we had to pull them from the school for a period of 2 week), but they were straight A students and never had problems catching up. We wend to see a lot of Asia and Pacifics. We saw a lot of Middle East: UAE, Oman, Quatar, Jordan and Israel.Then we did long driving trips (approximately 2-3 weeks each) in Europe: South France, England and Ireland, Holland, Belgium, South Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Check Republic, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia. We would fly (or take a train when possible) to a selected country, rent a car, and then drive around (we planned a route in advance). In some places we rented apartments if we stayed longer then 3-4 days, in some it was B&B or local farms, in some it was camping. I would say the last year of middle school was getting harder to catch with school mathe and science. We enrolled them back in VA school last summer, no problem with accepting their documents from the American overseas school. |