If you ask the question: “What is world schooling?” you’re likely to get numerous different answers. It can be as varied as the families who do it, as KELLY EDEN found out recently.
Angela was working as a travel agent when she met a family who’d rented their house out and travelled the world for a year. She’d never heard of world schooling before, but she knew then it was what she wanted to do. Years later, when she and her husband sold their business, they finally had the chance to make their world schooling dream a reality.
Angela was already homeschooling their youngest children, aged five and eight, so they pulled their 13-year-old out of school in New Zealand and set off around the globe for four months.
“You don’t need to be a homeschooler to do it,” says Angela. “You can just go for a short period of time. You’re world schooling if you’re taking your kids on holidays.”
Marcy, a mother of 13- and 14-year-old boys, has also always had a passion for travel. She homeschools from their base in Canada, but four to five times a year, they take their schooling abroad. Sometimes they travel for four or more months at a time, or just take a week away. For Marcy and her boys, travelling gives them a break from their homeschooling routine.
“Real world experience like figuring out the London subway system is what is most important for life, not how to do algebra or answer Language Arts comprehension questions,” says Marcy.
The world as a classroom
That seems to be the theme for world schoolers: Real-world experiences can teach lessons that are just as valuable as those learned in the classroom.
Some world schoolers do traditional or online school for a few hours each day, while others leave bookwork behind and take their lessons from the cultures and new experiences they encounter.
Initially, Angela and her family set off with a suitcase full of books, but in Rome, doing bookwork with her oldest two children in the hotel room and watching her youngest child play in a Roman solider costume, she suddenly realised the streets of Rome were beneath them and had an a-ha moment.
“From then on I moved to just reading stories with them and swung into world schooling at that point. I saw learning in everything and it really came alive,” says Angela.
Tips from the experts
Travelling with kids takes planning and Angela has learnt tips that make it easier.
“Make sure your family unit can move all your luggage without needing additional support,” she says. “And give your young kids a little backpack of their stuff for familiarity, which can help with culture shock.”
She also encourages families to slow the travel down and get to know the locals, as world schooling can feel isolating.
“Going slower and having conversations with the locals are just some of the best experiences,” says Angela.
Marcy agrees. “World schooling can be exhausting,” she says. “Find travel buddies.”
Read more: << Why families should consider slow travel >>
