Kids Schooling On Extended Trips?

[JCOJ]

For those that have done the Big Lap, or have gone on extended trips - how did you do the kids schooling?

We will get all the details from the Education Dept as far as what to teach etc, but I more want to know how long you spent on it, how often, did you find it easy to schedule in or a pain, and are there any hints or tips you could give.

[HEM19X]

John, great news that you guys are heading off before the boys get too old!

No experience but ran into some people last week with their billy lids, schooling as [almost] every day for a 1 or 2 hours with guidance from their local school and the School of the Air also. If they missed out one day, it was caught up the next one.

[outbackjack]

We went to QLD  State Educations  departement of distance eduction.

The gave us all the info we needed etc. My daughter did grade 1 last year whilst we lived in the Philippines.

There are plenty who do it and if you search the internet there are lots of people travelling Australia doing it.

[Kit_e_kat9]

When we did our lap, both we girls were in school - she in primary & me in high school.  Teachers were approached before the school year began.  Books were procured early.  Mum was given a "they should know this" and a plan of what would occur in class whilst we were on the road.  Any time there was something tricky, Mum had a phone number to call (the principle I think).  Stuff was posted back to school. 

Think I turned out alright.   

Kit_e

[dazzler]

When we did our 4 month trip we had a 6yo in yr 1 and a 13yo in yr 7.

We found our school as useless as  (insert metaphor) so ended up doing it ourselves.  Basically we got some maths and english text books for their ages/yrs and had them work through those.

When we spotted something of interest we would stop and ask them questions about it and have them write about it in their books.  An example is we were at a trestle rail bridge in VIC and so I had the yr7 explain the engineering side of it - why was it narrower at the top, what shapes gave it strength etc.

The Yr1 would identify shapes, count the beams on one side and then multiply them etc.

They also had reading books that were at there age level similar to school.  Not perfect but they fit back in when we returned.

I think a lot depends on their age.  We are thinking of doing it again however will wait for our oldest to finish Yr 12 and that will give us a a Yr 7, a yr 2 and a Kidnigardener.

Have fun!

[barneys]

what about if you in roll in one of the distance education eg katherine school of the air  broken hill school of the air . in nsw , one would think sa would hve the same type of thing its all done over the net now

[Marie_R]

During our trip last year we spoke to a lot of families with school-aged children and were interested in how they were educating them (just curious as our kids are long gone with kids of their own).

Some were doing distance education and others were doing "home schooling".  Those doing home schooling said they felt it was less of a burden than distance education as they could do it at their own pace when it suited them and the kids sit for assessment tests at some stage to make sure they're up to standard.  However we were told that distance education had work to be done and sent in on a regular basis, so they sometimes needed to stop in one place for a couple of days of school work days to get things done on time.

One family said they had simply pulled the kids out and would let them catch up next year.  I'm not sure if this is actually legal, and I imagine the kids would then end up older than their class-mates in the future.

One thing we did observe - all the kids we met were nice, well adjusted children who could relate to adults as well as other children and were having a ball.  I imagine they were also learning a lot of great stuff they would not learn in school.

We didn't go camping and travelling like this when our family was young, but given my time over again with what I know now, I think I would do it.

[Hewy54]

I have not done the big lap with kids, but have met up with many on our travels.
Depends a lot on the age of the kids and how long you are away. A family approached me early this year before their big trip so I checked out a couple of options for them (I am a secondary school maths teacher).
"School of the Air" in SA is the Open Access College and looks after distance education for students who cannot get to a classroom for an extended period of time. The restriction is that lessons take place at certain times and access to the internet is needed. This is not always possible.
I discussed the situation with my principal and the students parents and we agreed that the natural learning that will occur on such a trip far outweighs the formal learning in a classroom. We arranged for the student to have a maths text book and the programme for the next 6 months, and for her to keep a journal for her trip. The parents need to simply apply for an exemption for the period of time( through the school) and this is then approved by the area office.
With lots of notice, a number of projects can be set for various subjects and it does not become a difficult task.
Liaise with the school and I am sure they will help out where possible

[fuji]

I can't wait to take my 6 y.o. out for 7 weeks next year. She will learn alot on the road. After the Kimberley trip last year she certainly seemed more knowledgeable then the other kinder kids. But then again I am biased.

[D4D]

We are thinking of doing it again however will wait for our oldest to finish Yr 12 and that will give us a a Yr 7, a yr 2 and a Kidnigardener.

Dazzler I think you need to buy either a heater or a TV

[dazzler]

Dazzler I think you need to buy either a heater or a TV

  

[stepheng]

I have got three kids and took four months of recently. It really only affected my eldest as he was in primary school (grade 1) and the next one in prep. We met a lot of people doing home schooling and to be honest, i thought it was a bit much. They got big packs and they had to mail them in, organise drop offs and teleconferencing. The parents and the kids were stressed out about it all.

We just took out kids out of school and told them we are home schooling. We tried to sit him down for an hour a day for writing, and he reads a bit anyway. We decided after we weren't going to harrass him and I actually believe he learnt (so did the others) more just travelling, animals, geography, team work, making fires, stars, sunsets, confidence,dangers, to be creative and how to socialise. The kids will love the experience but if they are forced to do school work like they would normally do, the kids will hate it and the adults will too. At the end of the day you are their best teacher and you will know what is best but they learn a lot just traveling.