Itinerant Home Schooling

[Guest NomadicDragon]

I'm eligible to retire in a few years and I've given a great deal of thought to homeschooling my children once I do. I've also been planning to spend 1-2 years traveling around the world, slowly. Ideally, I'd like to combine the two activities so that they can enjoy the experience of travel with me rather than wait until they leave home. We've traveled a lot abroad as a family, but always during school breaks. My children will be starting 7th and 10th grades when we begin.

 

I know many people have homeschooled while living as expats overseas. Has anyone done it while doing long-term travel? If so, I'd appreciate hearing what worked and what didn't. I foresee us spending 2-4 weeks in each location.

 

[Miss Tick]

Wow, that sounds really neat! I seem to remember a board member a while back whose family lived on a sailboat. There is a current member whose family are OTR truckers. There are also lots of threads about homeschooling out of a suitcase, and the like.

 

I don't know how much of this applies to high school aged kids, though. You will probably want to think about what you plan for afterward. Meaning, I'd you're oldest will want to head right into college on your return, you will want to keep entrance requirements in mind. Check out the high school board for discussion on that.

[Beth S]

There are lots of bloggers who homeschool as they travel, and you can read about their experiences.

 

Lisa Whelchel did it about 10 years ago.

There was a family who drove down through the middle of South America with a vegetable-oil-for-fuel camper.

I can't find the links quickly, but it actually not too unusual.

 

History/Science usually centers around the locations you are visiting.

They can blog or otherwise journal their experiences for language arts.

 

I'm sure others will share more info. . . I just wanted to quickly encourage you to pursue it.

 

[NotSoObvious]

This dad did that with his two sons.

 

http://www.twelveintwelve.org

 

You should also check out Families on the Road and other blogs. There are a lot of families who travel full time while homeschooling and many of them blog.

[Elisabet1]

Wow, that sounds really neat! I seem to remember a board member a while back whose family lived on a sailboat. There is a current member whose family are OTR truckers. There are also lots of threads about homeschooling out of a suitcase, and the like.

 

I don't know how much of this applies to high school aged kids, though. You will probably want to think about what you plan for afterward. Meaning, I'd you're oldest will want to head right into college on your return, you will want to keep entrance requirements in mind. Check out the high school board for discussion on that.

Was that the family that was in Phuket when the Tsunami happened?

 

We want to travel too. DH works from home now.

[Guest NomadicDragon]

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I have a few years to plan this out but I'm excited about the idea.

[Catherine]

There was someone local to my area whose twin daughters graduated from high school 3 years ago. They sold all of their possessions and bought a boat. They sailed around the world for 2 or 3 years. What an amazing experience for the daughters.