Homeschooling, and Worldschooling
Wehave been homeschooling our family since my Oldest daughter entered 1st grade. My wife and I evaluated our options of local schooling in our very rural area, the private school options, and the possibility of custom tailoring and education to meet the needs of the child. Well she researched it and first told me about homeschooling. Personally I thought it was crazy. We’re both products of local public school educations, who both did well in school and wound up with 4 year degrees in STEM fields from acclaimed schools in our fields, and we both had nicely paying careers. She gave me lots of books to read and showed me the research, and eventually I came around.
The quality of the education that the kids can receive is directly proportional to the amount of work put into designing curriculum, learning educational systems, and teaching. We decided that the best education and opportunity we could give our family was to have her stay home and become a home educator. We just finished the 7th year of it, and this fall we’ll have one 8th grader, one 6th grade, and one second grader. So far it has been a great ride, and I think it’s the best thing we have done for our family.
We like to use lots of field trips and make vacations learning experiences at every chance. There’s an active subset of Homeschoolers called Worldschoolers where they take that to the extreme. Basically making extended long term slow travel around the world with a family and using every opportunity along the way at new locations to teach the kids around the world rather than just at home. That then leads to Roadschooling.
Homeschooling on the Road
How does roadschooling work? Roadschooling is a growing trend in which families pack up their belongings and take their homeschooling on the road. Many families who embrace this lifestyle integrate what they are seeing and experiencing into their child’s homeschool curriculum. This is the way it’s described on Time 4 Learning’s website, and also where I found these great Roadschooling Pictures!
Homeschoolers are able to use the landmarks and attractions they encounter as a means for educational enhancement and exploration. Students don’t just read about the Constitution, they can view the original document. They can spend a day focusing on bats and echolocation when they learn that the next day they will be traveling near a bat conservation exhibit. Even stopping for a pizza can turn into a teachable moment about pepperoni pie and fractions. These are just some of the benefits of roadschooling.
This hands-on, experiential way of learning appeals to many families and accounts for the growth of roadschooling nationwide. Although roadschooling will look and feel different for every family, it is an approach that fits families who prefer:
- Unscheduled and impromptu learning experiences
- The ability to integrate travel with the subjects and themes they are learning about
- A desire to help children make connections between educational material and the world around them.