|
 Travelling, Homeschooling and Loving It!
By Beverley Paine, Aut 2012
On the Unschool Australia Facebook group, Fiona noticed that as a travelling home educator she comes across many families who have taken their children out of school to travel but are stressed because they have to give their children lessons every day so they won't fall behind. This is despite the obvious fact that their children are learning so much simply from travelling! She said that one mum reported that it was the worst thing the family had done as needing to be a teacher as well as mother had ruined her relationship with her children. Fiona noticed that the families that took a relaxed approach to education seemed to enjoy travelling with their children more and could "really see the benefits for their kids, but they're still going to send them back to school when they get home!"
The stress that these parents of school children experience is silly because they can't know what ground is going to be covered by each of the children's teachers while the children are away. They can ask the respective teachers, but will only get a rough guide at best. So in any case, no matter what they do, their children will still either need to catch up in some areas or find they are ahead (and probably end up bored) in others.
Relief teachers face a similar dilemma: they can try to teach what the teacher was teaching (second guessing that teacher's plan and sometimes resources and methodology) or they can come in for a day and cover something completely different, perhaps a unit study in some particular area that the children would not normally cover. I remember one relief teacher focusing on drama for a week with a primary class with the end result of a polished video - this was back when video cameras were still a novelty and mobile phones still the size of bricks. The kids loved it. They didn't fall behind in their other lessons and were using and practicing the skills they'd already learned in those subjects, employing them to enhance their drama production adventure.
Being relaxed about education while travelling certainly helps families to enjoy the travelling experience, but it doesn't mean not focusing on education. People mix the two up all the time. You can be focused on education in a relaxed way. It's the same as saying natural learning or unschooling is an unstructured approach simply because the children aren't regimented into schedules and lesson time slots - nothing is further from the truth. Children naturally engage in complex and structured activities everyday without prompting. On the road everything is more or less planned: where will we go today; what shall we visit; will we go here or there and when we get there, what will we do. All of those questions are springboards to wonderful educational opportunities.
If more families relaxed and enjoyed being fully immersed in the fantastic opportunities for learning that travelling offers, they'd think twice about sending their children back to the limited confines of the classroom!
see also: Travelling and Homeschooling
Was this article helpful? Was it worth $1.00 to you?
Your gift of $1 or more helps to keep this site operating
offering encouragement
and reassurance to families
wanting
better outcomes for their children.
Beverley Paine with her children, and their home educated children, relaxing at home.
Together with the support of my family, my aim is to help parents educate their children in stress-free, nurturing environments. In addition to building and maintaing this website, I continue to create and manage local and national home educating networks, help to organise conferences and camps, as well as write for, edit and produce newsletters, resource directories and magazines. I am an active supporter of national, state, regional and local home education groups.
"You've been an inspiration to me, I love the way
you really listen to people." Vanessa
"Whenever I read your writing I always come away
with increased confidence in my ability to provide and
share a wonderful learning journey with my family!" Davina
"Your guidance, understanding, support and words of
wisdom changed our lives. We now offer support and
organise many homeschooling events for others." Lesley
"Thank you once again for your prompt and friendly service.
I am convinced that your books are going to add
quality and peace of mind to my journey of teaching my kids
at home! Just from studying your website, until almost
2am
in the morning, I 've been encouraged!" Louisa
"Thank you for all your many,many reassuring words
over many, many years. You probably don't know exactly how
valuable you are to the Australian Home Education community.
I've been reading your stuff for maybe 8 years or more now.
And I'm very grateful." Gythaa
Want to learn how to write your own education plans
to suit your unique children's individual learning needs?
Or you are looking for quality curriculum and teaching tips...
Comprehensive 3 workbook 'how to home ed' course
covering the essential skills you need
successfully home educate your children
|
|
Welcome to the World of Home Education
and Learning without School!
We began educating our children in 1985, when our eldest was five. In truth, we had helped them learn what they need to learn since they were born. I am a passionate advocate of allowing children to learn unhindered by unnecessary stress and competition, meeting developmental needs in ways that suit their individual learning styles and preferences. Ours was a homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning family! There are hundreds of articles on this site to help you build confidence as a home educating family. We hope that your home educating adventure is as satisfying as ours was! Beverley Paine
3 ESSENTIAL STEP BY STEP GUIDES
Let experienced home educators Beverley, Tamara and April walk you through HOW to create a learning plan that builds on solid foundations that works for YOUR family AND ticks all the boxes for home educaton registration!
|
Tap into Beverley's
experience
through her books
"Your books, your blogs helped me beyond words... they helped me to find comfort in knowing it is ok to choose exactly what is best for my family." Nisha
"Your books and information are mind blowing and already I am feeling good about this new experience." Diane
"Your guidance, understanding, support & words of wisdom changed our lives." Leslie
"I feel specially inspired by Beverley's words and, the more I read her comments, the more inspired I feel, since my need for support, respect for different parenting styles, and information are fully met." Marijo
|
 |
|
The information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice. This site merges and incorporates 'Homeschool Australia' and 'Unschool Australia'.
The Educating Parent acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Owners, the Custodians of Australia, and pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people viewing this website.
Advertise on this site.
Home education is a legal alternative
to school education in Australia.
State and Territory governments are responsible
for regulating home education and have different
requirements, however home educating families
are able to develop curriculum and learning programs
to suit the individual needs of their children.
Without revenue from advertising
by educational suppliers and Google Ads
we could not continue to provide information
to home educators. Please support us by letting
our advertisers know that you found them on
The Educating Parent. Thanks!
|
About
Thank you for visiting!