Hitting the road for an adventure of a lifetime with your family is such an exciting time. With new experiences, adventures awaiting, you can quickly forget the practical side of life. Schooling for the kids. This can feel overwhelming as you try and establish how this will work for your family. Will it impact your adventure? Will you be any good as a teacher and parent and even to the point of what are you going to teach them?
Most people think home schooling is their only option, but you need to do your research to work out what is going to work for your child and family. Plus take into consideration the type of trip you are planning to take.
This is generally the parent or caregiver educating a child based on a curriculum of their choice. It can be chosen to suit the child’s learning style, interest, strengths and weaknesses and is often tailored specifically to each individual child. If you are a travelling family this will require both pre-planning and organisation but will allow you flexibility as to when and how schoolwork is done. The rules and regulations vary from state to state so there may be an application process and approval needed.
Distance education is where each student is registered with the Department of Education in their state and receives their curriculum and education activities already organised and allocated. The child will follow the pre designated work routine and may also link up with teachers or other students. It is a much more formal form of education on the road and some people will love the structure and how everything is provided.
The choice for how you educate your children is absolutely personal and no matter which option you take, there are amazing resources available, and the internet is a great place for gaining assistance and information. Some questions to ask yourself when choosing the best education options:
1. How long will we be travelling?
2. Would we prefer flexibility or school style structure?
3. Would we rather freedom or being tied to the post office and schooling assignments?
4. Are we happy to pre-plan or would we rather have everything provided ready to go?
5. What are the requirements for home schooling in our home state?
6. What are the requirements for Distance Education in our home state?
7. What experience would suit our child better?
8. What experience would suit our family better?
If you want to look into schooling kids while travelling there are many resources out there but a few website we have found helpful below:
travellingaustraliawithkids.com
myhomeschool.com/au
nepsode.org.au