So, you’ve decided to travel with your kids and thought you’d have them learn from the great big world around them and homeschool as you go. Great! Your kids are in for a rich, learning adventure. Know up front that you can totally do this! [Read more…]
Field Trip to Gruyères
Within our first weeks in Switzerland, we gathered the kids and headed to the town of Gruyères (I have no idea why the town has an “s” at the end while the district of Gruyère and their cheese does not). We wanted to see how one of the best cheeses in the world is made, and of course to sample the first fondue of our three-month stay. What better place to do that than Gruyères? [Read more…]
Our First Month of Homeschooling: Lessons Learned
Science experiment: which solutions will freeze into ice balls?
I discovered that homeschooling, like most endeavors, is best learned by doing. You can prepare—just as you might for childbirth—but in the end, shit happens and you have to be willing to go with the flow. The trick is to trust that in the end, your kids will come out all right; they will learn, one way or another.
Unfortunately, I am far too controlling to trust that, but I’m learning.
Before we left the U.S. for our grand two-year trip around the world, I did as much research into homeschooling our kids, ages nine and three, as I could. At minimum, I had to learn enough to know what to do, or more specifically, what I would do. I needed to have some structure or goals in place.
My husband Pierre, on the other hand, planned to “wing it.” No books, no research, no pre-conceived plans. Just learning from the world around us as we lived our daily lives. Yeah, right, I thought. Back to my research. [Read more…]