Kids Education - On A Big Trip

[TTBRIDGE]

Hey All,

I thought i would ask this here for a start. Maybe it is just because forums allow more opportunity to broadcast trips now days but it appears to me that there are more and more families doing the "Big Loop" etc when their kids are younger.

We are working towards "not planning yet" a trip away from home, down the WA coast line. Time to be 3-6 months as everything is on the table. I am due long service in 3 years so it is a way away. Our kids will be in grade 2 & 5 by this time. So my question is how is the education on the road done? I am sure there are some on this forum that have been down this track.

If we are going to do it, best time is while the kids are in primary school. They will learn a lot on the road, and i am sure they would benefit from the experience.

So what the options, i am guessing it is mostly done as home schooling using a curriculum outlined by the school?

Can anyone help me with pointers?

 

[gwadir]

Hi @TTBRIDGE when we did it (our trip) last year we approached the schools firstly to gain permission to pull them out for an extended period of time and then to discuss how and what to teach them on the road. In short they said to us the trip will be more than enough of an educational experience for the kids in itself but if we want something for them to do then o/k. They basically copied the most important parts of the relevant lessons and instructed the kids that they had to create a journal of their trip, include a daily update to be done each day and photo's. Since both our kids have laptops the journal was easy and including photos was easy too. The lessons were done using MS Word and when we had net access they would log onto the NSW education website and email their teachers and class updates of where they were and what they had been up to. Job done, the kids spent about an hour each day doing some work and journal and the rest of the time was spent exploring so to speak. By the way our kids were in Yr 7 (High School) and Yr 5 (Primary School). In planning the trip we spent a bit of time researching where we would go and what was going to be interesting and educational for the kids (and exciting). Turns out there are s#$t loads of stuff, we did Mungo N.P., Broken Hill and its mining history, Woomera, Coober Pedy, Uluru & Kata Tjuta, Wattarka N.P., Alice Springs, Devils Marbles, Banka Banka Station, Litchield N.P., Darwin, Kakadu N.P., Cape Tribulation and the Daintree to name a few. Hope this helps, the trip will be fantastic for them, would love to do it all again.

Dave

 

[Smergen]

Will be watching this one with interest @TTBRIDGE... we're planning our trip at pretty much the same time with the same circumstances (LS leave... etc.)

Our kids are expecting to be in grades 6, 4 &2 (possibly 5, 3,1) and were' trying to workout the length of trip and budget.

My wife is a primary school teacher so that helps a lot, and will be talking to the school about the relative curriculum activities to incorpoate. But we consider the learning they'll do on the road will far surpass anything in the schools in terms of history, currency, maths (get them to do the fuel calcs! ) and reading. We'll be getting them to keep a journal/blog each and through our various contacts perhaps drop in on schools around the country for "day trips".

Either way, we're very confident it will be a beneficial trip for all and sundry, more than worth the effort required.

First stop would be the schools though and talk to them about it. Maybe a meeting with a few of the lead teachers that have had previous experience.

Keep us in the loop mate with your plans.

 

[Pace]

We caught up with families in our travelles doing this too. Apparently you can get age appropiate education packs made up from school and have them check in at the post office for your next pack and drop off completed packs. Of course need to plot your trip with school, if you alter it let post office know theyll update your education pack routing. Pace.

 

[Flanders]

Ours was pretty much the same as @gwadir Our kids were grade 1 and 3. The teachers basically said they would learn more on the trip than they would at school in those years. The teachers put a bit of stuff together for them and they did heaps of reading while travelling.A journal every day, and once a week emails back to their class. I think it all depends what grade they are in, but your School should be able to advise.

 

[Matty4]

When we did our trip my kids were in grades 6, 3 & prep. All their teachers at the time said to us that they will learn far more about this country and life during the trip and to not worry about a set curriculum. We made them all keep a trip diary each on a laptop which they updated on the long driving days. This had to be done before DVD's could be watched or iPods could be used. It only needed to be a couple of lines each day if needed.

Don't place too much emphasis on a set learning pattern. Let them enjoy the trip and not worry about school.

My 2c worth

 

[Smergen]

Seems to be a pretty common theme in that all teachers a pretty supportive of what the kids get out of it which echoes my wife's sentiments.

I reckon the journal, particularly if they have photos is a good thing, and will provide them, not only with "schoolwork" but also a long lasting memoir of their trip.

In today's world of connectivity, I doubt that they'll ever be too far from the classroom.

 

[Kenshi123]

As a school teacher I will also echo the opinions of others who have said the experience your kids will get will far outweigh anything done on paper. The journal is a great idea, especially if you can connect with your child's class during your trip. Just my opinion, but I love the handwritten journals as you could get your kids to scrapbook brochures or photos.
You can teach your children the very quickly dying skill of map reading whilst traveling too. Go buy an explore australia book and hand it to them to work out distance travelled etc. Heaps of different things you could do. If you are into wildlife then get your kids a bird/animal/plant book for species identification. Your kids could also help with budgeting too. Get them to work out a budget on paper or excel to include money for fuel/accommodation/food.

The school will support you if you need anything else mate. Exciting stuff for you!!!

 

[gwadir]

Our kids are expecting to be in grades 6, 4 &2 (possibly 5, 3,1) and were' trying to workout the length of trip and budget.

My wife is a primary school teacher so that helps a lot, and will be talking to the school about the relative curriculum activities to incorpoate. But we consider the learning they'll do on the road will far surpass anything in the schools in terms of history, currency, maths (get them to do the fuel calcs! ) and reading. We'll be getting them to keep a journal/blog each and through our various contacts perhaps drop in on schools around the country for "day trips".

Either way, we're very confident it will be a beneficial trip for all and sundry, more than worth the effort required.

First stop would be the schools though and talk to them about it. Maybe a meeting with a few of the lead teachers that have had previous experience.

Keep us in the loop mate with your plans.[/QUOTE]

Hi @Smergen,

we dropped in on the School of the Air while in the Alice, kids got a lot out of that, seeing how school works in the outback. We also did a similar thing with fuel calc's, mileages, checking fuel dockets (litres x Cents/litre) etc.

As @Pace said we also caught up with other families doing similar things on their trips and even met a few who were home schooling their kids but that's a whole different story, they had satellite dishes to link into the net wherever they were.

As @Kenshi123 said and I forgot to add our kids now love checking out maps and seeing where roads and rivers go, they've even started to pick up other features now like vegetation and contours.

Dave

 

[Smergen]

@gwadir ...nice post... I lived in The Alice for 6yrs, and my ex-GF's Dad was actually a teacher there. It's certainly a different lifestyle out that way. I will definitely be taking the kids there.

 

[Stan53]

Have a look at distance education. This one is Australia wide and your school should be able to help set it up. When you look at the actual time spent learning in a class room situation, you will find kids only spend about an hour per day doing lessons. The rest of the time is taken up with teachers trying to keep order and so on. It's a jungle in the class room these days.
Like others have said, your kids will learn far more "on the road" than they will ever learn in school. Also look at the home schooling scene.

 

[Dede]

Hi @TTBRIDGE
We took our boys out of school for Term 3 (should have gone for Term 4 also), they missed nothing!!! And I mean nothing. They were in years 8 and 10. I also got permission from the school and they were not asked to do anything. Mind you I made them keep a journal on the laptops. They learnt much more from Mum and Dad while travelling in the car, speaking of politics, history etc. Just do it. When they returned to school in Term 4 they didn't need to catch up. That year during Term 4, honestly they did nothing and school winds down about 1/2 way through Term 4 anyway.

 

[seanparky]

@gwadir ...nice post... I lived in The Alice for 6yrs, and my ex-GF's Dad was actually a teacher there. It's certainly a different lifestyle out that way. I will definitely be taking the kids there.

Im from Alice. 26yrs. Left in 2005

 

[Smergen]

Im from Alice. 26yrs. Left in 2005

How come it took you so long to get out?

It's a unique place, I was there from '91 to '98 in the high school years. As a teenager growing up I wouldn't say it was ideal, but I'm interested to go back and visit it "as an adult" to see if my perspectives and views have changed.

 

[seanparky]

lol. i went back in 2011 for finke and to show my kids were i grew up. Town has changed heaps. Loved growing up there as life was so relaxed and casual but now i wouldn't bring my kids up there and like everywhere else rent has gone thru the roof. I really miss the outback and the feeling of i could pack my car and in 10 mins I'm out in the bush. Plenty of places to see and camp with all the gorgeous and ranges. A Caravanners Mecca

 

[TTBRIDGE]

Hey All,

Been on holidays for the week, so i am infrequent on the net this week. Thanks for all the feedback and advise. Wife and I had discussed the journal thing already, and also agree about the appearance of the trip will do a fair bit towards education.

When it comes time, we will have a discussion with the school. But we are a few years off. As i am in the "deep consideration" phase i just want to have everything that might need consideration on the table.

So another thing off the list so to speek. Thanks for your help.

 

[relgate]

Hey All,

Been on holidays for the week, so i am infrequent on the net this week. Thanks for all the feedback and advise. Wife and I had discussed the journal thing already, and also agree about the appearance of the trip will do a fair bit towards education.

When it comes time, we will have a discussion with the school. But we are a few years off. As i am in the "deep consideration" phase i just want to have everything that might need consideration on the table.

So another thing off the list so to speek. Thanks for your help.

Talk about forward planning!
Love your work!

 

[gwadir]

Hey All,

Been on holidays for the week, so i am infrequent on the net this week. Thanks for all the feedback and advise. Wife and I had discussed the journal thing already, and also agree about the appearance of the trip will do a fair bit towards education.

When it comes time, we will have a discussion with the school. But we are a few years off. As i am in the "deep consideration" phase i just want to have everything that might need consideration on the table.

So another thing off the list so to speek. Thanks for your help.

Our pleasure as always

 

[Smergen]

Talk about forward planning!
Love your work!

Can't start early enough I reckon! We've also got our planning sheets on the go. I just trawl these threads writing down awesome places people have been that we need to go to!

 

[Heidi at]

We are planning a trip next year for 6 months, 4 kids will be in prep, 2 and grade 6. We have mentioned it to the school but have not had a formal meeting as such as we are still in the very early stages of planning. Each of the kids will be keeping a scrapbook with pictures, notes, brochures, ect - will be leaving content up to them and will be getting each a camera for the trip. Figured the could scrapbook each day during quieter periods and that this would be something they would enjoy. Have looked vaguely looked at distance education, this must be at least 2 terms- think home schooling is the same. It is great to hear that most schools don't expect too much work to be done on the road and that the experience is education enough; I do dread the thought of having to sit down and school 4 kids every couple of days - the less school work the more everyone can relax and just enjoy the journey. Love this forum, great info from members.