What are we going to do about School
What are we doing for School for the kids? Lots of people are asking us this question. This is the area I’m worried about most on our trip. I want our kids to still get a top notch education, but I’m not a teacher and neither is Keith. Part of the trip will be an education in itself, but not in the way that traditional school is an education. We want to find a good blend between excellent homeschooling and a more formal education. We both have Science and Math educational backgrounds, so we feel that we could teach these areas easily. I also feel like we could focus on a couple core topic / theme areas with the kids in certain locations.
Social Studies:
• British Colonialism: Ireland, England, Scotland, Cyprus, Singapore, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US.
• World War II: England, France, Italy, Poland, South Pacific, Japan
• Cradle of civilization: Italy, Greece, Cyprus
• Ancient Civilizations: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Peru, Ecuador
• Religions of the world: England, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Thailand, China, Japan
Science Topics:
• Natural World (Amazon, Rain Forest Eco system, Animals): South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, US National Parks
• Geology: Ireland, England, US National Parks, Greek Isles, New Zealand, Chile, Japan
Math Topics:
• Weather measurement and conversion
• Currency and conversion
• Distance measurements
• Calculating bus / train / airfare prices
• Time zones
• Latitude, longitude, and GPS calculations
Both boys will also be enrolled in a couple classes with Florida Virtual School. This will allow Keith and I to supervise their independent work with another teacher. This is especially good for the classes we want them to get credit for officially on their transcript or classes we feel we aren’t equipped to teach. One of the things that I like about FLVS is that the boys can take 1-6 classes at a time and do them at their own pace. They could knock a class out in a month or take several months. This works out well for us as we will never know what type of Wi-Fi access we are going to have in each location.
As we get closer, I’ll post more details on the books and workbooks that we will be using for a variety of topics.
