How We Do – Education

To change things up a bit, I am working on a little blog series called “How We Do…”  Homeschooling has been nothing short of a challenge, mostly because the sun shines brightly every day and this mama loves herself some sun, sand, and adventures!  Seriously, it’s hard to think “school” when every single day feels like a holiday.  Sitting in a small apartment in a foreign country is the last place I want to be when sitting on the shores of the Pacific or walking paths through a rainforest brimming with wild (dangerous) creatures are options.  The “How We Do…” series will explore how we (@atravelingtribe) do things here in Australia, educationally speaking.  It’s not been perfect, but I am pretty sure I have evidence of growth and learning…at least I hope I do!

How We Do…EDUCATION – Background

We opted to educate our children this year based on several factors:
1.  Enrolling the kids in school would limit the flexibility and availability we need to travel and visit Alan’s family.
2.  One goal we set for the year – to reset and reestablish our family’s priorities – is possible because I am staying at home with the kids, and in turn, is lessening the busyness that typically infiltrates our lives.
3.  The timing of the school year from one country to the next does not match (the Australian calendar starts at the end of January and ends in December, where the US starts in September and ends in June).  It could have been a logistical nightmare that we didn’t feel was necessary.
4.  We asked all of our kiddos what their desire was for school – if they wanted to go to an Aussie school, we would have enrolled them.  There was not a single request.

Every ounce of my “educator” being has struggled and been challenged over the past four months.  Schooling at home has never been on my radar.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I have some dear people in my life who have chosen the schooling-at-home route for educating their children and they make it look incredibly exciting and wonderful (never easy, mind you).  Their children are thriving and already making amazing contributions to their communities and our world.  Based on their inspiration, I have entertained the idea once or twice.  But never to the degree at which I find myself schooling here in Australia.

At times, I find myself almost falling into the “unschooling” world or maybe it’s “world schooling”?  Either way, like I explained on our Education on the Road page, we believe that education happens everywhere and all the time.  Sometimes learning occurs through natural experiences and interest-led activities.  Traveling aides this type of learning immensely – so much newness to explore and ponder.

Other times, I feel like the traditional teacher in a one-room schoolhouse where I have multi-aged/multi-leveled learners working simultaneously, yet individually.  During these moments, I take deep breaths and dig deeply into the patient person I am capable of being, but do not always show.  And then there are days where I tap into my old teacher-self and pull out all of my tricks/strategies/tools for learning based on research, pedagogy, content guidelines, and experience.  It is in these moments that I miss being in the classroom with 25+ bright minds and curious souls; I miss my job back at GVSU working with pre-service teachers who are at the beginning of their educational journeys; and most importantly, I miss the amazing teachers who speak so much life and learning into my children at their school back home.

Thank you, TEACHERS, who have spoken truth, brought learning to life, and who have cared so intentionally for my little ones.  They are missing you and their classmates desperately!

As we journey through schooling at home, I know there is a lot we are missing, but so much that we are gaining as well –

Collaboration – our children are with each other 24/7 with very little interaction with other children.   This has been beautiful for many reasons, but there is something good and whole and true about friends who are not your siblings.  They are all missing their buddies back home and lack the opportunities to make new friends here, for the most part.  School provides an amazing place for growing friendships, learning how to work with people who are not like you, and so much more – schooling at home limits these outside relationships, yet deepens the bonds between one another.

Influence – other amazingly incredible teachers who positively influence our children’s lives more effectively then we can, at times, are simply not available.  There are days I long to have another voice speaking into the lessons and learning I have planned.  The kids are longing for this as well.  On the positive side of being their only teacher, I have learned intimately how each of them learns and have modified their learning to fit their needs.  Bonus for this mama!

Consistency – if you know me, you know that I struggle with consistency.  I get distracted easily and my sweet children know this too – not that they would ever take advantage of this flaw!  This is a terrible trait for someone who is schooling at home…trust me, I speak from experience.  However, it is sometimes in our inconsistencies that some of the richest learning occurs.  I am also learning to extend grace to myself – to hold our ‘plan’ loosely and to allow the distractions to guide part of the learning instead of being a source of frustration.

Time – this is probably the greatest gift (and sometimes curse) out of all of this ‘schooling at home’ business!  We simply have time – time to read, time to write, time to think, time to explore, time to ponder, time to wonder, time to laugh, time to do nothing, time to play a game, time to laugh, time to move, and time to build deeper relationships with one another.

So, that’s a little background of HOW WE DO Education here in Oz.  I look forward to sharing more of our “How We Do” series with you in the coming months!