Homeschooling our children

As parents, the best part of this trip is to give our children a unique, unforgettable experience. At the ages of nearly nine and nearly seven, they are at a great stage from a parenting point of view. At the other end of nappies and sleepless nights, they are now independent children that make a pleasant company. We know it won't last forever and hormones will soon kick in, they won't be so enthusiastic about spending time with us anymore, so we enjoy the phase while it lasts.

The trip will be for them an introduction to Planet Earth, a live geography lesson to show them different ways of living and teach them to appreciate differences. We believe that with the continuous increase of fuel costs, the era of cheap travel won't last much longer and probably in another ten years a trip like this won't be possible anymore, at least for the likes of us.

Even from a schooling point of view it seems to be the ideal time. With Nina in third class and Sara in first, they are still at an age where they can skip six months of school without consequences for their education. The choice to leave at the end of the year was strongly influenced by the fact that like this the kids will have by then completed the first term in their classes and covered the biggest part of the program. The teachers will have set the path that then us parents will have to continue. The months spent standing still Oz and NZ will be school months when a few hours a day will be dedicated to studying.

The school was extremely cooperative in our plans. The principal gave us enthusiastically thumbs up and assured us that the school will help the children to reintegrate after we get back. This month we'll have a meeting with the teachers where they'll explain to us exactly what part of the program we'll have to cover. They want the kids to keep contact with their classes by email, to tell their school mates about the things they'll see in their time away. Their Daddy had to take it a bit further though and as soon as we'll be on the road even Nina and Sara will start writing their own blog!

Of course school doesn't only mean curriculum, being in contact with other children is as important for their development. We don't know how they'll react to eight months spent almost exclusively in our company. They'll come in contact with other kids for sure, we hope to put them in a school in Brisbane for a few days, but they'll have to get used to making friends and leaving them behind. From other parent's experience, the experience of people who did similar trips, some adopting this lifestyle for a number of years, living on a sailing boat and changing mooring every few months, we have heard that kids who live this kind of experience learn to choose their friends more carefully. And that is an ability they acquire for a lifetime. Once back to a stable lifestyle, with this newly acquired skill they learn how to think more independently, they're less susceptible to the peer pressure of the group and become more selective in choosing their friends. At least, that's the theory.