Schooling children around Australia

jennifer

No doubt you'll get some answers here, but I also remember this being asked a few times so you might find some info in the archives

Just type in "shooling" in the search function. Make sure you include the inverted commas (") otherwise it'll come back with all sorts of irrelevent data.

here's some I found.

Goof luck

Site Link

Site Link

Site Link

Site Link

Site Link

R.

I'm sure there are packages you can access from govenment departments designed for home schooling. The 5 year old probably wouldn't miss out on too much from not being at school. The 2 year old woudn't need much at all. The first year at school is probably learning about Australia and it's wild-life anyway, from books. You will be giving them first hand learning!

Barnesy

It depends on how long you will be gone for. I fit is only a short duration, ask the school that our child is enrolled in to provide the learning materials for that time. He/She will only be in preschool or year 1, which are not difficult to teach. If you are going away for close to 1 year, then enroll them in a distance education school. they will provide the materials and you child will still have interactions with other students his/her own age over the phone.

SantaAus

In 1980 we done a trip around Oz with a 9, 8 and 6 year old teaching them by correspondence schooling. Living in Alice Springs at the time I contacted the South Aust. Dept. of Education explaining the situation.
They sent all the relevant material with a set of instructions for the supervisor with each set of lessons, encouraging travel as an excellent form of education.
Rather than 'waste' sight-seeing time with school work, we would camp near a river or in a disused gravel pit for a few days to catch up.
The kids thought they had the best of both worlds.

Jennifer,

I took my then 8 and 10 y.o out for a trip last year. We spoke with the teachers a couple of months in advance to check what the curriculum would be if they stayed in school and got suggestions of books and areas we should concentrate on. My two kept up with the basics of maths and english/grammar/spelling but learnt more from the various guides, parks and experiences on the way round than they got from any books. We planned certain activities that were relevant to the what the rest of the kids were doing back at school. eg. their focus on gold rush in Oz they did in a term, my 11 yo got more on gold and other gems etc in one day at Sovereign Hill, a few days in Coober Pedy and a few days in Qld looking at coal mines in Isa and Moura.

At 2 & 5, you could probably just do what you would normally do at home to help them develop, keep them reading, writing and working on the basics of addition/subtraction, number recognition. They are pretty reslilient and will catch up quick, all obviously depending on how long you are planning to be away.

I also spoke with friends who did nine months with four kids, 13, 11 and 7 yo twins. One parent was trained as a school aid so that made their job a little easier. They scheduled a program and no travel days "on site" for the kids to focus on relevant schooling. Same sort of deal, talk to teachers and used some of the formal schooling books you can buy from educational stores.

Enjoy the trip

Andrew

I agree with most of the posts above.
My wife is a teacher, and our boys (now 20 & 24) have travelled with us since 6 months old, often in school time. Not so much at high school age.
We checked with the teacher, and did what we could with them.
They loose interest in school work very quickly when there is something to see or do. But that is the best type of learning, and to say in class "I have been there" and describe it to the class was a great experience for them.
Keep up the basic maths and reading for thier age.
Having some time with you (good and bad) and doing something together will also develope an important relationship for later teenage years.

One has graduated as an environmental engineer and is doing his masters, the other is now in a 3rd year of a science degree doing photonics and nanoscience. Didn't do them any harm having some time travelling.

I'd agree with JJ's post. Distance Ed through Ed Dept of SA is also accessable on line.
Best of luck with it.
Camper

Some thoughts from our travelling with children a few years older than your youngest -
We have had many trips with our children, commencing with a 5 months up the centre/down the west coast/back to east coast, and have not regretted taking them on one.
BEST ADVICE WE RECEIVED from the children’s school principle - don’t spoil your trip insisting the kids keep up with school work. He suggested they keep a fairly regular diary, get them to read out the info at the sites we visited, and play number games with them while travelling. That may not be best if you are going to be away for an extended period of course, but was fine for the five months. It is interesting to read the attempts the 6 year old made at a diary, and how much is expressed in so few words. At the time of our first major trip our children were 8yrs and 6yrs old and travelled well. Our strategy was when we were actually travelling to have at least a short break approx every 2 hrs where they could have a run around and a snack. The children had a pillow each and box of favourite books and puzzles (not electronic) pencils and paper separating them on the back seat together with one of those stable tables each. In the vehicle I always carried water, dried fruit, and fresh fruit when I could and if they got a bit argumentative in the back seat, I would cut up some fruit and pass it around (Mum and Dad enjoy the fruit too and with all the sitting you do our digestive tract was kept active). Apples are low GI, so usually half an apple was enough to break the mood. Cutting and coreing seemed to make the apples more attactive to everyone. If I didn’t have apples then a few sultanas or dried apricots did the trick (low GI too), we avoided lollies, biscuits, icecreams, and fizzy drinks - keeping these for just a few occasions as treats. It is amazing how they accepted the healthy food and being on a tight budget they saw that we didn’t have any more extras than they did.
There were a occassions too where we needed to be parents and insist that they have a sleep, and the days were always so full that there wasn’t a problem with them getting off to sleep at night, after the daytime nap as we travelled.

PS Added advice we give friends who quiz us about long trips - it helps if you and your partner are reeeeally good friends.

Regards from C&J