Schooling kids on the road

We expect to be away for the whole year, the kids are 10 and 7, they will be in year 2 and 5 if they stayed at school.

Matt, Can you tell me a little about your trip. Did you get all the way around in 6 months? Did you stay in Caravan parks or other sites? Have you any suggestions for site which would suit the kids and us. Did you camp or van it? Did you focus on any specific caravan chain or just use them all? Any further info would be helpful. Thanks Ron

Matt, Can you tell me a little about your trip. Did you get all the way around in 6 months? Did you stay in Caravan parks or other sites? Have you any suggestions for site which would suit the kids and us. Did you camp or van it? Did you focus on any specific caravan chain or just use them all? Any further info would be helpful. Thanks Ron

Matt, Can you tell me a little about your trip. Did you get all the way around in 6 months? Did you stay in Caravan parks or other sites? Have you any suggestions for site which would suit the kids and us. Did you camp or van it? Did you focus on any specific caravan chain or just use them all? Any further info would be helpful. Thanks Ron

Thanks for the positive comment. We intend to do lots of parks as well as museums and industrial trip, canneries and processing plants etc. I am sure we can find lots of ways to use the current info they have been learning from school. The problem seems to be more the bureaucratic one of taking the kids from school and not registering them with the department. My understanding is they are required to be registered with someone but since the departments home schooling section indicated that they would not register them I am a little unsure. I still have a number of paths to follow but would appreciate any others experiences. Enjoy your travels!

Dinger,

We travelled for 6 months with our kids (10 and 6) last year. Reason I asked about their age is that in the ACT (and NSW I believe), you are required to register for home schooling if you withdraw them for longer than 6 months. It sounds strange that you are having difficulty doing so.

Regulations aside, my advice is don't get too stressed about formal schooling for your kids. As long as you keep the basics ticking over (writing and reading specifically) then there are heaps of opportunities to work other 'schooling' into your daily activities as others here have suggested. Try to make it a fun part of your itinerary rather than a sit down chore each day. My wife and I decided that we are good parents but lousy school teachers (something about the chemistry with your own children I think).

If your kids can do some work in the car without getting sick, then it frees you all up to enjoy the great spot you will inevitably arrive at. We found it hard to get our fellas to sit down for work when there was a great swimming hole 20 feet away.

Ours went into year 2 and 5 on return and were a little 'behind' in some areas but picked it up unbelievably quickly. Eight months later and there is no difference. It was a small price to pay for the wonderful experiences they had and gave them a perspective that not all of their class mates could claim.

Bottom line, don't stress about the schooling, they will get heaps of time to catch up but only one opportunity that you are offering them. Enjoy the moment, because it goes quicker than you could believe, and trust your kids to catch up as they need on return.

Enjoy what will be a very rewarding family experience.

Matt.

Thanks for the info. Are you intending just to withdraw them from school? Which state are you from? Have your registered with the department in any way?

Thanks very much for the comment Dave, we will be having the kids keep digital diaries and I have been playing with some site for posting pictures. We don't want to make the kids to jealous and were thinking of only sending info on an irregular basis.