Hi Emily, It sounds as though both Ubud and Green School could be a good fit for you – although do be aware that the fees are substantial (download them here) and that by offering free yoga and meditation you’ll be going up against a number of established businesses who make a profit doing just that. I’d suggest you come to Ubud and see how it goes… Cheers, Theodora

Thanks, Catherine. Was it the older girls who wanted more structure, or all three? I’m finding it interesting how many parents seem to have followed a similar journey. I’d say longterm travel with older kids is probably easier in North America – or as a North American family – both because of the access to online learning and the less content-heavy high school approach and because of the number of RV families. But, whatever, it sounds like your girls will let you know when they’re ready to stop….

Oh, I totally get the Minecraft thing… and CSR Racing, and whatever comes next. We do have to watch that, but so far, so good. Thankfully, he also likes his interactive math games. Thanks again for the vote of confidence; I’ll relax a bit on the schooling push. Take care.

Hi Heather,

OH, I’m glad unschooling is working out for you! How funny that your Zac hates to read. Mine finds it hard to make time for reading in among the competition of devices etcetera – when we’re unplugged, he reads voraciously, but it’s hard to be insistent on doing that.

I think the plus side about maths and science is that anyone who gets a degree in anything has to be able to write to a degree, while, at least in the European system, it’s quite easy to get a degree in the arts while being scientifically and mathematically innumerate…

Theodora

Good lord – that interview was a LOONG time ago! Thanks for the comment, and, yes, I think provided you keep a loose eye on maths and English while unschooling everything else will go fine. It’s when unschooling deteriorates into “playing Minecraft 24/7” that it becomes problematic, I think….

I often wonder how his transition back to school will go so it is interesting to read how your Zac’s transition is going, though after many more years of travel.

While my Zac seems like yours in some ways, I have a math and science background so find those easier to discuss/input than writing, and often wish I had your writing skills. Also, iPad apps have changed learning significantly in the past few years. Zac does a daily multiplication drill using the “Spirit of Math” app and also daily French using DuoLingo app as he will have to return to French lessons in Canada. These are going well so far.

I also require my Zac to read (anything of his choice) for one hour each day – he is an excellent reader but hates to read for reason unknown.

I hope this will work out as well for us as it has for you.
Regards, Heather

Hi Joe,

Yes, he is – and it’s an international school in Bali (I actually had a couple of paragraphs about this in an early version, but deleted it because the wordcount was ridiculous – though now I’m wishing I’d left them in). I think a state school in London would have been more of a challenge, primarily because of the fact that his situation would be very unusual, which it isn’t here (the length of time travelling is unusual, but the travel isn’t, although he still kept the fact that he’d been travelling largely to himself). But… he coped OK in an all-Chinese-but-one-Korean high school in Harbin, northern China, so I’m sure he could have hacked a London state school. We took a while choosing a school that was right for him here, and I think it’s important to do that also if you’re coming back to the place you left – unless you’ve only done a year, so everyone can pick up with their old friends… Theodora