A Year of Worldschooling: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Homeschooling your kids while traveling abroad long-term is sometimes referred to as worldschooling. Whether that sounds like a great idea or a complete disaster, prepare to have our experience bust your preconceptions.
When we told our friends we were pulling our kids out of school for a year to travel South America, we generally received two opposing reactions. The first: What are you crazy? The boys could fall behind! Homeschooling on the road would be difficult, they worried, if not overwhelming.
Then there were those that thought what we were doing was brilliant. They will learn so much more than sitting in a classroom reading a textbook.
After a full year of experience, I can report that in each opposing reaction there is a kernel of truth. What follows is the story of our personal experience with worldschooling. If it’s practical advice you’re looking for, check out our Worldschooling Tips article. Otherwise, read on and enjoy!
Table of Contents
- Falling Behind and Other Worst Fears
- They Already Knew The Material
- They Turned Out Fine? But How?
- Homeschooling Is Not for Everyone
- An Un-schoolers’ Paradise
- Did the Good Outweigh the Bad?
Falling Behind and Other Worst Fears
Let’s start with the good news. Nobody got held back a grade.
The year we traveled, our oldest two would have been in third grade and kindergarten. Our youngest boy would have just started preschool.
In recent weeks, we attended a slew of parent-teacher conferences. Their teachers put any lingering anxiety to rest. Our kids did well on their standardized tests and were killing it in the classroom. We were even surprised to learn that both of the older boys are on track to enter the gifted and talented programs. Their teachers spoke of the boys in glowing terms and noted that they already seemed to know the material.
We praised Finley for doing so well, but added, “How come you don’t behave as well at home as you do in school?”
He retorted, “School is where I belong!”
They Already Knew The Material
It’s no accident that they are already familiar with this year’s material. Both Liuan and I are the proactive sort. When faced with the possibility of falling behind or failing, we double down. In other words, you can’t fall behind if you’re working to get ahead.
Before we set out, Liuan gathered a set of basic supplies. Each child got a Star Wars-themed math workbook. When they finished their grade level, Liuan got her mom to bring workbooks for the following level when she visited us in Brazil. We set their Khan Academy profiles ahead as well. Was reading and memorizing sight words a first grade thing? Then we drilled Finley on sight words. We made Oliver (the third-grader) write essays and narratives using past tense Spanish.
Liuan and I debated the merits of this approach. I wondered if they might like their school work more if it were at their level. Liuan thought they were ready for the next level. She also felt they would be more confident if they were a step or two ahead of their peers. I’ll let the reader decide for themselves who was right.
Most work was done on iPads and Laptops to keep our packs light.
They Turned Out Fine? But How?
So far, what I’ve shared probably lends itself to an uncomplicated picture of academic success stemming from confident planning and diligent study. I’ll have you know that the actual experience of it felt like a raging dumpster fire, with our kids’ flagging motivation and our dreams of a highly “enriched” education serving as fuel.
Sure, there were some bright spots. Oliver and I programmed a Scratch game to practice multiplication tables. Then, there was the week I watched Finley make serious progress on his sight words.
But we should have predicted what we were up against on the first day of “class.” Not twenty minutes into our first session, a marmoset entered our cabin, pooped on the floor, made a big commotion, and upended any semblance of an orderly learning environment.
Our original goal was to set aside two hours a day, five days a week, for homeschooling. That might not sound like much, but we reasoned that much of formal school time is spent on non-educational tasks—roll calls, announcements, standing in line, safety drills, discipline, and accommodating the short attention spans of grade schoolers.
In reality, it was rare that we spent even half that much time on school work. Sometimes we managed two hours in a whole week. Often, we skipped weeks altogether.
School work was the very last thing they wanted to do. Which, of course, meant it was no fun for the parents either. And can you blame us? Just outside our door, a burbling river or bustling street invited us to romp and explore.
Homeschooling Is Not for Everyone
Before we left, we thought we had a chance at really enjoying homeschooling. Liuan and I are academically wide-ranging and curious. Our children are bright and ask good questions. We love getting into discussions with them about big ideas—culture, ecology, physics, language, money, where babies come from, you name it.
But much of what we think of as “school” are the rote skills-based stuff that is measured by filling bubbles with pencil lead. As I taught my son—and retaught myself—long division, I shook my head in disgust. Why would anyone but a calculator programmer need to learn this? And while we’re at it, why are they still teaching cursive? Neither parent, we realized, was skilled at motivating our kids to perfect those skills, even when we managed to see some of them as beneficial in the long run.
I read books on un-schooling. It’s a philosophy of education that prioritizes a child’s curiosity over progress milestones or standardized tests. The books I read encouraged parents to lean in to what the child is obsessed with, trusting that they would gain all the necessary skills in due time. If true, then I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty.
In defense of unschooling, the way I learn things as an adult is precisely how un-schoolers urge parents to teach their kids. I don’t try to cram eight subjects into my brain at once. I learn about one thing at a time as the interest strikes me. And yet… if we want public schooling to remain an option, what are the chances my child will naturally become obsessed with multiplication tables?
Oddly, though, our kids like public school (read about it in their own words). Our kids loved traveling, but they also longed to learn alongside their peers. They derive motivation from the comradery and competition that other children provide.
Friends and acquaintances that have chosen the homeschooling or unschooling track might be horrified to learn that putting our kids back in public school was a big factor in our decision to end our travels after a year. But that’s just us.
An Un-schoolers’ Paradise
Even though we unhappily and inconsistently slogged through reading, writing and arithmetic, we came out the other side better than fine, as you already learned.
But what about the unstructured, non-academic part—the culture, language, natural sciences, and lessons in adaptability that travel is supposed to provide? After all, we didn’t take our kids on a year-long, continental journey just to pore over textbooks.
The kids were indeed soaking up a world-class education, though it could be hard to detect when disguised as discovery rather than memorization. What did you learn? We didn’t learn anything. was the common refrain. Yet somehow, now they know all these things that I didn’t even know at 20 years old.
They experienced farm animals and food production at the source and witnessed merchants hawking products on the street. They saw receding glaciers in Patagonia and disappearing rainforest in the Amazon. Their bodies became resilient and adept at climbing over boulders and enduring long hikes over rough terrain.
We all learned something about chicken sex.
Though they didn’t come away as fluent in Spanish as we had hoped, they experienced the language in its native context and even got over their self-consciousness and used it on occasion.
As we continue to unpack all that happened over the last year, we find ourselves continuing to apply our experiences to new contexts.
Did the Good Outweigh the Bad?
If you are dreaming of embarking on a similar trip with your young ones, you are likely reading this to weigh the pros and cons of taking your kids out of school. And I can say, in our case, we would do it again. One hundred percent. Warts and all.
Our kids reentered the “system” with ease. But even if they had struggled at first, it still would have been worth it. The lessons they took away from traveling South America will surely leave a more lasting impression than long division.
Whether or not your kids have similar outcomes or challenges depends on a variety of personal traits. Though the book work was unpleasant, we kept at it. Sometimes we wasted a lot of time shedding and drying tears. Other times I resorted to cheap fear tactics—reminding them that all their friends were in school seven hours a day and getting way ahead. (Worldschooling parents take note: that worked). What we did wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.
Of course, if you’re unconcerned about success within the formal school system, I probably don’t need to convince you that making the wide world your classroom will be a major win for the development of your child’s curiosity. Nevertheless, even if you can’t bring yourself to cast off conventional academics, consider this one unvarnished story as evidence that you’ll do just fine. Don’t let this particular fear hold you back.
Just one of the many realities of worldschooling.
Written and illustrated by the authors of this blog.
A Book for Little Travelers
A True Story From Our Gap Year
This is so helpful! Where did you start learning about homeschooling? Any resources you’d recommend? We’re in the early stages of considering this as an option for time abroad with our kids (will be 8 and 10 when we go) but I don’t know where to begin. They’re in public school now and we’ve never homeschooled. Thank you!
First of all, I encourage you to go for it! Regardless of the difficulties in homeschooling, our kids and our family as a whole benefited tremendously. Ages 8 and 10 are within the perfect age range.
We never homeschooled either before we left. I wouldn’t say we’re particularly a good fit as a homeschooling family, but it was what we needed to do to travel, so we did it. We kept it pretty simple. We used Khan Academy for reading, phonics and math for the little ones. Each kid had an age appropriate math workbook to work through. We checked out eBooks from our local library from back home using an app. So the only physical books we brought were the math workbooks, everything else was done electronically, which kept the backpacks light. They will be learning so much about everything else just from being out in the world that felt we could just focus a couple hours a day on the hard skills: reading, writing, and math.
Where we faltered was not having a consistent routine. While it didn’t seem to affect them academically when we got back, it made it harder in the sense that they saw study as a punishment rather than just something we do. Though who knows, maybe it would have been that way no matter what we did.
Other than that, just relax. Most of the learning that happens in world-schooling doesn’t feel like learning. It feels like curiosity, exploration and play. We (parents) often had to remind ourselves that just because it doesn’t feel effortful doesn’t mean they’re not learning.
Best Wishes,
Matt
Thank you Matt! This is great. I appreciate you sharing a little more.
i’m glad that this experience worked out great for you but the way you’ve discussed basic skills is a bit concerning to me. unschooling or homeschooling or freeschooling content often falls into this trap where people ask “why did my kid learn this when it’s useless?” but children are not taught long division because it’s a necessary skill that they are going to use when they grow up.
for one, these skills aren’t really useless at all. cursive might not be necessary but learning cursive does force you to practice your fine motor skills with more focus than simply writing in print (and everyone i know who never learned cursive has terrible handwriting too). this doesn’t mean everyone has to learn cursive, but it does have benefits that don’t come from simply leaving a 2nd grader to their devices. long division might be something we don’t use, but that’s a stepping stone to dividing larger sums in your head. the same way that “times tables are useless” until you’re in college doing calc 2 and suddenly knowing what 8×13 is off the top of your head is saving you time.
children are taught long division because it’s a skill that teaches you a dozen other tiny, invisible skills and strengthens existing ones. they learn things they “aren’t going to use” because they learn how to think. they learn logic. they learn to show their work. they become comfortable with notation. they become better at addition and subtraction and multiplication. it teaches them how math works. all of these are skills that students are going to need when it finally comes to doing the math they do need in the future like budgeting and investing and financing a house, and perhaps college level math if they go into a math-heavy field of work.
it’s kind of funny that this line of thinking generally comes from anti-schooling as a factory assembly line people, because this is exactly the kind of thinking that leads to factory line schooling. “if they don’t need it, why should they learn it?” produces factory workers. “they should learn it because learning new things is good and develops their brain further and turns them into well rounded people” is a well rounded liberal arts education that produces intellectual members of society.
also, while school systems are very flawed, yall need to also understand that following basic etiquette in class like being quiet while the teacher is talking and actually doing the work assigned to you aren’t some kind of horrible punishment. they’re basic skills that you need to participate in society. even in the anarchist commune, you will need to learn to not interrupt people and do your share of the work. some things like the focus on grades do need criticism, but too many worldschoolers and unschoolers and homeschoolers have no understanding of pedagogy or of how people learn or of brain development or of what is required of people to be contributing members of society and y’all are always on the verge of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. we study boring shit no one is going to need to know in school because that’s the stuff that makes you a person, and not just a cog in the machine.
Thank you for your comment and for sharing your thoughts!
Respectfully, I think you might be reading more into our beliefs about education than what’s there. This comment would imply that we are unschooling evangelists. In truth, we are much more comfortable in a formal public school context than we were as worldschoolers/homeschoolers. My purpose wasn’t to promote an anti-schooling agenda, it was to express pleasant surprise that we didn’t damage our kid’s academic prospects by taking them out to see the world for a year. We aren’t providing our experience as a prescription for everyone, only as an example of a successful(ish) experiment for others who wish to try the same.
We are actually quite skeptical of unschooling. In fact, I used times tables in my post as an example of an important skill that could be overlooked by purely following a child’s interests, not as skill that should be thrown out! I did, however, mention cursive and long-division in that way. I could ramble on about that, but at the end of the day, I think it’s a value judgment which legacy skills or knowledge get included in the curriculum, and how much time is invested in their mastery. One day soon, the art of writing might be seen as a legacy skill (due to generative AI, of course), and I’ll be right there with you in the blog comments pleading not to throw that one away!
While traveling, our kids learned a lot about things like coffee and chocolate cultivation and production, farm animals, wool production, various Latin American cultures, currency conversion, the inversion of seasons in the Southern Hemisphere and why they don’t change their clocks twice a year, Brazilian political history… all things a typical American student might never know and still live a productive happy life. Certainly, many friends and family members would consider it all useless trivia, but we found value in it. So, on the one hand, I share the same faith in non-essential knowledge as being valuable for somewhat hard to measure reasons. But I also think it’s reasonable to question why some things and not others make the curriculum? And should something like cursive, which I’m hard-pressed to find a use for besides signing my name, occupy so much time? (and your claim about handwriting seems flipped, print is much easier to read than cursive, it’s just slower to produce). Either way, it’s healthy to think critically about The Way Things Are and Have Always Been Done.
So to be clear, we are not anti-school. In fact, we are very happy and impressed with our public school. Our boys thrive in a full classroom of students and a teacher that isn’t also their parent. And yes, we value the soft skills they learn while operating in a social system, versus always doing their own thing.
But what a wonderful thing to step out of that social system and see the wider world, at least for a time. To see your culture and system as coming from somewhere, and not universal, naturally breeds curiosity. It allows you to actually see it, and realize that it exists as a choice and not an inevitability. I think both ways of education have their benefits and drawbacks, but in my own mixed experience of both, they don’t have to be pitted against one another. Our educations can take very different paths and still produce in the end well-rounded, informed, and mature people.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and making me think harder about this topic!