Best reason given for being a bit late to class:

“I had to poop sideways.” Oakley tells us.

“What?” I say.

“The cat was laying down in front of the toilet.” he says.

Merlot, the cat, was not to be moved causing my son to sit sideways on the toilet for a poo.  Hence, pooping sideways.

In our travels we are continually asked, mostly by Europeans, “How can you have the kids out of school for a year?”.  We have heard in other countries you would be fined or it would just not be allowed.

Let me point out that our boys attended Montessori school through third and first year.  They will go back into the same school without dropping a grade.  Montessori is a great system of learning that matches the boys really well.  They will be returning for year five and three.  My wife mentions more about this here.

I want to share my view of what school looks like with my boys using a few lists and photos.

 

Campus Locations (thus far):

• Hawaii
• Australia
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Vietnam 
  

  Ho Chi Minh City

• Thailand
• Cambodia
  
• Denmark
• Germany
• Belgium
• France
• Netherlands

 

Learning Objectives:

• Reading
• Writing (including penmanship and cursive)
• Math

The three Learning Objectives were recommended by their teachers before we left but more drop into our lap with ease due to what we are doing.  Geography, Languages, History, and Science are staring us in the face.  This is truly a magical learning experience for all.

I chose to join in and relearn Cursive in order to teach it to the boys.  When the teacher joins with the class to show he or she is motivated to learn it’s like you’re on the same team.  Struggling along with the students really creates a learning bond through empathy.

Tools: 

• Coffee. For me and the safety of others.
• Patience (lots).  Nobody learns in anger.
• Journal (2).  There is a lot going on, write it down.
• Common Place Book (2). Used for research, drafts, notes, art, ect..
• Workbooks for math and we were given a few for english and comprehension in Australia because the woman we housesitted for was a teacher.  (Thanks Deb!)
• Writing utensils.  Push pencils and a sweet sharpener like the one in this photo.  Pens are messy.
• Blackboards (3).  These are great.  They’re wet-erase and no bigger than a magazine.  I found them in Vietnam at a Costco like store by happenstance.  Using them really improved the focusing ability.
• Computer with internet access.  Both teacher and students need to be able to research and do presentations.
• Kindle (2).  Small and pretty tough,  these are beauti.  The boys’ reading ability has skyrocketed.  My wife mentions them here.
• Recess.  Don’t forget this.  Attention spans are short and you can reach a fill to here point quickly when everything is constantly changing.  Kids (adults too) lose focus and need a break to wiggle, snack, run or wrestle.  Keep an eye out for information overload.

 

So far my experience worldschooling the boys has been very positive.  I have been able to use teaching techniques used for culinary students with the boys.  I’ve learned how each learns and how to bend a lesson and allow flexibility to get each to grasp the lesson.

I don’t think we want to be their teachers into highschool but I’m certainly glad to have had the privilege of being one of their teachers this year.  Just can’t beat this 1:1 student-teacher ratio.