Take advantage of your surroundings - wherever you are!
Kids are naturally curious and have an innate desire to make sense of the world around them. In other words – they want to learn. Have you ever seen your child out digging in the ground, trying to pull earthworms out of the dirt? And then that same child proudly shows you all the segments and explains how the worm wiggles to move? She is simply trying to put the pieces together to make sense of what’s around her.
See a slide show of what roadschooling means to us!
Kids have an inborn inclination to want to make sense of their world. Unfortunately, our school system tends to beat that curiosity out of kids - schools take “learning” and make it boring, repetitive, and irrelevant. And that is a pity indeed.
Many families have opted out of a ‘traditional’ education, and have chosen instead to take their children out to see the world – whether in RVs, planes, buses, or bicycles. Roadschooling families make a conscious effort to capitalize on children’s natural penchant toward learning. They go out of their way to visit historical and/or scientific sites in order to arouse that sense of curiosity in children. And roadschooled kids learn the joy of learning.
As families travel throughout the world visiting historical sites, children gain an understanding of what life was like on the fields of Gettysburg or in ancient Mayan cities. They visit museums and national parks and natural wonders. Roadschooling parents encourage their children to learn from everything surrounding them and the kids learn in a natural learning environment.
What could be better than learning by doing? By being there in person, by seeing and hearing and touching and living? For many of us – there is nothing better!
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You may be interested in these other articles about traveling with children:
50 tips for a long distance family bike ride
Family travel: A life changing event
Extended family travel in tough economic times
How to afford an extended family vacation
And interviews with these other families who have chosen a life on two wheels:
The Williams family is on a open-ended tour on a triple bike with their 9-year-old son.
Rebekka and Florian traveled the Pan American Highway to Tierra del Fuego with their small son in a trailer.
The Verhage family with sons aged 11 & 13 have cycled south from LA. They are now in Peru.
My family is currently cycling the Pan American Highway - we've cycled 16,000 km from Alaska to Colombia so far. You can find us at Family on Bikes.
Contact me via email at familyonbikes@gmail.com
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Comments
Wow, I roadschooled for many years and never knew it! I love the concept. Many people stereotype homeschoolers as people who never leave the house and meet others, when in fact most are much more worldly and sociable than their peers. I am jealous that you are still in that world!
It is amazing how so many people think homeschooled kids of every color and stripe are locked in the house and never leave. They never say that about ours! I do think kids who travel have a much wider view of the world - and in today's society, that's an important thing.
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