Your passport is up to date; you’ve packed the perfect lightweight, easily manouverable luggage; you can say ‘hello’ in seven languages. You’re so ready for this adventure!
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But wait, have you thought about the challenges that will present themselves once you hit the road (trail/air/sea) with your children who’ve spent much of their life in school?
Sure you may a learning plan or even a vague notion of a curriculum you like the look of but how will you handle the feelings that will likely stir in you the first time your previously compliant child states that they don’t want to sit down for their lessons or log into their virtual classroom?
Or what if you life of freedom you thought you’d planned for also includes the kids wanting to throw out their established bedtime and meal routines? Or ditch the bedtime book for a family movie or late night gaming session?
As well as providing a tried and testing (albeit restrictive) educational framework, school sets the tone for our modern life in many ways you might not realise until you step out of it and step into something new.
When my kids first stopped going to school some years ago, it provided the opportunity to explore a different way of living and relating that extended far beyond conventional learning. In fact, because learning doesn’t occur only between the hours of 9am and 3pm, everything is up for renegotiation!
Will your family need to have dinner at 6pm if you no longer need to get the kids into bed so that they can be up early for their school day?
Will breakfast need to be rushed through now that no one needs to leave home by 8am? Will your kids even want breakfast? Meal times may turn into a moving feast, allowing everyone in your family the autonomy to recognise and honour their own unique needs.
Living outside of the conventional school system opens up triggers for us as parents that we may not have had cause to consider previously. Even just being with our kids for all of the hours in the day can be challenging and so we often have to reframe that idea of ‘me time’ or plan out how we will recharge our own batteries while are kids are indeed with us.
Your children may want to relate with you differently too and are almost certainly going to treat you quite differently to how they acted with their teachers in the school environment. You may be asked to explore themes around respect and educational autonomy and be pushed to consider what child led or self directed learning really means.
ALL of these things can be considered within and supported by an intentional period of DESCHOOLING which really is that transitional period between school and something else. The ‘something else’ is for you and your family to decide but here at We Are Worldschoolers, we have a stack of resources for you, to support you as you undertake the inner work you’ll be called on to undertake.
Check out this outline of what DESCHOOLING is all about and why it should form part of your planning for your worldschooling journey.
-click to read-
The typical, fixed lifestyle creates a sense of security in which individuals can live and grow safely. However, when a family transitions to worldschooling, many of these elements must be given up. So how do worldschoolers feel safe and secure if they don’t have a home, direct contact with family and friends, and are no longer part of a conventional community?
-click to read-
Sue Patterson, a well known entity in the unschooling world, speaks with Lainie about navigating DESCHOOLING and Worldschooling with teens and how deschooling is an important part of moving into a child led learning lifestyle.
-click to watch this amazing interview-
Author, academic and unschooling mum, Gina Riley, speaks with Lainie about how to prepare for a life outside of school
-watch this insightful conversation here-
We know first hand how hard it can be navigating this stuff alone and how easy it is to feel fear taking over. We’ll be offering a second session of GROUP COACHING FOR DESCHOOLING this Friday as part of our Worldschoolers Mindset series. If you’re embarking on a life of alternative education and especially if you’re stepping out of the school system, you won’t want to miss this one!