What about school?

Don’t let schooling interfere with your education. – Mark Twain

I think questions about how will we “do school” on the road are the most common questions asked.  To be honest, the answer to this question is a work in progress.  Here’s what I know for sure:

• We will use a formal curriculum for Spanish and Algebra.  Science, history and English will be more organic in nature, more “unschooling”, if you will. We will read books about the people & places where we will visit, research topics of interest, study all sorts of landscapes, cartography, topography, environmental sciences, flora & fauna, keep a journal, and write on this blog.
• Aidan is not leaving our school because he has performed poorly. In fact, he’s done all we’ve ever asked of our kids at school- been respectful, been open minded, done his best and turned his work in on time. We view this year as a unique gift, an experiment of sorts.
• We are not leaving school because we are unhappy with our school or teachers.  Quite the opposite is true, we adore the 8th grade teachers & are sad he will miss the opportunity to learn from them.  They have been such gracious, encouraging and helpful guides as we’ve discussed this crazy plan.
• Our primary educational goals for Aidan are to put learning in context (researching about a person/place & then visit that place), reading a lot- in hopes of instilling a desire to read (a mom can hope, right?!), guiding Aidan to discover topics he’s interested in and delve deeper, thus gaining the vital skills to be a life-long learner. Oh, and hoping he’s ready for high school when this is all over! Eeeek!