{"id":1822,"date":"2020-08-12T07:00:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T07:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2020-08-09T21:57:56","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T21:57:56","slug":"is-worldschooling-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?p=1822","title":{"rendered":"Is Worldschooling Working?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We took our kids out of public school last year. We were living with my (Judy) sister. Michael was going through cancer treatments and I was still working full time.\u00a0 We deregistered the kids at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. We could have put them back in school when we found out our trip was delayed, but that did not seem like the best option.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Putting them back in school meant:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would either have to put them back into their elementary school and commute 20+ minutes to drop them off (in the opposite direction of my work) or put them in a new school.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get the kids up at 6:30 a.m. or earlier yelling at them to get ready for school, making lunches, reminding them to get their book bags and homework.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I would be rushing from work in rush hour to pick the kids up from aftercare.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would be juggling kid pick-up, homework, etc. with Michael\u2019s chemo and radiation treatments.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would spend most of our nights getting frustrated with Lucas and Henry trying to do homework assignments and projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">None of that seemed appealing. We were going to worldchool them anyway, so starting while we were still in Atlanta was logical.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1823\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1823\" style=\"width: 811px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1823\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/61341576809__99D16080-BB18-4C55-AD20-9C90491A4762.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/61341576809__99D16080-BB18-4C55-AD20-9C90491A4762.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/61341576809__99D16080-BB18-4C55-AD20-9C90491A4762-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/61341576809__99D16080-BB18-4C55-AD20-9C90491A4762-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1823\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lucas and Henry when we ask them if they want to go back to Public School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are Our Kids Falling Behind in School?<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question we get asked most by our family and friends is, \u201cDo you think Lucas and Henry are falling behind?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I always want to answer that question with a question: What does \u201cbehind\u201d mean?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems like the silliest question to me. The grade-level benchmarks in U.S. public schools are completely arbitrary and are, in my opinion, a faulty indicator of a child\u2019s development and potential. With that said, this post is not a declaration of war on the public school system, it is about the different path we have chosen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why do Lucas and Henry have to know their multiplication tables in third grade?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why do they have to learn about the history of Georgia in fourth grade?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If I send my son to public school and he gets good grades all year but does poorly on the end of year test, does that mean he is behind?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If my son can recite all of the planets in second grade but forgets them by third grade, would you say he is behind?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will be happy to know that Lucas and Henry are doing great. They are happy, healthy, curious, funny, and wonderful.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are Lucas and Henry Learning?<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are learning so many amazing things. If it makes you feel better, they are learning school stuff too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The School Stuff.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We started out with workbooks to cover math and language arts.\u00a0 We recently moved to an online platform that covers these topics as well as some science and social studies. Henry is already tackling multiplication, division, and fractions; things he would not be doing in a public school for another year (in case you were wondering).\u00a0Social studies also naturally works its way into our lives as we travel to different countries. The kids watch videos about various topics in science depending on their interests or they go outside and discover nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The boys are in charge of their learning.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael and I are not their teachers. We facilitate. We help them out when they get stuck. If there are things they want to learn about we help them find ways to learn about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lucas and I learn about history together because I am just as interested in it as he is.\u00a0 Henry is usually playing with his toys while he listens to our history lessons. He soaks a lot of information up, even when you do not think he is paying attention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We recently introduced circle time. Each week we all pick a topic we are interested in. We spend time researching the topic and at the end of the week, we present our topics to each other in circle time.\u00a0 Last week Lucas chose sapphires, Henry chose pavement ants, Michael researched sea turtles and I picked the light bulb. It led to some great discussions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We read a lot of books. The boys always have a book on their kindle that they are tackling. Henry loves to read. Lucas does not love to read, but he likes it better when he gets to pick the book out. We also read books together. Some of the books we have read together are the entire Harry Potter book series, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">James and the Giant Peach<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Hatchet series by Gary Paulsen, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 Reading together is one of our favorite pastimes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free Time.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The kids have a lot of free time to play.\u00a0 They are currently building a fort somewhere secret in our neighborhood. They will be outside for hours at a time playing and building. We go swimming almost every day. They build with legos and they have time to play Minecraft and other computer games. We play card games, including spades and canasta, and board games like Monopoly and chess. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We watch movies. We have watched the entire Star Wars series and all of the Marvel movies. We have shown Lucas and Henry movies from our childhood that we loved like the Sandlot. We watch documentaries about animals, different cultures, and outer space. We go down YouTube rabbit holes when we find a topic we are interested in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lucas loves cooking and watching cooking shows.\u00a0 He is phenomenal in the kitchen. He can whip up hashbrown, bacon, avocados, and eggs for breakfast.\u00a0 He makes a delicious penne a la vodka. He helps us cook various dishes. He often flies solo in the kitchen with recipes he finds online. Michael and I were not that self-sufficient in the kitchen at 10 years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1822 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1830'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3188.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1830\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3188.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3188-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3188-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1830'>\n\t\t\t\tHaving fun while learning to manage a real estate empire. \n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1827'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2859.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1827\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2859.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2859-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2859-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1827'>\n\t\t\t\tHenry is working on his poker face.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1829'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3069.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1829\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3069.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3069-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3069-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1829'>\n\t\t\t\tTinkering is a great way to learn.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exercise.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lucas and Henry get a lot of exercise running around outside. We will occasionally say it is workout time and they have to go exercise for 30 minutes. Lucas will run hills. Henry likes to find kid workout videos on YouTube.\u00a0 They have horseback riding lessons once a week. We go hiking and walk along the beach. Michael and Lucas go for runs. We all swim laps. Lucas and I are doing a 100 day 100 push-ups challenge. We have 68 more days to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-1822 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1833'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3327.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-1833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3327.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3327-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3327-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-1833'>\n\t\t\t\tThere are many great outdoor spaces to explore.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1832'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3316.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-1832\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3316.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3316-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_3316-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-1832'>\n\t\t\t\tField Day!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?attachment_id=1825'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2782.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2782.jpg 811w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2782-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2782-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can safely say that our kids are doing great despite not being in public school.\u00a0 We are glad we took them out last year and avoided the COVID school scramble. It is not just Lucas and Henry that are flourishing. We are all learning to love learning, learning from the world, and learning from each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We took our kids out of public school last year. We were living with my (Judy) sister. Michael was going through cancer treatments and I was still working full time.\u00a0 We deregistered the kids at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. We could have put them back in school when we found out our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,31],"tags":[16,46,14,7,15],"class_list":["post-1822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-worldschooling","tag-family-travel","tag-homeschooling","tag-travel-with-kids","tag-world-travel","tag-worldschooling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1837,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions\/1837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}