The Stead children cruising Ha Long Bay. Photo \/ Old Mate Media<\/p>\n
Keeping up with school<\/p>\n
Every parent wants their child to have a good education and we certainly tossed and turned over whether missing a term of academia was the right decision. However, when we first sounded out the idea with each child\u2019s teacher, the support was unanimous. As public school educators, they knew how much life experience and knowledge our kids would get from these trips.<\/p>\n
Each teacher provided insight on how to keep the kids\u2019 education moving forward while travelling. A daily diary was a big one, as reflecting on what they experienced each day worked their literacy, critical thinking and interpretation skills. <\/p>\n
In Southeast Asia, we\u2019d often find ourselves on trains, vehicle transfers or even boats between towns and hotels and we\u2019d push the kids to use the down time to write and collect their thoughts.<\/p>\n
Travel itself provides many chances to write, journal or do other homework. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n
Treating the world like a classroom<\/p>\n
There were also ample opportunities to practice classroom subjects in a real-world setting. Whether it\u2019s currency conversions, working out transport timetables, converting speed signs or simply shopping at markets to barter for goods, travel is naturally full of mathematical equations. By encouraging the kids to take the lead in these moments, maths was brought to life in an engaging way.<\/p>\n
One of our favourites was a problem such as, \u201cIt\u2019s 120km to our hotel and we\u2019re travelling at 70km\/h, so how long \u2018til we get there?\u201d Or, \u201cIf 100,000 Vietnamese Dong is equal to $5, then how much is this 180,000 Dong fried rice?\u201d<\/p>\n
Geography is also a part of the day-to-day. Navigating around towns, deciding which place to head to next and working out things to do on a map quickly broadens your child\u2019s understanding of the subject. Meanwhile, the arts are well and truly covered by so many of the activities you engage in, such as local dances, cooking, galleries and shows.<\/p>\n
Markets provide real-life math problems as kids work out currency conversion and equations. Photo \/ Unsplash<\/p>\n
It should come as little surprise that history and culture are the subjects most richly explored. When I think back to just a snippet of what we did, it blows my mind.<\/p>\n
We took the kids to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Crawled the Cu Chi Tunnels of the Mekong Delta. Into Buddhist caves along the rivers of Laos. Ancient temples in Indonesia. We gifted alms to the monks and heard the Islamic call to prayer. Filled our noses with a bouquet of incense and exotic spices sizzling in street-side foods. Came across elephants, monkeys, squirrels and water buffalo. Flagged down utes and jumped in the back, letting the dust and wind orbit our hair in pursuit of the next adventure: the kids thanking the driver in their local tongue.<\/p>\n
The Stead family at Angkor Wat. Photo \/ Old Mate Media<\/p>\n
How to make a travel term happen<\/p>\n
By this point, you\u2019re no doubt wondering how we can afford all this. Travelling isn\u2019t cheap at the best of times, especially when you\u2019ve got kids and require such significant time off work. There\u2019s no doubt that taking the travel term is a serious investment; a financial risk. But it is one worth taking.<\/p>\n
Perhaps for you, it means taking a mix of annual and unpaid leave. Or even solo-parenting a portion of the trip while your partner stays back at work. In preparation for our trip, we switched out our fulltime roles for contract work. It untethered us from the office chair and allowed us to pick and choose work we could do remotely along the way, in hotels at night or while in transit.<\/p>\n
Ideally, you\u2019ll find someone to rent or sublet your home to supplement the reduced income. We\u2019ve always found someone in the local community who could benefit from a couple of months of residence, often because they are renovating or living with parents.<\/p>\n
Choosing relatively inexpensive countries, such as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, or South America, also helps if you\u2019re on a budget. Plus, using points towards flights, booking last-minute hotel deals and investing time in cost-comparison to find the best deal helps keep costs down. <\/p>\n
Hanoi Historical Site. Photo \/ Old Mate Media<\/p>\n
Just remember, you don\u2019t need luxury. With kids, I recommend a hotel with a pool and breakfast; that\u2019s all you need. Then eat in local markets and not at restaurants.<\/p>\n
Finally, try talking with local grassroots tour operators. Not only are they significantly cheaper, but they will take you to unique places you\u2019d never find otherwise, if you\u2019re happy to go with the flow. We did one very memorable five-day trip with one such operator, heading up the Mekong River from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam to Siem Reap in Cambodia, staying on farms, visiting coconut factories and finding hidden temples.<\/p>\n
Start small and build confidence<\/p>\n
The idea of taking a travel term can feel impossible at first. It did for me. In truth, we started with smaller trips to get our jandals in the dirt, so to speak. Two weeks here. Three weeks there. So, when a window appeared in the calendar that didn\u2019t clash with family and sport commitments, or key school milestones like the start of a new year or exams, we had the confidence to pounce. And if I can do it with young kids on a budget, then you can too.<\/p>\n
Indeed, so successful was our experience that we\u2019re doing another. For our 2025 travel term, we are backpacking and cruising our way around the Mediterranean and Europe.<\/p>\n
The textbooks will still be there when you return, after all. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Stead children cruising Ha Long Bay. Photo \/ Old Mate Media Keeping up with school Every parent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1052,1061,3276,31742,31741,6440,8493,2109,2082,302,1899,12973,13840,111,43,139,69,1118,1517,4062,31743,31744,4758,1335,223,2846,274,6923,102,377,1965],"class_list":["post-33688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-benefits","tag-children","tag-chris","tag-considered","tag-educational","tag-ever","tag-exactly","tag-family","tag-for","tag-its","tag-kids","tag-knowledge","tag-like","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-reveals","tag-school","tag-schooling","tag-stead","tag-taking","tag-term","tag-the","tag-them","tag-travel","tag-what","tag-with","tag-world","tag-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}