– Can the kids handle it? We sure hope so. As Professor Gugick says, “i promise you they won’t come back dumber than when we left”.
-Isn’t home school weird? Not really. Its become more and more “accepted” as a method of teaching and learning. We think the personal maturity and discipline from executing this is worth the effort.
– Rows and columns? There are no rows and columns in their class. In fact, there really isn’t a class. Collaborative, experiential, interactive, thoughtful and challenging are the signposts.
– Won’t you drive each other crazy? Maybe…errr…probably, but we learned to like being a close knit family while living in Paris. It could be worse.
– Are there weekends? No. There is enough travel time where reading and researching is necessary that we will go most days on, or have partial learning days. And that was the teachers call, frankly. He sets the tone, and so far the kids love it, saying “Learning and doing stuff is just becoming natural”.
– So you don’t like staying married? Ha.
– Why now? This could be the last chance. Ever.
– What about records and transcripts? We have past ones. We are keeping copious records of our processes and progress using some US standards, as well as reading lists and pedagogy from leading public and private scholastic institutions.
– What do schools say, about tests, entrance exams, etc.? Yes, schools are more and more comfortable all the time with non-standard applicants.
– What about sports and physical activities? There are plenty of known and new sports to play everywhere. Soccer, surfing, paddle boarding, scuba, etc.
– What about friends? Trade offs. The kids have international friends because much of the American School of Paris crowd was somewhat transient, but it’s a challenge. We will interact with local kids every chance we get. On the positive side, there will be far more exposure to adults and adult situations demanding responsibility and maturity that hopefully becomes second nature.
– Where do you live? Um, we don’t actually live anywhere. No home, no apartment, not even a car.
– Home address, then? Awkward. We have a P.O. Box that forwards anything necessary.
– What’s your schedule? Indonesia, Japan, China, [Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, but please USE PENCIL.
– Why did you decide on Asia and Africa? Our work takes us to Hong Kong and the African Continent, and we have cohorts and contacts there.
– Planning? See Stacia. We’re DOA without her.
– Who was the driving force behind this? My folks still think I was, but in truth Stacia was far more adventurous than me.