Well yes, there is more to share on the subject of traveling with your family. Now that we're back, I see how we could have done certain things better - and as these elements reveal themselves along the weeks following our return, I will take the time to write about them.
Schooling... a very big undertaking. Yes, your kids will have the experience of a lifetime - but they will eventually get back to their classroom and be expected to tango along. It is absolutely possible to keep-up with the program and teach or further explore certain concepts, especially with today's technology. With the kind cooperation of Leo's teacher and his tutor, I was receiving his homework every week, printing it on the small portable printer I had purchased for that purpose (HP DeskJet), and once he had completed it I would take a photo of each page with my iPhone, and email them back to his teacher. We also had a few tutoring sessions via Skype, and in general communication was not a problem. It does take time to prepare additional projects to add to the homework, making it fun and stimulating, but that's not really the biggest challenge either - at least not for us.
The biggest challenge is for the kids - when they return to school. It is impossible to replicate the pace and the social spectrum of the school environment. Although we did talk about it with the kids, trying to prepare them, the change of pace is exhausting for the first couple of weeks. It's true for everyone in the family of course, but in our case - because we are both self-employed and have some flexibility in our time management - it's the kids who had the most drastic and rapid change of life style. We landed in Toronto at 9:30pm on Sunday, and they were at school at 8:15am on Monday. Sure, they were excited and happy to see their friends - but it's important to let the dust fall and expect some repercussion within the first three weeks.
So schooling your kids is an amazing experience, and I do think that everyone should try it to some extent at least once. But make sure that the re-integration is part of the plan. Tighten the communication with the teacher a couple of weeks prior to your child's return, and follow-up during the first couple of weeks. You should schedule a meeting sometime during the second week to take the teacher's feedback. That being said, be careful to not overwhelm the teacher by requesting time-consuming tasks (that could spoil the situation...). You should ask how he/she prefers to communicate, and be open to adapt to that choice.
Dylan is in Grade 6 and had no problems with the change. Leo is in Grade 3, a loaded year for any student, and we are helping him in picking-up the pace. Weekly tutoring for homework and general overview, weekly math sessions with aunty Heather (who was once a math teacher), and scheduling play dates with his school friends on a regular basis. And we will keep it going until things start to flow more smoothly.
Two weeks since we returned home, and the dust keeps falling!
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