After the first week abroad, I would not say we’re in a routine per se, but some aspects of our future life are coming into focus. A big one, much to the chagrin of the kids, is school – or should I say, education, as we are specifically taking a break from the cells and bells model so revered in the United States. Without bus schedules, bells, teachers, tests, skyward and all the rest, clearly the schedule will be the hardest to nail down. If Lisa and I are meant to be co-headmasters of Project Equator Academy, the schedule is even more challenged, as we’ve never been accused of maintaining a consistent routine… carpe diem, et all…
At times in our parenting, this “flexible” (read: undisciplined) approach worked in our favor. Our first pediatrician counseled us about potty training way back, when we were fancy free with just one kid in tow, advising that we don’t put any timetables or schedules together. “It will just happen when it happens, so don’t worry about it,” counseled the doctor. “We can do that! Hey, this parenting thing is going to be easy!” At other times, like probably during a Gap Year where we REALLY want to be carpe-diem-zen, but we don’t want to have our kids lose a full year of their education, we may need some modification to our behavior.
Otto sketching Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia Gallery
Luckily, Wescott, Yve and Otto are taking ownership of their own destiny, which is part of the point of this whole exercise, and diving into their respective educations. Maybe the “flexible” approach to life will actually pay off, as the three of them have been pulling out math books, graphing calculators and Spanish worksheets at all hours of the day and night. Yve and Otto are diving into math together, hanging out at the very cramped kitchen table going through math worksheets. Both are also spending daily time on their respective language apps: Otto cramming for our impending visit to Spain, and Yve parallel-tasking Mandarin and French. DuoLingo is working well, with Otto proclaiming he’s learned more this week than the 2 years of Sponge classes in Spanish he took before school in 3rd and 4th grade – take note Lakeridge PTA!
Otto working on his Code Academy class
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Yve writing her weekly blog post
Wescott is on his own track with the University of Nebraska, which you can learn about from his post here. The first couple of days were a little like trying to go skiing without snow, however, as virtual high school is somewhat dependent on the Internet. Our awesome apartment has lots of endearing quirks, but the lack of reliable access to the world wide web is not one of them! We’ve been through two routers, hours of deciphering Italian manuals and many calls to our landlord Artan to get connected. Luckily, there are lots of cafes and pizzerias with WiFi, where we all chug data like we just spent a week in the desert without water. And, bonus is the unending stream of tiny espresso cups to keep you wired… Regardless, Wescott has screen-shotted a couple of weeks worth of work, and he is now off and running on 10th grade!
OK, so mainstream schooling so far… check! The much more interesting part of the curriculum has also begun as we explore the treasures of Florence and the Renaissance. One of my stowaway purchases before we left was a tiny LED projector that can show videos, movies and pictures. Measuring only 4″x5″ it throws a surprisingly bright picture filling our bedroom wall. We’ve been downloading SmartHistory.org videos (thanks Jenn Mc!), which is now owned by Khan Academy, and watching them before heading out to see things like Michelangelo’s David.
We’ve also been keeping the focus pretty tight when we venture out to potentially black holes of despair for children, like museums and churches, zeroing in on only a couple of things. Yesterday afternoon, for example, we visited the Accademia Gallery. While there is a great deal of art and interesting things to look at and learn about, we pretty much spent an hour sitting next to David, sketching and contemplating this masterpiece armed with our SmartHistory lecture from the morning. See Otto’s post about this very cool visit.
Wescott sketching Michelangelo’s David
One of the big worries I had was making sure that we didn’t somehow mess up the tried and true path to the American Dream for our kids by disrupting their schooling with a global adventure. Moving into the second week, Í am feeling better about their prospects and the purposeful gap from public education.
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