To take DC out of school for a year and travel

[ShillyShallySherbet]

Having a moment of madness I think after watching race across the world but interested to hear whether anyone has done similar to this and the pros and cons.

Both myself and DH’s work contracts are coming to an end in September. DC will be going into year 3 and year 5. We are currently looking for new contacts but if nothing comes up we have enough saved up to get by for a while. Or we could take advantage of the fact there’s nothing tying us down and just throw caution to the wind, take the girls out of school for a year and travel. AIBU?

Family holidays have been self catering and camping (we have a campervan but not sure it’s up to a massive journey) in U.K. and France. Myself and DH traveled a fair bit before children, New Zealand, Australia, south East Asia.

How willing are you to educate DC (academically) as you go?

You will get people on here saying at that age it doesn't matter but it does. Your DC will return very behind. Are you okay with them being put back a year on return if necessary?

Your children could lose their school places as the school is not obliged to hold them open. I would look into that first.

Y3 possibly, Personally I wouldn't be taking a Y5 child out for a year.

I would do 6 weeks in the summer holidays first and see how you find it…

How would you manage in terms of healthcare? You will need quite extensive insurance to cover it. The whole thing will probably cost quite a lot more than you think. You are also sending a message to your DC that you can just drop all responsibilities and go off and have fun for a year. You may find they struggle settling back into a more mundane reality on return (a year is a lifetime to an 8 year old) but alas - we cannot spend life on holiday.

No she wouldn’t. She would go into year 6.

Friends did it with their primary school children for a year sailing to the West Indies and around. It seemed to work well but they did home educate to make sure their DC didn't fall behind. Children didn't appear to have any difficulties settling back in and it certainly didn't hold them back educationally. Teachers in the missed out class years were very helpful and followed their progress with their classes on a map and read out postcards, etc - obviously that depends upon the teachers!

Other posters' ideas about having a trial run is a good one, although I expect you will need quite a bit of time setting up your year away.

I think the Y5 would be fine, tbh. Everyone is starting new in Y7, not just them. They might be a little behind where they would be otherwise, but it’s an easy time to catch up.

OP, I think you should do it! Have a plan about what you want the children’s experience to be like and then work out where to go to achieve that.

Maybe I’m crazy but I think if you can afford it, can home school whilst away confidently. Then do it. Life’s too short

I do know someone who did this, but not well enough to share any details of exactly what they did. DCs were similar ages, and one parent was a primary school teacher, so home educated them and kept up with curriculum requirements while they were travelling. I didn't meet them until their kids were older, and they were back working, and their kids were happily at secondary school/uni. But they were very positive about it and really felt it had worked for them. (It would be interesting to see if the DCs would agree) I guess the key thing is whether you can make it easy for them to re-integrate afterwards. Just posting for balance as you've only had fairly negative responses so far.

Do you own your own home that you would keep so have a fixed address for school applications? How over subscribed is their school. Would you be ok with them going to a different school on their return if there is no places left? Have you considered how home educating would work? There is something called world schooling which maybe something you could look into.

If you have truly considered all of the above, then I’d still consider it. Kids have years to be in the education system and most catch up from what ever education they miss (consider Covid for a start!).

It depends on a few factors - how easy would it be to de-register and then reregister your children from school? I appreciate the older one would probably be changing schools anyway, but would the younger one be happy to possibly be going to a different school on their return?

Would you educate/homeschool your children while away? Missing a whole year of academic study is a lot to catch up on, and could affect their education for quite some time while they catch up. I know that travelling is an education in itself, but they will also need to keep up with the basics that would be happening at school, especially in maths and English.

If you are happy that the adventure won't affect them too much, I'd go for it, it sounds amazing. But do some research first.

Are your children likely to enjoy travelling?

I think most 9yo would be bored silly travelling all year with no-one their own age to play with. Very isolating. Do they play together now?

Just because you like travelling, they may not. As pp said, I'd take them on a 6 week summer trip and see how you get on.

I've always wanted to do that! I'm on a Facebook group- worldschoolers; filled with people travelling the world with their school age children. Some stay in areas long enough for children to try local schools and learn a new language.

I don't think the disruption to your kids is fair tbh. They are settled and happy woth friends. You want this, not them. Just over 10 years and you'll have the freedom to do all this stuff. IMO this is the 7 year itch if having kids I'm afraid.

You will need fo be back in your own home by October of Yr6 for Secondary applications
You will need to keep pace with school curriculum
They may be allocated different schools on return. Friendships may change

Otherwise... why not? Maybe not whole year... but 6 months?
Q

It sounds a perfect age to do something different. It will need good planning to make the most of it and work out what you can really afford. How can you earn money along the way potentially, for example.

Warning - it could change your lives. I know of a GP who took a sabbatical in Africa with her family (slightly younger, oldest was maybe yr 3), they've ended up moving to Shetland.

It's possible but you need to be committed to homeschooling plus remember you will need to reapply for schools on your return as they won't hold their places. Will you rent your house out?

I had my kids out of school for 6 months for different reasons and enjoyed homeschooling them, on the road you would need to do it differently but tech is better and cheaper now