Traveling the world and educating the kids?

[world]

We were thinking about traveling as a family while the kids are young. They don't have any exams in the immediate future but they are old enough to appreciate and learn from traveling.
DCs are 10, 8 and 5.

The plan is to go for a year starting this summer but we are unsure about it. While traveling we would obviously be doing outdoorsy things and getting to know the area/history of the place/culture/languages/getting the kids to love education for educations sake rather than because you have to go to school etc. as well as daily reading/writing about what we have done/following the National curriculum for English and Maths but we are worried this may have an effect on the kids` education when we get back.

We have always wanted to travel and recently our eldest has become disengaged in education and can go off the rails when at school because he "gets bored" although is exceptionally good out of school and loves the informality of learning out side of the class room.
We think a year out would do the whole family good especially DS1 and we can fulfil our traveling dream but we need advice.

We have never home educated and have no experience of it and are just a bit unsure as to whether this will be very successful or a disaster. We have planned to follow the NC for the core subjects but let the rest take care of itself, is this OK?

All advice and experience welcomed.

I think the only thing you risk is all feeling annoyed/disappointed at the prospect of them going back into school when you return. But that's no reason for not doing something!

I wouldn't even bother 'following' the NC, though if you have some idea the kinds of things it covers then you can bear it in mind.

To me, education needs -

literacy - as long as they're reading something, it's all good
numeracy - currency and milage would be obvious things to practice on
finding things out about people/places
expressing pros and cons, and your opinion on things
gross motor skills - sports and outdoorsy stuff
fine motor skills - drawing, making models, icing cakes
something creative

If you can hit those things, your children will be getting an education!

What a fantastic idea, good for you :) you will give your children skills and experiences that will put them miles ahead of their peers, and have fun doing it.

Thanks guys, I think were just going to go with the flow and make sure they enjoy themselves and keep them up to date with their reading and maths by using the world around us.

I think your only issue will be that if you want them to go back into mainstream school you will need to catch up with the curriculum stuff they've missed. So for example they might have been having great trips to see interesting things (very valuable) but have they been taught about conductors, lines of symmetry etc that their school friends will have been learning about and which will be built upon in later school years.

As long as you appreciate that there will be catch up to do then its a wonderful plan.

I think it sounds like an amazing idea.

If you want them to stay on course with NC stuff ask what level they're working at when you leave. Download the APP assessment criteria for that level in reading, writing and maths then work on some of those things when you have time.

Reckon that would be a 'best of both worlds' scenario

We have had a look at the NC for English and Maths (found it online) and we are regularly told by school what level they are at so no problems there. We were thinking along the lines of if we keep there English and Maths up to date and throw in a bit of everything as we come across it then life will be perfect (for a year anyways) :)
Thank you all for the encouragement.

I think its a wonderful idea and echo what others say about them not wanting to go back to school again, well who would?
What a fantastic opportunity for them all.

Lucky you! Id say go for it & in terms of learning, just go with the flow! Don't ruin the experience by following the NC!!!! They will learn all kinds of things, it will be such a great opportunity for all of you & I wish I was doing it!

Just to add that there will be plenty of opportunity to learn about sciency things too - modes of transport, speed/distances, weather/climate, native animals and plants (and back into the past via fossils if you are travelling places where such things are discovered), lots of biology potential in their own bodies and the local flora and fauna etc, ecosystems, food chains, mini beast hunts etc. Astronomy if you have some late nights/camping etc.

Can you tell I'm jealous?

Sorry for the excessive use of "etc" I was just excited by the possibilities.

One admin thing to keep an eye on is where they will go to school (assuming you think you might want them to return to school) on return. Their primary cannot keep a place open for a whole year, and your eldest looks to be the age for secondary transfer and you might miss the admissions round.

Now, if you're Scotland, that's an irrelevancy (as you'll get catchment school), and if you're somewhere where there are plenty of places it probably isn't much of a factor either.

I don't mention this as a reason not to do it. Rather as one bit of admin you might want to take into account.