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travellarge

~ After two years of turmoil, a homeschooling family embarks on a big adventure

travellarge

Tag Archives: Family fun

But I Just Wanted Another Orange…

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by travellarge in Adventure, Architecture, Budget travel, Education, Experiential Travel, Family, Hands-on Learning, Homeschool, Humour, Parenting, Siblings, Teenagers, Travel, Unschooling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art nouveau, Azuelos, Driving lessons, Driving standard, Easter, Family fun, Personal goals, Porto

HAPPY EASTER from sunny PORTO!!  As my Austrian friend says, “Porto ist am schönsten!”  (Porto is the most beautiful).  A collaborative blog post:

S.W.M.B.O. set two goals for the year on her birthday:  1. To learn to drive standard. 2. To do the splits.  Up to now, she has done NOTHING to realize the goals and the clock is ticking.  Fahbio surprised her today by pulling into an empty parking lot in Porto for her first lesson.  In driving, not in “splitting”! – SWMBO

HI!

Venice here!   Happy easter also!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

church3

– Lovely church!

S.W.M.B.O. Is learning how to drive a Standard-car!

Ok so this is what it felt like! :

1.  It was very jerky! 

2.  It was very loud!  ( Because of all the screaming , and all of the OH MY GODS!!!!! )

3.  But kind of enjoyable!!!  ( ‘Cause all of the laughing!!! )    HA HA HA!!!

Ok and this how you drive it!  DU DUU DDUUU!!!   ( Fabhio knows how to work it and is telling S.W.B.O how to at least move it! )

 ( It is kind of tricky because you need do a lot of stuff at once.)  So you need to release the brake and then let go of the clutch while pushing on the gas.

( It was VERY BUMPY!!!!! )

Stone, tile, wrought iron - the Holy Trinity of the Portuguese

Stone, tile, wrought iron – the Holy Trinity of the Portuguese

Firstborn here with my addition.  Most of my friends have their driver’s license and I, nearing 17 have only driven a car twice.  However, I do really like the idea of driving and physical challenges that involve precision (unicycling, snowboarding…) so when I saw my mother having difficulty with driving standard I saw it as a challenge and I wanted to give it a go.  Plus my neck was hurting from all the head banging since her driving made us feel like we were at a metal rock concert.

To my surprise Fahbio agreed and SWMBO was excited.  We just had to wait for Fahbio to take a pee break in the bushes.  OnlyBoy couldn’t wait to see me drive, insisting I wait for him while he went for a pee break as well.  Paris?  Oh, she ran off to the bushes too…

So finally SWMBO took my normal spot, OnlyBoy returned, Paris jumped out so she could eat a juicy orange, and I released the parking break.  Fahbio told me (vaguely) how to release the clutch and hit the (very sensitive in my opinion) gas to avoid the insane jerking, then car-dying of my mother.  I took a deep breath, tested how much to press the gas, tightened my fingers on the wheel, then whipped my head around when everyone screamed “A HORRRRRRRRSE!!!!!”

And out of the bloop we saw a horse! (Venice is aghast that I won’t change this now that I have explained the real saying to her but it is so sweet I just can’t – SWMBO).

Wait.  What?!  Here comes a horse...

Wait. What?! Here comes a horse…

The exact moment I was ready to give it a go a horse came galloping at us in the empty parking lot, in a busy city, on Easter Sunday.

I don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard – we were all dying.

When the horse was out of sight I tried to drive in 1st and made the same clangy, jerking motion my mom had.  I was about to try again when an old man walked through the parking lot.  I could turn right and risk hitting my sister or turn left and risk hitting this man.  Mom said I should turn left because he’s older and had had more years of living.  Luckily, I didn’t run him over.

Once I turned the corner we saw a car pulling into the parking lot (are you serious?!).  He drove up behind me and I just sat there so he drove through the trees to get to the other lane.

Porto

Porto

Paris kept yelling at us that she wanted another orange and moved to come towards the car.  SWMBO shrieked that she had to stay on the grass in case I hit her.  She said sorrowfully, “But I just wanted another orange…”  All of a sudden crazy laughter in the car.  I later found out that Onlyboy passed one to SWMBO who flung it out the window at her.  It hit the ground and rolled towards her.

All in all it was crazy and nerve-racking.  I could feel my hands shaking (especially when I got so caught up in clutch/gas movements I forgot how to brake).  But I’m proud to say that after my 15 minutes were up I was able to smoothly transition into first gear.

Wait.  What?!  Here comes a car...

Wait. What?! Here comes a car…

Wait.  What?!  Here comes an old guy...

Wait. What?! Here comes an old guy…

A day as fun and full of joyful learning as any we’ve ever had!

Hey, it's Easter - not Valentine's Day!

Hey, it’s Easter – not Valentine’s Day!

– Venice

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Centre Georges Pompidou

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by travellarge in Adventure, Architecture, Budget travel, Education, Experiential Travel, Family, France, Hands-on Learning, Homeschool, Humour, Paris, Siblings, Teenagers, Travel, Unschooling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

backpacking, canadians, Centre Georges Pomidou, Eiffel Tower, family, Family fun, France, hike, homeschool, Les Halles, Modern Art, Paris, Parks, Siblings, travel, walking

Hey!   I am here again!  ( Venice! 8 yo)

Guess what?   I saw the Eiffel tower!!!

And to get to the Eiffel Tower we have to walk ALOT!

Can you spot the Eiffel Tower?

Can you spot the Eiffel Tower?

But I did not go to the bottom of it. : (

I actually saw it at the name of this post!   ( Centre Georges Pompidou museum )

Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou

And this is how it starts!

S.W.M.B.O. :     Venice we are going to the Georges Pompidou museum!

Venice :     What type of art is it?

S.W.M.B.O. :   Modern.

–  Ok.    But how long will it take us to get there? I asked.

–  Maybe 45 minutes or an hour. She Replied.

–  Fine!  Venice said.

So Paris , Lastborn , Onlyboy , Fahbio, S.W.M.B.O. and I went to go to the Centre Georges Pompidou.   ( Firstborn was WAY too tired to go! )

 

Doesn't it look like Teletubby land?

Doesn’t it look like Teletubby land?

And so we went – me as ALWAYS hungry, Lastborn with her legs tired and Paris with her IPOD.  We walked and got some food. We went to Les Halles (Lay Hal) and it used to be a huge old market of Paris.

But now it is under construction.  We had a picnic there.

Lastborn as she does it EVERY SINGLE DAY was scaring the pigeons.

Museum ticket

Museum ticket

There was a large church that Lastborn wanted to go into, but it was locked.  There was a park that was SUPREMELY tempting!  Paris, Onlyboy and I went to find the entrance to the park.  We found AN entrance but it was locked up.  So we went to ANOTHER one and of course it was locked.   So we looked and looked and looked and found that the entrance is on the OTHER side of the Park.  We went there and it leads to the little kids’ park.  So we thought we might as well just check it out!   So we did and there was a gate to the bigger kids’ park and of course THAT was locked as well.  Because they aren’t quite done construction.  So it’s only open on Saturdays from 10 am – 1 pm.

Super cool elevator at the museum

Super cool escalator at the museum

Now I was going to tell you about the museum but I am tired of writing.  The art was nice.  They have a lot of Kadinsky paintings.  The escalator was excellent.  And outside there was a lady making ENORMOUS soap bubbles. You should go there.

Venice

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Singapore Math

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by travellarge in Accommodation, Adventure, Asia, Beach, Budget travel, Camping, Dining, Education, Experiential Travel, Family, Homeschool, Humour, Siblings, Singapore, Street food, Teenagers, Travel, Unschooling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

asia, backpacking, Beach, Budget, canadians, family, Family fun, Hawker Stands, homeschool, homeschooling, migrant workers, Pasir Ris, Siblings, singapore, Subsistence Living, taxi, tent camping, travel

SWMBO writes:

Comparing math curricula is a popular activity among homeschooling parents in North America.  Since we pay for our schoolbooks ourselves (usually online, sight unseen), we want to get the best text and workbooks for our students without breaking the bank.  Popular programs are Math-U-See, Teaching Textbooks, JUMP Math, Miquon and Singapore.  We’ve always used Singapore with a sprinkling of Miquon: a rigid base cake with a soft yet surprisingly strong icing.

Miquon was developed at the Miquon School in Pennsylvania by Lore Rasmussen in the 1960s.  It is a hippie alternative to traditional math that introduces children in grades 1-3 to complex concepts such as negative numbers in a fun, tactile way.  Check it out but I warn you that the teacher’s guide is the least user-friendly document on the planet.

Singapore Math is the curriculum developed by the government of Singapore and used in schools there.  My kids enjoy word problems that deal with Mingfa weighing durians and Meihua selling satay sticks.  I guess what I am saying is that for us SINGAPORE = MATH.

So how about a little practical application to our years of book work?

Coconut trees, Pasir Ris

Coconut trees, Pasir Ris

I watched the news for the first time in weeks a few days ago.  In with the headline stories of Ukraine was the news that Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world to live in.  Worse than London.  Worse than Tokyo. Worse than Paris and Stockholm.

Guess where we were going next?

Hotels in Singapore are miniscule, can’t take more than 2 adults and 1 child, and start at over $200 Cdn a night.  With the 3 rooms we would need, that would be $600/night.  Say what?

Airbnb?  No place under $200/night for us.  This was the option we chose at the beginning of our trip and it was great but a real budget-breaker and not justifiable this time without a huge time/temperature change to adjust to.

A hostel?  The ones I checked offered dorm beds for $20/person so with Lastborn not paying that would be $120 Cdn for us.  To stay in a hostel with a shared bathroom.

Camping?  We would require two camping permits for our two tents at a cost of $0/per permit/per night.  $0 x 2 nights = $0.

Hmmm.  This is a math test I could score 100% on.

Tent, Pasir Ris

Tent, Pasir Ris

Camping was recently introduced in several parks by the Singapore National Parks Board.  Residents of Singapore can now approach a parking-meter-like machine and enter a resident number and details of when and where they wish to camp.  The machine prints a camping permit on the spot.  Since we don’t have resident numbers, I applied for our camping permits directly from the Singapore National Parks Board before we left home.  The staff where extremely helpful and I ended up with permits to two parks – East Coast Park in mid-February and Pasir Ris Park in March.  Because I was sick in February, we never used our permit for East Coast Park, opting instead to go to Malaysia and stay in a comfy hotel.  Pasir Ris means “bolt rope” beach and paints a picture of the long, narrow beach (no swimming!) that runs along the north of the park.

When we landed at Changi Airport in Singapore, we took two taxis to our campsite.  Amazing how three hours ago we all fit into a taxi in Vietnam with our luggage but now somehow we needed two taxis.  I’d like to get my hands on the first guy to propose seat belt regulations! Just kidding – kind of.

Camping, Pasir Ris

Campers in Pasir Ris

Pasir ris path

Pasir ris path

Anyways, it wasn’t far and meant that we got there in 10 minutes instead of 1 hour 15 minutes on the metro.  Setting up two tents that you have recently bought and never used before, in a foreign country, with five tired children, forty-five minutes before sundown is not something I would recommend to the novice camper.  Did I mention that we have only ever camped twice in the past 20 years?  Anyways, it all went well and how handy to have a restaurant steps from our campsite so that we could have dinner now that it was so dark. Only $165.  Yes, $165.

Camping in Singapore is not like camping in Canada.  No bears.  No poison ivy.  No canoe-in sites.  Camping in Singapore is more like sleeping in a large urban park:  amazing play structure; bikes for rent; hedge maze; pony rides. There was even a  shopping mall at the edge of the park.  We would walk to the mall in the morning for a coffee at MacDonald’s ($4 per coffee) and then shop for groceries in the supermarket (easily $120/day in minimal groceries for mediocre meals like tuna sandwiches).

Early morning jog, Pasir Ris

Early morning jog, Pasir Ris

And wifi?  Forget it!  Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Vietnam anymore!  There were “Wifi free” signs everywhere in the mall but there was no wifi.  Even at MacDonald’s.  The sign was accurate – not free wifi but wifi free.

Because Singapore is so wealthy compared to neighbouring countries, it has a large migrant worker population.  These people work very long hours for little pay and tend to live with their employers.  When they get time off, they want to get away but have little  money to spend.  So they congregate in the parks with friends, relatives and sweethearts.  Because we were camping on the weekend, we got to soak up the atmosphere.  Every barbecue pit was smoking, the sky was full of kites and we heard people taking, laughing and drinking beer until the wee, wee hours.

Cleaning the beach, Pasir Ris

Cleaning the beach, Pasir Ris

One of the things that Singapore is well known for is its love of food and its hawker stands.  These are not like street food in Vietnam because in Singapore they like to regulate and control everything.  So years ago, they banned vendors from selling on the streets and made them all get permits for mall food courts where they have access to electricity and running water and where they are regularly inspected.  For North American foodies, going to a shopping mall food court to get the best food in the city is a hard concept to accept.  But the best eating in Singapore is in these places.  And with the exception of free camping permits, it is the best value in the city-state.

The food court is set up like a cafeteria with tables in the middle (more wifi free!) and multiple independent hawkers selling foods around the perimeter.  You pay at each stand.  Each dish costs between $2-$6.  We had things like 1/2 roast chicken with rice ($5.50), dumpling soup with gailan ($4), sweet and sour pork ($5.50), orange chicken ($5.50), and lamdung (milk with rose water syrup – $1.50).  We spent around $27 for a meal for all 7 of us with each person choosing the stall and dish of their choice.  Seems like all of Singapore agreed that it didn’t seem worthwhile to shop and cook.  The hawker stands open in the morning and stay open until 10 pm and the food is very fresh.

view from tent

View from tent

Another view from tent, Pasir Ris

Another view from tent, Pasir Ris

So I’ll wrap this up by saying that we didn’t see any of the top Singapore sights like the zoo.  But we definitely got a taste of the real Singapore in a breezy, sun dappled park.

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Roads Scholars

06 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by travellarge in Adventure, Asia, Education, Experiential Travel, Family, Hands-on Learning, Homeschool, Humour, Parenting, Siblings, Teenagers, Travel, Unschooling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

asia, backpacking, boredom, canadians, deschooling, Dingo Deli, Experiential Learning, family, Family fun, homeschool, homeschooling, Road Schooling, Siblings, Stealth educating, travel, Unschooling

About homeschooling from SWMBO.  And for photos – just random stuff from our trip to make the point that travel is, in and of itself, educational:

Palm fronds

Palm fronds

We began our homeschooling journey ten years ago when Firstborn was entering Grade 2 in Canada.  I was on maternity leave and it seemed crazy to send her to school when I was going to be home for a year.  We never looked back.

Homeschooling has allowed us to: nurture a love of learning; develop at our own pace; bond as a family; set our own schedule; participate in many adventures we wouldn’t otherwise have access to.  We have given up some income and changed our career trajectory but not as much as most people would think.  Canvas homeschooling families and you will be surprised at the number of two income families.  Flexibility in homeschool scheduling allows for creativity work-wise.  We have met several single parent homeschool families.

No durians allowed, Singapore

No durians allowed, Singapore

How has taking our family on the road for 8 months affected our homeschooling?  Well:

  • We are away from our friends and support network
  • We aren’t going to any organized activities or lessons
  • We aren’t doing our regular, unorganized homeschooling activities – you know, the ones I put together at home
  • We aren’t following our golden rule of ABSOLUTELY no screen time until the “end of the day”

But for us, school considerations are not a factor at all in undertaking a big adventure.  The more I travel, though, the more I am reminded that that is not the case for most people.

Having moved from our beach house to a new homestay off the Cua Dai road in Hoi An, we began scouting around our new neighbourhood.  The new place was close to the Dingo Deli.  The Dingo is owned by an Australian-Canadian couple and caters to Western tastes.  Imagine my surprise when I checked the deli website.  Reviews.  Delivery Menu.    Delicatessen.  Bakery.   Homeschooling.  Wait, what?

Floating fishing village, Vietnam

Floating fishing village, Vietnam

I headed over to the Dingo and met Gordon and Michelle, the owners of the deli.  They have been homeschooling their 12 and 15 year old children since they came to Vietnam four years ago.  We had a wonderful chat and arranged for our kids to meet the next day.  That meeting led to a daily routine of DELICIOUS lattes with fresh milk for me and a lot of free play for the kids.  We met everyday around 12:30.

I admire Gordon and Michelle.  Their move led them to try homeschooling.  In Canada, homeschooling is quite common and there are strong networks and a wealth of resources.  This couple is forging a new path.  Bravo!

One day when I was there, Michelle told me that there was a Canadian couple inside that I should meet.  The couple had rented out their home in Canada and are travelling for an extended period.  They like Hoi An so much they are thinking of renting a house there.  Their children are 5 and 7 and they have fallen into homeschooling as a result of the decision to travel.

School kids at lunch, Ho Chi Min City

School kids at lunch, Ho Chi Min City

A few days later we returned to An Bang Beach for one last time before leaving for Ho Chi Min City last night.  We met another Canadian couple travelling the world for a year with their nine year old daughter.  After some awkwardly shy early moments, Venice had a great time with the 9 year old and eventually the parents got to talking.  The nine-year old had attended school in New Zealand for a semester but now that they were on the road, they were also trying a hand at homeschooling.

I’ll wager that over the coming months, we will meet a fair number of families with children under the age of 10 who have decided that the educational value of travel at least equals that of school.

Internet repair, Vietnam

Internet repair, Vietnam

The barriers that I can see to new road schoolers:

Homeschooling is illegal or near impossible in many European countries.  You can be treated like a lunatic or pariah for removing your children from school to go galavanting willy-nilly around the world.  Let’s face it, our fears can play on our minds so even those of us from homeschooling-friendly places can be made to feel this way.  In fact, we often do it to ourselves.

It is difficult for a whole host of reasons to take a teen who has been in school all along and travel for a year.  Too bad.  From what I have been observing in my older teen, this kind of travel is invaluable for teens because it gives them a dry run for the backpacking days coming in their 20s.  Our older teen is learning to cross the street in Asia (don’t laugh – it takes a lot of practice), haggle in markets, decipher complicated train schedules, create and stick to a tight budget, assess value for money, do laundry on the road, keep cool under pressure, get by on erratic sleep schedules, pick a safe place to eat street food.  Frankly, the list goes on and on and on.

Karma Vegan Restaurant - Hoi An

Karma Vegan Restaurant – Hoi An

For those trying to follow the curriculum of their home province or state, it can mean a lot of schlepping.  Many families bring schoolbooks from home with the intention of working for an hour or two a day to keep up with classmates back home.  Of all the families I have ever met, I have NEVER met one who stuck with this for more than a week (if that).  Even if school books weighed nothing, I still suspect this would be a fail.  It is hard to get worked up about math exercises when you could stroll down to the beach and snorkel instead.

Vacationing with your family is different from road schooling while on vacation.  When you are on vacation, you are relaxed and happy to spend time with your family.  You are lying on the beach for a week with the sun kissing your face and you don’t care about the structure of plant cells.  If you are trying to road school in an organized way while on vacation, you may feel the need to do a variation of the good cop/bad cop routine: relaxed vacationing parent sipping mojitos/meanie insisting that this math better get done now.  My own feeling on this from past experience is that it is better to stealth educate.  Sort of like yarn bombing your students.  You hit them when they aren’t looking and voilà, they have learned something.  I haven’t made myself clear?  You would like an example?  See blog post on rice farming.

Leaving behind work and school to travel takes you away from your routine and can make you feel adrift.  Restless.  You don’t know what you should be doing.  You really can’t figure it out because the nature of your trip means that you have to do different things every day.  Trying to do schoolwork (which most recently-schooled people see as very structured) in this situation is challenging.  Again, at the risk or sounding radical, my own feeling on this would be to take your Year of Road Schooling and do it like you mean it.  New homeschoolers are often told to give their students one month off for every year they have been in school.

Notre Dame Cathedral, Ho Chi Min City

Notre Dame Cathedral, Ho Chi Min City

As a veteran homeschooler, I would say that this is the single best piece of advice you can get.  The only piece of advice you need.  Huh?  A kid in grade 4 would get 4 months (6 if you want to add in junior and senior kindergarten!) to “deschool”.  SWMBO – have you gone loco?  How can this be good advice?  My friend, I will tell you how.  For once obey She Who Must Be Obeyed.  Deschooling will allow your students to leave school rules and ideas behind, to do what they want to do for a change, to spend quality time with you without being cajoled into producing bookwork, to meet new people, to be spontaneous and to get bored.  Never, ever underestimate the power of boredom.  Schools would do well to let their students harness the power of their boredom rather than insist they stew in it.  Well before the time is up, your students will be reading Kant, baking croissants from scratch, learning ukelele and writing haikus.  Don’t believe me – I challenge you to try it and prove me wrong.

For the Canadian family or anyone else looking to move to Hoi An – check out the  Dingo Deli website.  It has a lot of information for those looking to relocate including my favourite quote.

What you might want to avoid when renting a house: 

Mouldy walls
Neighbours with lots of chickens, ducks or pigs ( can be very smelly and noisy)
Neighbours who hammer tin all day for a living
Family shrines in your house that need tending to (it is good to ask if they need to visit the shrine regularly)
Wedding halls, karaoke, coffee and beer venues
Loud speakers in the vicinity… You might want to visit early in the morning. 5am-7am is the most annoying hours that the loud speakers like to torment us.

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