 | In my previous post about this homeschool project, I decided not to call it a gap year, but a Ferris Bueller Year. “Gap year” sounds like you’ve dropped off the face of the earth, but “Ferris Bueller year” sounds like you shucked off society to go do something that was good for you. Kid 3 is a year too young for his grade, so we decided to take him out of school for a year between middle and high school and travel while we let him catch up. So far, so good! |
Here’s a link to the original post, if you want to geek out. If not, just stick with me.
Kid 3 had good grades in middle school, so he didn’t need to advance during this year. I planned out a course of work that would give him a couple of hours of work per day and maintain his current level of knowledge. Not forgetting what he’d learned and filling in gaps was all I asked for. I chose some books from Sonlight (a homeschool curriculum company) and Amazon. My plan was for him to have 36 weeks of work, just like real schools, so he’d finish half the year by mid-January. When he learned that we would be in Vienna (with his siblings) and Israel from mid-December to mid-January, he threw it into high gear and finished his first semester’s work in December before we left for that portion of the trip. What a guy!
Here’s what he’s been working on.
Kid 3 had good grades in middle school, so he didn’t need to advance during this year. I planned out a course of work that would give him a couple of hours of work per day and maintain his current level of knowledge. Not forgetting what he’d learned and filling in gaps was all I asked for. I chose some books from Sonlight (a homeschool curriculum company) and Amazon. My plan was for him to have 36 weeks of work, just like real schools, so he’d finish half the year by mid-January. When he learned that we would be in Vienna (with his siblings) and Israel from mid-December to mid-January, he threw it into high gear and finished his first semester’s work in December before we left for that portion of the trip. What a guy!
Here’s what he’s been working on.
| Language Arts These books were easy for him, and he did almost all the work on his own. At the end of each week, I gave him out-loud quizzes and we discussed the lessons. |  |
 | History The history plan is one of my favorite things about this year. I assigned Kid 3 readings from these books corresponding with countries we were about to visit, then the history came alive for him when we hit the streets. So far we have visited Spain, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vienna, and it’s all starting to come together for him. |
| French Kid 3 took one year of French in eighth grade, so this French book worked well as review for a couple of months. Then, a problem common to this type of language-learning method cropped up: it teaches a lot of vocabulary, but no conjugation or grammar, and Kid 3 felt overloaded with vocabulary but deficient in the other areas. I assigned him some worksheets from the website Le Francais Pour Tous http://www.lefrancaispourtous.com to fill in the gaps. |  |
Literature
So far, Kid 3 has read Animal Farm, the entire Harry Potter series, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, the entire Maximum Ride series, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Revolution is Not a Dinner Party, Young Fu of the Upper Yangze, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yes, that’s a lot, but books are just awesome, aren’t they? They’re portable (in physical or digital form), they’re interesting, they fill time on planes, they give you something to talk about with your loved ones, they teach you about places and eras you can’t get to, and they enlighten you on places you’ve been. They’re terrific!
I had planned to read aloud to Kid 3, like I did with him and his older siblings every day since 1995. However, since we’ve been traveling, we’ve been together 24/7 and by bedtime (our usual reading time) we’re all ready to have introvert time. I love our read-aloud time, but we’re flexible enough to realize that travel changed our lifestyle dramatically.
So far, Kid 3 has read Animal Farm, the entire Harry Potter series, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, the entire Maximum Ride series, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Revolution is Not a Dinner Party, Young Fu of the Upper Yangze, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yes, that’s a lot, but books are just awesome, aren’t they? They’re portable (in physical or digital form), they’re interesting, they fill time on planes, they give you something to talk about with your loved ones, they teach you about places and eras you can’t get to, and they enlighten you on places you’ve been. They’re terrific!
I had planned to read aloud to Kid 3, like I did with him and his older siblings every day since 1995. However, since we’ve been traveling, we’ve been together 24/7 and by bedtime (our usual reading time) we’re all ready to have introvert time. I love our read-aloud time, but we’re flexible enough to realize that travel changed our lifestyle dramatically.
 | Music Theory This is the one subject I am truly qualified to teach, and Kid 3 has been plowing through this basic book of music theory. I expect his hand to be in the air next year when the band director asks someone to explain 6/8 time. |
Math
Kid 3 took the math placement test on the Sonlight website, and fell between the cracks for Math 7/6 and Pre-Algebra. He opted to do Math 7/6, and that was a good choice. He has not only had a lot of good review, he has learned many new concepts. He will finish Math 7/6 and work through the Pre-Algebra book before he starts ninth grade in the fall.
No science? That’s right. No science.
Bonus things Kid 3 has learned this year: packing, navigating public transportation systems, learning a few words in the language of each country we visit, figuring out exchange rates, eating weird food, blogging (http://aroundtheworldin300days.weebly.com) and entertaining himself.
Kid 3 had an epiphany a few weeks ago: he realized that he really likes going to school! His academic work during this Ferris Bueller year has been very good, and he is a good sport about it. However, he misses extracurriculars, an active social life, the daily routine, science experiments, and band concerts. Hopefully, when it’s time for him to start high school next fall, he’ll be ready to dive in academically and socially.
Do you have any tips for us? Travel suggestions? Academic ideas? Let me know! I’m open to ideas, because this is a crazy thing we’re doing and I will take any good thoughts you’ve got. Thanks!
Kid 3 took the math placement test on the Sonlight website, and fell between the cracks for Math 7/6 and Pre-Algebra. He opted to do Math 7/6, and that was a good choice. He has not only had a lot of good review, he has learned many new concepts. He will finish Math 7/6 and work through the Pre-Algebra book before he starts ninth grade in the fall.
No science? That’s right. No science.
Bonus things Kid 3 has learned this year: packing, navigating public transportation systems, learning a few words in the language of each country we visit, figuring out exchange rates, eating weird food, blogging (http://aroundtheworldin300days.weebly.com) and entertaining himself.
Kid 3 had an epiphany a few weeks ago: he realized that he really likes going to school! His academic work during this Ferris Bueller year has been very good, and he is a good sport about it. However, he misses extracurriculars, an active social life, the daily routine, science experiments, and band concerts. Hopefully, when it’s time for him to start high school next fall, he’ll be ready to dive in academically and socially.
Do you have any tips for us? Travel suggestions? Academic ideas? Let me know! I’m open to ideas, because this is a crazy thing we’re doing and I will take any good thoughts you’ve got. Thanks!
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