EER093: Worldschooling 101—A Gap Year Family Documents the Adventure

What's worldschooling? What's a gap year family? Read on and you'll find out...and hopefully consider both for you and your kids, as well!

 

A Gap Year Family, a Lesson in Worldschooling

Meet the Kraymoores. That's Charlie Kramer and Brenna Moore. Charlie and Brenna have two kids, they're doing what many a gap year family are doing: pulling their kids out of school for a year (or more) to travel. So far, the Kraymoores have visited multiple destinations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and are now in Asia.

 

What is Worldschooling?

As the name suggests, worldschooling is all about using the world as your school. You don't have to travel internationally...or travel at all to practice worldschooling. But it helps! For Charlie and Brenna's kids so far, worldschooling means learning about Anne Frank at the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, and learning about the Massai people in Kenya. Worldschooling can also happen in conventional schools, as well, as you'll hear about in the interview.

A Gap Year Family Plan Diverted

The Kraymoores' gap year family plans took an unexpected turn while in France. Out for the day with a local guide, they began to talk about Kerala, India. Before having children, Charlie and Brenna had spent time in the ssouthernIndia state. They were so enamored with it that they named their first child after it.

Their daughter's name is Kerala, and it so happened that this guide had friends and family in the state of Kerala. One thing led to another and the Kraymoores changed their plans and returned to Kerala. They stayed with the guide's family, and their daughter enrolled in the same school as the family's daughter. There was even room for their son Julien in the preschool!

Such cultural exchanges are at the heart of worldschooling.

Taco Tuesday: A Gap Year Family Routine

When a family takes a gap year to travel, many old routines get thrown out the window. However, one routine this family kept is Taco Tuesday. Every Tuesday, they make tacos...or something similar. "You can find the ingredients almost anywhere," says Charlie, "If not, you can find something close to a tortilla."

Worldschooling has also let this Gap Year Family have more time together for education, as well. The kids have spent some time in local schools in India, but before and after that, they are with their parents all day, every day, which allows them to get the individual attention their education — and their emotional needs — require.

Funding a Family Gap Year

Brenna and Charlie talk about how they leveraged their home in LA to save money for travel. Renting it out through various means, the family has saved a ton of money. They talk about it in more detail in the podcast.

IN THIS EPISODE

04:33 intro 07:36 Entering school in Kerala India 16:01 Definition of worldschool 26:58 The slower the travel 27:38 Routines 36: 18 Making money from Airbnb 40:00 Hospitality schools 42:00 Gear 48:22 Kids return from school 50:24 Resources

ABOUT

Names: Charlie Kramer, Brenna Moore and their kids Julian (5) and Kerala (7) Hold passports from: USA Type of travel: Gap Year, Round-the-world travel A few places they've been: Kenya, Thailand, Israel, Morocco, India and much more.

IN THEIR BAGS

2 Osprey Meridian backpacks 2 Eagle Creek 28-inch backpacks Ikea equipment bag GeekPro charger Canon 80D Camera 2 DJI Osmo Cameras 2 Zoom audio recorders 1 Speedster Travel Guitar 1 ukulele Eagle Creek compression bags Eagle Creek belt wallet The Travel Bra Travel underwear Skyroam Wifi Hotspot Gotennasfor mobile texting 2 HereO Children's GPS watches Flashlights 1 swiss army knife Goal Zero Portable Speaker 2 iPod Touches 1 iPad 2 Macbook Laptops 14 terabytes of portable hard drives 2 GoPro cameras 4 pollution/smog masks (never used) First Aid Kit Z-packs Sunscreen 2 Pairs (each) of Columbia Convertible Travel Pants 1 Suitcase full of common core textbooks & workbooks (XSeed, etc) Deck of playing cards 1 Travel Frisbee 1 blow-up beach ball Animal Travel Pillows (turn from stuffed animal to travel pillow)

LINKS & RESOURCES

The Reggio Emilia Educational Approach Airbnb VRBO / Home Away Homeexchange.com Trusted House Sitters Overdrive Letter school Reading Eggs Epic Children's eLibrary The Worldschoolers group on Facebook

FIND THEM ON

Worldschool 101 | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Instagram