Please introduce you and your family.
Ciao! We are Sarah, Massy, Cosimo (9), Emma (8) and Luca (2). We are an Italian family that moved to Arizona, Usa in 2010 to give our kids more opportunities. After 8 years we got tired of the crazy life there, sold everything and we are traveling around the world!
I’m a professional photographer, now busy capturing all the beauty we are lucky to experience daily in the places we visit. Massy is an acupuncturist and as we travel he often offers some tips or help when needed. Cosimo, is loving every moment of our travels. He is trying all types of food and is going out of his comfort zone to try to new things. Emma is naturally comfortable everywhere we are (India is the only country that has been a bit of a struggle). She loves to draw what she sees as well as capture it with her tiny camera. Luca is just going to grow up as a world traveler, as long as he can sleep, eat bananas, play with his cars and go on a plane he is happy!
What does worldschooling mean to you?
Our kids used to be in traditional school. Initially we were going to continue with the school books and with a teacher, because we wanted to make sure they weren’t missing anything. The more we tried to do the school books and try to connect with the teacher (wifi issues) the more we realized that this learning method was not going to work anymore for us. We were all ready for a change and that is when we started worldschooling. What that this term mean for us? That our kids are not just sitting at a desk and learning about these places, they are experiencing them first hand. They are breathing the air, seeing the places, hearing and probably not always understanding the people speak, learning how people live elsewhere. They are understating that the world is big and there is so much diversity as well as similarities around the world!
Describe how you and your family approach education and learning.
We dropped off the school books in New Zealand and initially we downloaded some apps: Khan Academy, Splash Math and Vocabularycity. We tried to do an hour a day of math, spelling, history or geography. In January we started using Time4Learning, because we wanted to give them one platform that offered the same style for every subject. This seems to be appealing to both for now, we will see!
For history and geography we like to focus on the country we are in, so they can better understand what we see and do. They are starting to connect the dots and we are too!
In the past month we have been traveling constantly so we haven’t been doing anything, just seeing new places daily, but we realized that they are interested in what they see and ask lots of questions to the guides. So they are always learning!
How long have you and your family been worldschooling?
Officially probably 3 months, but unofficially I think we started the day we left so 7 months
Share an “aha moment” you’ve experienced on your worldschooling journey:
When we realized that the books we brought were not working for us, we realized we had to let go of the “traditional” method and ventured in the unknown. Who says that “traditional” is the best way of learning?
What role does community play in your worldschooling experience?
We enjoyed a true sense of community in our world schooling experience when we went to the summit in Chiang Mai. We had so many doubts and questions before then, we felt so insecure. But during those 5 days we realized that many people were sharing similar experiences as well as doubts and fears. We felt like we had found our tribe!
What has been your greatest worldschooling challenge?
Unschooling ourselves as parents from what society says is the “proper way” to educate our kids. We had to overcome all our doubts and fears of doing the wrong thing and embrace the change. Our Kids adapt great but for us it has been a bit tougher! Oh and lets not forget grandparents that are giving us such a hard time with our choice!
Your greatest worldschooling achievement?
Watch at how easily our kids connect with anyone anywhere. Language and culture are not a barrier for them. It feels like the world is a great big playground!
Share one travel hack or a few words of advice you’d like to share with fellow worldschoolers:
Trust yourself, if you picked to follow this path it is because you felt it was the right one for you and your family. Don’t listen to everyone else’s opinion!
What were the biggest takeaways you experienced at a Project World School Family Summit?
Finding our community with whom we have experiences we share.
What were your favorite moments?
Picking up our kids at the end of the day and listening to how excited they were of all the things they did and more.
What would you say to someone who was considering coming to a Summit?
If you are considering world schooling or already are doing it, this summit will help you connect and share experiences, doubts, achievements and make lots of new friends from all over the globe. It is a beautiful moment of communication and the birth of your own little community. Would you want to miss out on all this?!
What Summit(s) have you attended?
Fall 2018, Chaing Mai, Thailand.
Where can people find you?
