[Seth] Beal Academy

Kara and I genuinely believe that Grace, Kate and George/Cannon (collectively, "the Kids") will get an incredible education just from traveling but we also knew we needed some structure around their schooling or our kids were going to hate us (particularly Kate who is very concerned that her education will suffer). Of course there will be plenty of chances for ad hoc learning — see e.g., Kara's exposition on geology, our recent discussion about global warming when we visited the glaciers, or the near constant geography lessons  — but we needed to fill in the gaps.  So, we landed on a multi-pronged approach that includes the following (on a complete aside, when I read this I can't believe how much I still sound like a lawyer):

Math.  We knew that we didn't want the Kids to fall behind in math since it builds on itself each year  — one of the real benefits of having lived in Silicon Valley was the focus on math and both Kate and Cannon have been on competitive math teams for the last few years.  The internet is great for this and all three children are taking online high school math courses through BYU.  This does require a lot of work, here is a picture of the three of them in an airport lounge grinding away.

Writing.  We are also encouraging the Kids to keep a journal and write in their spare time.  Some of this writing will be online but a fair amount will just be old fashion paper and pencil.  While we are not reviewing their journals, everyone will post at least two new blog entries each week on any topic that they chose.  

Reading.  While it has never been an issue getting the Kids to read, we are trying to direct them to books that relate to the places that we are visiting — even if only tangentially.  In New Zealand, the book has been Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera but after seeing so many setting for scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies both Kate and Cannon launched into this trilogy as well (Cannon for the 3d time).  For those of you aficionados, at the end of the first movie there is a forest scene when the fellowship is broken and Boromir dies.  Here is a picture from those woods (and an old prop from the movie, a giant chair to make normal people seem hobbit sized).

In Australia, we are encouraging Grace to read A Town Called Alice by Nevil Shute and still looking for the right book for Kate and Cannon (I suspect they will still be reading Lord of the Rings). Please, please, feel free to suggest books that are appropriate for other places we are visiting.

Major Project.  Each of the children chose a major project that they were going to work on during the entire trip.

• Grace chose to study the governmental systems of each country that we are visiting and comparing them;
• Kate is researching great women from the parts of the world where we travel; and 
• Cannon is learning about the export industries of each country (he focused on the dairy industry in New Zealand).  

Each Sunday night, Kara and I review everyone's progress and provide feedback.  

Special Projects.  Each child has some things tailored directly to them.  Grace is planning on creating a photography portfolio for the trip, Kate continues to add onto her already voluminous collection of fictional stories, and George/Cannon will have some special projects to help him compete some of his Boy Scout requirements.