#0028: Want to travel and unschool?

Reading time: 8.40 min

Hey 👋 - Hello, there!!

Has winter finally knocked at your door?

It's getting cold here, we are pulling our jackets and blankets out.

I have shared with you my mission before, I want to meet education disrupters who will lead the way in reshaping how we think about learning.

So I am always on the lookout for people who are either implementing education and learning solutions or trying to push the boundaries of traditional education.

I met the Founder of NomadGao, Mayur Sontakke. He is homeschooling his kids while he travels the world and looking to form a community of people who want to do the same.

The idea of working as a digital nomad is trending these days where people can work remotely while traveling the world.

It was nice to see his twins making a robot work as we continued our conversation, his kids are free learners who are really curious and eager to explore new things.

He believes that a person can learn a lot from traveling, about different cultures, places, and people. And that travel could be used as an effective tool in teaching kids.

He has taken his family on a tour and is currently living in Vietnam while running his work remotely.

He spoke about how this life gives him the flexibility to work and spend quality time with his family at the same time.

We discussed:

• Current problems with good education

• Challenges he faces in this educational journey with his kids

• Misconceptions about unschooling families

• How he integrates work-life and parenting

Mayur and his wife have created a system for his family which allows them to stay connected with work, but also gives enough time for the kids to explore and learn about new places.

We discussed how traditional education does not really equip us for life in the real world - Mayur believes that traveling helps his kids build resilience as they learn to adjust and adapt to different environments and situations. They also gain a better understanding of different cultures.

If you want to read the full letter, find the link at the end

Don't tell kids, division is easy

I don't remember at all how I learn division when I was young in school. I do remember, however, that it seemed like a daunting task.

Division is not something that comes naturally to most kids, and telling them it's easy isn't going to help.

Its so unfair to expect kids to learn division sums when they are 8 years old, as it isn't a skill that comes easily to most.

I have seen my niece struggling and I realized it needs so many skills to work out division sums. It requires practice, patience, and understanding of the process, as well as lots of hard work to get it right.

It's also not a very smooth process if you don't have the tables memorized and that can add extra layers of difficulty.

When Adi was working with division sums I saw he was avoiding it , so I decided to let him take his own time. I encouraged him to work with the steps slowly and understand each step individually. This way he was able to get an idea of all the layers and complexities that went into solving a division sum.

I checked my behavior when I was getting impatient with Adi's slow progress. I took deep breaths and reminded myself that he needs to understand the process and it would take time.

The best way to make sure kids learn division the right way is to be patient with them and provide guidance when needed.

It's important not to rush them while they are learning, as this can lead to confusion and frustration.

The goal should always be to help kids understand division without telling them it's easy, as this can make the process much more challenging for them.

Adi was growing a plant for a project in his science class. He was excited to start the process and made sure to have all the materials like pot, soil, and seeds.

He found a good place for the pot as well. But his excitement didn't stay for long, he hardly went to check on his plants or water them regularly, and soon he could see how the leaves of his plants were drooping and it was dying.

I reminded him about the plant couple of times and encouraged him to take care of it, but he was too busy to do so. He would do it when reminded and then he would stop again. One day someone in the house kept it on the wall and it was knocked by the wind.

He was so sad to see his plant broken.

I saw how sad he was and I took that opportunity to bond with him. We talked about the importance of taking care of things and how it needs our love and attention for them to grow strong and beautiful.

We talked about how we could fix the plant if we tried hard enough and so we decided to try and save it.

We bought some new soil, and a new pot and got some other supplies that could be useful for repairing the broken plant.

We went through the step-by-step process of fixing the tree together and it was a fun experience for Adi. He felt proud that he had fixed his plant with his efforts.

We discussed the Japanese Kintsugi concept

-the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery? I tried to explain it to Adi and how we could use that same concept to repair his plan. He was so excited and happy with the idea that he immediately started looking up articles tutorials, and videos on Kintsugi.

He enjoyed learning about the process and the philosophy behind it.

If you want to read the full article on this topic, find the link at the end

cheers, Priyanka

https://twitter.com/priyanka_optom/status/1595452681577181184?s=20&t=tGP5lfLHdLfRx-bucg_NhQ