Want the Best Education for Your Kids? Travel!

Today’s post is on a topic near and dear to my heart. I am hosting the Multicultural Kid Blogs monthly blogging carnival on travel with kids. We recently took our kids out of school for a week and half and went on a Mediterranean cruise. I got a little bit of blow back from friends and family about our choice to take them out of school instead of waiting until their summer break. Thankfully both my husband and I have a similar outlook when it comes to travel and education – we think they go hand in hand.

Supplementing our children’s  classroom education with travel around Morocco (our home), the United States (our other home), and the world has helped them grow in amazing ways. We believe that raising children well means exposing them to as much of the world as possible. I wrote a post a few years ago about why I believed children who travel can save the world. The more we expose our children to others, that are similar to them and live very different lives the more the see the world as an interconnected space instead of dividing it into “here and there.”

I think you’ll find the insight and resources shared by other MKB members to be helpful as you consider travel as a part of educating children!

 

 

Travel and Language

There’s no better way to learn or practice another language than through immersion. Travel is how that happens!

Raising trilingual Baby: The Importance of Travel – Ladydeelg

How do you make the most of your time when traveling for language acquisition? Get some answers in this podcast!

How can our family maximize a trip to a location that speaks our target languages? – Bilingual Avenue

For children who speak more than one language or who are learning multiple languages being surrounded by those who speak their target languages can make a huge difference in their language learning.

Bilingual Children Travel Well and Do Well to Travel – Multilingual Parenting

Spoken language is just one form of language learning that can happen while traveling. But what about music learning? Why not??

Music Education on the Road – Family on the Loose

The thought of a multilingual vacation might sound intimidating, especially if you’re monolingual however there are plenty of good reasons to make it happen!

A family vacation, multilingual style. Are you in? – Raising a Trilingual Child

Whether you’re considering spending a few weeks in another country to work on language learning or a more permanent move it’s important to consider whether the experience will really be worth it.

Raising Bilingual Children: Should We Go Overseas? – MarocMama

Ideas to Implement

Travel is one of the seven ways Catarina lists as her tools for raising global citizens. The other six ways are just as important!

7 Tools for Raising Conscious, Caring, and Thoughtful Global Citizens – By Catarina

Once you’re back home how do you connect your travel experience? Having a continuation of the experience helps children remember and retain the experience.

Sverigeresor (in Swedish – translate works great) – by Language for Life

Traveling is fun and there are dozens of ways that children and adults can learn while traveling. Maybe not surprising is that a lot of learning happens with very little effort at all.

Top 10 Ways to Learn through Travel – All Done Monkey

What’s the worst that can happen when traveling? Getting sick of course! Fear not with these tips to help everyone stay healthy.

5 Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling with Kids – Kid World Citizen

Can you use travel and language during a road trip? Of course! This post focuses on English but you could use any language.

I Spy with My Little Eyes: Russian Around You – Russian Step by Step

Another idea for keeping kids busy is this list of ideas from veteran travel parents.

16 Technology Free Activities to Keep Traveling Kids Busy – MarocMama

Travel and Identity

Families today come from a variety of backgrounds and can trace their roots to several countries. Helping your children to understand their heritage is an important educational tool!

5 Reasons You Should Travel with your Kids to Your Heritage Country – Ladydeelg

A Mexican/British family shares their experience on their first trip to Mexico with kids in tow. – Taco de Lenguas

Part One, Part Two, Part Three 

Life lessons can often have a longer lasting impact that the information that children learn from books. Traveling can make those life lessons come alive.

5 life lessons kids learn from traveling – My Spiritied Girl for Chicago Now

Fun and Helpful Resources

Our Multicultural Kid Blog team did a vlog video challenge last year with the theme of traveling with kids. You can watch one of the videos here and continue along the chain!

Travelling with Kids Vlogging Telephone 

If you do travel often then these will ring true for you. I’ve heard my kids say more than a few. #18 seems like a weekly phrase in our house.

20 Clear Signs You’re a Travel-Experienced Family – European Mama

Travel can seem like a perk of the super wealthy, but it’s all about priorities.

Making Travel a Priority – Art Curator for Kids

Does the task of packing for you, the kids, and possibly your partner sound just too daunting? There’s no reason not to get them involved. This handy resource can help!

Packing My Bag Printable (in English and Spanish) – Montessori en Casa

Everyone has to eat and when you eat while traveling it opens up a completely new world!

Small World, Big Belly! Global Food Adventures for Kids – Multicultural Kid Blogs

Parents have lots of ideas about what to do and how to prepare for travel but what about from a kids’ point of view?

Traveling Kids! Top 10 Travel Tips from a Pack-n-Go Girl – Pack-n-Go Girls

Travel Destination Tips and Ideas

There’s more to France than Paris, and visiting rural locations can have an even bigger impact than trodding through the tourist clogged corridors on the capital!

Sightseeing with Children  – visiting hill villages – Lou Messugo Blog

But, when you do want to see the city of lights, here are 10 tips for making it happen.

10 Tips for Traveling with Kids in Paris – Multicultural Kid Blogs (author: Eolia Disler)

Germany’s capital city is a great stop in central Europe for families. There are plenty of great ways to keep kids entertained.

10 Tips for Visiting Berlin with Kids – MarocMama

Would you take your children overseas for a summer? Find out one families experience in Mexico!

Spending the Summer Abroad in Mexico – Kid World Citizen

Language, heritage, and family history all make for great reasons to vacation in a place!

 

10 Reasons Why My Dutch Family Holidays in Cornwall – Expat Life with a Double Buggy

Vienna is known for high culture like operas but is it a good place to visit with kids? Ja!

Vienna ist fur Kinder – Family on the Loose

Your journey may begin before you even touch down. Flying international airlines can be a cultural initiation as soon as you board your flight.

Culture on Board: Enjoying Your Airline Experience – Family on the Loose

When the opportunity to travel or live abroad hits, it might not feel like the “right time” especially if you have very small children but don’t let the thought hold you back!

6 Reasons You Should Travel with Young Kids – A Life with Subtitles

We hope that you’ve found these resources helpful. If you have stories about travel with children and/or other useful blog posts, please leave a comment below!

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