How spending one day at middle school convinced me to withdraw my kids from school

This past May I signed up to volunteer for International Day at my daughter’s middle school. It involved parents, like me, teaching the kids about different countries in classrooms throughout the day. It also included two school-wide speakers – Condoleezza Rice in the morning and Kellie McIntyre in the afternoon. The afternoon speaker may not have been a former Secretary of State or National Security Advisor, but her message that day compelled me to withdraw my kids from school.

Because of hearing Kellie’s message, my daughters and I are getting ready to pack our bags, withdraw from school and take a 9-week trip through Europe.

Kellie and her husband Dale withdrew their daughters from school several years ago, homeschooled them and took their family on a 5-month trip around the world. Kellie talked to the students about what they can learn from getting out of their comfort zones and traveling and she used her family’s trip to Southeast Asia as an example for her talk. At that time, my daughters and I were about to leave to go to some of the same places in Southeast Asia that Kellie and her family visited. I wanted to talk to her about that, but I also really wanted (needed) more info on this homeschool idea.

There are too many places that my daughters and I have talked about going and not enough time. My oldest daughter will be moving out and going to college in four years. FOUR years! How is that even possible? I literally feel the time running out with them.

When Kellie said that she pulled her kids out of school and signed them up for a homeschool program while they travelled, I sat dumbfounded. How did I not know this was an option? Is this really something I could do? I needed to talk to this woman…that day. As soon as the program was over, I made a beeline across the gym floor to introduce myself to her and her husband.

Since May, Kellie and I have met for lunch, dinner and coffee. It only took one conversation to convince me to follow in her family’s footsteps, but it took lots of texts and a couple of other meetings to guide me through it and keep me encouraged.

Lucy, Ruby and I leave in less than two weeks for Europe and will be visiting seven countries. We’ll see and experience Roman history, walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and hike the Swiss Alps, but we’ll also visit Mickey and Minnie in Paris and geek out on Harry Potter sights. I’ve never homeschooled before and don’t feel prepared for that part of our trip but I’m certain that my daughters will grow more in these upcoming 9-weeks than they would in school. And to think that it all started by volunteering at middle school.

Read about Kellie’s family’s journeys at 4wornpassports.com and follow along on our European adventures starting 10/13 at LifeIsShortAdventures on Instagram and Facebook.

Wish us luck!