Couple whose children are “too advanced” for school have been travelling for 19 months

"Why read about history and cultures in a book when you can experience them first-hand?"

Family and Kids on the Beach

by Eden-Olivia Lord |
Published on

This year has seen an abundance of parents choosing unconventional ways of educating their children.

First we had the ‘Off-Grid’ parents – Matt and Adele Allen - who appeared on This Morning to discuss their unusual parenting techniques. Then, Dragons den star Sarah Willingham announced she's taking her children out of school so they can be home-schooled during their year-long holiday.

And now, a couple have been travelling around the world with their two children in tow. Paul and Caroline King's children. Winston, six and Henry, four, do not attend school, instead they are in a type of education called "global unschooling."

Paul explained that his own experience with school may well have influenced his views on education. When he was younger, he explained, his parents had told him he had to attend a state school after they could no longer afford his £4,700 a term school in Huntingdon, Cambs.

"That's when I realised I had a massive problem with state schooling. It's paid for by theft – all tax is theft," he said.

After visiting around 20 schools, the couple decided none were acceptable. Mum Caroline - who occasionally breastfeeds her four-year-old son Henry as a way to calm him down if he hurts himself - told the Mirror: "We didn’t want our children to be forced to learn things they already knew – or didn’t want to learn.

“We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t ethical for our children to be forced to go to school when they didn’t want to.”

Dad Paul added that they wouldn't be forcing their children to go to school or do an exam: "We don’t believe in government interference in education. It’s too aggressive and not respectful to the child.

"We don’t raise our voices to the boys, so why should a teacher be allowed to?"

The family earn their living through Paul's company Hammock Heaven. They travel light (with one suitcase) and keep some Lego and crayons for their sons to play with.

The family-of-four have sold their £280,000 house and most of their possessions and have been travelling the world for the past 19 months.

So far they have visited Romania, Dubai, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Malaysia, Borneo, Thailand, Laos, the US, Colombia, Spain, Egypt, Italy and the Czech Republic.

And even though both children have travelled all over the world, it seems that they're not always impressed. Their dad revealed that when the boys saw a Roman amphitheatre they found it boring, they were also not "bowled over" when they saw the pyramids.

But they did enjoy Egypt, Paul revealed, adding: "One morning, they woke up and asked to go back to Egypt.

"Why read about history and cultures in a book when you can experience them first-hand?"

The couple have revealed that they'd like to visit Iceland and Australia and although lots of other people have told them they'd like to follow in their footsteps, Paul said: "We've bitten the bullet and actually done it."

Off the grid parenting This Morning

What do you think of this parenting technique? Would you ever take your kids out of school and travel the world?

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