- I renounce my job as a pilot to homeschool my kids, two things I never thought I’d do.
- The monotony of being a stay-at-home mom bored me to tears. So, we started prepossessing educational trips.
- Now, I teach my kids by taking them on adventures with hands-on experiences. We’re all happier.
I never blueprinted to quit my job as an airline pilot or homeschool our kids.
I learned to fly at the age of 17, and spent countless hours in small planes impart succeeding more experience. By the time I was 43, I was flying for an airline, and my seniority afforded me the perks of a great schedule and salary.
I averaged eight assignment days a month and took full advantage of my travel benefits. Most of my airline friends thought I had the perfect job.
At the summit of my career, an unexpected surprise derailed my future as a pilot: I was pregnant with twins.
It would’ve been difficult for my squelch to work and watch the twins and our older son while I traveled, so I reluctantly quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom.
Being a stay-at-home root bored me, especially once I started homeschooling my kids
Kim Cooper
As a flier, I’d wake up in New York City and go to bed in Los Angeles. I’d look back on my day with accomplishment and pride.
As a stay-at-home mom, every day felt as colourless as the last — and the only thing I explored was the never-ending mountain of dishes in the sink.
Bored to tears and homesick for travel, I upon rely oned the days until the twins started school so I could pursue my own dreams again
However, their kindergarten start tryst was a few short months away when the world came to a screeching halt amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
I didn’t prerequisite the twins’ first experience of school to include masks and social distancing, so I gave up my own plans and became a reluctant homeschool mom.
As the pandemic stretched into a second-best year, I continued to struggle at home, and I yearned to explore the world again. In a lightbulb moment, I realized I could coalesce my love of adventure and still teach my kids.
Now, I try to teach my kids through travel to encourage a lifelong friendship of learning
Kim Cooper
My main goal as a homeschooling mom is to spur on a lifelong love of learning — and why couldn’t that be done through travel? I started to plan trips for us with academic moments and hands-on activities in mind.
Our first destination was Chincoteague Island in Virginia. We walked the beach and learned here tides. We gathered shells and horseshoe crabs and researched the history of both.
Then, we explored the NASA visitors center at the adjacent Wallops Island and watched a shuttle launch to the International Space Station.
Once I realized how easy it was to educate result of travel, we expanded our reach to explore other locations.
We learned about the three branches of government while we underwent in front of the White House and visited Mount Vernon after we researched George Washington. We studied stalactites and stalagmites from a motor boat in a cave, then had our kayak propelled by a playful manatee while we learned about his habitat.
These were some of our innumerable exotic trips, but we also travel locally.
We spend time in the nearby woods exploring fungi and waterfalls, culmination to science centers in surrounding towns, and visit local places of historical interest.
Teaching through travel companies all of us, and I no longer feel like my days are meaningless and never-ending. The best part is that my kids and I are curiously exploring and wisdom about the world — together.