wow! 8 years and a family of 5 in a truck camper!

We have friends that homeschool their kids. But they're also members of home school co-ops, so they have weekly meetings with other kids of similar ages, and they also do classes with other kids through the co-ops. The friends homeschool their kids either for religious reasons, or because they live in a rural area where getting to a town to go to school is a pretty big burden. But, for these kids, they don't really get the opportunity to join a co-op or regularly interact with the same other kids that if they're traveling all the time.

As for the "memories", my guess is the younger ones won't remember a ton of what they're experiencing.

I personally wouldn't want to sleep in a convertable dinette bed for more than about 2 days, so props to mom and dad there.

As a kid we moved all the time. it wasn't that big a deal except for that really cool time we moved to Guadelajara Mexico. that was rad. I am a vagabond with a small circle of far flung friends. I like it that way

Those kids got the experience of a lifetime, don't sell them short on that. They will have a keener eye for life and an appreciation of the planet and it's diversity that will far outstip their so called "grounded peers"

That iMHO is priceless

..and yet the kids that I know who were home schooled are the most socially inept and awkward people I have ever met in my life.

It's not consistent across the board, and you've only got one chance at it so you never know which path will be the right one until the one you choose goes horribly wrong. There are examples of every possible outcome, from homeschooled and outgoing to public schooled and introverted. Statistics must be employed here. It has to be graded on a bell curve. Corner cases tossed aside. What's under the "bell" is what's important.

As a military brat all my life, and having married into the Army after that, I have moved LOTS and frequently. It gets in your blood. Really. I get antsy when we stay at one place too long (like now that we are retired but have to wait for son #1 to finish HS)...hence the frequent/long camping trips and TC to get away. I like the "what is around the next corner?" approach, always something exciting, potentially better to look forward to with a fresh start in a year or 3, not having to be stuck in a rut...

Sure, it is harder to make long term friends when you are always on the move, but I would NEVER trade my upbringing with the "normal" variety. I have seen and done things I would never have been exposed to if I grew up with the same batch of folks from public pre-school through local job market and never ventured beyond my state border.

I have seen what a limited horizon and questionable public schooling and "friends" can do to a bunch of kids/teens.

I think the kids from the article are LUCKY!

I don't think there is a pat answer to this. As suggested above, define normal. One of the biggest arguments against home schooling is the lack of social interaction with other kids. And yet of those people I know who were home schooled are far more socially adept than most people who were raised "normal".

And the advantage these kids in the story have is they will have seen more, and experience more, by the time they are adults than most people ever see or experience in their entire lives. I know lots of folks who were raised "normal" and have never been farther than the outskirts of their own city. The sad part about that is that they don't have a clue what's outside their own little world.

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I grew up moving all the time. It sucked. Every time I finally had friends and knew my way around a little, we moved, I lost all my friends and I had to be the new strange kid again.
I lived in Hawaii for a while as a little kid but don't even remember it.

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jimh425 wrote:

MNGeeks61 wrote:
I'm guessing you are joking.

Quite a few military families (including my father's) moved around and didn't experience a "normal" life. Nor could I have consistent friends because we moved every 3 years.

Nope, not joking.

BTW, moving every 3 years is not the same as never staying in the same place for more than a few weeks in locations with almost no kids the same age as you. I do suppose the devil is in the details. I know a lot of military brats who enjoyed being in different parts of the country/world but felt that every 3 years was too often to move. I can't imagine moving every week or two to see the country.

Jim, you're spot on. Until recently, we've moved every 2-3 years. Now the kids are middle school age and their priorities begin to matter.....a little.
I can see the pluses of big family adventures and experiences, but that was over the top.
Sure there's worse ways to be raised, neglect, abuse, etc, but never being able to make any lasting connections except with your immediate family is more than a bit incestuous.
Think Alaskan bush people, but with a job. Those kids turned out alright.......not.
Looks like they're going back to normal now, which is good for the kids and will likely turn out to be good overall.

MNGeeks61 wrote:
I'm guessing you are joking.

Quite a few military families (including my father's) moved around and didn't experience a "normal" life. Nor could I have consistent friends because we moved every 3 years.

Nope, not joking.

BTW, moving every 3 years is not the same as never staying in the same place for more than a few weeks in locations with almost no kids the same age as you. I do suppose the devil is in the details. I know a lot of military brats who enjoyed being in different parts of the country/world but felt that every 3 years was too often to move. I can't imagine moving every week or two to see the country.