The Tartgalia couple Brooke and Joey are originally from Arizona U.S. when in 2001 they decided to move to Mibu, a remote place in Papua New Guinea.
Though the area where they live is remote, the Tartgalia children still have the opportunity not to miss out on school as they are taught from home. The kid's ages were 5, 3 and 1 when they first began their homeschooling journey. Their medium of instruction is based on the American curriculum known as the Christian Light Education. The couple believed that home-schooling their children could help them be at par with other kids who are living in the US.
At some point the Tartgalia couple believes that they will one day come back to the US and will not want their kids to be behind in any level of education. This is why this home-schooling is so important to them.
The Guardian has reported that the place where they live is so remote, the closest store takes two days to hike and the nearest town needs a speed boat ride that will take over three hours to get to.
The children's typical school days starts at 9am. Their classrooms are their own rooms where they would be studying any subject they would be interested in that day. After lunch break, they would study on history and bible lessons and their school day is done by 3:30pm. "If they still had things to do they would continue working until later, but if they'd finished they could play outside until dinner," explains their mother Brooke.
The Tartgalia moved back to the US when their children are about to start high school and according to their mother, their mainstream schooling transition hasn't been so difficult. Their eldest went straight to high school while the younger ones transitioned from home-school to mainstream high school after two years.
According to the Department of Psychology at Boston College Professor Peter Gray, the success for home-schooling in the wild depends on each of the child's circumstance. He stated, "My research indicates that we don't have to worry about children learning academic skills and information in a timely manner. If kids have been living a playful environment life so their minds have been active, they can easily catch up on the rest, even in learning to read, any time they wish, very quickly."
As for the Tartgalias, they seem to be very confident about what their family has done for their children's education. They may have encountered a few concerns but nonetheless it has worked well so far.
There are also experts who say that homeschooled kids are smarter. Do you agree with this?
