4．When Carla Fisher and her husband announced plans to travel the globe with their young daughters for a year，some friends called them crazy．
Seven years later，with wonderful memories and a book documenting their world travel，the Fishers now seem like global trailblazers （先驅(qū)者）．
"It's really encouraging to hear that many other people want to educate their kids in that manner，"said Fisher．
Some parents are trying to raise knowledgeable and open-minded"world citizens"．Others want to give their children the skills they'll need to compete globally．
"There is a huge amount of interest in spending time abroad at all stages of life and increasingly，as a family with children，"said Maya Frost，author of"The New Global Student…"．She knows American families in every corner of the globe who have made that choice．
"There's so much more to education than school，"said Tessa Hill，who recently returned to her Houston-area home，after driving her family across North and Central America and Europe in a motor home for 13months．"World travel is an education in people，cultures，language，travel skills，street smarts and in how lucky we are to live in the United States．"
When Hill and her husband began considering extended global travel，their middle child，Charles，13，was surprised．"My first reaction was‘well，are we really going to do this？'"Charles said．"But it did sound like great fun．"
Charles said missing his friends was the hardest part．He stayed in touch via e-mail and made some new friends along the way，playing soccer with kids in France and learning about rugby from youths in Ireland．
"I'd definitely recommend this to other kids，"Charles said．"It was such a great opportunity to see different countries and learn geography a different way．"
To make re-entry smoother，most school officials prefer that families work out an educational plan before they leave town．
"It sounds out-of-date，but it really opens up your mind and your eyes to the world，"said Robbin Goodman，17，a senior student who spent his junior year skateboarding across Beijing，China，when he wasn't studying Chinese history and other core subjects．
Had he not already taken a school-sponsored spring break trip with his mom to China in 2007，Robbin said he probably would not have been able to convince his parents to let him go alone for a year．"I knew I would learn Chinese and all that，but my goal was to have a great time，"Robbin said．
"The biggest problem for those seriously considering going abroad is dealing with those who are against the idea，"said Frost．
"They gain the ability to take risks and to have confidence in themselves，"said Liz Pearlstein，founder of a global education consulting firm．"When we came home from London，my daughter，who had been painfully shy before we left，said‘Mom，now I know there's nothing I can't do．'"
No one knows exactly how many American families are choosing the global education path，
but global education consultants say a growing number of parents are traveling for a year or more with their children．
| Title：A real global（71）education：traveling abroad with kids for a year |
| Travelers'experiences and feelings |
| Carla Fisher | ●Courage is needed to take the（72）global/world travel for there are different voices．
●It is encouraging to hear more parents make such a similar
（73）decision/choice/plan． |
| Tessa Hill and Charles | ●World travel can help people learn more about cultures，languages and travel skills，etc．
●Charles made new friends along his way and （74）e-mailed his friends back home． |
| Robbin Goodman | ●One-year （75）stay/study in China alone can serve the purpose of having a good time． |
| Liz Pearlstein | ●World travel （76）enables kids to take risks and builds up confidence in themselves． |
| Opinions and suggestions |
| Maya Frost | ●There is an （77）increasing number of family traveling abroad with kids．Parents should take it into consideration how to deal with the opposite idea． |
| School officials | ●Parents had better help kids work out educational plans to make it （78）smoother/easier for them to return to school． |
| （79）Conclusion |
| Generally，more families in the USA（80）plan/choose/tendto travel abroad with kids for a year or more． |
