Home is our launchpad, the whole world is our classroom.
Chronicles of deliberate parenting, homeschooling, worldschooling, and coding adventures with our kids. Built with endless curiosity and radical honesty.
Meet the Sahfamily Explorers
Four curious minds complementing each other with a lifelong learning mindset.
Ayah
Dad / Tech Lead & Navigator
"Tinkering with software systems & drafting nimble itineraries."
Software builder at sahl-tech. Guides the kids into computational thinking through physical legos, visual blocks, and daily curiosity.
Bunda
Mom / Chief Learning Curator
"Heartbeat of family rhythms, book curation, and mindful logistics."
Designs inquiry-based thematic projects, hand-picks literature, and maintains grounding emotional routines across travels.
Kakak
Elder Child (8 yo) / Little Explorer
"Passionate about mechanics, universe mysteries, and tricky puzzles."
Currently into Scratch animations, marine biology, hands-on math crafts, and gathering pebble specimens across every visited beach.
Adik
Younger Child (4 yo) / Chief Joy Officer
"Life is an endless playground of bright colors, sensory sand, and giggles."
Deep in sensory exploration, phonics storytelling, gross-motor obstacle courses, and discovering backyard micro-insects.
What Do the Kids Actually Learn?
Blending inquiry-led homeschool, computational mastery, and worldschooling journeys into 6 real-world core pillars.
Logic & Computational Thinking
Not about rote syntax memorization, but deconstructing complex puzzles into intuitive, structured, reusable routines.
- ✓Loops & conditionals with Scratch blocks
- ✓Designing micro arcade games
- ✓Debugging unplugged physical logic grids
"Creating a maze game where a hero sprite must dynamically evade spider obstacles."
Nature Science & Outdoor Inquiry
Grasping foundational biology and physical geography directly at tidal pools, forests, and farm sanctuaries.
- ✓Field sketches of regional flora & fauna
- ✓Understanding microclimates while nomadic
- ✓Pocket microscope specimen reviews
"Inspecting saltwater plankton organisms and salt crystals through a 60x pocket lens."
Living Math & Everyday Geometry
Calculating budget splits at farmer markets, baking ratios, navigation bearings, and spatial measurement.
- ✓Rapid mental calculations at grocery checkouts
- ✓Fractions using fruit & flatbread slices
- ✓Basic directional coordinates & elevation maps
"Hands-on market budget challenge: optimizing fruit nutrition and varieties within pocket money bounds."
Bilingual Literacy & Storytelling
Fostering lifelong reader instincts with daily Read Aloud rituals, graphic novels, and dual-language journals.
- ✓Rich vocabulary in Indonesian & English
- ✓Oral narrative retelling competence
- ✓Weekly illustrated travel journal entries
"Writing and binding a 4-page booklet about a friendly monster navigating transit stations."
Worldschooling & Living History
Absorbing civilizations, historical spice routes, and community customs by temporarily living among locales.
- ✓Cross-cultural empathy & respect for local norms
- ✓Grounded sense of place & origin history
- ✓Basic vernacular greetings everywhere
"Casual interview with a traditional potter regarding clay mineral elasticity and kiln heat."
Life Skills, Resilience & Culinary
Self-reliance in packing backpacks, dish duties, room upkeep, and emotional self-regulation when itineraries shift.
- ✓Carrying ownership of personal travel gear
- ✓Making breakfast eggs & smoothies independently
- ✓Resilience tactics during travel hiccups
"Solo cabin-bag packing challenge with visual icons checklist for a 4-day trip."
💡 Our core ethos: "It's never about how many formulas are crammed, but how clearly the child observes, questions, and navigates solutions independently."
Our Journey: From Step One to Today
Not an overnight leap, but compounding series of experiments, pivots, and courage to venture off the beaten path.
The Pivot: Opening Home into a Classroom
When conventional routines halted during lockdowns, we piloted gentle home education rhythms. From shared couch read-alouds to building a cozy science nook in our living room.
Stepping Outdoors: Domestic Worldschooling
Field-testing worldschooling: slow stays across fishing villages, mountain valleys, and heritage towns. Experiencing history through living conversations rather than static textbooks.
From Media Consumers to Digital Creators
Our 8yo completed their first interactive Scratch game; our youngest authored playful audio stories. Technology transformed from a passive diversion into a family creative studio.
Launching sahfamily.my.id & Open Stories
Documenting the gems, the messy days, and how remote agency development at sahl-tech gracefully coexists with fully intentional family presence.
The Real Struggles & Hard-Won Lessons
Homeschooling & slow travel are far from picture-perfect feeds. There are messy meltdowns, doubts, and exhaustion. Here is how we navigate them.
Shattered Schedules & Mood Swings
We initially drafted rigid timetable blocks like conventional schools (08:00 Math, 09:00 Science). The outcome? Meltdowns, parental burnout, and morning resentment.
Switched from rigid hourly grids to intuitive daily rhythms (Morning Basket -> Outdoor Play -> Creative Block -> Twilight Read).
The Screen-Time Paradox
As a software engineer, Dad wants tech fluency, yet dreaded the trap of passive short-form video dopamine loops.
Golden family rule: Restrict mindless feed scrolls, passionately empower creator mode.
Nomadic Fatigue & Overstimulation
Trying to pack 5 tourist attractions in a single day. Outcome: sensory overload, tantrums, sleeping kids, and exhausted parents.
One core anchor spot per day is plenty. Unscheduled playground visits unlock the richest serendipity.
Socialization Insecurities
Relatives often asked: "Won't your kids turn socially isolated?" That question triggered lingering second-guesses.
The kids developed remarkable poise speaking with diverse strangers by engaging in public shared realms.
Moments Etched in Memory
Glimpses of everyday wonder. Designed in privacy-friendly scrapbook vignettes and creative doodles.
Tidepool Micro-Exploration
"Squatting for 2 quiet hours watching hermit crabs switch shells. Unforgettable marine biology learned without cracking a single textbook."
First Scratch Arcade Launch
"Elder child conquered 2D collision logic blocks after 4 days of syntax friction. The ecstatic triumphant grin was priceless!"
Mist Train Read-Aloud
"Reading epic adventure lore while tracing terraced paddy fields through panoramic rail carriages. Literature meets living geography."
Mud & Wheel Pottery
"Youngest shaped an imperfect wobbly clay bowl. Learning that organic asymmetry is the soul of authentic craftsmanship."
Curated Kid-Friendly Destinations
Battle-tested destinations offering rich tactile wonder, low parental stress, and safe immersion.
Yogyakarta & Kaki Merapi🇮🇩
Interactive volcano stations, slow bicycle tours through temple village hamlets, shadow puppet workshops, and gentle street food.
- •Book slow homestays in suburban villages over busy central transit corridors.
- •Visit underground Sambisari temple by 06:30 AM when morning dew still lingers.
- •Pack collapsible sun umbrellas and refill water thermoses for walking tours.
Batu & Dataran Tinggi Malang🇮🇩
Crisp mountain breezes prevent travel meltdowns, organic apple picking orchards, and globally curated transportation museums.
- •Bring windbreaker jackets and extra woolen socks for chilly twilight drops.
- •Avoid public holidays as local mountain winding roads congest heavily.
- •Support local agricultural cooperatives for fresh daily whole milk treats.
Pesisir Utara & Danau Tamblingan🇮🇩
Distant from south party crowds; serene mirror-flat coastlines ideal for toddler snorkeling, plus ancient protected rainforest lakes.
- •Reserve rental cars with certified child seats before embarking on highland passes.
- •Pack neoprene reef booties to safeguard small feet against rocky pebbles.
- •Rely on coastal family warungs for freshly grilled mild fish dishes.
George Town & Pulau Penang🇲🇾
Interactive street art scavenger hunts, Penang Hill funicular rail, Entopia insect biome, and stroller-navigable historic walkways.
- •Leverage free Rapid Penang CAT historic shuttle loops with kids.
- •Pre-book nature biome admission 1 day in advance to bypass ticket queues.
- •Keep Touch 'n Go transit cards loaded for frictionless bus commutes.
How We Allocate Our Family Budget
Values matter more than arbitrary figures. Here is our deliberate percentage breakdown supporting slow living, education, and remote work.
Home Base & Housing Operations
Cozy family home base rental, high-speed fiber internet for remote sahl-tech client engineering, and utility bills.
Prioritizing natural daylight, fresh ventilation, and uncluttered play floor space.
Travel & Worldschooling Expedition
Inter-city rail/air transit, kid-friendly long stays, museum & nature park passes, and local mobility rentals.
Investing in tangible living memories and experiential horizon broadening.
Curriculum & Learning Tools
Curated read-aloud literature, quality learning software, pocket microscopes, physical math manipulatives, and art stock.
Screen-free tactile exploration toolkits and durable books that cascade down siblings.
Fresh Nutrition & Family Wellness
Wholesome market produce, daily fresh orchard fruits, wellness supplements, and comprehensive family health coverage.
Sustained cognitive stamina fueled by unprocessed regional harvests.
Emergency Buffer & Long-term Growth
Liquid safety reserves allowing unforced travel pivots, plus generational growth portfolios.
Securing parental mental calm so pedagogical choices remain anchored in values.
Books, Apps & Field Tools
Strictly battle-tested books and tools free from advertising traps, used daily in our home studio.
📚Curated Literature & Parent Guides
The Read-Aloud Handbook (Jim Trelease)
The seminal handbook that revolutionized our nighttime read-alouds, unlocking massive organic vocabulary growth.
Nature Anatomy (Julia Rothman)
Exquisite watercolor biological illustrations guiding outdoor nature journaling and field sketches.
Bedtime Math Series (Laura Overdeck)
Hilarious bedtime mini-stories leading to 3 tiered tiers of mental math puzzles without rote drilling.
📱Creative & Inquiry Apps
Scratch 3.0 & ScratchJr (MIT Media Lab)
Ad-free block programming environment teaching algorithms, loops, x/y plane coordinates, and creative logic.
Stellarium Planetarium Sky Map
Open-source star map software used during camping nights to identify constellations above our tents.
Seek by iNaturalist
Point the phone camera at plants, leaves, and bugs to identify species and unlock badges without social privacy risks.
🎒Tactile Field Gear & Art Kits
Carson MicroBrite Plus 60x-120x Pocket Scope
Pocket-sized LED microscope providing crystal-clear 120x zoom into leaf stomata and fabric weaves on the trail.
Watercolor Sketchbook 300gsm & Travel Pan
Heavyweight watercolor papers allowing kids to paint field specimens, custom treasure maps, and sunsets.