Woman Takes Kids to Disney World Twice a Week for Homeschool Curriculum (Exclusive)

Haley Sisk homeschools her children with the help of her friends, magical friends, that is.

After moving her family to Orlando, Fla., last year, Sisk has been integrating Disney World and its characters into the lesson plans for her 6-year-old, 3-year-old and 2-year-old.

The former teacher talks to PEOPLE exclusively about what a typical day looks like for her family and how the Disney princesses and characters are involved. 

“I try to keep it fun at Disney. I tie it in, but I don’t want it to be somewhere where they’re stressed to go,” she shares. “I’m not taking worksheets to Disney, but I do have an ongoing list of quick and easy things that we can do at Disney. While we’re waiting in line or eating lunch, we can tie in educational things, but not make it the sole focus of us being there.”

What they learn depends on which part of the park they go to that day. When they visit Animal Kingdom, they can learn about science, animal habitats and various animals. When they’re at Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom, Sisk teaches her children about storytelling, imagination and literacy. She uses Epcot to teach her children about different cultures. 

“At all the parks we’re using maps and figuring out directions, wait times, numbers and different words that they might be working on at home,” Sisk, 31, shares. “My daughter’s working on letters. We could be finding words that start with those letters while we’re out. There’s just a bunch of different ways that we use the parks overall and then each park specifically.”

Recently, Sisk and her husband opted for the water park and sports pass add-on so her kids could play miniature golf and increase their physical activity. 

Sisk explains that while Disney is part of the curriculum, they don’t spend the whole day there learning. In a typical week, Sisk will take the kids to Disney twice for school purposes and then a few more times that week with her husband for fun. Sisk ensures there’s structure for her children each day, with school in the morning, a late-morning trip to Disney, lunch, and then more individualized schooling when they return home.

Sisk has a degree in early childhood education and previously taught pre-K, first grade, and second grade. Homeschooling her kids gives her a chance to “focus individually on each kid and what they need and how they learn best.”

Through her homeschooling and Disney schooling, she hopes to instill a love of learning and curiosity in her children. 

Interacting with others at the parks has also helped build confidence in her daughter, especially. 

“My daughter used to be timid. It would take her a while to warm up to people. She will speak with every cast member when we arrive at Disney,” Sisk says. “Our family visited recently, and they said, ‘We can tell how much this has brought them out of their shell.’ ”

In addition to confidence, Sisk hopes the unconventional approach to education makes her kids “lifelong learners,” while also meeting yearly state education standards.  

“I still go off of the state standards, so if we’re meeting those, then that’s successful to me,” Sisk says. “Success is so much more than what they’re learning in school. It’s them as a person and if they can walk away feeling like they can learn no matter what, they’re always looking for ways that they can grow and learn and develop, then that would be successful to me.”

Sisk wants to homeschool her kids and incorporate Disney for as long as possible, while understanding “it’ll look different as they get older.” 

“I’m not hard set on if this isn’t working anymore, we’re still gonna do it no matter what. I will take that year by year, however, understanding what’s best for each kid and what that looks like,” she adds. “I hope that we spend as much time together as a family making memories and learning while we’re doing that.”