How to Homeschool in an RV- Part 2- Best Options and Practices

Being on the road is a daunting lifestyle, especially if you have kids. How does one transition from "normal life" to "totally different life" and still set the kids up for success?

In my last post, I looked at some of the basic questions to ask yourself when preparing to road-school your kids. If you haven't read that yet, I would recommend starting there. Here, I'm going to go through all of the schooling options and the "how-to's" for each, hopefully helping you discover which path to take!

With that said, here is a condensed list of the different types of roadschooling:

• Traditional homeschool bookwork

• Online public school

• Online homeschool

• Unschool (interest-based learning)

• A mixture of a few

Traditional Homeschool Bookwork

This option is basically just normal homeschooling but done in the RV. Even within this category, there are lots of variations and flexibilities you can choose from (ah the freedom of homeschooling!). Basically though,

• Pick which subjects to take

• Research different curriculum brands/companies to order from for each subject

• OR use a kit service like Timberdoodle.com or Sonlight.com

Curricula options are vast, so it's important to read many reviews and samples to get a good feel for what you want to buy. Including older students in the research process is also helpful when deciding on what they want.

In an RV, it's important to keep space in mind when choosing this option, because some curriculum kits can take up a lot of room. I recommend finding a curriculum that utilizes packets or units to break up work, instead of it all being in one large, heavy textbook. If your language arts has reading requirements, consider buying e-books instead of physical books to save on space. Things like that.

This option is great for families who want total control over what they're learning and who have either some space or plenty of space for schoolwork.

If your family isn't really picky about schoolwork, doesn't have the time to research different curricula, doesn't have the budget for buying curriculum, or doesn't have any space for it, then I would recommend taking a different path.

Online Homeschool

Fast, easy, and convenient, online homeschooling uses services like Acellus, Time 4 Learning, or Khan Academy to take the load of teaching off of parents.

Again, there are lots of options out there and I recommend doing some research before picking a service.

This option is great for families who have very limited space to keep schoolwork, who would like to take the homeschool path, but who have busy/working parents who don't have time to teach, or for families on a tighter budget.

However this option requires internet, so if your family often goes boondocking with no service, then that's something to consider. It also requires a lot of screentime from your kids, and if you're looking to reconnect your kids to nature, that should also be a consideration.

Online Public School

While technically not a "homeschool" option, this path is free, online, and doesn't take any work on the parent's part.

Some programs include K-12 and Florida Virtual School. I also found this Wikipedia article for the different virtual schools in other states.

This option is great for families who have very limited space to keep schoolwork, and who would prefer to enroll in a (free!) public school.

This option can present some challenges in that if you're confused about a topic, personal instruction is limited and often delayed. It isn't quite as flexible as other options, and I've heard that the system is more built for test-taking and not for concept understanding. As with other online sources, you will need the internet for it.

Unschool

For many people, when they imagine unschooling, they imagine parents who just let their kids play video games all day and other steroetypes like that. While these stereotypes do happen, I think living on the road creates more flexibility and more opportunities to educate your kids in a better way.

My definition of unschooling is this: using unconventional methods to teach students the necessary knowledge. The most basic example would be using the activity of baking a cake to teach how fractions work.

Living on the road presents more opportunities to learn history due to actually being where events took place. We're able to visit more museums, national monuments, important landmarks, and other such places.

Personally, I've always hated my science curriculum. I've tried so many different companies, and none of them have actually sparked my interest in that subject. This year, I decided to unschool for science. Basically, I found a bunch of books on different science topics that actually excite my interest.

This is the beauty of unschooling, your kids can actually be hands-on and excited about what they're going to learn because it isn't being lectured to them or read in a textbook. They're experiencing learning in real-time.

Unschooling is great for families who haven't had success with conventional methods, who have the time to find learning resources, and who have the parental ability to be hands-on with the students.

However, unschooling is sometimes harder to do depending on state regulations and requirements. It takes more creativity to translate the unconventional "courses" onto a college transcript. It can also take a lot more time and energy on the parent's part.

A Mixture

One doesn't have to choose only one option. For example, these are my courses for Junior Year:

Math___Teaching Textbooks Pre-Calculus___online course

English___Good and the Beautiful___physical course and books

History___Beautiful Feet Books___learning through reading, physical course

Science___miscellaneous books, activities, and videos___unschooling

French___ Duolingo___ online course

Biblical Study___The Bible Project___ online course

It's taken me a few years to really figure out how I like to do my school, but trial and error is part of learning after all!

Finishing Up

From my experience, these are the best available options for road-schooling. I hope that this article will clear up any questions about curriculum on the road, and if you found it insightful be sure to share it with a friend!

In my next article, I will be going over how some other logistics for school on the road, and how you can best manage it all in this busy lifestyle!

Thanks again!

-Kayla