Homeschooling is having a resurgence, and educating while on the road full time is gaining popularity.
Homeschooling- or roadschooling– in an RV, gives you control over personalizing lessons for your child, provides unique learning opportunities, and can help build stronger family relationships through experiential learning and making memories together on the road. Online curricula, workbooks, and “unschooling” are only some of the pedagogical tools roadschool parents can utilize while traveling with children.
Benefits of Homeschooling on the Road
Creative Learning Environment
Homeschooling while traveling gives children a rare and unique opportunity to explore the world around them. Unlike sitting within the traditional four walls of a packed classroom, the world truly is a teacher for those students allowed to explore!
Instead of stiff desks and stale lectures, homeschooling on the road can give children unparalleled hands-on learning experiences simply not available in a traditional school environment.
Parks, rivers, and beaches can play a significant role in the direct experiential learning of students of all ages: Developing critical thinking skills, problem solving, and encouraging curiosity.
Unlike the state-test focused learning style typically found in the traditional school system, traveling homeschool is full of inclusive and practical experiences you create for your children. Such methods of learning help children enjoy the learning process, as well as aids in information retention.
You’re In Control
You set the pace, learning approach, and curriculum for your children. Want to switch up the learning exercise a bit? Well, you can because you’re in charge! You create the schedule, the experiences, lessons, and can make changes as you see fit.
Such freedom moves your child from linear learning to more task-based experiences. As the teacher, you have the ability to provide a combination of both traditional and non-traditional teaching modalities.
As a homeschool teacher on the road, you also have the flexibility to add specific subjects, such as religious studies and financial management to your curriculum, if you so choose.
Closer Bond with Your Child
If you sat down and did the math, how many hours do children typically spend at school with teachers and friends, instead of with family? (At seven hours a day, five days a week, from K-12, that equates to over 15,000 hours!)
Homeschooling, by contrast, allows more meaningful time with your children. Many parents who homeschool their kids report that this has helped them build a stronger relationship with their kids.
Spending more time with your children in a homeschool learning environment in your RV will create room for more shared experiences. Adding travel into the mix creates fond memories that your child will likely cherish as they grow up.
Personalized Learning
In traditional school settings, teachers are often overworked and overwhelmed with the number of students under their care. For this reason, some kids often slip thought the cracks and get a lesser quality of education.
Homeschooling in an RV allows you to prioritize your child, and tailor lectures, lessons, and experiments to suit them, individually. With one-on-one learning, you can also ensure and asses that your child learns and understands the material.
If your child is ahead of grade level, you can alter the curriculum in order to challenge them more, developing their talents.
Challenges of Homeschooling on the Road
Despite its numerous benefits, homeschools on the road does come with its challenges. Here are a few of the more prevalent difficulties:
It Can Get Cramped
Sure, the great outdoors is vast, but you’ll still traveling in an RV… a metal box on wheels! Depending on your vehicle’s size, as well as the size of your family, your RV could end up feeling like you’re all trying to squeeze in a sardine can!
Due to having less room than a more traditional home, student breaks to go outside are highly recommended. Outdoor lessons are an exciting way to add variety to classwork, make learning much less claustrophobic, and is an innovative way to include physical activity in the learning process.
Lesson Planning Can Be Tedious
While homeschooling on the road gives you much freedom over your child’s curriculum, it can get exhausting.
Parents need to draft lesson plans for each subject taught before classes, which is a huge task. Furthermore, becoming the subject expert for all topics can be an ordeal. IF you have kids in higher grades, like high school, you may be worried about giving them adequate information on higher-level subjects.
Fortunately, you can supplement your efforts with online classes so you can ensure your children are satisfying their scholastic requirements.
You can also connect with others virtually to recruit help should any problems aruse. For instance, if you’re having trouble providing answers to a specific math problem, you can reach out to other family members or friends via Zoom or Facetime, getting their help if they have better mastery of a subject.
Balancing these roles typically left to traditional classroom teachers, while also parenting, can get exhausting.
So, it’s advised to draft lesson plans and set the curriculum before you get on the road, saving yourself time and avoiding unneeded stress, leaving you more time to focus on teaching and travel.
Constant Change Can Be Overwhelming
Depending on how long you’re on the road, there’s the possibility your child could feel overwhelmed by a constantly changing environment. Such instability could affect your child’s learning process.
If you’re on the road for an extended period, consider hunkering down at campsites long enough to feel grounded, and stable.
If your children are older and your plan is to pull them out of a traditional school setting in which they’ve grown accustomed, they may have difficulty with such a drastic change. Understandably, they’ll miss their friends, the familiar structure, and predictable schedule. Make sure they’re onboard mentally and emotionally for such a drastic lifestyle change before hitting the road together.
Your Kids Might Not Socialize a Lot
Let’s get down to brass tacks: Life on the road could mean that your kids don’t have as much interaction with other children of the same age. In a traditional school setting, classrooms are full of kids, there are sports and clubs to join; It’s a very busy, highly social environment.
Life on the road offers less social interactions, which means you’ll need to find innovative ways to find playmates and peers for your kids.
While on the road and creating opportunities for socialization, driving to popular RV spots can provide times to hook up with like-minded families during the year. This helps your kids- as well as you!- establish connections and community with other people, maybe even making long-lasting friendships.
Curriculum
The curriculum you choose for roadschooling is crucial to giving your child the best possible education. Your curriculum should fit with your child’s learning style and your family’s traveling arrangements.
Online Curriculums
Online curriculums are popular among homeschoolers, as they’re easy to implement and follow. Most are fine as “stand-alone” lessons, not needing you to supplement them with additional material if you so choose.
If deciding to use an online curriculum, make sure you have consistent internet access. For uninterrupted internet off the grid, I suggest checking out a WiFi booster like a WeBoost on Amazon.) If online learning is disrupted by a bad internet connection, there will also be disruption in the learning process, not to mention heightened frustration.
In addition to dependable WiFi, make sure to have a reliable laptop or tablet for your child, in order to easily access lesson, videos, pdfs, conduct research, and write essays.
Workbooks
All-in-one workbooks may prove a good fit, if you find yourself in remote locations with unreliable internet. It’s a hassle-free way for your kids to catch up with their studies, regardless if the internet is available or not.
Although such workbooks provide more flexibility, they don’t often come with guides, so that you can create personalized activity schedules for your kids.
A great benefit homeschool workbooks provide is that they’re straight forward, and easy to understand. This means that there are times when your child will hunker down to complete work, allowing you to take care of other pressing matters, simultaneously. Of course, this doesn’t mean that learning should be without supervision, but it can give a nice change of pace for both you and your child: Serving as another tool in your roadschool arsenal.
Unschooling
Unschooling is the discarding of standardized textbooks and letting your child learn from real-life experienced. With no formal tests, “unschooling” is an experiential pedagogical approach.
For example, kids can learn about geography and topography by helping chart the course for your RV trip reading maps. You can teach your kids automechanics and repair by involving them in RV repairs as they come up (and, they will come up!).
Drafting emails, letters, and blog posts are practical ways of teaching English and improving writing skills. They can also take part in community events and learn about historical events from the locals.
If you’re used to traditional schooling, the idea of “unschooling” might sound completely bonkers. However, many families on the road practice this technique with success. If you love structure, consider blending “unschooling” concepts with online lessons or workbook curriculums. This combination in learning strategies might just be a dynamic that your kids love.
How Many Hours of School?
Roadschool might have less rigid obligations that traditional school, but you’ll still need to check your state’s regulations to figure out the minimum school time your child is required to attend.
The Cost of Roadschooling
School on the road does not have tuition fees, but it’s not free. The bulk of your money spent with go towards buying books, workbooks, and your chosen curriculum. Investing in reliable technology for your child to use, like a laptop or tablet, are also a necessary expense.
While buying curricula, make sure to check out online stores like Amazon, to find used and discounted prices.
Roadschooling Laws
Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states in the USA, and is easily taken on the road. Know, however, that each state has its own specific educational requirements you’ll need to satisfy.
Before starting your journey, make sure to research the homeschool laws of the state(s) you intend on traveling through. You’re required to abide by the laws of any state you’re physically present in, even if there for a month. Under each state’s juristiction, visitors and residents are subject to that state’s courts and laws.
Some states such as Arkansas, Georgia, and Colorado, require that you submit a notice of intent, while Idaho does not require you to submit and documents. State laws might also require that your kids take standardized tests annually or every five years.
You will find such standardized testing requirements in Idaho, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, and others. Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and Illinois, are a few states which don’t have compulsory testing for homeschools.
You will also find that some states are more involved in the homeschooling process through portfolio reviews, inspections, or attendance records assessments. Make sure to perform your due diligence, understanding and adhering to each state’s educational requirements.
Wrap Up
Transitioning from the traditional school environment to an education on the road is a big change!
Before you hit the road with your kids in tow, make sure to research the best ways to take on the education of your children, including: Finding the best online resources, using curricula best suited to your child’s learning style, understanding your state’s legal requirements, and having study materials plus other educational tools at the ready.
Roadschooling, when done with care, organization, and intent, can be a rewarding experience for you and your family
Happy travels!