HOMESCHOOLING ON THE ROAD!

OK, you may be thinking “wow, they went on a lot of trips during August. I wonder how they kept up with school?” Emma is 8 and in second grade. She loves to read. Olivia is 6 and in first grade! Olivia is most happy working on an art project. Both girls did well with virtual school in the spring, but we knew that something needed to change for the fall because of our impending move and future travel.

We officially started homeschool on August 6, and we have been going strong since then. I never in my life thought that I would be choosing to homeschool my children. Luckily, there are loads and loads of resources out there to help you through this process.

School this year may not look like typical school though! Throughout the last few months, we have done a mixture of curriculum, experiences, and read alouds. So, explain more… experiences count as homeschool? YES! I have found that the girls learn so much during our road trips. Kids are sponges for knowledge, and it is so fun to watch them learn about history in the exact spot that it happened! We are then able to take what interests them and expand further! For example, we went to the Everglades recently, and the girls fell in love with manatees. They WANTED to learn all about them so we spent the next day finding out more about manatees.

We also use actual curriculum when we are stationary and settled. I thought I would have the girls do official work while on the road, but it turned out to be more interesting for the girls to complete Junior Ranger booklets and learn while exploring.

For Language Arts and Science, we use The Good and The Beautiful curriculum. For Math, the girls use Singapore Math. For Handwriting, we are using Handwriting without Tears. We also have spent a lot of time together reading… We just completed the second Harry Potter book, and the girls absolutely loved it. I have enjoyed re-reading it as well! It only takes about two hours to complete their work each day so we still have plenty of time to explore!

We have loved the flexibility of homeschool, as well as spending more time together. We have good and bad days… The girls can be easily distracted which can be a recipe for disaster. And, I can sometimes be in quite the mood! But in the end, it has been a good experience that I would not trade for anything.

Once we are through quarantine and situated in Switzerland, the girls will return to a school. I am excited for them to meet new friends and experience a Swiss school, but I will really miss the special time we have had together since March. I hope they look back on the pandemic with great memories of family time.

What is school like for you this year? Are you in a traditional school setting? Or, are you paving your own educational road? Thank you for wandering along with us!