Written By: Erin Colbert – The RVing Life
We’ve been traveling the country as a family for over three years with our two boys, but we had a big obstacle to getting started in this lifestyle: school. We hadn’t seen ourselves as homeschoolers and really liked our local school. Then 2020 came along, and that changed everything.
Our Homeschooling Journey Begins
In March of 2020 our boys went on Spring break a week early with the idea that they would be able to figure things out in a couple weeks. They never went back, and we decided it was time to look into homeschooling. We didn’t think about it at the time, but that was the first step in being able to start traveling full time.
The 2020 – 2021 school year was our first year homeschooling, and we haven’t looked back. I won’t lie and say it has always been smooth sailing. We’ve had some rough days. Transitioning from public school was challenging both academically and socially, but it’s been worth it.
Homeschooling has opened up our lives in so many ways. Not only was it the first step in getting to start traveling, but it also has helped us grow closer as a family and opened up our eyes to the different ways you can learn. Some of my favorite times have been snuggling on the couch and reading a good historical fiction book to the boys.
Homeschooling is Different – In a Good Way!
For us, learning doesn’t just happen through reading and “book work” but by going places, watching videos, and just doing things. As I’m typing this, I have bean plants growing in ziplocks taped to our window. We’ve been doing an experiment for a couple weeks, and it’s been beautiful to watch our youngest checking and analyzing his plants everyday. He’s soaking it all up and learning how it works.
One year we used a curriculum that involved watching a lot of geography YouTube videos. Now that may sound like we were just goofing off, but years later there are still things they boys remember from those videos. We even had a favorite YouTuber who was doing a video on every single country in the world. He was amazing.
Then there’s our travel. How many kids can say they’ve been to 40 states? They’ve seen New York City, Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and so much more. When those places come up in our studies they can say, “Hey! I’ve been there!”
Homeschooling Tips
We’re in the midst of our 5th year of homeschooling, and we’ve learned a lot along the way. Here are some tips, resources, and recommendations that we’ve found and love. Just remember. Your homeschool doesn’t need to look like our homeschool. Make it your own and do what you need to do for your kids.
- Homeschooling is a Journey – Our rhythm has evolved and changed over the years depending on our needs and our curriculums. Sometimes it’s more intense and sometimes we need a slower pace. We’ve done the same program for both boys in the past, but this year our oldest is enrolled in an online high school while our youngest is doing a literature based program. Things change a little every year for us, and that’s been a fun part of the journey.
- Don’t look for the perfect curriculum – It doesn’t exist. Trust me. I’ve looked. There will always be at least one little thing that doesn’t quite work for your child. The beautiful thing about homeschooling, though, is that you can make it what it needs to be.
- Set up a routine – Our family works best with some structure, so we have a fairly structured day right down to certain times for breakfast and lunch. You may not need something this rigid, but it helps us stay on track.
- Be Flexible – All that being said, we do have to be flexible. If we’re camping with friends, then we’ll change things up, so the boys can spend more time playing. When we’re at an event, we may forgo structured school altogether.
- Don’t get stuck in a traditional schedule – At first we stuck to the traditional 5 day a week August to May school schedule. It felt comfortable to us since that’s what we were used to doing. You do not have to do it that way though! We’ve changed things up now and pretty much do school year round but with a lighter work load in the summer.
- Be willing to call it a day – If anyone is having a rough day, consider a reset. Take a break for a little while or maybe even for the rest of the day. Go for a walk, take a field trip, or maybe watch a movie. If our boys are upset, we’ve found that it helps to get their body moving. This helps get their mind out of that “fight or flight” response.
- Know your strengths (and weaknesses) – I’ve had to accept that it’s best for the boys to learn some things from someone else. We use an online math curriculum rather than trying to teach it ourselves or from a book. As high school approached, I realized that an online high school would be the best option for our son, so this year he’s enrolled in Whitmore School.
- Make It Fun – When you go to a traditional school, it is definitely fun (remember class parties?), so make sure to incorporate fun things into your plans. Field trips are a favorite for us. We also like drawing videos, fun online classes (Outschool is great for this), and movie days.
Curriculum and Homeschooling Resources
Here are some resources we’ve found over the years:
Curriculums/Online School
- Whitmore School – online high school
- Sonlight Homeschool – the literature based program mentioned above
- Abeka – If your child is just starting to read, this program will give them a great foundation. They have the option for video lessons. It can be very intense in the later grades, however.
- Gather Round This program is much less structured. We really enjoyed it and learned a lot, but didn’t feel it was quite enough long term on its own.
Online Classes
- Teaching Textbooks – our current online math program
- Outschool – great for online classes.
- Typing Club – a free program for learning to type properly
- Duolingo – this has been a good way for our boys to get started with a new language
- Khan Academy – this is a great resource we’ve used from time to time for grammar and math help.
Podcast and YouTube Channels
- World A to Z – this is a kid friendly nonpartisan daily news show we watch for current events
- Geography Now – the geography YouTube channel mentioned above
- Art for Kids Hub – super fun drawing videos for kids
- Wow in the World – a fun educational podcast
- Past and the Curious a fun history podcast
I can talk about homeschooling all day, so if you ever have questions please reach out to me on Instagram: The RVing Life. If you see us on the road or in a campground, be sure to say hi.
We’d love to chat!
Erin & Jeremy
The RVing Life
