Taking School on the GO
One huge, amazingly awesome benefit to homeschool is being able to travel during the school year. My husband’s job offers quite a bit of vacation time which we try to take advantage of if we can. Sometimes he will take off a few days and we go somewhere close by for a night or two. It just makes it easier to rest and reset for him.
Depending on how long we are gone, we may do school on the road. If we do, it is typically just basic subjects like math and literature. Math is not my daughters favorite subject and I find that if we take an externed break, it is even harder to get her back in the groove. That is the main reason we will do Math while on a trip. I do try to make the work a mixture of her Singapore Math book and some more entertaining workbooks such as MegaGeex.
These workbooks are a fun way to add in some multiplication facts or fractions while being entertained with illustrations. Once my daughter finishes her assigned pages she can color them in any way she wants. I feel that that is a great incentive for her!
Another set of workbooks we use quite a bit while traveling, are the Timed Test workbooks. In all honesty, my daughter has a hard time with multiplication facts because she has chosen not to mesmerize them. It is a form of protest (in my opinion) because she wants to control something about math. I tell her all the time that it will be easier if she makes the effort to learn the multiplication fact… I can only do so much. On a side note, as a sixth grader I choose not to learn spelling rules. I fought my mom SO hard on practicing spelling. I guess D not wanting to do multiplication is my pay back for the terror I caused my mom. (Sorry Mom!)
Well, D does enjoy these timed test because she makes them into a race! I, not so secretly, hope she will trick herself into memorizing the facts so she can beat her time from test to test. I actually think that it is working! Yes, the tests are very boring looking and not nearly as fun as MegaGeez but she loves them, therefore, I will keep giving them to her!
When it comes to doing Literature on while on a trip, I typically do the bare minimum. We have used Moving Beyond the Page for years now, and we love it! One thing I especially like about the curriculum are the comprehension questions after each chapter (or couple chapters). I also love that there is grammar and writing assignments mixed through out the curriculum. In order to make the work go quicker on the road, I will have my daughter only do the comprehension questions. When we get home we will work though the grammar and I may need to alter some of the writing assignments but for the most part we can do them as stated with no issues. I know, I know, this is not how the curriculum is supposed to be used but that is the joy of homeschooling, WE CAN TAILOR OUR SCHOOL TO OUR NEEDS! Huge benefit there!
Now, all this information is what works for US because we stack more social studies and science when we know we will be traveling. I typically decide to do this because we like to do hands on science and our history involves looking through a variety of books (maps, myths or historic fiction). When deciding to do school on the road, be sure to give yourself grace…. you do not know what your exhaustion level will end up being! The number one goal should be to enjoy your family time! Happy travels!