There are numerous benefits to homeschooling. One of our favorites is the freedom it gives our family to be able to travel. My husband is often out of town for work and since we homeschool, we like to join him on his business trips. With some advanced preparation and planning, it is possible to continue homeschooling while traveling. Today, I wanted to share a few ideas on how we homeschool while out of town.
How to Continue Homeschooling while Traveling
Bring work that is easy to travel with.
Some of our textbooks are big and bulky, making the difficult to fly with. In the weeks preceding our trip, I will double up on the classwork for these subjects. I always bring math, spelling, and language arts. If necessary, I make copies of worksheets for the time we are gone. If the workbooks are small, I will bring them with us also. I prepare a folder for each child with all the worksheets for each subject as well as lined paper to write on. We also bring a small pencil box with pencils, crayons and a sharpener. This makes a nice little kit with everything we need to do schoolwork while away.
Do activities centered on books.
Traveling affords extra time for reading, whether it’s on a plane, in the car, or even on the beach!. I bring books to read that are related to what where we are going or what we are currently studying, including historical biographies, science books, and our read alouds. It’s also a great time to do book reports. While on a recent trip, I brought a book report printout with us and had my son complete it for one of the books he read during our travels.
Upload educational games and movies to electronic devices.
Before we leave, I upload shows and movies to any electronic devices we are bringing. These movies usually relate to what we are currently learning or where we are going. Many of the shows from the History Channel, Science Channel, and National Geographic are available for uploading. I also add math, reading, geography, and other educational games to these devices. This helps with math drills as well because we don’t have to bring all our flash cards with us and instead use our electronic devices instead.
Use the time away to go on field trips.
We don’t go on as many field trips at home and save them for when we go out-of-town. I research the area we are visiting and find the aquariums, children’s museums, science centers, and history museums to go to for field trips while we are away. Recently, we’ve been studying ocean creatures in zoology so while we were in Washington, D.C. on vacation, we visited the Smithsonian which has a large ocean exhibit. We were able to see many of the ocean facts we’ve been learning first hand.
It is possible to travel and keep up with homeschool. Yes, with some advanced preparation and planning, learning can take place on the road, in the plane, and at the hotel. Happy travels!
Christina Fox is a homeschooling mom to two boys, four and seven. She is also a licensed mental health counselor, writer, and avid blogger. When she has spare time, she can be found reading a book with a cup of black coffee by her side.
I laugh now at how hesitant I was about even getting a kindle fire for the purpose of using it to homeschool. There are some fantastic apps and features available to us through that outlet while we’re away!
Great post, Christina!
So true! It’s amazing how much can be learned from electronic devices:) Thanks for stopping by here!
Great post, Christina! That freedom is exactly what makes homeschooling such an adventure! Check out this article on other creative ways to homeschool while traveling. http://homeschoolinghelp.com/top-ten-ways-homeschool-road/. Lots of fun.
Great Tips! We also do alot of traveling ourselves. Another option is online curriculum programs (we use Time4Learning). All you need to bring is a lap top, tablet or even use your smartphone ( I have done that)and your kiddos can do ther lessons anywhere 😉
Wow, great post! Would’ve loved to see these great tips anytime, as I always found traveling while homeschooling a bit of an organizational challenge! We did this for many years and only settled down with a different job (and therefore living situation), just a few weeks ago. Great job encouraging other women that this can be done!
Hi, we are Missouri residents, and my husband is planning to go to work in Alabama for a couple years. If this happens I am going to home school our children. We plan to live in an RV and stay at an extended stay RV park. My question is would I have to follow Missouri or Alabama home school laws? Not sure if your situation would have given you this info, but thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.
Thanks
I am looking for all the advise possible. My husband can have the opprotunity to travel for work %100 of the time. And I would love for me him and our two girls to go. We would have no home address if this is the case. We would only want to do it for one “school year”, but have no clue where to begin?! Some homeschool programs I’ve seen ask for a home address and a close by school. Is there a way around this or other options?? Any advise is appreciated! Thank you in advance 🙂
After my experience with the public school system, I have decided to homeschool my children. Plus, my husband works all over the place. I am trying to find out how to get started, what legal issues I will need to consider, and if my legal residence is in nc, but we have to be out of state for 2 or 3 months, will I have to change anything? Also, who do I need to let know that I am going to homeschool? Will I need to contact the board of education at each state, when we are going there or will I just need to contact my state of residency?
Anna, HSLDA (the Home School Legal Defense Association) is a great place to get legal questions answered. You can find them at hslda.org or call them at (540) 338-5600. Just tell the receptionist who answers the phone that you need to talk to a representative from your state about some legal questions, and she’ll give you the person you need to speak with. 🙂