Roadschooling & Full-time RV Travel
Three years ago, if you asked me, “would you ever consider homeschooling your kids?”...I would have said “NEVER!” Since then, the world has changed a lot, and so has our family.
We are 2.5 years into full-time RV travel and I’m so thankful for the flexibility Road schooling brings to our family. We started Homeschooling in March of 2020- so not by choice initially, however we are thankful for it or we would have never thought about getting on the road if our kids were still in school!
When we first hit the road at the beginning of 2021, we tried to keep up with all the books and many different types of curriculum out there. The space to store the books was a challenge living in an RV as well as trying to work when we are clearly out numbered. Adjusting the curriculum while trying to get mail was also a challenge.
Here are some things you might find helpful:
1. Choosing your domicile- certain states are friendlier then others to homeschooling. We picked Florida because we winter here, and we have a domicile address through our Escapees membership.
Texas is also another good option and they don't need any reporting or testing, however you need to get your vehicles/ RV inspected every year, or you can get an extension for every other year. We love Florida because there is no income tax.
2. Rather then testing our kids each year, we go through an umbrella school that makes is super easy! They do all the reporting for you, and you pay a small fee. We use Hillcrest Academy.
3. READING: If you have a young one under the age of 6, one thing we still use to this day that has taught two of our daughters how to read was the Leap Frog Pen and books! We highly recommend these!! When you are a busy parent trying to work from home in a small space, and you don't want your little ones on screens all the time, this is PERFECT! Especially drive days too, you can attach it to headphones as well.
Here are some of our favorite book series for ages 6-12: Tuttle Twins, Chronicles of Narnia, I Survived, Harry Potter, Dog Man, Babysitters Club, Narwhal and Jelly books.
Tip: To save on space, you could try getting a Kindle, and asking your local library if they have a program where you can rent the digital books, often times they do! We also really love Audible!
4. MATH: One thing we haven't changed since we started homeschooling is what we use for Math: Teaching Textbooks. We LOVE this can be used on or offline, and there is a teacher video with every lesson. It grades the lessons for us and its very affordable! We love that they have options and can use it on an Android, MAC, IOS, or Chrome books. Try a free Trial of Teaching Textbook here!
5. For LANGUAGE ARTS, STEM (coding), HISTORY/ SOCIAL STUDIES, SPANISH, SCIENCE, we just started using Power Homeschool this year and so far the girls really seem to love it. It is the same curriculum as the accredited Acellus Online School, but cheaper. Prior to this we tried Miacademy, and that only worked for so long before it became very glitchy. Last year we did Time4Learning, which was good but the lessons became more "woke" and that is not who we are.
6.We also really enjoy the Junior Ranger program through the National Park Service! Kids can learn from rangers, and learning booklets they get. The collect badges every park we go! A great tip we learned was that all 4th graders get a Free National Park Pass for their families for an entire year!
The most important thing to remember is to find out what works best for your family. It might take some trial and error, but don't be afraid to change it up! We definitely have changed it up, and that is the beauty of homeschool and road schooling!
