Home Education on the Move

Moving is always a major upset in the realm of home education. You tear down your inspirational environment to be moved to a new location. It takes several weeks of packing and unpacking to get back to a semblance of "normal". This move is even harder because we are still in between homes, staying in a hotel and with family at various times while we look for a house. This is particularly challenging! It is hard to keep everyone focused on home education when there are so many distractions with extended family. There is also a big lack of enthusiasm for home education while staying in a hotel as it feels too much like a vacation.

Here are some things we do to stay on track during a move or while traveling:

• Stick with the basics - Don't add new items, systems, or principles into the mix. Stick to a basic outline of simple topics and books. Do not start any new methods for education like a new writing program.
• Travel light - Only take books you know you will use. The last time we moved we took too much that we never touched. Utilize eBooks and eBook Readers to make your book box even lighter. We use our laptop and Android tablet to read many free classics for Nook and Google Books.
• Technology - Utilize resources online, both free and fee based, that do not require textbooks like Khan Academy, Aleks Math, Old Fashioned Education, Main Lessons (Baldwin Online Literature Website), Ambleside Online, and Netflix (lots of documentaries on Instant Play). Most hotels have free Wi-Fi as do McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, and public libraries. We were able to find open Wi-Fi spots by simply driving into the parking lot of McDonald's and did not need to go inside or buy anything.

If your travel time is short, it may be fine to just skip the Structure Time, not Content key. But, if you will be traveling for an extended period of time, it can feel overwhelming to miss too much study time. Plus, I find that too much time on their hands leads to losing progress and enthusiasm for working hard. With a little bit of planning and some flexibility on expecting rigorous study, keeping up with home education on the road can be accomplished without too much headache (just a little one).