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).

Mission: Organization

I know a lot of you already think I'm organized. This is a learned talent that Mike has helped me to learn over the years. He is a highly organized person - "Everything has a place and it belongs in it's place any time it is not in use." I truly appreciate his dedication to cleanliness and order even if it is a step above my comfort zone sometimes. I was able to unpack a few more boxes of books that were sitting in the garage with no place to go, utilizing our new Freebie Fairy gifts. This smaller bookshelf now houses all our church oriented books, both fiction and non-fiction, plus a few small photo albums (not pictured).

My bedroom has been were I pile all the things that need to be filed, worked on, organized, stored, looked at again, etc. Mike hates these piles. I do not love them either, but I see them as a necessary evil since I do not have a desk anymore. This tall shelving unit from the Freebie Fairy is making my honey very happy as my mess turns to organized chaos.

You may be wondering why I have a computer by bed. That is a Linux Server that Chris and I are working on. We are currently stumped about getting it to work right. Everything is installed, but not everything has the right settings yet.

Tomorrow --- Dining Room and Desk Mess!

Progress...It's Something Anyway

I am so HAPPY that I am finally making progress.

• My antibiotics are done and I can start on probiotics to make sure I do not get Candida.
• I can breathe enough to do a little bit of work at a time without coughing up a half a lung.
• Deep breaths only hurt a little.
• I don't need the Albuterol inhaler anymore.
• The kids are helping a ton with meal prep, cleaning, and packing while still getting their core education work done.

Whoo! Hoo! I was able to get some things done towards moving.

• Nine more boxes were packed today. (Thanks kids for doing all the heavy lifting.)
• I washed all of the windows on the inside and half on the outside.
• I washed all the curtains, ironed them (yes, I iron once in awhile), and hung them back up. (They are the ugliest shears and curtains in the world, but they belong with the house.)

Now I am too exhausted to do any more today. Thank goodness Marlayna made dinner tonight - yummy chicken stir-fry and fried rice. I feel good that I'm getting back on track. Less than two weeks to go before we head off to Missouri. Let's just hope I did not over do it today and end up in bed tomorrow.

Christian's Merit Badges

Switching troops during the life of a scout can be a tricky thing! I do not have the cards for all the merit badges that Christian completed from our old troop. He finished First Aide, Emergency Preparedness and Citizenship in the Community before we moved, three of the "required for Eagle" merit badges.

At scout camp in our new ward, Christian completed: Pioneering, Personal Management, Photography, Bird Studies, Mammal Studies, and Fish and Wildlife Management. With all these, he should have finished his Star. But, we cannot get all the information together to prove it. Kind of a bummer since now he will have to wait until the next Court of Honor (if I can get all the info together or he will need to do them again).

Christian had a great time at camp and came back with a ton of stories. Our new troop has many good qualities. The Court of Honor was out in the woods in a beautiful spot at Shultz Pass. I guess living in the woods brings it close enough to have events like this frequently...and only 15 minutes from home!

The only drawback is some of the discrimination going on (not just in scouts, but in Flagstaff in general). We have been termed "Phoenicians" because we moved up here from the Valley. That term brings with it many derogatory comments about how silly or weird "Phoenicians" are...and since we are considered in that category...well, let's just say there have been some hurt feelings. I fully admit to being shocked by many things in our new environment and making comments about them has brought some of this on us (my mistake). The leaders wonder why my son does not care about scouts anymore and the entire ward is now making comments about how Christian never smiles...well, he used to smile all the time! Maybe they need to look in the mirror to find the source of his unhappiness.