Roadschooling, Two Months Later

Susanne is your driver for this post.

Sam began his fourth grade year seven weeks ago while we were parked in San Angelo, Texas. We were armed with several carefully-selected textbooks, a giant stack of notebook paper, and a perfectly-constructed scheduling grid that had our days laid out by the hours and minutes. Here's a flashback:

We followed the grid for maybe three days. It was a good approach in theory, but in practice, we needed a more fluid strategy. 

Almost two months later, we've adjusted. I'd say that we're close to center in the structured schooling-unschooling spectrum, and that's right where we need to be. Reading, writing, and mathematics are non-negotiable: we feel he needs a strong foundation in those skills and, based on his personality, benefits from a more structured approach in those areas. But he also needs freedom to explore what interests him, and that's where "unschooling" comes into the picture.

The more structured part of our homeschooling day takes place in the morning and includes the following:

1. Reading or writing (30+ minutes): I let Sam decide whether he'd prefer to start the day by reading or writing. He usually picks reading (I'm trying to figure out how to get him to write more without pressuring him so much that he despises the task). In the past few weeks, he's read the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, a few Humphrey the Hamster books, and an I Survived novel. We're in the process of identifying another series that he'll truly enjoy. The Warriors by Erin Hunter is a strong contender.

2. Math (20-30 minutes): We're using Life of Fred for our math curriculum. Sam typically completes one chapter per day. The chapters are short, the writing is funny, and the problem sets are refreshingly brief. Each problem set comes with an answer key. It's up to him to check his answers when he's done. If he identifies any discrepancies, we discuss them and review that material. 

We reached a milestone yesterday when Sam wrapped up Life of Fred: Farming. Although closing the cover on a textbook is kind of an arbitrary way to measure progress, the fact that he completed it indicates to me that we're getting somewhere with homeschooling. We're moving forward.

3. Grammar (10-15 minutes, 3 times a week): To be honest, Sam detests grammar, but we're forging ahead anyway because I think establishing a strong foundation at this age is important. We're using using Scholastic's Success with Grammar for Grade 4. I figure that he can tolerate 10-15 minutes of verbs, nouns, subjects, predicates, adjectives, and prepositions a few times a week.

Then there's the less structured part of the day, which includes some of the following:

1. Field trips: Over the last few weeks, we've visited an aquarium, a bug exhibit and butterfly garden, several national monuments, a nature center, a natural history museum, a UFO museum (unsurprisingly, that was in Roswell, New Mexico), a cat cafe (yes, a cafe full of cats), a trampoline gym, and the plaza in Santa Fe. Of course, he also spent a week on an organic farm, and he often joins us when we run errands to the grocery store or Walmart. We use field trips in part for location-based learning and in part just to get out of the RV. 

As a kid, I remember going on field trips and having to fill in worksheets along the way. We don't do that. One, I'm too lazy to print out a bunch of papers and then cart them with us. Two, it's important for kids to immerse themselves in the experience and absorb whatever they can, from their own perspective. Some of their observations will have immediate relevance, whereas others will become more important later (perhaps much later). We view learning as a long-term endeavor that doesn't always require identifiable short-term outcomes. 

2. Video games: This makes us sound like slacker homeschool parents, but it's true. He plays video games, and often. Sam's current favorites are Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program. Minecraft encourages creativity and the development of spatial reasoning, whereas Kerbal Space Program - a rocket simulation game - integrates principles of astronomy, math, physics, and engineering. Both require problem solving skills, patience, and persistence. I was skeptical, but when your kid comes to the dinner table and starts talking about angles required to bring and keep a rocket in orbit around the moon, you start thinking that maybe video games aren't so bad after all.

3. Educational programming: Sam loves Cosmos, NOVA, and National Geographic. He's also a devotee of cooking shows (to the point where he took notes on Alton Brown's coffee recipe and can now produce the perfect morning brew). We let him watch as much as he wants; he polices his screen time pretty well.

4. Pursuit of big ideas: Like most kids, Sam is a creative thinker with big ideas. He wants to start a blog... create and sell art... own his own business... curate a coin collection... become a comic strip artist... write a series of children's books. We encourage him to explore these brainstorms because doing so requires him to think critically, problem solve, and apply his reading, writing, and math skills. Plus, we want him to know that he's capable of doing what he sets out to do. It's up to him to decide what he wants to do, how to do it, and what he needs. We're just here to help.

Everyone learns differently, so what works well for our family may not work as well for others. If you're a homeschooling/roadschooling parent, what approach works for you and your kids? What do your kids enjoy, and where do they struggle?

Reflecting on the First Week of Homeschooling

Susanne is the driver for this post.

Sam started fourth grade on Wednesday, August 3. This was entirely his decision: I'd initially planned on beginning somewhere around August 15, though I hadn't nailed down dates or made any definite plans (to say that I'm not the most organized person you'll ever meet is an understatement). But Sam was ready to get started, and so we did.

One of the great things about homeschooling is that I can tailor my teaching approach to his specific needs, interests, and preferences. For example, Sam is someone who loves routines but who also needs some room to let his creativity take charge. When we sat down together to develop a schedule, this is what we came up with:

Every day will include practice in reading, writing, grammar, and math as well as physical education (and by "physical education," I mean running around outside or taking a walk). We'll spend anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes on each of these subjects depending on how we're feeling and how much time Sam needs on a particular topic. 

I feel strongly about the reading/writing/reflection activity that will start each day. This activity will give Sam a chance to ease into his lessons, read about a variety of topics (on Thursday it was cyanobacteria; on Friday it was Harry Potter), use his writing skills, and practice his handwriting. It will give me a chance to get creative with prompts and find ways to help him synthesize information from previous days.

To build some flexibility into the schedule, we divided the days not into Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/etc., but days where we spend a significant amount of time on history (A days), business (B days), arts and crafts (C days), and science (D days). This past Thursday was a D day: Sam wanted to learn more about bacteria and early life on Earth. On Friday he wanted to study marketing and advertising strategies that he can apply to his online business, so that was a B day. At this point, I'm going to let him pick what he wants to focus on. If that means doing science three days in a row, that's fine with me. I'll just track what we do on a daily basis so that we can balance it out with other topics later on down the road.

Because we're on the road and visiting so many interesting places, field trips will be an important part of the curriculum. We celebrated the first day of school with a field trip to various sites in San Angelo: the playground, the library, a sandwich shop, and the San Angelo Nature Center, where Sam got to meet and pet a snake named Bubbles, an opossum named Marie, and several other animals native to this area.

All in all, the first week (well, half week) went really well, and I'm excited to see what next week will bring. Spending more time with Sam and watching him get excited about what he's learning is definitely a major benefit to becoming a homeschooling (roadschooling) family.

Homeschool planning (or lack thereof)

Susanne is your driver for this post.

One thing I'm (supposed to be) doing right now is making homeschool/roadschool plans for Sam's fourth grade year. I have a general idea of what I want him to do, especially with respect to math, reading, and writing; however, I know that all of this will be much more effective if we ask our very independent learner what HE wants to do, and how.

So this morning I asked Sam to compose a list of ten activities, topics, etc. he wants to do or cover in roadschool starting this fall. Here's the list:

1. Read history books more thoroughly. [He's almost done with Book 4 of Story of the World and wants to explore certain topics in greater detail.]

2. Do activities about the subjects we learn about.

3. Go on fun field trips to museums. [He loves museums.]

4. Go to places based on what we read.

5. Learn how to use Excel. 

6. Learn how to market a business.

7. Art classes - for YOU! Ha! [Thanks, Sammo!]

8. Learn how to use line graphs.

9. Learn how to divide to make a percentage.

10. Learn how to use pie graphs.

If anyone has resources/suggestions based on Sam's list, please reply and let us know!

Day 1 in San Antonio

Our first day in San Antonio can be summed up in one word: HOT. It's hot. Sure, it's a dry heat, but it's still 102 degrees and sunny, and Clark doesn't have particularly effective air conditioning (it's okay, but the extent that it can cool the RV is limited to about 20 degrees below the outside air temperature).

Nevertheless, we ventured into San Antonio for a couple of hours to check out the Riverwalk and eat some ice cream.

 

 

 

The ice cream was from a shop called Lick Honest Ice Creams and it was delicious. They offer a variety of original flavors, some of which are vegan. Yes!

Then we went back to the campsite because we were sweating like maniacs and some of us (you can probably guess who) were getting grumpy. We took naps and played Minecraft.

And then when it cooled off a bit, we checked out the campsite's playground. This weekend, we're staying at a KOA that has a playground dating straight back to the 1980s. Behold:

Object 1 - The Spinny Thing

 

 

 

Object 2 - Dangerous(ly fun) Metal Climbing Apparatus

 

There were also see-saws, a metal climbing teepee with chipped paint circa 1985, and swings in the shape of ponies.

Sam's assessment of the playground: "For once, they have some GOOD STUFF to play on!" Truth, buddy. THIS is why we're taking you across America. To help open your mind to new things.

The benefits of living in a small space

As I mentioned to a friend on Instagram this morning, moving into our tiny space has involved a steep learning curve - not so much in terms of figuring out sewer/water/electric hookups or deciding where to travel, but very much so in terms of learning to live together in the smallest place we've ever owned.

Three humans and one cat cohabitating in a relatively modest-sized RV can be fraught with challenges, like when the dishes pile up (happens quickly, and can make the kitchen feel chaotic), or when someone's in a less-than-happy mood and doesn't feel like hanging out with family members, or when I reallllly want to get my yoga workout in but have to wait until Trent and Sam are off at the pool for an hour.

When the slide-out is out, this is where I do my workout. Right next to the kitty litter. Ommmm....

But! Even though it's frustrating sometimes, I see multiple benefits to living together in this little home:

1. We can keep only what we really need and/or want. There's simply no room for extraneous things we won't use or can't appreciate, so we carefully consider every single item we bring into our space. We did this before we moved in, but - because it was difficult to predict what we would actually use - we continue to evaluate our belongings. For example, the pretty serving tray that I carefully stowed into a cabinet for Pinterest-worthy dinner picnics is proving to be worthless, so it's not going to stick around. It needs to give up its home for something that we will actually utilize. 

Along the same lines, until we started preparing for RV life, I didn't realize how much random crap people are constantly trying to pass on to one another, such as the little towels that our campground gave us as a "welcome present" (they're not large enough to dry off with and not absorbent enough to dry dishes with), or the mini-frisbees and beer koozies available as "gifts" in the activity center this morning. It's tempting to take and keep these, but we don't need them and ultimately they're just going to serve as dust-catchers. Not worth it. MUST. RESIST. FREE. STUFF.

2. We have a better appreciation for what we do have. This sounds silly, but every morning I look at my coffee pot and think, "Man, I love this thing." I like its design, I like how easy it is to clean, and I like that it produces my favorite caffeinated beverage. I look at it and I appreciate it, whereas before this journey, I owned a lot of things that I walked by every single day and barely even noticed, much less acknowledged.

Coffee pot and rooster mug: Key players in my morning ritual

3. It's easy to clean and organize. Sam - the most organized person in our family - will tell you that I have a lot of opportunity for growth here, but overall I think we do a good job of keeping Clark tidy. And because Clark is small, it really doesn't take all that much time and effort. We can go from kitchen disaster zone to Instagram-worthy countertops in a matter of minutes. (Not saying that lasts long, but whatever.)

Post-breakfast is always messy, but it takes minutes to clean it up.

4. A small space requires less energy to heat and cool than a traditional home. It's hot here in Texas, so yes, we have our fan or A/C on most of the time. That said, it doesn't take much to cool the place down. Of course, our goal is to eventually "follow the weather" and get solar panels so that we can further minimize the use of fossil fuels for heating and cooling. At the very least, we're more aware now of what it takes to bring our space to a comfortable temperature. It encourages us to think about the resources and processes required.

5. We're forced to deal with interpersonal issues right away. This is a tough one even for a family that generally gets along. Sometimes our RV is like a pressure cooker! Things I've been trying to work on: not getting bent out of shape about the way Trent does the dishes (yes, I realize I'm crazy), being more patient when I need space but can't have it immediately, and talking through problems as they happen instead of letting the issues build up. This was my idea, and yet of anyone in the family, I'm the one who is most attached to the concept of a personal bubble. That part is tough for me, and I'm figuring out how to navigate that particular issue. So... yeah. Definitely a learning experience. 

6. I get to spend more time with my family. I love that. Sometimes it's really nice to hang out for hours in the same tiny room with them. As I write this, Sam is sitting across from me with a pad of paper, a ruler, and a pencil, designing a new hotel for his Minecraft world. I type, he draws, and we share ideas as we go. That kind of experience makes this wild journey totally worth it.

Scenes from Texas

We're in Texas now! AND we're Texans! With Texas plates and Texas driver's licenses! (However, a Texan friend tells me - and I believe her, because she seemed very serious about it - that we are  not actually residents until we make our chili without beans and have our photos taken amongst blue bonnets, some sort of flower that Texans apparently really love.) 

Yesterday we established our residency all in one day. It involved a lot of filling out of forms and writing of checks, but it got done and now we're Texans. Or fake Texans. Fexans. That sounds more honest. Trent is going to write a blog post very soon detailing how one obtains Texas residency. You know. Just in case you want to follow in our RV tracks.

As he'll describe, the first step to establishing a Texas residency is obtaining a legit Texas address. You could go whole hog and buy or rent a place, OR you could be cheap like us and get an address through the Escapees RV Club. 

 

That's right: you can get a mailing address that the DMV and tax offices will recognize and honor even though everyone involved knows that you're not a real live Texan. They will even welcome you to the state and do an Oscar-worthy job of acting like they want you here (I don't think that has ever happened to me at the DMV before now).

Escapees also has a campground, and that's where we're currently parked. Despite the heat (shockingly, it's hot), Clark is perfectly comfortable beneath a nice little stand of trees.

 

It's not a swanky RV park, but it's got everything we need and the management is super professional. They've clearly been doing this a while and know what RVers want, like laundry machines and shade.

 

To celebrate our Fexan status, Sam and I drove down to Houston today to visit the children's museum. Can I just say that Houston + heat + lots of children = a really loud museum experience? But that was fine. Sam enjoyed it, clearly:

 

 

 

A coup for us: the museum honored the ASTC reciprocal membership we have through the Kentucky Science Center, so the visit was free! (Parking was not.)

We're leaving TOMORROW! Maybe! Or maybe not.

Our plan is to leave tomorrow, but we're waiting for a critical Internet-related package, so we may or may not head out then. We've already pushed back one of our campground reservations in Tennessee just in case. We figure we might want to take our time getting there anyway. 

Today was an interesting combination of busyness, fun, and relaxation.

We woke up in the RV, which is currently parked in the driveway. Here's Sam demonstrating how the over-cab bunk is supposed to work:

He loves that space. It's entirely his own and he's excited about organizing it as he sees fit.

We made huge progress in cleaning out our house. Two rooms are entirely empty, a third contains only the items we plan to drop off and store at my parents' house, the kitchen is less of a disaster than it was yesterday, and the family room now houses only the stuff that we haven't moved to the RV yet.

Biscuit freaked out at all the emptiness and spent hours hiding behind the toilet; to make her more comfortable (and bathroom use a little more private), we created a cat fort out of a folding chair and towels:

We finished cleaning out my office and turned in my keys:

And then we had some time for making a delicious dinner and playing Try-To-Spray-Me-With-The-Water-Hose-Good-Luck-I-Have-A-Moldy-Umbrella:

We're in a little bit of hurry-up-and-wait mode, but it's fine. At this point, what's the rush?

Roadschooling: Our current plans

A couple of people have asked us about our plans for homeschooling (or roadschooling) Sam while we're on the road. Although we recognize that our approach will evolve, our current strategy is to use a combination of child-led discovery and a more traditional approach.

Looking cool in Trent's old army jacket

Sam loves to read and enjoys history, so we selected the highly-rated Story of the World series to cover the social studies bases this year. He's already about 1/3 of the way through the first book and has trouble putting it down to go to bed.

For math, we picked the Life of Fred series. Trent's sister has homeschooled her kids for years; her whole family loves Life of Fred. It's not a typical math workbook. It consists of funny stories in which Fred has to use math to solve various challenges and problems. I think this may be a bit of an adjustment for him; he's used to more traditional math workbooks. But we'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Writing is a crucial skill, and I think the best way to learn how to write well is to just... do it. A lot. So he'll be journaling throughout our time on the road. He'll also be sending letters and postcards to his relatives. At times, I may help him edit his work and write a second draft, but mostly I just want him to have fun with it. I want him to see writing as a way to express his feelings, work through his experiences, and develop his ideas. We'll also be working on some basic grammar skills using a Scholastic Success grammar workbook.

Learning from Biscuit, our feline sage

We won't have a structured science curriculum. Trent and I are both scientists, and we both believe that scientific inquiry is something that all of us do naturally if given the opportunity and headspace. In our opinion, children are the best scientists in the world. They're keen observers. They ask tons of questions without fear of "sounding stupid," formulate creative and unbiased hypotheses, and treat the testing of those hypotheses as a form of play. At this point, we'd like the scientific learning to just unfold in a natural way. (He's also totally addicted to science programs like Cosmos, so when we can, we'll give him the opportunity to zone out with those shows.)

He's also a bit addicted to the iPad. Oh well.

Other than that, we're going to let Sam's interests and our journey guide his learning. If we're in Texas, for example, we'll learn a little about Texas history, climate, major cities, and social issues. If we're in the mountains, we'll talk about how mountains form, high elevation ecosystems, etc. We'll take advantage of local museums, parks, and concerts.

We also want to give Sam a chance to just be a kid - to ride around campgrounds on his bike, hang out with other kids, explore. Playing is such a crucial part of learning. Simply having this adventure with us will be a tremendous learning experience for him.

Those are the pie-in-the-sky plans. We'll see how it actually pans out. I think we're flexible enough to tailor our approach to Sam's specific learning style.

Holding pattern

We leave in 2.5 weeks! [insert googly-eyed emoji here]

Until then, we're in a bit of a holding pattern. Our focus right now is on cleaning up the house and figuring out what we want to save and what we still need to recycle or throw out. Currently, though, the house is a bit of a disaster area. This photo makes the situation look better than it actually is.

Although we're in disbelief that our departure date is so close, we're definitely excited. I interviewed Trent, Sam, Biscuit, and myself (can you interview yourself? I say yes) to get their thoughts on the impending move into the RV:

Q: What are three words you would use to describe our impending travels?

Sam: Do we have to do this right now? [I think he meant the interview.]

Trent: Unknown. Different. Exciting.

Me: Adventure. Nature. Problem solving.

Biscuit: My. Moving. Palace.

Q: What are you most excited about?

Sam: Everything, except the parts where we get really mad at each other.

Trent: A change in lifestyle, and the fact that it'll be easier to move when you get bored. [Me: And by "you," you mean... Trent: I mean you. Susanne.]

Me: Experiencing new places and being closer to nature.

Biscuit: Looking at hot guy cats out the window. Meow.

Q: What are you most worried about?

Sam: The water not functioning and you getting really mad. [Me: And by "you," you mean... Sam: You. Mom.]

Trent: Money.

Me: First of all, I don't know what you mean by "really mad." Second, I worry about RV issues, like the roof leaking and damaging everything and then we have to live full time with Biscuit in a tent because that's all we have left.

Biscuit: I am not living in a tent. Sorry.

Q: What's our biggest hurdle before we leave?

Sam: Please stop asking me questions. I'm trying to relax.

Trent: What Internet setup is right. Also, how are we going to get rid of our broken treadmill?

Me: What do we do with our gross old mattresses?

Biscuit: Catching all the bugs you've let into the house over the last few days.

Q: What is one thing you can't part with - something you have to take with you even if it isn't practical?

Sam: Biscuit. [Me: I meant other than members of the family. Sam: Biscuit. That's my final answer.]

Trent: My frisbees. I don't want to get rid of any of them, but I have six of them.

Me: Real glassware and my two favorite coffee mugs.

Biscuit: My eight bajillion cat toys. Even though nobody ever plays with me and I'm the most neglected, misunderstood cat ever.

The Great Stuff Purge, Part 3: Garage Sale

Before dewinterizing Clark this past weekend, we held a last-minute garage sale in an attempt to get rid of as much of our stuff as possible. Although many full-time RVers put at least some of their belongings in storage, we want to avoid that. First, we don't want to spend any of our money on a storage unit (cash is going to be kind of tight, and we'll need it for essentials), and second, we don't want to be burdened by things. We plan to keep and carry only what we really need. We want to feel light.

Our decision to have a garage sale was pretty last minute - less than 72 hours beforehand. We batch-mailed about 300 people from my workplace, stuck a sign at the end of our road, and crossed our fingers that someone would show up. (Did I mention that we've never had a garage sale before and had no idea what we were doing?)

Then we rushed around dusting and sticking price tags on everything.

Thankfully, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. We got up early, moved Clark, and started setting up shop in our driveway. Sam totally stepped up to the plate: he was out there from the get go, helping to move things around and organize our wares in an aesthetically-pleasing fashion (neither Trent nor I have ANY. style). We were really proud of him.

The sale was supposed to start at 9 AM, but the first people showed up around 8:40. I guess that's the thing about shopping garage sales: you only get the good stuff if you get there first. We didn't think about that and were still trying to shove our couch out the front door when our first buyers came through.

All in all, it was a huge success. We sold our couch, a TV stand, a desk, our kitchen table and chairs, mirrors, picture frames, glassware, mixing bowls, kitchen gear, toys, a bajillion Hot Wheels cars, and even an old litter box. 

Whew.

This is what our house looks like now: an open space covered in random bits and kibbles.

One thing that's surprised us is how well Sam's adjusting to this change. We expect that at some point it will catch up with him, and we're (sort of) prepared for the fallout. I mean, his life is definitely going to be upended for a while. But he seems super excited about life on the road, unconventional schooling, visiting relatives and friends across the country, and hanging out in his bunk. So at least at the moment, he's happy to give up some of his things in exchange for an adventure.