Filed under: RV Home School, Space Saving

Homeschooling away from home

As I am writing this, we have arrived in Toronto for an extended period of time while my husband works on a contract in the area.    We were fortunate to find a campsite close to the workplace where he would be (about 10 minutes of drive) and that was open before the long week-end in Ontario.  It isn’t our first time rving and homeschooling while my husband is working on a contract as we did it two years ago while being in Northern Ontario for a couple of days.   However, this time it is for a longer period of time and I am unsure about how the homeschool will go.

When packing for such events – i.e. homeschooling/contracting – we had to be wise for the quantities of things to bring.   I am pleased to say that the math and English curriculum were finished before our departure.  The only books I needed to bring were French as well as science.

I had two plastic containers of things to bring for our school time.   This got reduced to one container strategically placed so it can include as much things as possible.  I even removed a binder, took out what I needed out of it and put it in a smaller folder.  Knowing how much your vehicle can pull helps quite a bit to make decision like this.

Arrival at a campground was a work of team for us.   While my husband backs up the trailer with the help of my 10 years old son – yes he is better than me to do this believe it or not – I took the younger kids at a park close by to play in the sand.    This allows my husband to be calmer when he is backing up the RV – especially when the road is not that large.

The first couple of days were during the week-end and we took a day off on Saturday since we drove for over 5 hours the previous day.   On Sunday, we went to visit the Toronto Zoo for a few hours and celebrate Mother’s Day in the trailer.

The week started well with doing some school, exploring our surroundings with the Private Eye loupes I had brought with us and a quick shopping trip too!   However, that morning we realized that there was a problem with the truck.  My husband was fortunate to find a dealership close to our campsite and within a couple of hours the problem was fixed without costing us much – thanks to our extended warranty!

Yesterday was a rainy and frisky kind of day so we worked on the school things I have brought and drew in books that DK Canada has graciously send us to review.  The kids are having fun though I find our area a bit cramped.   But school was done and even my oldest helped one of the younger kids which was a blessing when you have three kids demanding your attention.

This morning once again we mixed school time and exploration.    The downside of being so early in the camping season is that there aren’t many kids at the campground.    The plus side is that we can explore everywhere as there isn’t anyone in the wildlife camping area.

This is our first long experience of homeschooling on the road.   I wonder how people do it when you have to bring the entire curriculum with them.    With four kids in our family, I would have to bring four different math and English curriculum because of the curriculum we are using.     I think we could manage it somehow to bring all that needs to be brought.    Some items could be printed once arrived as I have a pdf version of the curriculum.    But other things like the Math Curriculum, I would have to find a spot for the blocks, the videos and the books.    I guess some games would stay behind – but since we have an iPad most of these games are on it too!

Another option I could probably explore would be to use the online version of some of the curriculum available for homeschoolers.   It’s something to consider if we ever decide to go on an extended trip like Florida for a couple of months.

In the meantime, I am learning to be more patient in our crowded space and to be flexible.    The important thing is that the kids are learning.   And if it gets warmer, we will definitively sit down outside on the picnic table to work our lessons.

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