Road-Skool / Home-School
If you plan on living on The Road with kids, Education is one of the most important factors to consider in preparing for your Nomadic Journey. While it is possible to enroll your children in a traditional school, stay in the same area, and use a local address for the entire semester, in most cases, some form Homeschooling or Distance Education will be the order of the day. In all likelihood, you will use a combination of the Methods described below to design a curriculum customized to what works for you and your family while travelling. – We will call this “Road-Skool”.
The beauty of Road-Skool is that your classroom is Mobile. You can literally change the view, the experience, and the lesson plan, based on what you see through the windshield. You can visit historical locations and museums. Take a trip to NASA, The Alamo, Grand Canyon, The Smithsonian, Meteor Crater or even turn a day at the beach into a Science Lesson. Plan trips around what the kids are learning or pull over just about anywhere and experience the local Geology, Biology, and Culture. Explore local History and tie it into the big picture. - Children educated on The Road will benefit from endless opportunities to immerse themselves in learning via first-hand experience. The quality of this education can surpass even the best school’s wildest dreams.
So, how do we do it?
Homeschooling, quite simply, means educating children at home instead of sending them to a traditional public or private school. Common reasons for this are usually a difference in religious or educational philosophies, a general dissatisfaction with the Formal Education System, or (in our case) a lack of regular access to brick-and-mortar educational facilities.
For those interested, we’ll include a Brief History of Homeschooling and some additional reading at the end of this Tutorial.
Choosing a Method
There are several methodologies regarding Home Education. This is the “How” of Homeschooling. You’re not tied into a traditional classroom setting or the infamous “Read the chapter and answer the questions at the end….”, “Take notes while I lecture…”, or “Pop Quiz! Clear off your Desk!”. You get to choose the Method you use to educate your kids. – The following are the most commonly used:
Distance Education or “Distance Learning” typically refers to a traditional Education accomplished via online classes or a combination of online, remote, and traditional classroom instruction (called hybrid or “blended”). Your kids will be enrolled in a physical School that offers classes via Zoom, Skype, etc.- Of course, 2020 and 2021 made us all much more familiar with this model.
School At Home - This is basically the same as a public or private school classroom, except that the parent becomes the Teacher. It uses a standard curriculum package, arranged by school year, and a very similar structure to what you would find in a traditional school. The curriculum may even be sourced from a physical school and include some online classroom time, but the majority of lessons are implemented by the parent.
Unschooling refers to a “lesson and curriculum free” implementation of homeschooling based on activities initiated by the children themselves. A child’s life experiences, personal interests, and natural curiosity are used to guide Education. The goal is to spark the desire to learn by using and building on ideas that are interesting and meaningful to the child, and thereby easier to comprehend.
Charlotte Mason - A good choice for the Nomad, it couples short classroom sessions with nature walks, journals, observation and practical discussion. It is also easy on the budget. While best known for Christian Homeschool, it can also be approached in a more secular manner.
Classical - Relies heavily on Reading, specifically Classical Literature, tying the lessons into the works of Homer, Plato, Newton (and many others), and/or The Bible. - Typically, it requires “The Great Books Of The Western World” series (click the image), though you can also purchase individual titles separately.
Montessori - Great for Special Needs kids or those with a touch of ADHD, it centers around tactile learning and unstructured time (similar to Unschooling, but a little more structured).
Click and bookmark this link if you would like more information on Homeschool Methods.
Getting Started
Regulations: - First and Foremost, you will need to understand what is legally required to educate your children at Home or on The Road. - Some states have few or no requirements, while others ask for things like portfolio reviews, standardized testing, mandated subjects, etc. This external page contains state-by-state links to laws and regulations regarding Homeschooling. (Please bookmark it and return to this article.)
Here is an alternate state-by-state page. It’s not quite as robust as the one above but a little quicker to search.
*Bear in mind that Full Time Nomads can choose what state they call home by taking advantage of “Domicile”. If you are unfamiliar, please Click Here to read our Tutorial on the topic, and be sure to compare your current state to the popular Domicile sates (Texas, Florida, and South Dakota) when you read through the state-by-state regulation links provided above.
For any of you who plan to go the “Ex-Pat” Route, here is link to the Wikipedia article on Nation-by-Nation Homeschool Info.
Do I need a Degree or Teaching Certification? : - Nope. - Almost all US states have no parent qualifications for homeschooling. There are a few (CA, KS, and NY) that require parents to be “competent” or “capable of teaching,” but they list no specific guidelines for these qualifications. Most of the rest require a high school diploma or GED in order to qualify to homeschool, but some allow you to bypass even the GED requirement under certain conditions. - The state of Washington is the only one we know of that requires “some college credit” and/or completion of a specific course in Home-Based Study.
Road-Skool Guides, Help, and Advice
All of this can be overwhelming, especially if you are new to the homeschool world. - The good news is, “You Can Do It.” You taught your children everything they knew up to age 5. You understand them better than anyone else, and you already have a good grip on how they learn and individually absorb information.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is that you don’t have to emulate a traditional classroom. You also don’t have to design your lessons or structure your day around the needs of 30 kids. You will focus strictly on what is best for your children, one-on-one, every day. – It doesn’t have to be a 6 or 7-hour school day either. Again, you’re not herding 30 children so you’ll get a lot more done in a lot less time. – Not morning people? Start lessons after lunch. – Hard to keep them focused for an hour? Do 30–40-minute sessions with a break in between. The options are endless. Experiment with different methods and find what works best for you (all of you). The best way to succeed is to have fun, and make it fun for them!
Home School Groups: - The best information that you’ll find on the web will probably be from joining Home School Groups and Forums. Who better to learn from than people who are already Road-Skooling, and have probably overcome many of the same obstacles that you will face along the way? Not only can you find tips, activities, and unique educational ideas, but also much needed support when you feel overwhelmed (and you most likely will at some point).
There are several Homeschool Groups on social media, but here are a couple to try: Facebook Roadschool Group – Skoolie.net Roadschool Forum
Start Small and Scale Up: - If you’re a regular reader of our Tutorials you’ve no doubt seen us use that phrase before, but it absolutely applies here.
None of us are experts on every single subject. You may be great at Math but stink at History… So, start with what you know. – Focus on teaching the topics that you feel the most comfortable with and use these to “teach yourself to teach”. As you get more comfortable and find your footing, you can expand to more difficult subjects. There’s no shame in learning with your kids. In fact, sometimes that’s the best way to do it!
Since we’re not in a traditional classroom we don’t have to teach the same 6 or 7 courses every single day. You can do a whole semester consisting of only Math, Art, and Music if those are what you’re good at. (If you’re mentally correcting me for ending a sentence with a preposition right now, perhaps you should consider starting with English and Grammar.) 😉 Above all, give yourself permission to make mistakes and learn as you go. You literally get “do-overs” here.
Links and Resources
Disclaimer: We are not taking sides in the debate over secular vs. spiritual Homeschooling. How you educate your children is your business. The links we provide below will take you to outside websites that may lean one way or the other. - That’s the nature of Homeschooling. You’re going to see a lot of this sort of thing, and it is up to you to sort out what works for your situation and your family. - Our inclusion of any link in this article is not to be taken as an endorsement. We’re simply sharing information that you may find useful.
The HSLDA website is probably the most extensive collection of information available. You will find answers to most homeschool questions, as well as options for curriculum, legal issues, and a lot more.
Additional General Homeschool Resources:
Crossing Over to Homeschooling - time4learning - Teachers Pay Teachers - Education.com
Many people may not have heard of “MOOCs” (Massive Open Online Courses). If you plan to Road-Skool, you will undoubtedly find these invaluable. Click the image to check out the book.
While many “MOOCs” are geared toward higher education and specific skill-sets, you will also find many K-12 resources (such as Khan Academy), and almost all are Free! - Here’s a couple of links to research options.
Some of our favorite Curriculum Providers:
Khan Academy - Home School Buyers co-op - Coursera - Freckle - Ducksters - Reading.ecb - Starfall - Reading Bear.org - IX1.com - Mr Nussbaum - Spellingcity - All in one Homeschool - Sheppard Software - Wonderville
Learning Games (younger kids):
Switchzoo - Funbrain - Sciencekids - American History Games - ABCya - Nat Geo Kids
A Brief History of Homeschooling in Europe and The US: - We won’t go too in depth here but if you are interested in the topic, click the image to link to the Documentary “Wierdos”. Don’t let the title throw you, it presents some fascinating views and History of Homeschooling. It’s well worth the watch.
For most of human history Education was performed by parents or elders, typically consisting of learning the family trade and a few basic life-skills that one needed to survive. The idea of “apprenticeship” gained popularity as more and more specialized skills became commonplace, with young teens often living with and learning from a local artisan or craftsman and their family.
While Military or Religious Education date back to ancient Greece and Rome, any form of Formal Education or Higher Learning was historically reserved for the wealthy or ruling class. – It wasn’t until the early 1500s that Public Schools (open to everyone) began appearing in Europe. For the next 300 years the idea of Public Education steadily spread across what was then the Known World, including The Colonies, eventually expanding to rural areas (with the one-room schoolhouse). It wasn’t until about 1830, however, that a High School Level Education was commonplace for most developed nations.
In the US, the first state-wide Compulsory Attendance Law was passed in Massachusetts in 1852, requiring every town to create and operate an Elementary School. It specified that all children received a formal classroom education and established legal punishments for parents who refused to comply. The laws eventually included all children age 8-16, with Mississippi being the last state to adopt in 1918.
By1950 the idea of Homeschooling or “Home Education” was almost unheard of, but it slowly began to regain popularity. The modern homeschool movement took hold in the 1970s when advocates like John Holt and Raymond Moore called for parents to liberate their children from formal education. They were joined in the 80s by Focus on the Family founder, James Dobson, followed by many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians wishing to remove their children from secular schools. - The number of homeschooled students steadily grew to an estimated 850,000 in 1999, and nearly 2.6 million by March of 2020 (pre pandemic).
The History of Education is a fascinating topic. We could dedicate an entire article to it. (It might even be something you want to include in your Road-Skool Curriculum.) Here is a great book for those of you who want to dig deeper.
May the Knowledge of The Road be Yours!
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