Homeschooling at 60mph {Guest Post}
Introducing….
The Traveling Travaglinos
We are a full time traveling family of six. For the past 15 months we have toured 14 states from the West coast to the entire Eastern seaboard in our RV. While our kids learn a massive amount of information from our journeying, we still provide a formal homeschool (or roadschool as traveling families call it) education.
As you can imagine, when a family of 6 lives in 350 sq feet, there are a few logistical challenges that must be overcome. RV’ers have storage issues, weight issues, and significantly limited work spaces. We also have “getting ready” issues – but more about those later.
I wanted a roadschooling system that was easy to maintain and did not cut into our adventuring. As any homeschooling mom knows, we can sometimes spend way too much time preparing the lessons. I needed a “fill in the blank” solution so I Googled my fingers raw one night and found “Sue Patrick’s Workbox System”.
Eureka! Just what I was looking for. This is a system of 12 clear shoe boxes per student. You can put anything into the boxes (of course you can … it’s your homeschool). Workbook, chapter books, busy work, fun stuff, puzzles, etc so that some children are occupied while others are getting one-on-one time with mom. The system was brilliant and if you are struggling with “dependent on mom” homeschoolers, this is definitely something you want to look into.
There was just one catch. I have three school-aged children and ABSOLUTELY no room for 36 shoe boxes! If I was going to have 36 shoe boxes in my RV, you can bet, they would be filled with MY SHOES – masses of which I had to give up when we transition from a “sticks and bricks” (RV’ing lingo for a house) to an on-the-road lifestyle.
So I contacted Sue and we started brainstorming. I sent her all sorts of ideas from over the door shoe pocket organizers (too small) to snap together Rubbermaid drawers (too big).
Just Right! Fabric Holders from thecontainterstore.com
And then one day, I was drooling over perusing The Container Store catalog and there they were. Hanging canvas magazine holders; lightweight, compact, and all they required was a bit of wall space and a few Command hooks, which I had! They came in bright beautiful colors and had eight pockets each. Sure, it wasn’t Sue’s recommended 12 vessels, but I sent a picture of them to Sue and she confirmed that they would definitely work.
This is the perfect solution for us. Each Sunday night, I fill the pockets for the entire week. Each pocket is dedicated to a topic (math, writing, reading, a puzzle, a subject of the child’s choice, spelling, and social studies). The last pocket holds a clipboard so a child can work anywhere if the table is filled up with another child’s work.
The kids work down the subjects from pocket one to pocket seven. Sue says this linear system helps the kids develop good habits and teaches them to complete tasks properly, and she is definitely right. It also squelches the chorus of “how much more do we have to do today”, because now they can see for themselves what’s left. Whenever they get to the last pocket, their work is done for the day. Talk about motivating!
The subjects are staggered so some kids can work independently while I do one-on-one work with another child. For instance, when I’m teaching Dominic his math work, Blaise is practicing his penmanship and Tonia is working on alphabet flash cards. Then, Blaise and I work on reading, while Dominic does his puzzle and Tonia does lace up cards. Finally, Tonia and I work on her phonics worksheet while the boys do their other work. And so it goes, all the way down the pockets. While our living situation is a
bit unique, I’m sure this organization system would work for any homeschoolers who have space issues.
bit unique, I’m sure this organization system would work for any homeschoolers who have space issues.
If you have “getting ready to do your work” issues, we have a solution for that as well. Like our pocket setup, this system was inspired by our lack of space. We have a 2 ft narrow hallway that leads to the bunkroom in our camper. In order for two people to pass each other in this hallway, you must employ the belly-to-belly shuffle. Even though my kidlets are little, there’s no way they could all get themselves to their clothes and get dressed at the same time.
So we made them booklets. Each booklet contains the tasks they must complete prior to starting their homeschooling. These activities are the normal run down like eat breakfast, clean up your spot, brush your teeth, get dressed, I’m sure you know the drill. The beauty of our system is again in the staggering. Each booklet contains the same tasks, but they are all ordered individually, so while one child is getting dressed, the other is brushing her teeth and the third is putting his pajamas away. The booklets contain both their am and pm chores so the process is repeated in the evening. We love our system because there’s no more whining (from mostly me). I just tell the kids, “it’s time to do your booklets” and our day starts on autopilot.
Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’m hoping you find this video to be priceless. Recorded in our camper, this short film is an overview of both the pocket system and the booklets.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z34TTLPaGLY]
Making sure your kids get a good education is hard enough. Don’t get bogged down in your organization system. By using a system that works for your family, you’ll be able to get out and play a lot earlier!
Kimberly Travaglino is the Editor-in-Chief of Fulltime Families Magazine, a monthly multimedia e-mag for families who are interested in the full time RV lifestyle while they are still young enough to tear the country up!