One of the many benefits to homeschooling is flexibility. Even so, sometimes life can be tricky, and you may be on the ‘road’ more than you intended. Wether you are on the road for a move, a vacation, or just having trouble staying home long enough to ‘get school done’ , here are some tips for taking learning with you where ever you may go.
Travel Binders/Journals
Buy disposable cameras (or have them use digital if available). Have the kids take pictures of the different places you go, things you do or see. Have them write about them in a travel journal, they can pin the pictures to the pages once printed.
Make up activity pages based on the locations you will be traveling. Visit websites of tourist attractions, many will have activity links (especially educational type places). If you are visiting different states, you could print out information pages on the states you are visiting. Some places you can find FREE state activities are:
50States.com
123 Homeschool 4 Me Printable Packs
Homeschool Creations
About.com Homeschooling State Study
Crayola Color Pages – Click Places (States, Landmarks, etc..)
Portable Devices
Portable devices are great for educational games, videos, books all in an easy to carry compact device! These can be pricey, but if you plan to travel often, they are a worthwhile investment! You don’t want them glued to them the entire time though, so make sure you set time limits! Devices such as Kindle have parental settings that allow time limits to be programed in them! (I LOVE this feature!).
Road Games
Remember the good ‘ol days when the only in car entertainment was road games? Punch buggy was quickly banned on our road trips, lol, but The License Plate Game an d I Spy were always favorites!
Printable BINGO games and more
For Younger Kids
Make up some busy bags. There are lots of great ideas on the web for hands on, simple, non-messy fun on the go! Coloring pages about states and locations are also available for the younger ones who like to color (my kids do not!)
Plan to stop at interesting and educational sites
Road Tripper is a great app that points out all the places they are to stop along a route. Plug in your start and end points and plan to make a few stops along the way, Road Tripper will show you were!
Workbooks/Worksheets
I really try not to use too many workbooks, but some subjects they are quite handy when you are on the go. Spelling, Math, Phonics, Writing, something to keep those brain gears turning. I know all kids are different, but my son NEEDS to do math daily or what we have already done seems to leak out! I found some fun star wars math sheets for our last big road trip, something fun, but to keep his math skills up during the ‘break’.
I just heard that Math U See has an app for their blocks (wish this had come out a few months earlier)! So if you are a Math U See user, check out their iOS or Chrome app for Math ON THE GO!
Books on Tape (or CD or MPS or iTunes)
Get your favorite books on CD from the library, or download them on audible or whichever program you use, or check at a new highly recommended book.
Check out these Summer Reading List suggestions or just ask around!
Christianbook.com
Sonlight.com
Check out my ROAD TRIP PINTEREST board for lots of great ideas to make travel and schooling on the go easy and fun!
Jennifer A. currently lives in Maryland with her husband and 4 children (3 boys and a new baby girl). She has a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Her oldest son is 7yo, and they have always homeschooled. She blogs about her homeschooling ideas and activities at Chestnut Grove Academy
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