Our Moving House Academy – This Is How We Roll

“We should sell our house, and buy an RV,” we said, “and live in it, and travel, and home school on the road!!”

Wait! Home school? I don’t know how to do that! You’re talking about someone who has always been involved in my children’s education, but…. I’ve even been President of the PTO at their school, room mom, book fair worker, Santa Shop coordinator, etc. But, me? Are you sure? I don’t have an education degree. I’m a licensed cosmetologist and I’ve held administrative jobs, but quite honestly, I’ve never really been an advocate for home school. I’ve never really given much thought to it. Maybe because I am a product of public schools? I knew there were people out there who did it, but never thought I’d be one of them. But, we love to learn, and we always tie in education any time we travel, so why not? We can figure this out! Can I just say…I wish we had done this a long time ago?? I’m not here to bash public schools. My children have been blessed with many awesome teachers from Pre-K onwards (I was too! Many of these incredible teachers are probably reading this blog, and I thank you for your dedication to giving my children and me a quality education!) I also know that not everyone is called to home school. Heck, I didn’t even know I was until a few months ago! But, home school is awesome! We can do it anywhere!

I’ve been asked on many occasions what curriculum we use. Let me tell you, when word gets out that you are going to home school, everyone has an opinion…best curriculum, what your daily schedule looks like, groups/clubs to be involved in, etc. It’s overwhelming to say the least. I had two requirements when I was looking for a curriculum for my kids. It had to be mostly online due to limited space for textbooks and workbooks, and it had to be cost-effective. We bought each of the kids an iPad with a Logitech keyboard and went from there. I will blog about my favorite sites and apps for home school and extra practice for your public school kids soon!

The most important thing I’ve realized through all of this is that I know my kids better than anyone. That holds true whether you home school, are thinking about homeschooling, or if your kids attend a public school. You know how your child learns best. My 11-year-old daughter is super intelligent, but seemed to get lost in the crowd and fall behind a little in public school. She’s quiet and a little shy, and moves at a slower pace than many of her peers. She’s terrified of tests. She doesn’t work well in groups, but she is awesome one-on-one. My 7-year-old son is the life of the party and thinks he’s closer to 25 years old. He is super smart, a deep thinker, and is way ahead of his 1^st grade academic level. If he was in your average public school, he would be bored to tears. He hates what he refers to as “baby work” and likes a little bit of a challenge. Well, the answer to how the kids are doing is…they are doing great! They have far exceeded my expectations and have excelled in every area. I tell them almost daily, “If you can learn how to learn, you can learn ANYTHING!” I truly believe that. We are having so much fun! We do our core subjects online through various websites and apps, and we are also learning very organically as we discover things around us! That is the part I wish I could share with everyone. We are learning so much…whether about the porcupine that likes to climb the tree on the campsite across from us, or mountains formed many years ago by volcanic activity, or how erosion happens and the effects of it, how and why monarch butterflies migrate, and that javelinas are not pigs! We’ve seen it all first hand and are learning as we go!