Homeschooling is already difficult but trying to homeschool while traveling presents its own unique challenges. We all end up traveling once in a while but what do you do with your homeschooling? With traditional schooling you would most likely wait until there's time off at school before traveling. However with homeschooling our options for traveling aren't limited by a traditional school schedule. Whether your traveling for just a few weeks or you have a nomadic lifestyle, homeschooling can still work for you. In this article I'll present some tips that have worked well for my family.
If you're only traveling for a week or two you may want to consider just taking a break from homeschool. If that doesn't work for your schedule, here's what's worked for me. First, I make sure I pack all the books, pencils, papers, tablets, and whatever else we'll need. It sounds obvious but with all the normal travel related packing going on its easy to overlook packing your books. Next, wherever we are staying I take over a small area for school. Usually its a table or a desk or even just a coffee table. It's usually much more difficult to focus when you're not in your normal homeschool environment so lower your expectations a little and be flexible. I don't even pretend to think we're going to get a full day worth of learning in while we're traveling. Typically, I try to just do a few hours in the morning and rarely a little time in the evening. Mix things up a little. If you're traveling to a new place, your trip itself could be turned into a lesson. You could learn about the new country or state you're visiting. You could even just explore the area some and turn it into a field trip of sorts. The hardest part about homeschooling when traveling for a short time is maintaining some kind of schedule. Try to get your learning in early and enjoy your trip but remember to be flexible with your schedule and creative with your lessons.
Traveling for longer periods requires a commitment to stay focused. The same general things I mentioned above still apply but for longer term traveling you really need to stick to a schedule. You don't want your travels to interfere with your child's learning objectives. If you're traveling to new locations regularly, figure out a routine where you can incorporate studying the new area. Develop a daily rhythm and try to stick with it. Adapt the schedule when you must but try to maintain your learning schedule as a priority that needs to be worked around. You don't want to make homeschool a secondary consideration in your daily routine. It needs to be a top priority if you are going to succeed at homeschooling while traveling long term. Make sure you have all the materials you need and have a way to get new resources while you're traveling. You don't want to run out of things to teach when you're going to be in a remote location for a month or two. Also, if you're traveling to new locations regularly, you really ought to incorporate that into your learning materials. You can read about Paris in books but to see and experience Paris first hand is on a whole different level of education. Don't look at your travels as an interference to your child's education but rather as an advantage. Finally, don't focus on the travel aspects of learning to the detriment of other subjects. Its just as important to study algebra as it is to learn the history of the Caribbean island you're visiting. Use your travels to your advantage but don't neglect other subjects.
In conclusion, trying to homeschool while traveling is difficult but not impossible. The key take-away is to be flexible, use your traveling as an advantage, stay focused on your schedule, and make sure you are prepared with enough resources and materials. Traveling while homeschooling can work well but you have to commit to making it work.