So, do you homeschool?

Do we home school?  Sure we do, but we like to call it car school.  The state of Missouri requires very little from home schooling families, which is nice because it gives us a lot of flexibility to teach our kids on tour.  

Maddie is in First grade this year and Kevin is in 3rd. 

We don't really take a summer break so that through out the year if we have days that school seems impossible on the road we don't worry about it.

Often school during the summer involves science experiments, art, building projects and more since the kids and I find ourselves at grandpa's house for a couple of weeks.

Making geodes for our Rocks and Minerals Unit

Everyday we work on reading, writing and math. This involves lessons, independent work, discussions, revisions and celebrations when stories, books and units are finished. We add other subjects and topics depending on the kids interests. We try to take advantage of down time no matter where we are to get some school done.  

We have a lot of school time in the car.

We had school at a botanical garden to celebrate the first day of Autumn.

Libraries are the best.  Free, quiet and resources at your fingertips.

We try to take advantage of the traveling nature of our life. We visit lots of parks and gardens.

We also visit lots of National Parks, natural and historical.  The kids have acquired quite a few badges and recited quite a few Jr Ranger pledges.

Most recently we went to the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

Zoos and aquariums are also on our list of things to do. In May, we went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL. 

Museums are very educational and many of them are free.  This is the first programmable computer in the US, located in Boston, MA.

Art museums are also an occasional field trip.

Sometimes we explore towns like Savannah Georgia, 

or we explore the natural environments we find ourselves in like tide pools on the Oregon coast.

Rest stops can be very educational too.

I bet car schooling looks amazing to you. The truth is teaching our children is hard.  It is hard to be a teacher and a parent at the same time.  It is hard when my kids act like regular kids and aren't focused on their math or rush through their work so they can play or get mad at themselves or mad at me when work becomes difficult.  But, I am thankful that our schooling is a group effort that both Kevin and I are invested in.  I am thankful for second chances to teach and encourage my kids well. Our goals for this time of schooling might be grand and idealistic: a general knowledge of the nature and history of the country, and a love of nature, exploring, and learning. Whether or not this happens, I am thankful for the moments of wonder and discovery I get to experience with Kevin and Maddie.

Maddie discovering that Lake Superior is COLD!