Mar/100
Educate Your Children While Traveling: Roadschooling
More and more people around the world are combining traveling and homeschooling - and calling it roadschooling. It took many years before the idea of homeschooling had become a viable option to public schools, but now that it has reached the point where people are comfortable with it they are looking for new and creative approaches to homeschooling. Many families have opted for a life on the road and are roadschooling their children.
Roadschooling is typically managed by a parent while traveling full time. It provides lots of opportunities for hands-on, personal experience in learning environments. Roadschooling parents must deal with the same regulations homeschooling parents do, so be sure to check the laws in your home state. In some states, like Idaho, there are no regulations whatsoever. In others you'll have to provide extensive documentation.
Roadschoolers have figured out that education doesn't always have to happen in a classroom surrounded by four walls. It doesn't have to happen from 8:00 - 3:00 either. Education can be a lifestyle, with children learning from activities as far reaching as a visit to the Panama Canal, figuring out how much a candy bar costs in Honduras, or envisioning the hectic scene in an ages-old battlefield in Pennsylvania.
Each family will take their own unique approach to roadschooling, depending on the parents, children, and circumstances. For some families, a more rigid, structured approach works best. These parents plan out units well in advance, know which historical sites they'll visit, which books they'll read, and what writing skills they'll work on. Other families find a more relaxed attitude works better for them. They provide lots of unique experiences for their children and expect the kids to learn what they need to know.
Regardless of the approach you take for the education of your children, roadschooling is the best education your children will ever have!
Learn more about traveling with children. Stop by Nancy Sathre-Vogel's site where you can find out all about extended travel and how it can work for your family too.