Getting the Most Out of Your Roadschool Year

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The new school year is here and if you’re anything like me, you want to make the most of your roadschooling adventures this year. After several years of roadschooling, I’ve learned some cool tricks that have helped me get the most out of our schooling year after year. Here are some of my top tips. 

Review What Worked Last Year

The first thing I like to do is sit down and take a look at what worked well for us last year as well as what didn’t. Obviously, we get rid of the things that just weren’t working out and sometimes we might replace them with something else. The things that did work? We keep those and sometimes I’ll even expand upon them or carry them over into other parts of our roadschooling. 

In the case of older kids, I like to sit down with them and talk about what worked well for them, so we can choose something similar for the new school year. Giving them a say in how they do school can help them feel more motivated to get things done. 

Set Goals for the Year

I also like to take some time to set goals for the new year. This might include finishing certain curriculum, but it could also include certain places you’d like to visit, learning about a particular subject, or even gaining new skills. 

Write your goals down and display them somewhere to help keep everyone on track as the school year progresses. If you meet your goal early on in the year or find that your goals are no longer inspiring, you can update the list from time to time. This helps keep things fresh and encourages motivation. 

Check Your State’s Homeschool Requirements

Of course, you’ll also want to make sure you’re doing things correctly in terms of your state’s homeschool laws. If it’s your first year roadschooling, be sure to take a look at the laws for your state, so you have a clear understanding of what is expected from you as a homeschool parent. If you’ve homeschooled in years past, you still might want to take a look at the homeschool laws in your state just to be sure nothing has changed. 

Check whether you need to file a notice of intent, maintain attendance records, teach specific subjects, complete evaluations, or meet other requirements.

Choose Curriculum That Travels Well

When deciding what curriculum to use, be sure to consider the fact that you are going to be on the move a lot of the time. This means a curriculum that can easily live in your small space and move from one spot to another is key. 

For many road school families, this means turning to online options. That said, if you spend a lot of time in areas without good internet connectivity, this may not be the best option for you. In that case, a traditional curriculum might be preferable, but you’ll still want to look for something that travels well. Another option is to download the resources you need and use them offline when internet connection is not available. 

Build a Flexible Routine

One of the things we struggle with most as a roadschooling family? Balancing structure and flexibility. Really, flexibility is key when you’re traveling full time, but this can make staying on top of schoolwork tricky. 

One thing that helps us is to avoid planning every minute of every day while still establishing and maintaining a predictable daily rhythm. 

As an example, your family might always do schoolwork right after breakfast and reserve the latter half of the day for field trips, time with friends, or traveling. 

Another option is to create different schedules for different types of days.

A campground day might include several hours of schoolwork. A travel day might include only reading and an educational podcast. A museum day could count as history or science. A day spent exploring a national park could become an entire day’s worth of learning.

Choose a system you can stay on top of and stick to it. 

Create a School Storage System

We all know good and well just how little living space an RV provides. This is why it is so, so important to keep your roadschool curriculum and supplies well organized. Give school supplies designated homes that are easy to access. I like to use bins and portable carts to keep everything neat and together. 

You might also consider creating individual school boxes for each child. Each box might contain pencils, erasers, scissors, colored pencils, notebooks, and other frequently used supplies.

When it comes to completed work and records, I recommend storing everything digitally in order to reduce the amount of space consumed and keep everything neatly organized and easy to find again if needed. 

Stock Up on the Basics

Before your travels get busy, take inventory of the school supplies you have on hand. Make sure you have plenty of pencils, pens, paper, notebooks, printer paper, folders, glue, scissors, art supplies, and anything else your curriculum requires. If you use a printer, keep extra ink or toner on hand.\

You may not have access to a convenient office-supply store when you’re staying in a remote campground. Even if you can find one, buying supplies one package at a time can become expensive and inconvenient. 

Plan for Travel Days

Road school families have an advantage that traditional classrooms don’t: the world itself can become your classroom.

Travel days can provide plenty of educational opportunities, but they can also be exhausting.

I’d never expect my kids to complete a full day of traditional schoolwork on a travel day. Instead, I like to wrap low-effort educational activities into our travel days, so I know some learning is happening without any of the stress of doing actual workbooks or reading from textbooks. 

Audiobooks are excellent for long drives. Educational podcasts can turn a few hours on the highway into learning time. Older children can read, write in journals, practice vocabulary, or research the destination.

I also like to give my kids travel-related assignments. I’ll have them calculate how many miles remain, ask them to research the history of a town we’re passing through, or identify geographical features along the route.

These activities may not look like school, but they’re still learning.

Turn Your Destination Into the Curriculum

In my opinion, the very best thing about roadschooling is the ability to tie our travels into our kids’ education. I love to create unit studies around the places we are seeing or plan our travels around what we’re studying. 

• Studying American history? Visit historic sites.
• Learning about government? Visit a state capitol.
• Studying geology? Explore a national park.
• Learning about marine life? Visit an aquarium or coastal habitat.
• Studying art? Spend an afternoon in a museum.
• Interested in space? Look for a planetarium or astronomy program.

Before arriving at a new destination, research educational opportunities nearby. Visitor centers, museums, historic sites, libraries, nature centers, and ranger programs can all become part of your curriculum. If you want to expand upon what you learn, watch a documentary or read a book on the subject and discuss your thoughts over dinner.

Keep a Road School Journal

I love journaling. I think it’s a wonderful way to process thoughts, document things that happen in your life, and practice writing skills. A travel journal is absolutely ideal for roadschoolers. 

Younger children might draw pictures and write a few sentences about their day. Older children can keep detailed travel journals, write essays, document interesting facts, or reflect on what they’ve learned.

I like to encourage my kids to record places they’ve visited, interesting people they’ve met, animals they’ve seen, books they’ve read, and questions they have about the world. In the end, we have some really cool keepsakes, a nice record of things we’ve seen and done, and my kids get in some excellent creative writing practice. 

Prepare for Different Learning Environments

One thing you should keep in mind as you plan your roadschool year? It’s highly likely your kids will need to learn in a variety of environments. One week, you’re parked beside a quiet lake. Next, you’re in a busy campground. Then you’re spending several nights at a friend’s house or traveling between destinations.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to create a portable school setup that can adapt to different environments.

• A lap desk can be helpful when there isn’t a traditional table. 
• Noise-canceling headphones may help children concentrate in busy environments. 
• Clipboards can make outdoor assignments easier.

Consider keeping a small “school on the go” bag stocked with essentials. That way, you don’t have to unpack your entire school system every time you want to complete a lesson.

Make Room for Socialization

Many people think that roadschoolers don’t have any friends. This absolutely isn’t true. Roadschooling can provide incredible social opportunities, but they may look different from those available in a traditional school.

Your children may not see the same group of classmates every day, but they can meet people of all ages from all kinds of backgrounds. Some families look for homeschool groups to join as they travel. That said, we’ve always done just fine finding friends in the campgrounds we stay in or at RV rallies and events. When our kids make a good connection, we get contact information and make a point of staying in touch. Often, we will even plan meetups or caravans together to help those relationships grow stronger. 

We have found that the friendships we’ve made on the road are some of the best we’ve ever had in our lives and I wouldn’t give them up for the world. 

Make This School Year Your Own

The truth of the matter is that there is no single right way to road school.

Some families follow a traditional school calendar. Others school year-round. Some use structured curriculum every morning, while others rely heavily on interest-led learning and real-world experiences. Some families travel constantly. Others stay in one location for weeks or months.

Your roadschool experience can look however you need it to look and it may change many times over the course of the year. That’s okay. The goal is to figure out what works for your family in a given moment and roll with it. As long as your kids are growing and learning (and they almost definitely are), the rest will fall into place. 

These are my top tips for making the most out of your roadschool year. Why not dive in now? I’m betting you have an amazing year full of incredible learning adventures. I know that’s what I plan to do!

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