Resources for Roadschooling

By Erica Andreuccetti

WHEN WE DECIDED to move our family of five into an RV in May 2021, I only had two months to prepare for our new roadschooling journey. I had no idea what that would look like, but based on previous experience with a purchased complete curriculum, I knew I wanted a different approach—one I could tailor to my children’s individual interests and skill level—so I got to work and created my own!

There are a variety of methods to homeschooling, but our approach combines benefits from a few, including the core subjects of the school-at-home method; the short periods of study paired with nature walks and nature journals of the Charlotte Mason method; and the interest-based, individualized learning plans of the Montessori method. We’ve also tried our hand at “unschooling,” but we found our family thrives on structure, which is why we keep the school-at-home element.

During a typical week, we practice math and language arts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and focus on history and science on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We try to base our studies on our location. For example, we learned about lakes, forests, and woodland habitats while we traveled through the Midwest, and learned about mountain formations and deserts while we traveled through California, Arizona, and New Mexico. We use “The Story of the World” books with the accompanying workbooks when we’re not visiting any locations or landmarks specifically geared toward history. For math and language arts, we use worksheets, games, and our journals. We also add in “life skills” with these subjects, like writing letters, addressing envelopes, and halving and doubling measurements to modify recipes.

Our Favorite Resources:

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS

Teachers Pay Teachers is a website where teachers can sell the resources they’ve made for their classrooms, such as worksheets, project templates, and even full lesson plans. You can search based on subject, grade level, price, and keywords. Many of their resources are free, and those that aren’t are generally very reasonably priced.

YOUTUBE AND NETFLIX

YouTube and Netflix are also great resources that allow us to support ever-changing interests. Whenever our kids come up with a question about a topic we’re not prepared for, we head to YouTube and search whatever that topic is, with “for kids” at the end to make sure it’s geared toward children. Netflix also sparks new interests and provides great insight for children, with shows like Ask the StoryBots and Justin Time.

EBOOKS

For the days and locations where we don’t have a great Wi-Fi signal, we have a few downloaded ebooks that inspire interest in learning about various topics. Some of our favorites are “The Usborne Book of Knowledge,” “Britannica All New Kids Encyclopedia,” and “National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why.”

PUZZLES & GAMES

When it comes to toys, some of our favorites are Magna-Tiles, puzzles, and MEGA Bloks. Magna-Tiles and MEGA Bloks are not only great STEM resources, but are also great for color and shape recognition as well as sorting. Additionally, if you get a pack of wet-erase markers, you can write on the blocks and use them for sight word practice, spelling, and all sorts of other things!

MELISSA & DOUG

For older school-aged kids, Melissa & Doug makes great learning models. One of our favorites is a basic human body that is magnetic and comes with head, upper body, lower body, and feet magnets that help kids visualize the skeleton, muscles, internal organs, and circulatory system. There are plenty of other models and puzzles we love for learning as well—a simple puzzle of the solar system can be a great introduction to a discussion on the planets and can inspire investigative questions. Some other resources we love for older kids are colored counting cubes, which are perfect for demonstrating division and multiplication problems, and Logic Roots games—board games that allow kids to learn and practice math skills through play.

We’ve found there are endless resources to make roadschooling more efficient and less intimidating. The best tip I can give is to be open-minded and patient. Roadschooling is a journey, both literally and figuratively. It can be

difficult and stressful at times to make sure your kids are learning “enough” and aren’t “behind the curve,” but the beautiful side to roadschooling is that you, the parent, are the one who determines what is enough and where the curve lies. You determine the values that are stressed during history lessons and the life skills your children will master. Give yourself and your child grace—you’re both doing great!

Erica Andreuccetti @RaisingontheRoad