Could YOU homeschool K-8 out of one carry-on suitcase?

[cloudswinger]

I have been thinking about this over the past few day and with just a carryon at first I wss thinking "No Way", a large suitcase yes. I guess if I had to I would do mostly what Hunter would. The original set of the Core Knowledge series, a Bible and some Cuisenauire rods. Chalk board or marker board, maybe All Through the Ages and the Complete Writer Instruction book. I would have my laptop with an Encyclopedia, Dictionary and Thesaurus software installed. If I still have room I would add in a History and Science Encyclopedia.

 

 

Hey, if you have all of this, can you weigh it? There's usually a 50 lb weight limit for bags, I'm just wondering how much those books would weigh. And honestly, most international flights still have an free allowance for checked bags, so things can be checked.

 

Also, for those thinking of laminating, I sometimes just use page protectors, and just write on the plastic. works fine, no effort required. Although, there may not be much replacement for dry erase markers in some places.

[cloudswinger]

If you had no electricity, I have the perfect compact book that I could teach through high school with if I had to. I would not use it otherwise, but I keep it around just in case! (Plus it is interesting historically.) It and a Bible and a few other reference works would be all I needed if I had to do that.

 

The book is called "High School Subjects Self Taught," edited by Lewis Copeland. While it is copyright 1967, it is compact and efficient. It is 1441 pages, about the size of my complete works of Shakespeare (which might or might not make the cut.) It includes history, government, economics, English, public speaking, Arts, general science, Biology, Psysiology, Psychology, Sociology, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology, general mathematics, Algebra, Plane Geometry, Solid Geometry, Trigonometry, French, Spanish, and Latin. (Arts includes painting, architecture, sculpture, and music.)

 

To cover the elementary level, I would have Webster's Speller and either a compact math review book or a few years of Singapore Home Instructor Guides. (3rd and 6th?) I would fill up the main portion of the suitcase with good reference works and a few books that are worth re-reading. I would most likely select an anthology that includes Shakespeare instead of my complete works of Shakespeare. I would line everything up and change my mind several times with a few things, I'm sure. I would teach elementary science from high school/college level reference or textbooks, looking for the most efficient use of space.

 

I also would need a Calculus book, we have several, I would select the most compact.

 

 

There's a later (1989) edition of the book available, although I see 4 volumes. For me, that would be a candidate for pdf conversion as a backup. I don't see why you'd want elementary books, they're just sub-sets of the high school stuff.

[Hunter]

If you had no electricity, I have the perfect compact book that I could teach through high school with if I had to. I would not use it otherwise, but I keep it around just in case! (Plus it is interesting historically.) It and a Bible and a few other reference works would be all I needed if I had to do that. The book is called "High School Subjects Self Taught," edited by Lewis Copeland. While it is copyright 1967, it is compact and efficient. It is 1441 pages, about the size of my complete works of Shakespeare (which might or might not make the cut.) It includes history, government, economics, English, public speaking, Arts, general science, Biology, Psysiology, Psychology, Sociology, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology, general mathematics, Algebra, Plane Geometry, Solid Geometry, Trigonometry, French, Spanish, and Latin. (Arts includes painting, architecture, sculpture, and music.)

 

Thank You! I just got a copy for $8.88 in very good condition from a reputable seller. I can't wait to see it. I'm SO curious.

 

I don't see why you'd want elementary books, they're just sub-sets of the high school stuff.

 

I abhor having to translate advanced texts for beginners when I'm tired and sick. It's not as easy to do as you would think, when you HAVE to do it, and am impaired in any way. When sifting and translating and prioritizing, it takes using your whole brain at once, and it really gives it a workout. The tiniest amount of seizing makes me unable to do this for hours. Even when I am merely tired and/or distracted it's like running a marathon.

 

As someone posted earlier, the reality of just keeping everyone fed while on the move or in primitive housing, is a huge expenditure of effort.

 

Every day that goes by, I get more and more attached to my grades 1-6 NtK books. Thankfully--at least at this point--I could abandon a set and easily replace it with a new one after settling in somewhere. I'd never replace the NtK books with more advanced texts.

[Hunter]

Shakespeare is an interesting choice. I have never been a Shakespeare fan, but one of my sons was. My Waldorf studies have given me a greater appreciation for it, so I think there is hope of a possible conversion, but I'm not there yet. I'll have to look at more resources to assist me in developing more of a taste for it.

 

Waldorf uses a pretty concise and varied choice of literature and I want to take a look at their scope and sequence again. I was looking at the core Principle Approach literature suggestions yesterday. I'm fascinated by concise literature lists.

[mumto2]

For us Shakespeare was fairly easy. Before the move we had read several Shakespeare Story books--Nesbitt and Lambs are free on kindles now. Back then I had hard copies! I was having a really hard time finding "literature" read alouds lots of current fiction like Harry Potter but few classics to be found on the library shelves. While looking at the adult classic section my 7 year old son announced he wanted real Shakespeare -- they each picked one and home we went. Did they understand every word and completely rip each sentence apart? No, but they did learn a bit more and enjoyed themselves. Both kids still like Shakespeare and will happily read them again. I wouldn't pack them in my carry on for elementary but I would be on the look out for copies after I arrived. For higher grades they would go in my maybe pile. Unless you know you will use something frequently do not carry them.

 

 

 

 

[lots-o-rice]

No. Couldn't. I can and do homeschool out of a large suitcase sized foot locker. My sig says what we brought.

I could do school with less actual book programs, but if you have to live overseas, you probably have other inconveniences that take up lots of time. I needed curriculum that was more already planned out. If it takes 3 hours to make a meal from scratch, I can't take much time to do planning for school. A program that isn't straight-forward and easy to set up and do, forget it. I would and did pay extra baggage costs to get easy.

If you add in no electricity, then that 3 hour meal is probably just part of the time eating stuff going on. Easier costs more and is heavy, but TOTALLY worth it. Sanity is valuable :)

[Greenmama2]

So interested in this topic! We find out in two days if we're relocating to Nepal in January. Eek, I've never considered homeschooling overseas before so this is timely.

[Hunter]

When my oldest son was a teen, he worked with seasonal workers that flew in from Nepal and Thailand. They worked from Spring through Christmas in a seafood restaurant on the waterfront. They asked him where the cheapest place to buy goat meat was, and he said, "Dude, we don't eat goat here!" They were shocked to find out how much cheaper beef was than goat meat when they finally found some. I hope you like goat meat, because I think it was the men from Nepal that asked. :lol:

 

The men from Thailand rode elephants home on the last leg of their trip. When my son picked a name out of a hat to buy a gift at the annual Christmas party, he had to pick something that could be carried on an elephant. :lol: He really stressed over choosing that gift!

[Greenmama2]

I love goat lol. I first had it in a Nepali restaurant years ago & have tried a few other versions including cooking goat shanks myself. One more day till we find out. I'm finding I'm surprisingly attached to curriculum I *know* we won't use but I just like having around. This could be hard...

[SorrelZG]

I'm still here chewing on all this and pondering my own senario.

 

We will have easy access to basic supplies but not a library. Electricity and internet will be available most of the time. We will have a lot of devices which we will be using heavily but not fully relying on. My daily domestic tasks will require much more of me than they do now. We will be learning an entirely new culture and language which will consume most of our time next year, if not the next couple of years. We only need to plan for a year or so in advance and will have more than a carry-on.

 

I thought about converting entirely to workbooks for the sake of zero-prep but the restriction on finances inclined me to want to invest in non-consumables, keeping consumable expenses to a minimum. I'm considering some workbooks in PDF form but I've never been great at getting printing done, have no idea how much it will cost, and don't want to rely too much on using the iPad for filling in worksheets because it's only partly convenient and still a decent part pain-in-the-neck.

 

At the moment I'm taking time to step back and reevaluate my focus, priorities and, well, my overall philosophy.

 

Meanwhile, I've been hunting local nature guides on Amazon and they've been like $20-$30+ USED -- PER class of living thing! Gah! I'm having DH look for and price them locally when he visits in January.

 

Greenmama, for whatever reason, I'm excited to find out if you're moving too. :laugh: That is such short notice! I thought I was preparing on short notice but if the news is that you're moving - you win!

[SorrelZG]

dp

[cloudswinger]

 

At the moment I'm taking time to step back and reevaluate my focus, priorities and, well, my overall philosophy.

 

Meanwhile, I've been hunting local nature guides on Amazon and they've been like $20-$30+ USED -- PER class of living thing! Gah! I'm having DH look for and price them locally when he visits in January.

 

Greenmama, for whatever reason, I'm excited to find out if you're moving too. :laugh: That is such short notice! I thought I was preparing on short notice but if the news is that you're moving - you win!

 

Sounds so exciting! I found nature guides to be cheaper in the locale you are in than in the US. I'm going to assume you're going to Cambodia since you're learning Khmer, and you might be able to find some in Singapore, Hong Kong or Japan for the SE Asia reqion. Singapore/Hong Kong are also English speaking, so if you wanted an English language book, that might be the better choice.

 

If the Cambodian educational system is like the Vietnamese one, the school books are sold in bookstores. You could get math workbooks for ridiculously cheap. Like the workbooks I bought were less than 10 cents each.

[SorrelZG]

Sounds so exciting! I found nature guides to be cheaper in the locale you are in than in the US. I'm going to assume you're going to Cambodia since you're learning Khmer, and you might be able to find some in Singapore, Hong Kong or Japan for the SE Asia reqion. Singapore/Hong Kong are also English speaking, so if you wanted an English language book, that might be the better choice.

 

If the Cambodian educational system is like the Vietnamese one, the school books are sold in bookstores. You could get math workbooks for ridiculously cheap. Like the workbooks I bought were less than 10 cents each.

 

Thank-you for the tips! They are much appreciated. I don't expect to be anywhere else in SE Asia but will have contact with others who are visiting or visiting from so I will keep that in mind. And I will check out the school books if they are in stores but I have heard nothing good about the Cambodian school system. I don't know, though, if that's because of the curriculum or if it has more to do with teachers not showing up and then charging for tutoring what the students have missed and need to pass their tests. :thumbdown:

[Amy Jo]

Sooo... I don't have a smartphone, kindle, laptop or any other gadgets :ph34r: . I didn't realize I was quite that alone. Since my desktop computer and printer wouldn't fit in my suitcase, I would just have to load up workbooks, walkman, and a bunch of audio CD's (SOTW, Wee Sing, Classical Kids) and a science encyclopedia or two... in addition to the essentials like paper & pencils, of course. I would probably steal the whiteboard idea so as to use up less scratch paper. I would also bring a Bible, catechism, & minimum art supplies if they would fit. My kids LOVE art. But I think I could only do 1 year at a time.

 

I don't think I could fit enough material for K-8 in one suitcase in my case. A laptop with internet access would change everything.

 

But if you had to do this, you would most likely sell a lot of stuff you couldn't bring, and buy a laptop. Or you can just list what non-electronic items you would bring. I'm enjoying reading the lists.

[cloudswinger]

I found a discussion on field guides here: http://www.lonelypla...hreadID=1907782 They also host expat discussion too.

 

I've found a mammal guide for SE asia that was about $15 at amazon, but realistically, you won't see many mammals there, there's just too much pressure on the populations. A bird book would be most useful. Trees/plants would be next. Maybe fish or reptiles if you can find one.

 

Also, I was looking to see what kind of stuff would be available in Vietnam, and there is this: http://www.vinabook.com/tu-sach-the-gioi-dong-vat-cac-loai-chim-m11i48129.html

You can have Chrome translate to english, and it's not completely accurate, but essentially it's part of a 12 book set of animal life books. Basically each book costs about a dollar. The books aren't in english, so I wouldn't buy it if I were you, but it's just to see what kind of stuff is available to kids in other countries.

[SorrelZG]

cloudswinger, thank-you for the links! Do you happen to know how the star gazing is in that part of the world? I don't know why it didn't occur to me to look up at night while I was there. I can't recall if I didn't think of it, if it was overcast, or if there just weren't enough stars visible to catch my attention.

 

 

 

Greenmama, what's your news?

[cloudswinger]

I think the star gazing is probably like anywhere else, great in rural areas, bad in urban areas.

[Hunter]

We cannot see the stars in the city, but moon and sun watching is quite complicated here, and therefore the students learn far more. We often need a map and compass and a chart just to catch a glimpse of the moon.

 

The sun and moon do not rise in the same place, exactly at East, everyday. The sun and moon rise and set in different places as well as times as they follow their cycles. Believe me, you can stay busy with the sun and moon for a LONG time.

 

In the book Science Matters, few Harvard graduates understood the basics of the cycles of the sun, moon and earth. We are always in such a rush to get to the more abstract and the smaller and farther, that we often skip the most important stuff.

[SorrelZG]

We cannot see the stars in the city, but moon and sun watching is quite complicated here, and therefore the students learn far more. We often need a map and compass and a chart just to catch a glimpse of the moon.

 

The sun and moon do not rise in the same place, exactly at East, everyday. The sun and moon rise and set in different places as well as times as they follow their cycles. Believe me, you can stay busy with the sun and moon for a LONG time.

 

In the book Science Matters, few Harvard graduates understood the basics of the cycles of the sun, moon and earth. We are always in such a rush to get to the more abstract and the smaller and farther, that we often skip the most important stuff.

 

 

 

No rush here. I just have so many memories of staring up at the stars at night while reflecting on life, especially those key times of change. I've lived under trees for years now and I miss my old friends. Although it's never been quite the same since moving hemispheres there is still Jupiter and the general enlarging of perspective. :)

 

For some reason I had it in my mind that stars couldn't be seen as well from near the equator. I don't know where that came from, though. I do know that here the star gazing is better in the winter than in the summer so perhaps it grew out of that. I don't know.

[Hunter]

I haven't been able to see stars well since I left the island. I miss the warm water, pretty sand and colors more than the stars, though! It's so cold, muddy and grey here. Sitting on a beach here reminds me of scenes from the Planet of the Apes. How can this be the same water?

 

My High School Subjects Self-Taught arrived today. I really like this book to followup grade 6 NtK, for the middle school and early high school years. There is SO much packed into that book! I have the 1967 revised and enlarged one-volume 3rd edition. There IS an answer key at the back. I was confused when quickly looking at a reference copy at a local library, and thought the answer key was more questions.

 

Thanks Elizabeth!!!! :hurray: :party:

[cloudswinger]

For some reason I had it in my mind that stars couldn't be seen as well from near the equator. I don't know where that came from, though. I do know that here the star gazing is better in the winter than in the summer so perhaps it grew out of that. I don't know.

 

It's better here in the winter too, the cooler air has less humidity and is clearer. The stars twinkle less though. And I think when some people lay outside when it's muggy and hot, they can't see through the discomfort and the sweat dripping in their eyes. Lying on the beach would be better, there's usually a light sea breeze and the horizon is clear.

 

Hunter, what is NtK? I was concerned with learning science from a 50 year old book, but if it's basic material, it's probably fine.

[SorrelZG]

I believe it's "Needs to Know" .. as in the What your nth Grader Needs to Know books.

 

I'm going to have DH stargaze while he's there in January. It's dry season (I think). I wonder if that makes a difference. I read that I should be able to see the Southern Cross in April/June! I haven't seen the Southern Cross for over a decade.

 

Meanwhile, I've been making plans and ordering books for next year. I'm about to start separating things out and marking what is going, what is being stored for a future year and experimenting with packing to see just how big my problem really is. Kind of wish you were here to help, Hunter, since you actually find such experimentation interesting. lol

 

I don't know if I've mentioned this or just thought it but it has really shocked me how quickly some things I thought I couldn't part with were mentally tossed aside the moment this scenario switched from theoretical to real. Perhaps I am constitutionally unable to think clearly unless forced (perhaps not even then .. But it's progress). :p

[ElizabethB]

 

My High School Subjects Self-Taught arrived today. I really like this book to followup grade 6 NtK, for the middle school and early high school years. There is SO much packed into that book! I have the 1967 revised and enlarged one-volume 3rd edition. There IS an answer key at the back. I was confused when quickly looking at a reference copy at a local library, and thought the answer key was more questions.

 

Thanks Elizabeth!!!! :hurray: :party:

 

I am glad you like it! It is an interesting book packed with a lot of information for its size. Based on some of the other things you like, I though you might appreciate it, but you can never be sure with a book until you check it out for yourself.

[Hunter]

!!Warning about High School Subjects Self-Taught!!

 

The history reads like something that is MANY decades older. It will work for me AFTER a solid read through the original NtK (What Your _ Grader Needs to Know) which has an entirely different worldview, but I would not hand this book to a high schooler that has not had a more politically correct overview of history.

 

I'm going to ask around about what has changed in basic science since 1967. I don't think all that much. The science is divided by subjects into Chemistry and Physics and such, but it isn't as math based and sequential as a typical college prep textbook. If I were going to kinda sorta try to follow TWTM 1st edition high school science, I'd REALLY REALLY REALLY prefer this book to the Wiley workbooks. It also looks to be a great junior college science prep book.

 

The geography is woefully out of date.

 

The more I read through the books, the more I expect my list of warnings to grow, but used AFTER NtK, I think this the best follow up I've yet seen.

[Hunter]

 

 

I don't know if I've mentioned this or just thought it but it has really shocked me how quickly some things I thought I couldn't part with were mentally tossed aside the moment this scenario switched from theoretical to real. Perhaps I am constitutionally unable to think clearly unless forced (perhaps not even then .. But it's progress). :p

 

Reality is always easier to plan for than theory. And as soon as we switch gears to that new reality, yes, old things do pass away without the expected pain.