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Minimalist Challenge: Homeschooling from a Carry-on Suitcase


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It's been a long time since we had a minimalist challenge. I think it's time for a new one.

 

A distant cousin that works for an unnamed secret government agency shows up at your door. He says to pack one carry-on suitcase of books and educational supplies, but no more. He says he can't tell you where he is taking you, why, or for how long. You cannot leave the house to go shopping and can only bring what you already have.

 

What would YOU pack?

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But suspending disbelief as you meant for me to do (sorry, couldn't help myself about the gun comment), I would probably take:

 

KJV Bible

Ray's Arithmetic set

Harvey elementary grammar

Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons

McGuffey readers

Children's Literature (a vintage teacher's college textbook that I own)

Van Loon's Story of Mankind (updated) or CHOW or SOTW set

Handbook of Nature Study

Pocket world and US atlases

Two slates and eight boxes of chalk

 

Kindle and iPad and chargers -- if I have these I can still attempt to teach teens but if I don't, the above list is for pre-K through 6th or 8th or so, and they'd have a lot to learn when they got back home.

 

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A laptop computer for sure.  There are so many excellent online programs.  Probably easier to do with only one or two kids who are close in age...

 

Maybe one should always be ready with a handy iPod on which many classic books are stored :).  A solar charger would also be a smart thing to pack.

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You are not just running from a single kidnapper while the world goes on as usual. You don't know what is about to happen. That might be the scenario, or it might be something bigger.

 

In that case I'd take the kindle and ipad and hope for the best, but still want all the hardbacks I mentioned in case we'd really be roughing it, or hiding out, or constantly moving... 

 

My theory would be that if we were in a real downed chips situation the teens would probably have to count as adults for survival purposes, but the children would still need 3Rs and background knowledge in case their world ever returned to normal. So my list stands as-is, for that good ol' 8th grade education. I've used everything on my list and know that I can teach it with a stick in the dirt if necessary, when I run out of chalk!

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I personally want to focus on 2 things for this challenge. Everyone gets to choose their own focus, though. I'm just saying what I want to accomplish personally as I play this game.

 

First, I want to use things I already have. To go through what I have and pick the best of the best.

 

Second, to not assume that in 5 years everything that I think will happen will happen. There is only one thing that is certain about the future, and that is that it will be unexpected and we will NOT have properly prepared for it. We will have wasted time and energy and money preparing for things that turn out not to be relevent. Sometimes we spend MOST of our resources on ONE very NARROW scenario, and it doesn't happen. That has happened to me several times.

 

So, right now, for this make believe scenario, you are being given permission to not assume the future is going to be expected. You do not HAVE to pack SAT prep, if you don't want to. If there will be SATs you won't be blamed for not bringing prep for them. You could be sorry that you didn't prepare for a wider scenario, though.

 

In real life and in this scenario we truly don't know what we are preparing for. I thought it would be fun to use a make-believe prompt to open up our thinking a bit and provide a safe place to create a make believe curriculum that you might not dare to use. Your cousin isn't telling you ANYTHING. Just pack one carry-on and hurry up.

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This is interesting. I've never played before.

 

I'd pack: my Bible, a Pilgrims Progress, pencils, pencil sharpeners, and paper.

These are fun. We have been locked in underground bunkers and on desert islands, and I forget where else. The scenarios have all been a bit different.

 

In the underground bunker scenario, we worried about visual stimulation, and with just 10 books, most of us chose to include an art book. Some of us tend to take these scenarios pretty seriously and start getting pretty nitty gritty about our choices.

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I did this all the time (well, not the secret cousin thing, but Husband was working away and we used to come and stay with him for a week or two at a time).  For the duration I used Galore Park text books for English, Latin and maths; everything else was experiences at museums, or books from the excellent Hong Kong library system.

 

ETA: without the library system, I'd take a Kindle and call it good.

 

L

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For this moment:

 

AoPS Intro Algebra

My study bible, a hymnbook

Geografica ( a book with information about almost any country in the world)

A double pack of playcards

Our Dutch book of children poetry, we never have time for it, but with at least 1000 pages we will have enough to learn.

paper, pencils etc.

I hesitate to pack fieldguides, but probably a book about astronomy, stars can be seen anywhere.

I'm hesitating about science but would probably opt for a semi professional book about the human body although we have almost finished lifescience. But it doesn't require experiments ;)

SOTW 1-4 and one book about dutch history.

If I would have a Large Suitcase I would also pack Watershipdown ( in English) , Heidi ( in German) , and a solid French book maybe the Three Musketiers or The Count of Monte Christo. A greek New Testament and a Latin-Dutch edition of the rule of Benedict.

An inflatable ball and a skippingrope.

 

I have one child, heading? To highschool

This would work for about 2 years I suppose, with many rereadings of the books.

But this should work to continue on her foreign Languages ...

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This is actually a good exercise. Something like what you describe could happen to any of us, at any time - whether it's due to forest fires, floods, tornadoes, a regular old house fire, or something like a stalker. Or in some cases, even civil war (Ukraine, Syria, etc).

 

I do not have everything I would want to have. I have stuff we all like in the situation we are in now. Can we also talk about what materials would be good to stock up on for this very scenario? I'm particularly interested in composition options and really good encyclopedias that do not weigh a ton.

Civil war was one of the possible scenarios I was thinking of when I was thinking wider.

 

Use this scenario however it feels helpful. It's meant to widen thinking, produce contentment with what you have, to help prepare for the unexpected, and whatever else is helpful. And just a thread for people to bond, count thier curent blessings, and distract themselves from anything nasty IRL that they don't want to think about.

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I love these threads. The footlocker thread really made me reevaluate what homeschooling looks like in magazines versus what it actually looks like in the home and what it really should be. There are a lot of purchases I would have made because they were cool, but shouldn't have that this line of thinking helped prevent me from making.

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I always have a few constants in mind for unknown scenarios -- the first being that teens would be promoted to adults in the majority of dire circumstances; the second being that if there were other humans in the situation they would also become educational resources. Whatever's going on in a story, there's always somebody who knows more about it than the protagonist. Somebody else arrived first, or was placed there because of background knowledge, or is there serendipitously but has life experience with something similar...human capital is on my invisible resource list. If there are people, there is plenty to learn. The third constant is that if there's an environment, there is plenty to learn. A dungeon not so much, but finding oneself in an unfamiliar city, or a temporarily adopting a different way of life (being put to work on a farm during wartime, as has happened in fairly recent history in the UK and US)...lots to learn.

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Hmm, I've never tried this before. I think I'd take:

Bible, strayer-upton practical arithmetic series (well, if I own them all yet. If not, then Rays ebooks), a set of readers (mcguffey or treadwell or Elson), my yesterday's Classic ebook collection, a couple tablets, a bunch of good literature ebooks and classical music loaded on an sd card, lots of paper and pencils.

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I always have a few constants in mind for unknown scenarios -- the first being that teens would be promoted to adults in the majority of dire circumstances; the second being that if there were other humans in the situation they would also become educational resources. Whatever's going on in a story, there's always somebody who knows more about it than the protagonist. Somebody else arrived first, or was placed there because of background knowledge, or is there serendipitously but has life experience with something similar...human capital is on my invisible resource list. If there are people, there is plenty to learn. The third constant is that if there's an environment, there is plenty to learn. A dungeon not so much, but finding oneself in an unfamiliar city, or a temporarily adopting a different way of life (being put to work on a farm during wartime, as has happened in fairly recent history in the UK and US)...lots to learn.

As a high schooler, my oldest spent far more time working and in church/family worship that completing a typical high school course of instruction. I know first-hand about the benefits and possibilities of teens learning from people and their environment, and both sides of teens being promoted to adulthood early. American School's concise general diploma option provided just enough for people and real life to fill in the rest. That was in the late 90s and my educational beliefs are deeply based on watching this play out.

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EDIT: I edited this about 50 times and think I am done.

 

I don't want to choose anything that requires electricity, as my spine. I've lived without electricity and even without fresh water (lots of ocean water, though). I feel safer with a concise paper foundation.

 

MEV Thinline Reference Bible

http://www.amazon.com/Thinline-Reference-Bible-English-Version/dp/1621369978

 

Student of the Word: Teacher Edition 1, Teacher Edition 2-6.

http://www.sowcurriculum.com/sow/newpage1.htm

 

ORIGINAL What Your Grader Needs to Know series 1-6

0-385-41115-4

0-385-41116-2

0-385-41117-0

0-385-41118-9

0-385-41119-7

0-385-41120-0

 

National Geographic Compact Atlas of the World

http://www.amazon.com/Compact-Atlas-World-National-Geographic/dp/1426209959/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422644427&sr=1-2&keywords=compact+atlas

 

Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary

http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Websters-Pocket-Dictionary-Merriam-Webster/dp/0877795304

This dictionary is almost identical to the Merriam-Webster Concise Large Print that I like so much; the text is just much smaller. http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Concise-Dictionary/dp/0877796440

 

Grammar Basics by Kimberley Garcia

http://www.mamagoesfrugal.com/free-grammar-curriculum/

 

About 60 pages (30 sheets) of assorted language arts pdfs I've downloaded and printed

 

Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetic 1-3

https://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=10&category=9224

 

All these art books are thin pamphlets

Drawing Textbook

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/002584/

Ed Emberley Fingerprint book

http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Emberleys-Fingerprint-Drawing-Book/dp/0316789690/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422126218&sr=1-2&keywords=emberley+fingerprint

Ed Emberley's Make a World

http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Emberleys-Drawing-Book-World/dp/0316789720/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422644644&sr=1-1&keywords=ed+emberly+make+a+world

Zentangle for Kidz

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1574213407/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=48317918450&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11985562707500476577&hvpone=4.08&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_6xhjjwh4dc_e

Totally Tangled

http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Tangled-Sandy-Steen-Bartholomew/dp/1574216716/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422160087&sr=1-1&keywords=9781574216714

Walter Foster's Perspective

http://www.amazon.com/Perspective-Artists-Library-William-Powell/dp/0929261135/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1422126347&sr=1-4

 

iPad and iPhone

Kindle Paperwhite

My handful of thumbdrives, even though I wouldn't have anything to read them with.

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Okay. I just read your last post Hunter. I don't know why, but I had imagined it was the FBI at my door. Lol. I watch too many NCIS shows.

 

I don't know. I'm assuming the worst is about to happen and we'll be gone for a long time. So, I'll add my cell biology book and anatomy and physiology book.

 

ETA I need to refresh before I post! There's been like 10 posts since then. Lol

 

Can't wait to check back tonight!

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journals, writing prompts, pens, pencils, sharpener

ipad with lots of books loaded on it to read and listen to (assuming electricity)

our math textbooks along with a couple of problem solving books

a full stack of copy paper

play dough

sketchbooks, colored pencils

 

 

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Okay. I just read your last post Hunter. I don't know why, but I had imagined it was the FBI at my door. Lol. I watch too many NCIS shows.

 

I don't know. I'm assuming the worst is about to happen and we'll be gone for a long time. So, I'll add my cell biology book and anatomy and physiology book.

 

ETA I need to refresh before I post! There's been like 10 posts since then. Lol

 

Can't wait to check back tonight!

I had the same image ;)

Somehow to be undercover for a while and live isolated in the middle of nowhere

And to be undercover one can't take traceble divices with you

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I'm close to done choosing. I just repeatedly updated the list I started above, rather than starting a new post for each addition as I settled on it. I'm not sure if that all will fit into a carry-on. I might check, just for the hell of it.

 

I decided not to pack crayons or any books on color, even though I believe in the benfits of color therapy. I figure I'd be able to get crayons when I could and wing the color theory instruction the best I could. I chose instead to pack art instructon that would work with any pen or pencil.

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How much is actually in the original X grader books? I think there are poems and songs? What else?

The original series is an attempt to provide a concise overview of everything the 1990's adult needed to know to be culturally literate. The revised edition caved to public school wishes and is quite different.

 

The original series is one of the least biased history courses I have encountered. Muslims seem to have the most objections. I really need to read it with fresh eyes for how biased it is against communism. :D

 

The science topics are all covered, but very concisely.

 

The major grammar topics are covered, but very concisely.

 

Art and music appreciation are covered and partially integrated with the other subjects.

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Assuming I could get pencils/pens, etc in a new country - or just steal them from the FBI office as they transferred me somewhere else. :)

 

I would bring for History:

KJV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk through Biblical History and Culture

Susan's High School History series

 

I would bring for Literature:

My Kindle which has all the novels, plays, dramas, etc on it needed for high school.

A couple of Shakespeare study guides - not sure which ones I have too many.....

 

I would bring for Math:

Saxon -Geometry, Algebra 1 & 2

 

I would bring for Writing:

IEW - Elegant Essay and their AP guides

 

I would bring for Science:

Apologia texts not yet completed.

 

A dictionary, thesaurus, and of course my Well Trained Mind book.

 

I like the idea of a book about stars, no matter where you are, there are stars to comfort you.

 

 
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I think I'd be in trouble in that there is a lot of what I currently use that depends on having computer and printer access (like our main math curriculum). I think I'd go with multi-level books and/or scope/sequence books for most subjects and then hope that I could find resources to teach with and as reading material at each level.

 

I'd probably grab some scope/sequence type of book (I have a bunch, I'm not sure which one I'd bring off hand) and depend on that for knowing what to teach with math. I'd grab WRTR 4th edition for it's slim nature to cover phonics and spelling. I'd grab the R&S English Handbook. I'd probably grab Understanding Writing, despite its bulk, simply because it covers writing for 1st-12th. BFSU volumes 1 and 2 for science. A bible. Notebooks and pencils. I wouldn't have history covered much at all. I have All Through the Ages, but I doubt that would do much good if I'm not even sure I'd be able to use a library. We have SOTW vol 1. In a few months, once I put in my order for next year, we'll have volume 2 as well. I live about a mile from a bookstore, couldn't we stop there for me to buy a few books on our way out of town? ;)

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Silver's cousin could be trying to save her from a nuclear bomb, and she'd be asking to stop at a bookstore on the way to the bomb shelter. :lol:

 

I can't see the stars in the city. What the buildings don't block, the light pollution covers up. To even be able to see the moon, I need a compass and the time and direction of the moonrise. It can sometimes take my students and I over 15 minutes of running down streets until we can find a bridge or road that will allow us to see the moon.

 

We can see a full moon from 11:00 to 1:00 from our couryard, because it's straight overhead.

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I don't think I have ever lived in a city that big...

Not being able to see the moon....

Despite of all the lights of the gas station nearby, we can see lot, when it is not cloudy (and cloudy it can be)

But I have Only fieldguides for western Europe, so in a lot of places they would be no help.

My starguide was the most universal I could think about in the 'nature study' category

 

i think I thought being sent to a desolate place...

Mmm.

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I have 4 kids over a wide age range. I am taking my carryon size roller suitcase.

 

Singapore Math Primary maths workbooks only 1a-6b

Cuisenaire rods (loose in a ziplock)

Colored pencils, pencils, pink eraser, scissors, glue stick, lap chalkboard, chalk, eraser, ruler, 4 composition notebooks

What your _er needs to know k-6

Laptop, charger, international adapters

Kindle, charger, solar charger

oPGTR

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I don't know where YOUR cousins are taking YOU. I don't even know where my cousin is taking me or why. These cousins of ours are pretty mean, huh? :lol:

 

I was just saying I can't see stars. I really wish I could. There is a reason we run the streets "moon hunting" as we call it. Seeing the heavens is incredibly grounding. A star guide is a very good idea. We study the constellations even though we can't see them. To make it a bit less abstract, we study the myths that go along with the constellations.

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I guess I don't need you to explain what it says about those issues. Are they all in the sixth grade one? I am strongly considering getting these, so I'd like to know.

All those topics I listed are from the 6th grade book. The ORIGINAL book, not the revised. In the revised edition, those topics were moved to grades 7 and 8 which would have been fine if books for grades 7 and 8 had been published.

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I am a minimalist, but I don't think that minimalism is better or easier in general.

 

But when I realized that the ONLY clutter in my home was education, then I knew SOMETHING was wrong. Either I wasn't truly a minimalist, or I'd somehow fed into someone else's ideas about education.

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It's been a long time since we had a minimalist challenge. I think it's time for a new one.

 

A distant cousin that works for an unnamed secret government agency shows up at your door. He says to pack one carry-on suitcase of books and educational supplies, but no more. He says he can't tell you where he is taking you, why, or for how long. You cannot leave the house to go shopping and can only bring what you already have.

 

What would YOU pack?

Would electronic devices (like an ipad) be usable, or is it strictly books and supplies?

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I had to come home and check shelf space.. I have space to add a few things: all of my AAS letter & phoneme tiles in a sandwich bag ziplock. Two packs of post-it notes. My laminated charts of phonics rules, math theorems/rules, world and US map, and iPad mini.  

 

I am assuming:

If the world is ending, basic math and literacy is enough; I am not worried about higher education.

If the world is only having a temporary bump, higher learning can begin again later.

I have a large range of materials in electronic form (I do currently). 

I am the one teaching, and I am bringing in my skill set.  If my kids aren't learning from me, there are bigger problems to deal with anyway. ;)

 

I'm contemplating ditching What your K'er needs to know and bringing oldest's algebra book....so that would've been my regret if I had had to decide in 15 minutes and be out the door.

 

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Would electronic devices (like an ipad) be usable, or is it strictly books and supplies?

 

I have no idea if devices will be usable. :lol:

 

I chose to make my spines hardcopy, and to bring the iPad and iPhone but leave the laptop at home. I'll take the thumbdrives, though, in case I'd have an opportunity to use what is on them.

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The civil war idea is one of the scenarios I am most contemplating, having had the opportunity to talk online to people who have gone through that. They went from a normal life to complete chaos in a week, and then had to pick back up and start worrying about college again just a couple years later. They were not homeschoolers, so they relied on educators to make the choices, and just accepted what they saw as out of their hands. I never really got a chance to ask how the colleges adapted their expectations.

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OK, based on what I own (which is not really ideal, but....) 

 

NIV Bible, grade 4-6 NTK books, Saxon Algebra, Write On, Usborne Science Encyclopedia,  Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, Little Brown Handbook, Children's Lit Anthology (lots to read).

 

I'd use the math in the NTK to wing elementary math and then work slowly through Algebra.  

 

My kids are 10 and 11 yo.  If they were younger I'd add in Spalding WRTR

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My first pick would be something for internet access - mini laptop, iPad, even just a smartphone - if that's going to be available where we're going. 

Then a stash of exercise books and pencils in case we aren't able to print anything out.

Then fill up the remaining space with fat books such as The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

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Complete Shakespeare, the one with all the tiny footnotes.

Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition. Compact and has lots of tiny commentary and extras.

Big, single volume Collins English Dictionary

Definately both pairs of reading glasses for when I misplace a pair.

Given your parameters, Graves 10 Bushcraft Books

Our bird book and her compact rock book (always travel with us)

Probably The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, because we couldn't fit lots of science and maths texts in.

A Passion for Mathematics, as 'light reading' for the child.

A couple of big crossword magazines.

Atlas

Compact Geographica, World Reference

A Canterbury Tales, again with footnotes.

Van Loon's The Story of Mankind, for the child

J M Robert's History of the World, for the mum

If there was room, I'd try and add one of the old 100 Great Lives books filled with biographies.

My little transistor radio and AA batteries, a couple of battery reading lights and the loupe (eye glass).

Fill the cracks in the bag with lined writing books, pencils, drawing pencils etc.

 

We regularly do this. Generally we replace some of this with our current science, maths, english texts. I've changed those for texts that will last longer and might help us survive for reading matter a bit longer if we can't access a library soon. If that was the case I reckon I could just about work through the Robert's History.

 

Sounds exciting, should we be packed and ready????

 

ETA: Forgot a poetry choice: something old, smaller and full.

 

 

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