Advice needed--what would you do if you had to suddenly homeschool on the road?

[Handmaiden]

My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and we'll be traveling out of state to spend 2-3 months (or longer) to be with him. We will continue homeschooling there, but we'll need to keep it simple and bring the minimal amount of books necessary.

 

I would really appreciate suggestions for studying the following subjects on the road (other subjects are covered). Online resources and/or dvd recommendations would be great. We will also have access to the public library there and our Kindle for downloads.

 

7th grade:

Grammar

Writing

History (any)

Biology (we're 1/2 way through a high school level text, will catch up on labs when we get back)

 

4th & 5th grade:

Math (currently Rightstart Level E, but don't want to bring all the manipulatives..weakest subject for this child)

Writing

Grammar

Vocabulary

History (any)

Science (any)

 

Thanks in advance!

[eternalknot]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad's illness. I think it's wonderful that you're able to go be with him, and I think your kids will learn quite a bit from the experience. About family, about life skills, about other non-academic things.

 

We took a few months off when my brother was hospitalized, and spent most of every day in the room with him. We took it down to the basics - math (MUS) and grammar (Easy Grammar, Mad Libs).

 

For writing, I had him journal (which was very unlike any of our prior writing assignments). I didn't grade it, and didn't really even read much of it. I also asked him to keep our "daily log" which meant he wrote down his observations of what the doctors were doing, nurses were doing, etc. I considered that similar to summarizing and outlining what he saw (as opposed to what he read).

 

Vocabulary, we have never done. He did pick up some medical jargon, and talked to some of the staff about Latin roots from what Latin he knew (it was his first year).

 

History and Science were both very informal. We read. In your situation I'd have the kids pick out a few books each week from the library. Even in normal times we only read, but if you're kids are used to it they could outline and write from their science reads. It could be self-selected OR you could have them choose from the topic of your choice (biology, etc.) We had plenty of downtime to just discuss, so oftentimes we'd take turns reading from his books and just talking about it. This ensured me he was comprehending what he read, and could narrate back. My brother wasn't well, but was able to join in on the discussions - and on his "bad" days he enjoyed just being a part of the readalouds.

 

Math, in addition to our regular MUS texts and DVDs we played lots of card games. No real help there, sorry.

 

My student was elementary, and I"m sure your 7th grader will want/need more but I can't help there. I'd say that he could take a small detour into specialized biology just by observing and talking to your dad's caregivers and staff. I bet that student could learn a lot that way.

 

:grouphug:

Edited March 27, 2011 by eternalknot

[Crimson Wife]

Would CLE math & LA be an option? That would be workbook-based and the LA is all-in-one.

 

History and science I would do unit studies based on library resources.

[robsiew]

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad's illness.

 

I don't have a 7th grader so I don't feel "qualified" to speak on that... but here are some ideas for your elementary kids:

 

4th & 5th grade:

 

Math: Maybe check out Math Mammoth's Blue series. They are inexpensive so it would be possible to get a couple books of topics your kids are working on. She doesn't use actual manipulatives, rather drawings right on the page for the kids.

 

Writing: Not knowing what you are currently doing... I might just have them do copy work and narrations from whatever they are reading either in science or history.

 

Grammar: This would be something I personally would not use a curriculum for in a crisis time. I would just address grammar through the writing they do. If you want them to practice something specific, say... quotations... tell them they need to use 2 direct quotations in their narration today.

 

Vocabulary: Again, I would skip this. Many don't even do vocab with their elementary kids. Otherwise, you could use this online resource.

 

History and Science: Not knowing what you've done previously it's a bit hard, but one idea would be SOTW CD's in whatever history period you're in. They could listen and write a narration to it when possible and when not, just listening would be beneficial. For science I would just have them check out books based on their interest or whatever you've been studying. Have them keep a notebook with narrations in it. I wouldn't worry about doing experiments at all.

 

Really, bottom line is you need to keep things simple so you don't get overwhelmed. Don't underestimate the stress you'll be under caring for your dad and all the emotional things that go with that. You may consider doing fewer days a week or not doing every subject every day. Again, go easy on yourself! In times of crisis the rules change! ;)

[Poke Salad Annie]

First of all :grouphug: for you and your family as you go through the months ahead.

 

My thoughts are to keep up with math if possible. Try to get the kids to write something each day. This might help them work through some of the difficult feelings they are trying to sort through. A great read aloud would be wonderful---something to take their minds away for just a short while each day. Your dad might even feel like listening in on good days. What about sharing stories of happy times/happy memories? Play games, get outdoors and enjoy this time you have left.

 

Again, :grouphug:.

[SophiaH]

 

Ambleside's emergency homeschooling page might help or give you some ideas.

[SonshineLearner]

http://www.cancercenter.com

 

I'm really sorry about your dad. Believe me when I say, that at this point I understand what you're going through... at least partially. I know that you didn't ask for any medical opinions, but .... I have some :) The

 

http://www.cancercenter.com/seattle-clinic/cancer-treatment.cfm

 

 

 

Metronomic Dose Chemotherapy is absolutely amazing, and with it... Vitamin C intravaneously? is able to be administered to keep up immunity along with other things. The Metronomic Dose is such that smaller amounts more often, is used. In easy terms, it keeps right on top of the growing cancer cells making it so they don't do a lot of regrowth before they are squished again. AND, it's not as bad for your body. There are people there, that my family person is with, that were sent home to die.. using a walker... and now they look good.. no walker... Just a thought... Hope... it's so good...

 

There are some really decent nutrition ideas, as well. If you want any more info... LMK :) I'd love to see if you could possibly get a spot of hope like we did. I went in thinking my family member was going to die, like soon, and now... we have a chance!!

 

As far as schooling, I'd do lots of cds.... and just talking... which you'll need to do :)

[YarnAddict]

I just had to send some :grouphug: to your family. I have not used my CLE yet, but it's very open and go if it might be an option. You could look at scope and sequence on their site and see if some of the LUs might address what you need to do for the remainder of your year. I am thankful you will have this time to be with family--one more reason hs'ing is such a good choice. I hope everything goes well for you. :grouphug:

[Handmaiden]

I am so very grateful for all of your hugs and support. It's heartwarming to know people care when you're going through a rough time. :grouphug:

 

eternalknot: I like the idea of mad libs and journaling. And the idea of my oldest studying medical vocabulary is a good one--he once said he might become a doctor. Thank you!

 

crimson wife: I had not considered CLE, but I will check it out. Thanks!

 

robsiew: Those are great ideas for me to look into, and I also really appreciate your wisdom about keeping it simple. I will definitely take that to heart.

 

poke salad annie: math, writing, and a read aloud, plus some outdoor time. I like that. Simple. :-)

 

mommahawk: thank you for that wonderful link! I have used bits and pieces of Ambleside over the years, and had completely forgotten about that emergency plan. You rock!

 

nayfies mama: thank you so much. I am glad to hear that your family member is doing better..how encouraging! I will check it out. I am a big fan of alternative/natural medicine, and finally got my dad to read a cancer book by a naturopath. He's very traditional and conservative, though, and views therapies outside the mainstream with suspicion. I will talk to him when we're there and see if he's open to looking at alternatives.

 

yarnaddict: I can feel that big hug, thank you! I will check out CLE. :-)

[SonshineLearner]

:) I just wanted to make sure you realize that the chemo I was talking about... is mainstream... normal chemo... just on a schedule more like European studies suggest. It's the thing in Europe, I guess... The naturopath... now that's obviously different :)

 

Good Luck!!

[Handmaiden]

:) I just wanted to make sure you realize that the chemo I was talking about... is mainstream... normal chemo... just on a schedule more like European studies suggest. It's the thing in Europe, I guess... The naturopath... now that's obviously different :)

 

Good Luck!!

 

Oh, okay! I will read more about it. :) Thanks!

[YarnAddict]

If you get a chance, let us know what you choose. It might really help someone else someday. I hope you find something that works for your homeschooling during this hard time. :grouphug:

[Handmaiden]

If you get a chance, let us know what you choose. It might really help someone else someday. I hope you find something that works for your homeschooling during this hard time. :grouphug:

 

I will! Remind me if I forget.

 

Thanks again for the hug. Even though it's virtual, it warms my heart. :)

[....]

Hi, we lived in an RV for a while in 2009. I used CLE math, reading and language arts for the kids. We also read through a Sonlight Core.

 

CLE was easy because it was workbooks - all the lessons, questions, reading was all contained in the workbooks.

 

:grouphug:

[Sugar Fly]

I am sorry to hear about your dad's illness. Many great suggestions have been posted here. I would like to add a couple of online resources that might work for you:

http://www.brainpop.com

http://www.time4learning.com

I hope these help.

Best Wishes.

[Hunter]

I've been homeless twice and know what it is like to literally live out of a backpack and need to carry all my books. The first thing you will need to learn to do is rip up books. Yes, rip up books. Books are here to serve us. We are not here to serve books. Only bring the parts of books you need and throw away, or leave behind, the parts you do not need. The amazing thing is you will find retention is greater with ripped up books that you can spread out the pages of a chapter to study.

 

I would ditch grammar and concentrate on writing. I like Scholastic's How To Write Poetry. it is light in weight, easy to use and kept me inspired for months.

 

I like Crayola Twistables. They are plastic crayons that are less flaky and translucent than wax crayons and they can be sharpened with a regular pencil sharpener and the 24 pack includes all 12 main colors of the color wheel. Buy a pencil sharpener with a barrel to collect the shavings and a cover.

 

I like composition books with graph paper pages. They make it easy to draw borders around the edges of the pages and to do geometric and pattern art. They also make it easy to take notes on a library book in outline form.

 

I like sketching with a soft and thin lead using a mechanical pencils, and then tracing over the lines I want to keep with a black pen, and then erasing the pencil, and then using the crayons. The colors are strong enough to cover the grid lines on the paper.

 

I'm going to post all of what I have to say in a series of replies, so while I search for links, I don't lose what I have already typed.

 

Your children are going to be spending a lot of time waiting around, entertaining themselves and learning with just what fits in a backpack. I'd buy each of them a really good backpack and their own set of travel art supplies as soon as possible and start having them school out of the backpack as a trial run, because what we assume will work never does, and it would be better to arrive properly packed.

 

I'll get back to you throughout the day. When are you leaving?

Edited March 28, 2011 by Hunter

[Handmaiden]

I am so thankful for all of your replies!

 

starrbuck: I appreciate your positive feedback on CLE. Thanks!

 

Sugar Fly: Online resources are terrific. Thanks!

 

Hunter: I'm very inspired by your post. The poetry book and art suggestions sound perfect for my dd. :-) We are still talking to my parents about when to visit; we're probably leaving in the next 3-4 weeks. thank you!

[Hunter]

Handmaiden,

 

Math is tough on the road. Math books weigh a ton :-( When I had to carry everything I owned and had no place to leave anything I could only use a small cheap paperback for speed math drills. As soon as I got a locker that I could access once a day, I found the best thing was a ripped up Saxon book. I just carried a lesson or two at a time. I made up cheat sheets of the formulas that I had not memorized yet, since I wouldn't have past lessons with me to reference. Math is better than mindless puzzles. It grounded me to work on math.

 

If you envision a lot of hospital vigils I recommend getting each of the children a new special hoodie a size or two too large. By pulling the hood up over the head and the sleeves over the hands and curling up in a corner, the hood provides some of the comfort of a blanket. For overnights bring each child a pair of special thick socks and make sure their shirt is tucked into the back of their pants. Without a blanket, cover the head, hands, feet and back and they will sleep better. A LOT better!

 

They will need squishy ear plugs for their ipods/computers/radio that fill the ear and muffle noise. Audio books are a must, along with squishy plugs. When they close their eyes, other than the smell, they will be transported out of the crowded and scary hospital and the beeping machines. Some people do better with a bandana dipped in an essential oil, to overpower the hospital smell, tucked into their hoodie, near the shoulder. The beeping machines really disrupt the central nervous system even if you are not aware of it.

 

Without uninterrupted REM sleep, even if the children are dozing for hours, they will have reduced capacity to learn. It is important during this times to adapt. Also at those times, they will be surrounded by bored, overwhelmed adults. Everyone will benefit by the children being supplied with enough materials for everyone to engage in art therapy, music therapy, poetry therapy, bibliotherapy, ecotherapy, etc. Your children can self-soothe, learn and minister to those around them all at the same time. If your children are able to help the adults, believe me, they will notice and it will be quite the witness.

[Hunter]

Sorry to make so many shorter posts, but I HATE retyping posts lost while trying to include links.

 

Learning Zentangles is a must!! This book is the one I recommend. It is thin and light and includes a LOT of patterns and instruction. Totally Tangled

 

Zendalas are a combination of zentangles and mandalas and are round. You can google the term.

 

For this artwork I recommend these 3 cheap pens. The first two are readily available at pharmacies and office stores, but the prismacolor will require a trip to an art store, unfortunately.

 

Pilot Precise V5 (will make medium lines)

Paper Mate flair felt-tip (will fill in areas without bleeding too badly through thin paper)

Prismacolor 005 (the thinnest fineline marker on the market)

Edited March 28, 2011 by Hunter

[Hunter]

Unfortunately Using Color in Your Art is not a tiny light book like the other two :-( But it is cheap enough to have a used copy mailed to your mom's house from Amazon :-) It was written mostly for paint, but works well with the 24 pack of Crayola Twistables I mentioned in a past post. This book will effortlessly provide a college level of instruction in color theory using just a box of crayons :-) I gave this book as a gift to a science college professor who had minored in art to balance herself, and she said she learned more from this book than in 3 years of art classes.

[Hunter]

I recommend harmonicas for music therapy.

 

http://www.harmonicacountry.com/

 

There are lots of free hymn tunes and free lessons on hymn playing.

 

When we sing or play a hymn tune for just a few minutes, it repeats over and over in our head all day, until we hear another tune.

[mrs.m]

We traveled a lot last spring with DH for his job. That's when I switched to CLE for the 3R's. The LU's are light and portable. You will rarely need the teacher's guides (answer key's will be helpful, though!). The only downside that I found to their LA program is the writing. :( So you will need to supplement for your older DC's.

 

I also got one of those rolling crates that has wheels. I called it my schoolhouse on wheels. ;)

[Handmaiden]

hunter: you sound like the most amazing, resourceful person...your posts have encouraged me greatly! I am taking notes and will look up all the art supplies and resources you've mentioned. I've never heard of Zentangles and can't wait to check it out. Again, thank you!

 

jannylynn: thank you for your feedback! I am still undecided about CLE. It looks like a terrific curriculum; I just wish I found it when my kids were younger. I'm not sure if I should switch right now. I'm continuing to pray for God's guidance. :-)

[Handmaiden]

Learning Zentangles is a must!! This book is the one I recommend. It is thin and light and includes a LOT of patterns and instruction. Totally Tangled

 

Hunter, this looks so amazing and my middle child, who is an artist, would LOVE it! Question for you--is this a consumable workbook, or do I need to get her a sketch pad to go with it along with the pens you recommend?

[Hunter]

It is not consumable. She can just use cheap printer paper. The pens that I suggest work well on any cheap paper. I really like grid page composition books. The graph paper pages make it easy to plan out designs and patterns and doodles. They are cheap and invite experimentation. Finding generic brand grid page composition books is a little tricky, but they do exist, and show up at CVS, Staples and Office Max. The name brand ones are readily available, but more expensive. Look around. Borders often has quality grid notebooks, but they are heavier and don't lay open as well. The cheapest, thin 3 pak Moleskine ones are okay, but still expensive and often not available in the best sizes. The cheapo composition books are best. Cut up a file folder or a piece of card stock to place between pages, when using the flair pen. The other 2 pens usually will not mark the page underneath very much.

 

Composition books are stiff enough to support a rubber band. A rubber band keeps the book closed in a backpack and tightly closed books hold up better than ones that open up in the bag. The pens and crayons I suggested don't smear which is also important. There is NO room for ANY type of mess when storing your life in one bag.

 

All stiff books should have a rubber band around them. Or wrap a special book in a bandanna. Start the book in one corner and roll towards the opposite corner. Now you have a flat tube with tails. Tie the tails. Then put in a plastic bag. Ripped up books and pages go in baggies.

 

Everything should be stored in a bag or wrapped in a bandanna. Little bags get combined into larger bags by theme. All little art supply baggies and baggies of pages of ripped up art books, go into a bigger bag for all art stuff. All little baggies of snacks go into another larger bag. Clean socks and underwear into another bag. Toiletries another. Playing cards, rule book and other "toys" go into another.

 

The best place to buy a little pair of scissors is the cosmetic or hair area of a pharmacy. A small pair of sharp scissors costs about $10.00. Glue sticks are great. Pasting little bits of a magazine or maybe even a food wrapper, into the journal are things your daughter might want to do.

 

Hard to find, but useful is a retractable zacto knife. It looks like a thick pen. When living out of a bag, the need for a knife comes up all the time, but people are scared of knives. The retractable zacto will get through security a jack knife won't. Zacto knives are less wasteful for pencil sharpening than a sharpener. I've gotten away from pencils though. The leads inside the wood casings break too easily in a bag. So the crayons and mechanical pencils hold up better.

 

I have severe memory loss issues from my constant seizures and from the post trauma. I'm trying to remember all of what is important about mobile life and just typing it out in bits.

[Hunter]

Nissan Backpack Bottles are one of the greatest inventions ever!

 

They keep tea BURNING hot overnight. I have often burnt my mouth in the morning taking a big swig of tea prepared the night before. My best friend would put grape Koolaide in hers and it kept it cold for almost 24 hours :-0

 

When special ordering a bottle at a camping store, when Amazon was out of them, a serious mountain climber saw one for the first time. He was interacting with my bottle like a painter posing a beautiful woman :-0 It was too funny :-) He had me in hysterics.

 

You can drink directly from the bottle. Very hot, or icy cold drinks are more satisfying than luke warm ones, so you drink less. When self-soothing while waiting, a favorite drink at the perfect temperature, sipped SLOWLY over several hours is heaven.

[Handmaiden]

Hunter, thank you for the additional tips! I've got that Tangled book in my Amazon cart, and the grid page comp books on my list to buy at Staples. The backpack bottle looks great--I may get that for dh for his birthday! :-)