Schooling during travel

[Deb in NZ]

My dh just left with all 3 dc to go to a scout regatta for the weekend. I plan to get a lot of my preparations for the trip, both packing & arrangements for those staying here in NZ, while I have the house to myself. If anyone has any more tips, Please let me know. I usually have almost a year to plan for a trip to the States, so having less than 3 weeks is really pushing me.

 

I'm going to aim to get weekly assignment sheets done for dd & ds#1 this weekend. Sept. 29-Oct. 10 is PS holidays, so no work will be assigned as both dc have holiday jobs & dd is away 13-22 October on a youth leadership trip & 27 October is Labour Day. So dd will have 6 days of school work while I'm overseas, but ds#1 will be assigned 3 weeks of work. I know I will be asking a lot as he isn't very independent. I think it will be a great chance for dh to see what ds#1 is capable of & a chance for ds#1 to prove himself.

 

Ds#2 is going with me to the States. I'm thinking of having him work on only maths, Latin, & writing (keep a daily journal). I will get books for reading from the local library & take nature walks for science. Do you think this will be too much? We can't afford to not do any lessons as our summer holidays (Dec / Jan) are full of family time & sailing.

 

 

Blessings,

[keptwoman]

I'm afraid I never have much luck getting the DC to work while I am travelling. I think the journal is great and becomes very worthwhile. I think maths and latin only is doable but I would expect to acheive perhaps 50% of what you would like done. On the plane in is a good time to get a couple of lessons in! You would probably have time to do a maths lesson just after take off and one just before landing in both directions.

[Deb in NZ]

I'm not sure what we will really accomplish, but I'm aiming to work with ds#2 for about 1 hour a day (30" maths, 15" Latin, & 15" writing) + nature walks (my parents' house backs onto a forest) & books & cds from the library & educational TV (we don't get history channel, etc. here in NZ).

 

Dh is looking at having ds#1 work with him for part of the month. I'd really like for this to happen, even if it means not much of what I leave for ds#1 to do gets completed. Having a month of "real life" experience is very valuable for a teenage boy.

 

Dd will get most of what she's assigned finished. She's very organized & a great self-starter. Plus she'll not be home much anyway as she's working 1 week, away on the Spirit of NZ for another 10 days, & has polytech classes for another 4 days. This leaves dh & ds#1 much to themselves.

 

I will try to get a few lessons done on the trip over with ds#2. We'll be traveling over 36 hours, so there'll be plenty of time to do a math or Latin page or write a journal entry. Maybe a page in his nature journal about the tops of clouds?:laugh:

 

Blessings,

[Melissa in Australia]

I hope the plane has your children sitting near you. my husband took our 14, and 12 year old sons to Canada 2 months ago. the children were seated on the other side of the plane.:001_huh:

[Deb in NZ]

on one flight they did have ds#2 & I sitting in different parts of the cabin, but I wa able to change the seats on-line. Now I only need to pray that I get what is assigned on the computer. Ds#1 & dd are staying with dh in NZ, so I only need 2 seats together, not the 4 I usually need.

[keptwoman]

I like to check in earlish too to ensure we get the right seats.

[Deb in NZ]

And being extra organized & patient with the check-in personnel helps.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

I think some school during travel is really doable. There's always down time - rainy days, waiting at airports etc.

 

I take math workbooks, language arts work books, a couple of novels, and journaling materials.

 

My kids have journals from the countries we've visited which are real keepsakes for them.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When we are traveling, I don't try to teach new concepts in math. Instead I have a book of challenging word problems that they do a couple pages in each day. Or I make up really long problems to calculate.

 

I assign a lot of reading, especially related to where we're going.

 

I don't know how often your kids get back to VT. I would emphasize stuff that is different there than in NZ. When we visited OH this summer, we did lots of hiking. Even something as common as a blue jay or cardinal was new to them. A nature center exhibit on turtles was incredible (they normally only see sea turtles, not box turtles or snapping turtles). Same with seeing frogs in different stages of metamorphosis in a pond.

 

I also like to work on scout activities that tie in with the travels. So we did traveler and geology activity badges for Webelos (senior cub scouts). Are there scout badges that have to do with geography, history, aviation, or something else related to the travel?

 

And keep in mind that some of the stress of the situation will spill over onto your son. Try to be gentle with each other.

[Deb in NZ]

on our last trip, 3 years ago, my dc were fasinated with squirrels & chipmunks. They spent hours in the woods catching salamanders, frogs, & even a garden snake. Even simple things like the leaves turning colors were new to them. Snow was amazing as here they may see one frost every couple of years. And even that is gone by 9:00. I hope his nature journal will become a keep-sake for years to come.

 

My dc are scouts, so I will have a look at ds#2's scouts book for possible badges. He did ask if we could visit the scout group he joined in with on our last trip. At that time he was 7yo & joined in with a wolf cub den. What level cubs / scouts is for 10yo? He moved up to scouts in January here, about 6 months early.

 

Blessings,