Roadschooling
-Verb
A form of homeschooling that involves traveling while allowing places and experiences to drive learning
As a full-time traveling family from 2016 – 2023, we were what many call “roadschoolers,” meaning we used our travels to influence our children’s education, or sometimes our educational needs influenced our travels. However you look at it, roadschooling is essentially homeschooling on the road, and like all forms of home education, you have the freedom to tailor it to the needs of your family and each individual child.
But what exactly do you do as roadschoolers? Or maybe more importantly, how do you get started?
Below are a few suggestions for ways you can begin the transition from a sticks-and-bricks education to one that takes the show on the road.
Check Your State’s Homeschool Laws
First things first: check your state’s homeschool laws. There is no national law when it comes to homeschooling, which means each state sets its own guidelines. Those guidelines can range from very few requirements to registering with your local public school, yearly testing, specific recordkeeping, and more.
We highly recommend visiting the Homeschool Legal Defense Association for up-to-date information on your state’s homeschool laws, as well as a general overview of your rights as a home educator. HSLDA’s state-by-state resource lets families select their state or territory for current information on requirements, testing, withdrawing from public school, and more.
Start Exploring Curriculum Options
Want to go down the rabbit hole of curriculum? Maybe you’re not sure if you even want to do curriculum-based learning, or maybe you want to have a few things on hand or online as backup.
A great curriculum resource is Homeschool.com. They may just have it all, and then some. Often, you can find the same items on other sites at a lower price, but for a one-stop shop for curriculum browsing, they are a helpful place to start.
Find Other Roadschooling Families
Seek out other roadschoolers. There are several Facebook groups you can join that offer a wealth of information, and sometimes a wealth of opinions. But you know the deal: just scroll on past when needed.
Groups can be useful for questions about the lifestyle and also for their archives, especially the bigger groups. An online group can also be a great way to connect in the virtual world and perhaps open up opportunities for more face-to-face interactions.
Don’t Be Afraid to Deschool for a Few Months
One of the greatest pieces of advice I was given when we first started homeschooling in 2014 was to take some time to “deschool.” Essentially, they were telling me to chill out and just be with my family for a few months.
Roadschooling is a transition, and like any transition, it will take you a little bit of time to adjust, even if you are already homeschooling.
When we went from public school to homeschool, we took about three months off. During that time, we were still learning, but we weren’t trying to replicate school or put together a lesson plan. It was very chill and incredibly nice to reconnect as a family and figure out this new path.
I did not follow this advice when we went from homeschooling to roadschooling, in 2016 and I should have. Things were really stressful in the beginning because I didn’t allow myself, or the kids, time to just be. It took about six weeks into the chaos before I realized what was happening and hit the brakes.
We spent the next couple of months exploring and approaching each day with no set expectations. Ultimately, that helped us decide what kind of roadschoolers we wanted to be.
Decide What Kind of Roadschooling Works for Your Family
Once you have an idea of your state laws and you take a deschooling break, you can begin to consider how your children learn and how you’d like to engage in education with them.
Here are a few common approaches families use, from full curriculum programs to online schools, unschooling, or something somewhere in the middle.
Curriculum-Based Learning
Curriculum-based learning is the closest to a public school classroom as you will get, and if that is what works best for your kids, there is plenty of curriculum out there to support your journey.
There are also several educational philosophies to consider, such as Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, and others. You can purchase curriculum that is whole-learning focused or based around a particular subject. It can be faith-based or secular, and you can choose between book form or online.
A few things to consider with curriculum-based learning:
How much space do you have in your RV? Is this a curriculum that will require receiving mailed materials several times a year, and if so, how will you handle that? If you go the online route, will you have a reliable internet connection on a regular basis?
There are a lot of benefits to having the lesson plan set for you. Just make sure it’s a curriculum that will work with your travel lifestyle.
Some school districts also allow you to use their curriculum from home, but again, you will be bound to their schedule, testing dates, and deadlines. In the early days of roadschooling, having the freedom to explore and move at your own pace is essential to success, and additional deadlines may leave you more stressed than you’d like to be.
Online Schools and Virtual Learning
One major change since this article was originally written is the growth of online school options. In 2018, online learning existed, but today there are far more choices for families who want a structured school experience without being tied to a physical classroom.
Online schools can range from tuition-free public virtual schools to private accredited programs, live online classes, self-paced courses, and hybrid options. Some are full-time schools with teachers, grades, attendance requirements, and transcripts. Others function more like curriculum support that parents manage at home.
For roadschooling families, online school can be a helpful middle ground. It may offer structure, accountability, and outside instruction while still allowing your family to travel. That can be especially helpful for high school students, kids who thrive with a set schedule, or parents who want more support with subjects like math, science, or writing.
But there are a few things to think through before choosing an online school. Will your child need to attend live classes at set times? How flexible is the school if you are changing time zones? Will you have reliable internet often enough to keep up? Is the program considered public school, private school, or homeschool under your state’s laws? And if your child is in high school, will the program provide transcripts or credits that transfer easily?
Programs like Connections Academy operate tuition-free online public school options in many states, while K12 offers a school finder for families looking for K12-powered public school options by state. Other private online schools and course-based programs may offer more flexible homeschool support. Availability, requirements, costs, and enrollment rules vary by state, so it is important to read the details carefully before committing.
Unschooling
Unschooling is the complete opposite of curriculum-based learning. With unschooling, or child-led learning, the educational world is driven by the interests of the child. There is no set schedule and no curriculum. Learning happens organically, and children engage in whatever subject piques their curiosity.
This can be a difficult philosophy to practice in the early days of roadschooling, especially if you are coming from a more formal school environment. However, this is where deschooling comes in handy, especially if you are unsure what educational style is going to work best for your kids.
That doesn’t mean you don’t encourage kids to take a look at subjects they may have no interest in. It’s anything but easy, as it requires you to focus your family’s entire existence on learning to make it work, but the rewards can be so great.
Somewhere in the Middle
This is that lovely place where all educational worlds try to find harmony, and if you prefer to leave the labels at home, then this may be your preferred option.
Basically, “somewhere in the middle” educators pull from everywhere and try everything, taking what works in one realm and adding it to another, creating an environment unique to your learner.
For us, this has been our guidepost. We have never followed one star, because each of our kids learns a little differently and so we have tried a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Flexible education has worked really well in our household, and now that my oldest just finished his freshman year of college, I am able to see how quickly he adapted to the different teaching styles and stayed flexible, even if he didn’t always agree with the teacher’s assessment of the material, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Roadschooling Gives Families Room to Learn Differently
Roadschooling gives families the chance to build an education around travel, curiosity, and real-world experiences. That might mean using a full curriculum, enrolling in an online school, following a child-led approach, or blending several homeschool styles together. The beauty of roadschooling is that it can shift as your family’s needs change.
Take a breath, take a moment, and remember that educating your kids is a slow burn, not a fast sprint to the finish line. Allow yourself the time you need to adjust and enjoy it.
If it feels frantic, stressful, and miserable, step back and evaluate as a family what isn’t working. If it’s going great, do nothing, because as any parent will tell you, the minute you point out how great things are, the entire operation falls apart.
Safe travels and happy learning!
