Homeschooling by substitute teacher, traveling teacher,

[Julie in MN]

As most of you know my youngest and I are going to Denver for two weeks to National Jewish. Grandma is going to homeschool. She is a retired librarian. I know MFW is easy but does anyone have any ideas how to ease grandma into homeschooling. She is anxiety ridden about everything so I would like to help her as much as I can to be ready. My wife and her sisters were in public school so she has no homeschooling experience.

I have already shown her the teaching manual and I am planing when she arrives a day or two before we leave to show her were all the material is. I plan on having each day outlined as well as what is in the book. But any other suggestions would be helpful.

Thank you

Hi Mike,
I already typed up a few things that I did set up last year for my ds to do independently, and some of that time was while grandma was here. In the last paragraph, I think, I mention that one of the lists I made was for things ds could do if someone else was available to help (such as grandma):
viewtopic.php?t=4648

My mil especially enjoyed doing the Bible readings with ds. She liked having my list of Bible assignments, and then she often said, "I told Reid that we didn't have to stop there!"

Another thing that she appreciated was having an idea of my expectations -- how little I would be okay with, and the fact that ds's school day could be over at a certain time each day even if the work wasn't done. Then she knew when to put her foot down and when to let it go. You probably already realize this, but -- don't forget that the kids at home are also going thru some stress while their parents are gone & loved ones are ill. I think keeping up some structure helps, but expecting high achievement can of course be put off for a while.

And finally, I made sure to let her know that she could add to the curriculum anything she wanted to call "educational." For "art," she helped ds choose colors & repaint his room. She also freely added phy ed, cooking, and cleaning :o)

In past years, I've also had other family members really enjoy teaching a class to ds, such as science. And some prefer to create their own "class." Your mil might enjoy some of these types of things:
* A downtown field trip with my sister when she visits every fall.
* Gardening with my other sister.
* A "fun day" with his Godmother.
* Fishing with his Godfather.
* Hot lunch with dad.

A couple other stray things that helped:
* I made a big pile of videos and games that I considered "educational."
* I arranged with other co-op families to pick ds up and bring him on a field trip or to a co-op class.

Best wishes on your trip,
Julie

[sarajoy]

My mother took over for me for 2weeks this past October while my dh had surgery. I gave her my general topics and she went her own ways with it. She didn't feel comfortable teaching the MFW1 manual, so I didn't sweat it too much.

She spent time on some of the "extras" I don't always get to with the energy I'd like to. She role played safety situations, drilled them on their address and phone number. She worked with them extra in drawing, as that is a strength of hers. She helped with seed collecting and nature walks and other various science topics. She kept them busy and she read to them. At the time that was enough for me. They were learning to cope with life in so many ways that couldn't be learned from a book.

When things got back to normal we picked back up where we left off. At first, that was a little tricky, but I account that to the stress of dh's surgery more than anything else.

Maybe that will help.

Blessings,
SJ

[Poohbee]

On a couple of different days this year, I had some conflicts. My mom taught one day, and my dh taught one day. I just tried to keep it simple, and I didn't expect them to do everything that we usually do.

I did want my dd to get her reading and math lessons each day. I also wanted her to practice her Bible verses, and I asked my "substitute" teachers to read aloud to her. Other than that, I let the "subs" plan other things they wanted to do, such as arts and crafts.

I love some of the other suggestions given on this thread, too... making some educational movies or computer games available, etc. I would say, just keep it simple, and let your dd and grandma enjoy their time together. That is very valuable, too!

[Cyndi (AZ)]

Hi Mike -- How much is Julia "schedule driven?" Is she going to be upset if things are done differently than she is used to? When I went through a bought of illness myself, I had to give my dd a lot of gentle reminders that Daddy or Gramma or Papa may not do things just like Mommy, but it doesn't mean that it's "wrong." I had to get her to appreciate that they were helping so that Mommy could rest and get well. One can only listen to "THAT'S NOT HOW MOMMY DOES IT!" so many times. If it were me and my dd, I would thoroughly explain that she is going to special school with Gramma for two weeks, so that she would have no expectation for things to be the same. And trust me, with my mama, things would not be the same! If it's important for your dd to have things run on the same schedule and flow, I'd do what the other ladies have suggested and build a grid of things that should be accomplished each day, and write down how long each subject should take so they don't get hung up on any one thing. And I'll tell you what my dh tells me --- RELAX, she's going to be fine. :-)

[Julie in MN]

Have any of you ever taught on the road while traveling? We are planning on doing this in the future. Looking for any tips that I can get.

Mary Lou

Mary Lou,
Are you talking about a travel lifestyle, like I've read about, who travel the country... or the world?

Or are you talking about taking a 2-week vacation or something along those lines?

I've done #2, spending 2-3 weeks with my parents in another state. I will say that we never do as much school as I planned, and I never plan to do it all, but there are also good experiences on a trip that can be "school" in themselves.

I'm sure for #1, if you traveled as a lifestyle, you'd get into a daily pattern.

Technically it is vacation BUT because we are behind and because we have many hours on the train (30 to be exact) each way, it seems logical that we would do school.

Well, this is just my method. Hopefully you'll get others!

I definitely bring the math. Singapore was very portable. If we have a bigger textbook (like geometry for high school), then for just a week, I am likely to zerox the math text pages, and if it's longer then I am likely to bring the whole text.

I try to bring along materials for Bible and History. This year, I put the Bible chapters on my son's ipod from an audio version, and I just had him write (type) a few sentences each day on what he had read. I try to get a sense of the main focus in history, so I don't have to bring our entire shelf of books. I also keep an eye out for things that really need to be daily, rather than squished together before or after the trip -- the whole learning will be gone if I try to get my son to do too much at once in some areas, so those are good things to keep up with on the trip. I find good breaking points for other materials, to finish we go or after we come back. This takes a lot of words to explain but really doesn't take me long to figure out, since everything's already on the grid.

For other things (science, music, art, reading, book basket, read-aloud, writing, spelling, foreign language): I try to bring along more portable materials, like a book or video for science, or a CD program to listen to from the library in the foreign language. I figure we'll end up skipping some of these subjects altogether, or sometimes I'll find it easy to sub them by doing something in the area we are visiting (a zoo for science, an art museum for art). When my kids were public schooled, they were assigned to create a trip journal to make up for their missed school (that was it!) -- something like that can take care of writing, maybe spelling, and even some history.

Hope that helps & isn't too convoluted. My son has taken many trips & had many interruptions over the years, and for me I just need to sit and stare at the grids for a bit to get a sense of what i want to do.
Julie

[Cyndi (AZ)]

I've schooled on the road when my dh worked out of state and we traveled back and forth with him sometimes. I had a separate carry-on size suitcase and even took library books. I packed everything very securely, using socks or a blanket to cushion as needed. I recommend copying the grid for the weeks you need (check copyright rules) and make notes on them. Leave your TM safely at home. Trust me. Singapore is so easy to take along. Forget manipulatives - you can use your fingers. PLL and ILL are small - I took peechees instead of binders and then filed papers in the binder later. Of course, dd took her own Bible. I copied pages from SP for what we would need (I don't even know if that's ok, but that's what I did). Take along the colored pencils, several school pencils and a sharpener in a box and at least one good notepad.

You could do things much simpler, I'm sure - but that's my story. We needed to do that because we were definitely travelling a LOT during the school year. If it was a 2-week vacation, I would spend the time playing games and having fun and being a family and forgetting about school. I get way too serious at times and have to be reminded to chill out and enjoy the moment. Just thought I'd throw that out there, too.

[Julie in MN]

I am using MFW K and MFW 1st grade. We are traveling to see family and I need any advice on getting school done while we are gone. What to take with us, ect.

We will be gone for a little over a week. However, I am only planning on three or maybe four days of school.
Thanks,
Amanda

Most of our trips have been for longer times. Usually what works best for me is to mostly pack independent work, rather than things I mostly "teach." So reading a chapter a day works, short-answer questions, CDs or DVDs related to our studies, and maybe math. Some things can be loaded onto an MP3 or something (Rosetta Stone audio companion, audiobooks from the library). If there are lots of books in one subject, I usually try to choose the most important one currently.

What I *don't* bring are things that could get lost or wrecked (timeline, mapping, notebooking pages), things that require a lot of accessories (science projects, art), or things I really care about and want to discuss/delve into.

For short trips, we usually just set school aside and spend time together. I have never taught K/1, myself. But when my kids were in public school, we visited relatives quite regularly and on long trips, teachers usually assigned a travel journal. That covers English and social studies at least, sometimes even art (my dd) or math (my ds & his little trip budget)

Julie

[cbollin]

For short trips, we usually just set school aside and spend time together.

yep. gotta agree here.... even if you need to legally count a few days... . it's planned ahead and field trip learning....

for k/1st... take along some books.. books on audio in the van can be fun for some children. favorite bed time stories. Now you got reading done.
do some sightseeing.... as a family (call it field trips if you want)

print out some google maps or get a road atlas - let them follow the exit numbers, or mile markers... now you've done "math and social studies"

if you by any chance happen to be traveling on US 63 and will be near the border of Missouri and Arkansas, you have to stop at the "welcome center" on US 63 at the junction of Route 9 in Mammoth Springs. Walk around that lake and look at that! It's the 2nd largest spring in the Ozarks mountains! The waterfowl there are "tame".... beautiful! was just there today... I'm just so glad a friend of mine suggested that instead of stopping at mcdonald's for potty break.

enjoy the trip... look for stuff like that and do visitor tourist things.... it's school and learning time...

I'd leave worksheets and curriculum at home and "unschool with field trips" for those few days.... and yes, it counts. I'm not being silly on the maps and all of that... for 1st and Kindy, that counts.

the only workbooks - stuff that would be fun for them on the car ride/plane ride.

then pray together and sing together.... and it doesn't have to be classical music either!

I have different experiences for high school level on this...... my oldest takes all of her stuff to grandma's house for a week and thinks it fun to do school at grandma's. (that's when she travels to grandma's without the rest of us for special birthday visit....)

for weekend car trips.... oldest likes to take "fun book" to read, and maybe something from mfw that she is otherwise not getting around to

-crystal

[Cyndi (AZ)]

Is a particular time of day that you're trying to fill? Or do you want to keep up on skills? Do you need something to keep them busy on the car or airplane? Or are you trying to finish the year by a certain date?

I have different opinions based on those, too.

Yes, I am trying to fill a few mornings until lunch time. My husband is going to a conference for school. While he is gone the dc and I will be staying with my parents. Both my parents work in the mornings and I want to fill that time so the dc arent just watching tv the whole time. I also don't want to be finishing school too much into the summer. We had a lot of trips that we took off and some sickness this year. FYI, where I live I don't have any reporting until 8 yrs old. So that isn't hanging over me.

I totally understand. We did that while staying at my dh's parents for a week during ADV. School actually worked a little better there than at home - except for science. I wouldn't bother with any science experiments. That's more mess and hassle than you need to deal with.

If you're not breaking the copywrite laws, I would copy off the pages you need from the TM. I'm not sure how that works in the new TM's. I actually damaged my ADV TM pretty badly when I took it along on our trip. Take along the file folders (or however you separate the student sheets now) for a week. I would even take the Bible Notebook and Reader if it's convenient. Pack some neat story books. You'll need writing pencils and a small assortment of colored pencils. Your parents are going to have printer paper, tape and scissors, I would imagine.

I really wouldn't take too much for Kindy. You can go over those topics pretty well without too many materials. Keep it bare minimum and don't worry about the letters or blocks or anything. Take some fun toys that the K'er can play with if they don't sit in on all of 1st.

I think it'll be really doable for you. Just keep it simple and know ahead of time that you're not going to do everything.

eta: Have a designated place that you keep your "school stuff" while you're there. Take it out, work on it, then put it away in a box or suitcase.

[cbollin]

in that case....

for kindy:
*take the worksheets you need for Kindy. focus on "staying on course" with phonics. You know the routines by know with phonics letters.
*do not worry about math. repeat... practice setting the table for grandma and count things and do laundry.
*copy the few 2 pages from the kindy manual that you need for some of the badges, activities then destroy the copies when you're done.

*see if grandma has a library card.

1st:
depending where you are in the program..... you might not need more than a handwriting sheet, Bible reader and notebook.
take complete book of math - do a few pages... again.. at this age, if they don't complete the book, it's ok..... the focus is not to finish the entire stuff there...
(i say that because you don't want to do school in summer)

go ahead and repeat some favorite science - or if you are in the last part of the year..... do it all as nature walks. What is growing at grandma's? What is in her parks?

Honestly? I'd still favor in terms of playing at parks in grandma's city. Library a little. visit some stuff. do a lot of nature walks in new city and call that science.

take enough with you to stay on track with phonics/language arts. all the rest is Kindy and 1st grade and if you don't finish, it's ok! I don't know how your children travel in terms of energy levels and all of that... but if they need the first two days to do nothing, it's ok.

Can you work ahead in the program for a few days before you travel so you aren't behind from other stuff this year?

to spark your thinking a bit.... what if this trip were happening and you were already done with K and 1st? what would you do during the morning with them? that's what you take with you and do. Art work can become play dough and markers at grandma's. Play some new games.....

I've done it a variety of ways - including having to take a lot of speech therapy stuff for some children...

safe travels to you.

[afelton]

Thanks so much for your advice. There is nothing better than advice from those who have been/are there.