The One Thing We Always Do...

Pin It

Homeschool in a Minivan...Part 4

After many months of crazy travel life is settling down to a normal pace for our boys...

• Lunch at noon 
• naps at 12:30
• playing in the back yard
• trips to the library
• having all of their toys in the same house!

Reading books on the coffee table!

A few days off the deputation trail really showed me how much of a strain the last few months had taken on their little schedule oriented selves.  As adults we often discuss the stresses that come with living out of a suitcase, always being in unfamiliar surroundings, and not having enough space for our stuff; however, our boys have no way to express those feelings of frustration that arise from time to time.  I remember pulling out of the driveway on our latest journey with the van and car top carrier packed to the hilt and hearing our three year old's concerned voice cry out because he thought we had left his toy trains behind!  I gently reassured him (about 12 times) that we had "everything"...or at least we had the trains.

Yelling something, yet holding on to that train!

The first few days here were spent reacquainting themselves with their old toys and books, blankets, stuffed animals, and every nook and cranny of Grandma's house.  If you asked my older son he would tell you that this is his home and Grandma just happens to live here too!

Our schedule is hardly ever "normal" or consistent while on the road and that makes for confused, cranky children who seem to spend their life reliving the same training sessions over and over every place we go.  Imagine all of the things you've trained your children to do at home.  Now imagine suddenly moving in with your extended family, or a furnished apartment for a few weeks, or a hotel where jumping on the bed is allowed?  For a two and three year old, we don't expect them to remember everything, but there is one thing we always do (or strive to do)...

We try to consistently have Bible time with them on a daily basis.  We don't want our children to grow up thinking that the only time you read God's Word is during a church service.  Our boys love Bible time with Daddy at night.  Just yesterday, our three year old fell asleep on the couch, and when my husband carried him up to bed he asked to read the Bible first.  Of course, he was long gone before his head reached the pillow, but it was sweet to see that he desired to learn more about God.

Reading their story Bible with Daddy.

For the month of December we have been meeting together in the morning to read verses and color ornaments for our Jesse Tree.  I found some great material online here and here.  We've found it works best right after breakfast when everyone is happy and seated around the table.  If not in the morning, then right after dinner is our second choice.  Our sons may not remember all of the moving around and church visits in a few years; but our three year old is already learning trace the story of redemption from Creation to the Cross, and that is something that can forever change his life.

We may not live an exciting life sitting in our minivan traveling up and down the highways, but we serve an exciting God, and we want our children to know Him, and love Him above all!

10 days of Homeschool in a Minivan

Pin It

Part 2 - Organization for a certified pack rat!

            My organizational mantra has become, “Everything is not worth keeping.”  This is just one phrase that runs through my mind whenever I am faced with organizing our belongings.  There are also other phrases like, “I may need this someday,” “I could definitely make a craft from these”, “Maybe I should save this for…”  These are not necessarily bad thoughts, but they tend to lead to unnecessary hoarding!  I find that if I don’t keep my curriculum and supplies organized I tend to accumulate more than I need just because I don’t know what I have.  After staying in one apartment for five months I gathered all of the bits and pieces together and decided to get organized.

            In one file box I have a set of hanging file folders labeled from A to Z so that I can quickly find the necessary materials needed for each week from the “Letter of the Week” curriculum.  I also have a set of weekly file folders labeled from 1 to 40 for the pages from our A Beka Book 3 year old Nursery curriculum.  Carrying the books around became burdensome as I had them stored in one place and was continually pulling them out of storage to tear out pages.  After one such moment of frustration I tore out the remaining pages and collated them (like any good teacher does…before school begins) and organized them into their respective folders.  Now when I need the materials they are ready at a moment’s notice.  The other file box that I have is used to store some extra workbooks and smaller Tupperware containers of manipulatives.

            The file boxes are great for keeping our curriculum organized, but since they are perfectly boxed shaped; my husband loves to use them for filling in gaps when packing the car.  This produces a dilemma on long trips because we don’t always unpack everything during our stops and I definitely do not want to repack the car just to get to one worksheet!  My solution thus far has been 3-ringed binders with page protectors and folders.   I plan out how much work we need, then load up the binders and slip them into our “school only” backpack.  The backpack contains binders for the boys, a supply box with the basics, a pencil bag with dry erase markers and an eraser, and several small dollar store workbooks to keep little hands busy during non-school times, like during church services when no nursery is provided.

            Two smaller containers (about half the size of the file boxes) contain my teacher supplies.  One is filled with flashcards and manipulatives like magnets, and laminated visuals.  The other container is filled with arts and craft supplies for our various projects.  These four containers have helped me stay organized as we travel.  They have also helped me control my desire to accumulate little things along the way, because if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit!  Therefore "Everything is not worth keeping!  And what you do keep must meet your needs."

Next up...Part 3 - What to Do with Two Under Four 

Visit us on facebook!

10 days of Homeschool in a Minivan...

Pin It

Part 1 - Decluttering for Life on the Road

freedigitalphotos.net

Over the years, the teacher in me has learned that hoarding is dangerous!  What begins as, “Let me keep this because, I might need it someday…” quickly spirals downward into a storage shed full of unorganized junk!  There is no sense in keeping things if you cannot find them when you need them.  Now, as a stay-at-home mom I must constantly remind myself that I do not need twenty-five sets of anything, that everything does not need to be laminated, and that storage space is limited and precious.  In other words, I am constantly purging our hoard of homeschool resources (while simultaneously dreaming about what my school room would look like if it were the size of a double wide trailer!)

              Since we are traveling on deputation right now our storage space for school supplies is severely limited.  My husband does a great job of pulling me away from the teacher and office supply aisles on a regular basis before I lose all self-control and come home with more things than we need!  When everything must fit into the minivan for a long trip every corner becomes a piece of prime real estate, thus making my dreams of hauling around a 3 foot dry erase board a little impractical.  So after much thought (and window shopping in the office supply store) I developed a storage plan that works for us.

Storage necessities

            Right now we are still in the preschool stage of homeschooling so many of my resources come in the form of printable worksheets found on the internet.  For instance, with my oldest son I have been using various “Letter of the Week” curriculum found online here and here to provide him with hands-on activities.  I also use the A Beka Book preschool curriculum.  In order to keep everything organized I use plastic file boxes, 3-ring binders, page protectors, and my laptop.  I also have a “school only” backpack with smaller items stored inside.

Stay tuned for...

Part 2 - Organization for a natural born packrat!