So you’re wanting to learn all the best ideas to make your homeschooling vacation a good experience? Well, look no further!
As a traveling homeschool mom, I’ve figured out some of the best ways to make homeschooling while traveling the most memorable, educational, and fun experience for the whole family. Let’s dive in!
1. Plan for the Trip before Leaving for Vacation
First and foremost, plan ahead before your vacation begins. Check out the local area for educational things to do. Think about ways to incorporate learning and fun. See if you need to buy tickets to the places you plan to go before leaving.
When we went to Sanibel Island, I was super bummed because I didn’t plan ahead, and the tour we wanted to take my son on was fully booked during our entire trip. Take lessons from me on what NOT to do!
2. Ditch the Books if Possible
I’m usually a Type A mom but as a traveling homeschool mom, I am super flexible with my son’s book lessons when we are traveling. If you have the option to ditch the books while on vacation, do it! Learning is everywhere and you could make homeschooling on vacation all about learning through experience, field trips, and fun!
3. Bring Less School Material
If you must bring schoolbooks, try to only bring the absolute minimum. Homeschoolers with textbook curriculums can copy just the pages needed while on vacation. (Don’t forget to copy the teacher’s manual section!)
This 8-Pocket Folder has 8 pockets and is a great way to stay organized by day or subject.
This will also help with how heavy suitcases are. Plus, you won’t have to worry about accidentally leaving the textbook on vacation.
4. Visit a Nature Preserve
Depending on where you’re vacationing, consider going to a nature preserve. There are so many wonderful things for kids to learn. Wildlife, flowers, and plants are important to learn about and nature preserves have all 3 and more!
Consider making a scavenger hunt of all the things that can be found at the nature preserve and see how many your homeschooler is able to cross off their list. This was a huge hit with my son!
Not only is this a fun, educational field trip for science class, but it is also a great form of exercise!
5. Look ahead at Curriculum
If you are using a textbook curriculum, check the lesson plans for the days you’ll be on vacation. Will you need any additional items? Bring them on vacation or skip those lessons until after vacation if it’s possible. For instance, in the picture above, I needed 5 pennies, 6 cotton balls, a clothes pin, and a glue stick. Those are common household items, but not while traveling. Pack them before you go.
6. Choose and Open and Go Curriculum
If you are going to be traveling frequently, an open and go curriculum (or no curriculum for our unschoolers) is a must! Open and go curriculums have all the necessary plans laid out so there is little to no planning to be done on the parent’s part.
The Good and the Beautiful is what we use for my son. It says word for word what to say to the child as you are teaching, and very few extra materials are required.
7. Visit Beaches
Beaches are a great source of education, plus it’s the highlight of most vacations! If your vacation will be at the beach, there are endless educational opportunities.
Write math problems in the sand, collect and count seashells, or build a sand castle. These exercises work on math and engineering.
If you love traveling to Florida beaches, check out this article for some fun ideas!
8. Climb Sand Dunes
When I was a kid, we used to vacation to Lake Michigan and they had some of the best sand dunes. We spent so much time climbing the sand dunes and it was a great form of exercise. Physical education – check!
9. Go to a Museum
Most vacations have at least 1 rainy day. We like to use these rainy days to do something indoor. Museums are an excellent way to get kids excited about learning.
Philadelphia has the Please Touch Museum which we haven’t tried yet but it looks amazing! Not all museums are science-related. There are all kinds of museums – trains, airplanes, art, life skills, history, puppets, dinosaurs, LEGO – take your pick!
10. Check out an Aquarium
Aquariums are great way to check science class off your homeschooler’s list.
11. Take a Historical Tour
Many cities offer a historical tour for tourists. On some recent vacations, we have learned about the Great Chicago Fire and Alcatraz. These tours are so entertaining, a great way to see the city, and educational.
12. Visit a Planetarium
Planetariums teach all about outer space, and really help bring science to life. Kids love to touch all the exhibits and play space games!
13. Focus on Fun more than Schoolwork
Why can’t it be both? If your kids just aren’t in the mood for school, drop the schoolwork and do something fun! In fact, I challenge you to drop all regular curriculum on vacation if possible. Learning doesn’t have to take place from a textbook.
14. Start the Day off at a Coffee Shop
Many older homeschoolers use online courses for their homeschooling curriculum. You could help the older child get the quiet time needed to finish a lesson by going to a coffee shop away from the other kids, and take advantage of the free WiFi!
15. Take a Boat Tour
Boat tours are so fun and educational! Look for dolphins, manatees, alligators, birds, lighthouses, tropical fish, and sharks.
Hear all about the area from the tour guide. Watch the sunset – t’s magical over the water.
16. Listen to Audiobooks
Some kids get car sick but audiobooks are a great alternative to a regular book. It’s a great time saver and we love it for travel!
17. Do Read Alouds at Bedtime
One of the best ways to develop a good vocabulary is by reading aloud to your kids. We love to do this at bedtime, but sometimes throughout the day as well.
Some of our favorites are Charlotte’s Web, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
18. Go on a Family Hike Trip
Most vacation destinations have hiking trails that help you get in some science and physical education. Look for opportunities to teach something new that isn’t local to your hometown. These are usually free and fun!
19. Journal about Vacation
I remember a multi-state trip I went on as a kid. My mom gave my sister and me a journal to write down all of our favorite memories from vacation.
This is an excellent way for kids to practice writing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plus, it’s a great keepsake memory.
The Ultimate Travel Journal For Kids is a great choice. Check it out!
20. Be Flexible
Just remember, you’re on vacation. Unless it’s an extended vacation, and you’re a traveling homeschooler like us, there’s really no reason to work very hard on traditional schoolwork during vacation.
Be flexible. That is the best part of homeschooling. We get to decide what our children learn and their schedules.
21. Check out a Cave
There are so many caves to visit. Learn all about stalactites and stalagmites! Some of them you can even swim in!
22. Go Gem Mining
This is my son’s absolute favorite thing to do on vacation. He loves learning about different gems and minerals. It feels like a treasure hunt!
23. Go Snorkeling
Snorkeling is a great opportunity for older children. When we went snorkeling in Mexico, I saw stingrays, tropical fish, coral reefs, and jellyfish. It was beautiful and amazing!
24. Play Board Games
Many vacation rentals offer board games to their guests. It is an excellent way to practice taking turns, counting, and colors. Some of our favorites include Candy Land, Trouble, and Operation.
25. Prioritize Life Skills
Not enough emphasis is placed on the importance of teaching life skills to our kids. Spend time cooking with them, do laundry, let them pump gas, and help them pack for vacation.
Cooking helps with reading and math, so it’s a great way to incorporate some education on vacation.
By the way, Thinking Tree has some amazing books to teach life skills! Life Skills Activity Book is my favorite. Here’s an article telling all about why homeschool parents are loving it!
26. Take a Writing Tablet
We bought our son a writing tablet recently and it’s been such a great addition to our travel homeschooling. He can practice his letters or math problems in the car. We don’t have to worry about him getting pen marks on anything, and there’s no mess to clean up after.
27. Use a Hotspot in the Car
Take advantage of travel time by using a hotspot in the car. This is such a time saver, especially for older kids with more schoolwork to do.
28. Take Advantage of Free WiFi
Many restaurants, coffee shops, airports, and businesses offer free WiFi. This is a great opportunity to squeeze in some schoolwork, especially if you’re just waiting to travel anyway.
29. Write Postcards to Family
Postcards are so fun to receive. Have your children practice writing and how to address a postcard to family at home. Grandparents will love receiving it too!
30. Eat Local Cuisine
Learning through experience is makes wonderful memories. Don’t just eat at chain restaurants on vacation. Branch out, especially if you are traveling internationally!
31. Visit a Zoo
The zoo options around us are not that great, but some zoos near tourist sites are amazing! Indianapolis, Denver, and San Diego all have great zoos! These would be great field trips on vacation if you’ll be near any exceptional zoos!
32. Ask Your Kids What They Want to Learn on Vacation
If you do nothing else, do this. Ask your kids what they want to learn! Kids respond so well when they are in charge of what they’re learning. If they don’t want to sit down and do a history lesson, but they want to learn about dinosaurs, take them to learn about dinosaurs!
It will make for a much more smooth vacation, I promise!
33. Watch a Documentary
The last time we went on vacation, we were all tired in the evening from being at the beach all day.
We had missed an alligator tour because it was fully booked, and we were kind of bummed. We didn’t let that stop us from learning. We turned on a YouTube documentary about alligators and all snuggled up. It was such a memorable – and educational – moment.
34. Visit a Historical Site
When my dad took us on vacation as kids, I remember going to see the house Thomas Edison grew up in.
That was 20 years ago, at least, but I still remember what it looked like. Had I read about it in a textbook, I would have no memory of it probably.
Is your vacation near a historical site you could visit? The Alamo, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Boston, Ellis Island, and so many more.
35. Consider Purchasing a Kindle
Books are heavy, but I still prefer holding a book over holding a Kindle. That being said, I read A LOT on vacation. Kindles are much less heavy to carry around than a stack of books. Kindles on vacation are an excellent option for a homeschooler.
36. Do the Hard Subjects First
Get the least favorite subject out of the way in the morning. Plan something fun to do afterward. Is that bribing? Maybe, but it works!
37. Save Some of the Schoolwork for Travel Times
Just because your homeschooler usually does 3 hours a day of schoolwork at home doesn’t mean they have to do that on vacation.
Maybe on the fun-packed days, they only do 1 hour in the morning. On the travel days, they can make up some of their schoolwork while nothing fun is going on.
38. Make a New School Supply Basket for Vacation
It’s fun to get new school supplies, or maybe I’m just a nerd! Make a new basket for the car. You could fill it with flashcards, new fun pens, stickers for completing lessons, and non-school-related things too!
39. Play “I Spy”
During travel time, you can play “I Spy.” Be creative.
“I spy something that starts with the letter T.”
“I spy something that is shaped like a diamond.”
40. Let Kids be the Travel Guide
Kids love to feel important to adults, and being a travel guide will definitely accomplish that! Ask them to help you navigate during car travel. They can choose the best route from point A to point B using a map or tell you when to turn using GPS!
Not only will this keep kids engaged, but they will be looking out the window sightseeing while helping! Navigating is a life skill that many kids don’t get to practice until their driving, unfortunately.
Conclusion
Have you ever been to a place that makes it seem like the only thing worth doing is exploring and learning? Me too!
We actually loved traveling so much that we decided to homeschool our son and homeschool on the road! Here’s how we did it!
When we explore new places, homeschooling on vacation can be a lot of fun.
The best part about homeschooling on vacation is that there are no rules. You don’t have to do all your lessons in one day or even at the same pace as other days.
There are so many cool things happening around us every single second—why not take advantage of those moments by incorporating them into our curriculum?
What are some of your best tips and fun ideas for homeschooling while traveling? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
