School on the Road

The thought of driving across America in an RV is probably the most romanticized homeschooling dream ever invented. While we have never even come close to trying it, we have attempted on various occasions to do school on short trips in the car. You might think, "Aren't we lucky? Public school kids never get to do THIS!" (Check that rationale --- homeschool kids are actually taking their work with them on vacation. How is that a good deal?) So, it's understandable that J has a fairly large aversion to school in the car. And I think these are the reasons why:


1. School work is not any easier on a road trip than it is at home. It's more difficult to write, reading might actually make a child queasy, and thinking mathematically is impossible when there are snowy hillsides to gaze at mile after mile.


2. School work in the car is typically busywork. They can't fully engage in a project in the car so I tend to resort to bringing along more workbook oriented activities. Truthfully, I don't know if they necessarily learn anything from them; they just complete them. If they don't like them at home, why would work pages be more appealing on a road trip?



3. I can't learn alongside them. In fact my body begins to hurt from turning around to offer help so many times. This frustrates them as much as it frustrates me. If I'm not helping, then I'm sitting in the front seat reading my own book while my son sits behind me figuring out how President Harrison helped the country to thrive. It doesn't seem like a great deal to a kid.

What do you see as the cons of school on the road?