What Is Road Schooling and How To Road School Your Kids

The travel lifestyle initially appealed to single people without families who could easily pack a bag overnight and embark on their next adventure.

However, recently more families are traveling together, with parents taking their children on trips. With most people embracing this travel lifestyle with their children, they have to find a way to educate or road school the kids while on the road.

Road Schooling makes it possible for traveling families to be able to travel and learn while on the go.

Selling our home and hitting the road in our RV has made it possible for our family to road school and explore every single U.S. state and all its territories as well while we are at it.

What Is Road Schooling?

1. Homeschooling while traveling by road
2. Curriculum adapts to destinations
3. Learning follows applicable homeschool laws
4. National parks can become classrooms
5. Flexible daily schedule

Road schooling is educating kids while on the road. Unlike homeschooling, road schooling involves learning while on the move.

Road schooling involves practical lessons for traveling families such as:

• Visiting museums, historic sites, monuments
• Exploring different places and learning about diverse cultures
• Seizing every opportunity as a learning curve
• Putting to practice all five senses to learn or relate to a theoretical lesson

Road schooling is in more ways similar to homeschooling, but instead of being in one place, you are constantly traveling, basically as travelling homeschoolers.

Families may also blend this approach with worldschooling, where travel destinations and real-world experiences become part of a child’s education.

Who is Road Schooling Ideal For?

If you are looking to get started with the travel lifestyle, how to educate your children is a major deciding factor. Every parent wants the best education available for their child.

While it can be perceived as a distraction to move your child from one place to another, it really isn’t. Children tend to adapt very well, and road schooling can also be the best thing for them.

Road schooling is for:

– Parents looking to create a travel lifestyle with their children.

– Parents yearning to give their children more than the ‘Classroom’ experience.

– Parents who understand they can incorporate education into their travel plans and do not necessarily need to give up their travel dreams in favor of education for their children.

– Parents who can work remotely or generate an income through travel to sustain their family needs.

– Parents who can effectively plan their schedule to include learning time.

– Parents who are ready to take up an educator role and be their children’s learning source.

– Parents who understand that curriculum extends beyond the classroom and books.

– Parents who seek to instill religious teachings in their children and are concerned about the usual school environment.

– Traveling families who are ready to show their children the world.

– Most of the things above can be pre-planned to allow for effective implementation. Before getting into road schooling, there’s a lot of preparation for both the kids and the parents.

How Do You Legally Road School?

1. Check the homeschool laws that apply to your family
2. Complete any required notice or registration
3. Keep the records required under applicable state law
4. Complete testing or evaluations if required
5. Recheck the rules when spending extended time in another state

The legal side of road schooling is based on homeschool law. There is no single federal homeschool rule that applies identically to every family in the United States. Homeschool requirements are largely determined at the state level.

This means families should not simply select a more lenient “home-base” state without considering which laws actually apply to them. Requirements can differ depending on legal residence, where the child is being educated, and how long the family stays in another state.

For current requirements, check the U.S. Department of Education’s state regulation resources and the Home School Legal Defense Association. If your situation is unclear, contact the appropriate state education authority or a qualified homeschool-law professional.

How To Homeschool Your Kids On The Road

a.k.a. Road School

Before getting your kids started on road schooling, it’s important to understand the laws guiding homeschooling in your state.

Because homeschool requirements differ by state, check the rules that actually apply to your family instead of assuming you can simply choose a more lenient state as your home base. Extended stays in another state may also require additional research.

Some of the general state guidelines you will be looking into are:

1. Laws on how to withdraw your child from school
2. Compulsory subjects, testing, and requirements
3. Homeschooling resources and curriculum
4. Special education provisions for each state
5. Public school access for homeschoolers, especially on extracurricular activities
6. Homeschooling options available in your state
7. Record-keeping requirements and end-of-year assessments

To get accurate information on homeschooling requirements, you can visit or contact the Home School Legal Defense Association.  Besides state regulations, there are available resources online for homeschoolers.

Sites such as Time4Learning provide educational material that can be accessed on the web. In addition to online resources, parents can make use of libraries in places they visit to supplement their books and other resources.

As exciting as it sounds, road schooling is reliant on the parent as the teacher. As a parent, you will be 100% involved and also responsible for educating your child.

For parents already doing homeschool for their kids, the transition to road schooling is easy. However, first-time road schooling parents need to be prepared beforehand.

Road Schooling Steps

The key steps to getting ready as a road school parent are:

1. Connect with other homeschool parents

A conversation with parents who road school their kids is resourceful in answering some of the questions you may have.

From their experience, you can draw the pros and cons of road schooling, get a picture of the process, have an insight into the dos and don’ts.

This also helps you decide if road schooling is ideal for your family and how you can customize your schedule to balance education and travel.

You can connect with homeschooling parents on social media, through local organizations, and advocacy groups such as the Home School Legal Defense Association.

2. Understand the homeschool laws that apply to your family

Start by checking the requirements connected to your legal residence, including notification, required subjects, testing, evaluation, and recordkeeping rules. If you spend an extended period in another state, check whether that state has additional requirements that may apply.

The main areas to review are:

• Notice or registration requirements
• Required subjects or instruction
• Testing or evaluation rules
• Recordkeeping requirements
• Access to public-school programs or extracurricular activities

Because homeschool laws can change, verify current requirements with the appropriate state authority before relying on older information.

3. Research and identify different learning techniques appropriate to your needs

Different learning techniques apply to each child at every learning stage. Techniques available include books, web services & online libraries, apprenticeship, and one-on-one coaching.

Identify a teaching technique that works for both you and your kids at each educational stage.

4. Find a curriculum for your child

Most of the curriculum information is available online. Some curricula are free while others are paid.

To find your child’s curricula, you can check out my post about “How To Choose The Right Curriculum For Your Child” as well as visit sites such as Khan Academy & Curriki.

These two provide a free curriculum for all classes. If you are looking for reviews on homeschooling material, Cathy Duffy is a great site to check out reviews on different material.

5. Create a learning schedule or study plan as per your travel plans

While on the road, it’s easy to skip a study time or two depending on several factors.

As you plan your travel, allocate study time that’s sort of a routine to make it easy to adapt to.

You can also use the places you visit to reinforce subjects already being studied. A national park can support science and geography, a historic site can bring history lessons to life, and everyday activities such as budgeting for groceries or fuel can become practical math lessons.

It’s up to the parent to be keen and seize the learning opportunities throughout the travels. For instance, a stopover at a local coffee shop for a snack can be converted into a learning moment by going over the history of the town, its people, culture, and traditions.

You also want to make sure, for web-based classes, you have made provisions for the internet throughout your travel.

6. Find a way to celebrate or award achievements for every milestone

Road schooling can be flexible in the sense that the kids are not aware when they advance to the next stage of their education.

As a parent and tutor, you need to come up with a way to celebrate achievements and milestones for your child. This can be by displaying their artwork, celebrating their wins when they finally understand Algebra, or graduating from an internship or apprentice opportunity.

It is also important to keep records of each advancement stage, as these are necessary when applying for college.

Keep any academic records required under the homeschool laws that apply to your family. For older children, organized records can also help when preparing transcripts or documenting coursework for college applications.

Curious about how we do it? Here is exactly how we Roadschool / Homeschool / Worldschool,l as what we really do is a mix of everything.

If you are comparing different travel-based education styles, also read What Is Worldschooling? and The Real Cost of Worldschooling.

My Top Pro Tips for Road Schooling

1. When deciding on a curriculum for your child, identify your child’s learning technique, i.e., if Visual, auditory, or Kinesthetic. You can have your child take simple quizzes available online to determine their learning preference.
   
2. Find a literature-guided curriculum, get the teacher’s guide, and find the books from local libraries.
   
3. Join social network communities for road schooling parents and gain access to resources, tips, and genuine reviews on everything road schooling.

Frequently Asked Questions About Road Schooling

Bottom Line on Roadschooling

You don’t have to interrupt your kids’ education to travel. You don’t have to wait to travel only during the school break.

Road schooling is effective and a great way for your children to learn life skills while gaining formal education.