#4 WHAT ABOUT SCHOOL?

Tonight I made the decision to pull Alex out of school a little earlier than we had planned. He hasn't been excited about school as he has in the past & I figure that having a couple of weeks of "Mom School" at home before we truly hit the road will be good.  We have to be serious about school and set Alex up for success with a good routine. (Wake up, breakfast, school, lunch, adventuring, and nightly reading.) He will have a 5 days on and 2 days off schedule, and I will need some time to plan each week.

I have my K-8 teaching certificate for Washington State & am familiar with where he is headed in the next few years (as I used to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade). I learned that since he is not yet 8, we are able to withdraw him from school and simply re-enroll him in the fall. That makes it all easy.

Really, so many things are coming together right now. I truly believe the Universe has our back.

As we study on our trip, the kids will read about Arizona's Saguaro Cacti and then actually be able to see one in real life.  My goal is to help the kids make connections to and between all they are learning. I want them to continue to develop their love of the natural world and continue to be stewards of the earth. We sure need people to fight for Mother Earth more than ever! I also want us to participate in some type of volunteer project. And my biggest goal is to help get Alex excited about school again. I think he is much like I am... what I am learning must be meaningful to me, or I will not be invested. So, the kids are going to help plan our trip all along the way. Helping to choose the routes, camp areas, places we we visit, and activities as well. They will calculate money spent, miles traveled, and journal. I want to make their learning real-world vs textbook.
 

I went through our family library and have chosen a few books the kids have not yet read to take with us.


 



Today I spent a few hours on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website, researching the learning standards and guidelines for 2nd grade. This week, I will print them out & will plan out Alex's studies. It's been a few years since I have taught in the classroom & I am looking forward to the one-on-one class time with him each day. During our official school times, he will work on reading, writing, and math.  Social studies and science, will be tied in... and we all know he is going to soak up this travel and all we experience like a sponge.

Sierra is an emergent reader & I wouldn't be surprised if she is independently reading by this summer.  While Alex is working in "Mom School" each day, Sierra and Steve will be reading together and working on her writing (she loves to write and draw). Below is a self-portrait she drew a few months ago. She even signed it, "CC". And I love that she included Sonja, her best friend, in it too... Sonja is the tiny stick person standing next to her. We immediately framed this artwork and have it hanging in our family room ♡

Alex told Sierra that preschool is like "daycare". So, when she learned that Alex will be out of school this week, Sierra was not happy. She really does love preschool though & her teachers are amazing, plus she gets to see one of her best friends four times a week... who wouldn't love that?

We will miss our friends here when we travel, but know we will make new friends too! ♡