The cute kid in the pic above isn't mine. I try to keep my kiddo anonymous on my blog, for privacy reasons. Thanks Pixabay, for the public domain pic!
We just went through a move, so I really appreciated the great tips on how to homeschool during a move I just read over at the Homeschool Review Crew. Our homeschooling just sort of fizzled out during the move, and it took us so long to get back into the swing of things again afterwards. I could have benefited from a few of those tips.
I do have three extra tips she didn't mention--mostly in the "don't make these mistakes I did" category.
Carry Curriculum On You
Pack the most important curriculum in a bag or box you take with you (not in the big moving van...but in the bags that go with you in the car if you're driving, or what you carry with you on the plane. If you can't take everything on your person, take the essential subjects (reading, writing, math)...the things you do every day and that your child will struggle with most if there's a gap in your daily practice. I was glad for the materials I did pack, because it made it easier to start on those subjects when we got to our destination.
Clearly Mark Homeschool Stuff
AND Communicate With Your Packers/Movers
If you're like our family, not all your homeschooling materials will be able to fit in a carry on (or even in the trunk of your car). I wasn't able to take history with me on the plane because I just have too many books to carry through an airport. I thought I was being smart by putting them in clear plastic containers that I could easily find. But the company that packed us, I didn't realized, would just stack the plastic containers in their own larger boxes...making it NOT easier to find. But what's worse, the specific large plastic container with my history books was, I gather, too heavy. I didn't see them pack it because I was in another room, but they moved all the books into other boxes and put some lighter toys and other things in that plastic box. So, it took me a while to find my history materials. I wish I had talked to the movers ahead of time about those materials so they wouldn't have done that OR at least I would have been able to more clearly mark the boxes they moved those materials into (they were marked "books" but I have so many books that wasn't very helpful, and it was a while before we were able to find all the materials to start history).
Print Out Stuff Beforehand
I also thought the printable stuff would be safe in the move...you know, because it was on the computer, which surely would get set up immediately by my techie husband. NOPE. An essential cable got lost in the move. And, getting THIS computer, it turns out, up and running was not such a high priority as I thought for him. He had his work laptop, and he figured out how to get the video games and netflix hooked up with just our monitor, which is the main thing he uses our main computer for...so I was without those files for weeks! I really should have printed off a few weeks of work beforehand, and carried that with me on the plane with the other curriculum I brought. I mean, it's lucky that it wasn't the whole computer that was lost or broken.. At very least I should have kept a back up of important printables (and irreplaceable things like photos) on a flash drive that went with me. Next time I will!
So, that's what I learned "by experience." How was your last move?
Shared on Friday Funnies, Flops and Fails and Homeschool Review Crew Link-Up
These are great ideas, especially taking the curriculum with you in the car!
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