Where are the Homeschooling Materials?

As a classroom teacher, I always had so much “stuff” that I “needed” to teach.  So, when we decided we were going to home school our children while living in an RV, I had to re-look at what I really “needed” to teach – and then I had to figure out where to put it!

 

First, what did I absolutely need?  Books!  Although we got rid of a few English books, we kept the majority of our kids’ English books and purchased additional French and Arabic kids’ books so that the kids would have a lot of options for quality reading materials – both fiction and non-fiction.  Additionally, we purchased a Kindle Fire for our 2nd grader (the 5th grader already had one), so that he would have additional e-book options. 

 

We store pleasure reading books under one side of the dinette and in the three drawers in the boys’ room. 

 

Since we are homeschooling not only in English, but also in French & Arabic – languages that I am not a native speaker in, I felt it was very important to have curriculum books for this work.  This helps me make sure I cover all of the right grammar rules and keep the kids practicing skills like reading the directions and using important vocabulary. (In English, the kids mainly use materials that I make and sell in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.)  We keep these curriculum books in the boys’ “locker”, where they each have a shelf with their notebooks and textbooks.

Additionally, the boys have these white paper organizer totes that I picked up cheap at Target.  My husband screwed these down to their table and the boys keep their current pleasure reading books, their kindles, cameras, and headphones (as well as other random “kid stuff”) in these white totes.  After books, the next most important homeschooling supplies are office and art supplies like crayons, paint, scissors, pencils, etc.  We keep these supplies organized in ziploc bags, which fit nicely into this single drawer.  The drawer fits on the boys’ table in between their white book totes, and also provides them with a place to hold library books!

 

 

Rather than having a lot of manipulatives, we tend to use toys and games to help illustrate math concepts, and to allow our 3 year old to play with different concepts like taller and shorter or how many blocks long is that?  We also use a bunch of food supplies for math manipulatives – for ideas about this check out my blog post: Math Manipulatives from Your Kitchen. 

We keep the toys – wooden blocks, legos, soldiers, cars and marbles – in milk crates underneath our desk/table. 

 

We keep puzzles and games – pattern blocks, scrabble, perfection, and a variety of board games – underneath the other side of the dinette.

 

The last element of our home school supplies is technology.  As I already said, each of the big boys has their own kindle, which helps with reading, online research, watching their “listening videos” and the creation of some projects.  For projects that require a PC, the boys share a laptop (and sometimes use mine). 

 

Two random pieces of our organization process are: the boys laminated to-do lists, which hang on a bulletin board in their room, and the two kitchen timers that we use to set time limits on work – and play – time.

We are now officially finished with our first two months of homeschooling, and have really found the “swing of things”.  We have changed our organization over the past two months, putting the items that get used regularly in more accessible places.  Having these items organized makes the day go smoother and leads to more learning!  For more information about our home school schedule and our home school curriculum, check out this post from the beginning of the school year.

Our Stuff Has Arrived!!!!

In 2011, when we moved to Morocco, we sorted out, sold and gave away about half of our stuff, but still shipped 20 foot container to Morocco.  Coming back to the US, we knew we were moving into an RV and needed to downsize, so we started the process of sorting, selling and giving away again.  We took no furniture, almost no kitchen equipment and narrowed our clothing down to what would fit into the suitcases we were taking with us on the airplane.  However, it was still necessary to ship some things – one pallet.  Our pallet included 3 large boxes, 6 plastic totes and 2 suitcases, full of what was left of our “stuff”.  After all this paring down, what made the final cut?

 

Books – Although we got rid of quite a few books, knowing that each of the boys and I own a kindle and have a good supply of e-books, there were still so many great books in our possession – both from home and my classroom library that I always stacked with my own books - that we brought quite a few books – in English, Arabic and French, which will come in handy when we start homeschooling on Monday.

 

 

 

Toys, Games & Puzzles – Not all of the toys survived the cut, but the classics survived, including wooden blocks, train tracks, trucks, soldiers, wooden jigsaw puzzles, Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, etc.  However, the boys were most excited to see their roller skates!

 

 

 

Quality Kitchen Supplies – I used to sell Pampered Chef, so I had so many great kitchen supplies, and I cook – a lot!  I did sell some, but had to keep 3 different stones, my Mandolin slicer, my mixing bowls and of course – my can opener.  However, my favorite kitchen supply is my Kitchen Aid Mixer, which allows me to make bread and bake daily, without acting up my tendinitis.  As you can see from the picture, it’s already been put into use.

 

 

 

 

Blankets – Since most Moroccan homes do not have indoor heat, you can find the absolute BEST blankets in Morocco during the winter.  When it gets cold, we will be prepared and have no worries about the cold!

 

Memories & Holiday Materials – Scrapbooks, pictures, Christmas stockings and ornaments.  Those things that you don’t use or look at much, but are so hard to give up. 

 

 

While we were waiting for our stuff, we kept looking around and going – I hope we have enough storage.  Now that it’s arrived, we have found a home for everything and still have some storage space.  I’m amazed at how much this RV holds!  I am also amazed at how little stuff we “need”.  When you have a big house and a big garage, you think you need every little thing.  Then, so much of it sits around waiting for you to use it.  We have a lot less stuff now, but we use most everything in our “house”. 

 

Fixing the Refrigerator

So I fixed the generator, Yeahhhhh!  (Unfortunately, we later figured out there is still some sort of kink in the generator process, but I’ll save that for another post.) My next dilemma was the refrigerator. I thought that it was working when we bought the RV. Some RV fridges are 2 way fridges and others are 3 way fridges. What does that really mean? Well, 2 way fridges get power from a 12 volt source (your car battery) OR a 120 volt source(plugged into an electric socket).  3 way fridges will get power from a 12 volt source (your car battery), a 120 volt source (plugged into an electric socket) OR from your propane tank.

We quickly figured out that our fridge was a 3 way fridge, but it was not working. I knew it wasn’t cooling and the display on the door was not changing no matter what button I pushed (temperature, on/off, source). So I asked at the KOA campground in Amarillo, for recommendations of who to have look at it. Luckily, they had the number of someone who could come right out to the campground.  The guy showed up in the morning and within an hour, he told me that I need a new electronic board. He didn’t have one, and didn’t actually fix anything, but he was helpful in diagnosing the issue.  His fee was $125 dollars, what an expensive hour, but at least we knew what the issue was.

Since he did not have that part, he gave me the phone number of a guy that might have it. I spent all morning looking for the address and finally I got there, but that guy didn’t have it either, but he knew another guy who MIGHT have it.  Long story short, the third guy had the part and I got the card for $300, but chose not to pay another $90 for him to put it into place.  Instead, we hit the highway again toward Las Vegas.

Half hour on the US-40 West, I felt that the engine was getting weak and not getting enough power. Oooh no! “What a great adventure today is turning out to be!”- I said to myself. The motor home was running good, but now I was having more problems. I decided to pull over and check that out. So I stopped at a gas station, to let the engine cool down. My spouse starting cooking diner, because it was getting dark, but I started to work on the fridge. I replaced the card and voila, in about 5 minutes the fridge was working!  Saved myself $90, and made me the hero of the family, as we could now buy and store essentials – like butter, cheese and milk without worrying about things going bad or getting soaked in ice water from the cooler.  Way to turn a bad day into a good one!

 

An “Adventurous” Day

Today was one of those days that you just have to laugh at.  We woke up at a campground in Amarillo, TX.  Started out relatively simple – laundry, dishes and shower.  Packing up to start out for New Mexico, with our goal destination begin Gallup, NM.  The mister called a repairman to come out and take a look at the refrigerator that still wasn’t working.  Repair guy came a bit later than expected, but was a great guy, told us exactly what had to be done, for only $125.  Unfortunately he didn’t have the part, but he knew a guy that should.  Ok, cool, let’s go get it.

Directions to get to this guy turned out to be kinda tricky, went past it, but that’s okay, we found a Walmart and picked up some sandwich stuff because by now it was getting close to lunchtime and the natives were getting restless.  Also finally got that hose to dump the black tank (I’ll let the mister write a post about that nasty job later!)  Two more wrong turns later and we finally found the guy, but he didn’t have the part either, but he also knew a guy who should have it.  Luckily, the second guy’s place was easier to find and so we picked it up for a whopping $300.

Okay, got the part, the mister decided to put it in when we arrived at our destination, which we now revised to be Albuquerque, NM, since we were getting such a late start.  Head down the road and are barely into New Mexico when the engine starts giving us trouble – not pushing enough power, then slowing until the battery stopped.  Did this twice, the mister got it going again both times.  But the second time we called AAA before it got going again.  Luckily for AAA was still on the way, because a third incidence was soon on it’s way.

Now mind you, we were in the middle of two towns – one 15 miles back, the other 35 miles forward, there were no mechanics to call.  We did however see a gas station and thought – “Hey, they might be able to give us a jump before AAA arrives.”  So, we head off the highway – insert incident # 3.  However, we made it to the gas station, unfortunately there wasn’t really a gas station left – the building had burned down, it was just a pile of metal and rubble.  Oh well, let’s sit here to wait for AAA – oh and it’s getting close to dinner time, so why not cook something?  (This is why I LOVE having a motorhome, I have my whole kitchen with me wherever I go!)

So, the boys’ bikes were pulled down and they set to riding.  Grandma pulled out her lawn chair and sat outside with them, while I started making red beans and rice.  AAA showed up – of course the mister already had the engine turning over again by this point.  The AAA guy checked the battery – yep, it was fine.  He said that his suspicion was a fuel pump or a fuel filter, but that he thought we should be able to make it to Santa Rosa, no problem.  Unfortunately, while the AAA guy was there, the 3 year old decided to poop in his pants and the 6 year old fell on his bike and scraped up his knee – one of those classic mom wants to pull her hair out moments.

  After the AAA guy left, the mister set out to change the control board and yeah!!!  the fridge works!  Another couple pulled into the gas station thinking it was actually a gas station, and the sweet guy looked at it with the mister.  He suggested we check the air filter, so mister (who had just cleaned his hands) dug in there and sure enough – the air filter was full and filthy!  He also saw a hose that wasn’t connected right, so he fixed it.  While he was in there, he saw that there was a belt that looked rough and would probably need replacing soon. 

However, he figured his quick fixes would get it us to the next town at least, so as soon as we were done eating, we set off.  Wow!  It ran so much better, like nothing had ever happened!  So we were excited and ready to push on to Albuquerque or even Gallup.  The kiddos got tired, and I got them ready and settled in to bed, than sat down to chill with my husband, since my laptop battery was dead and I couldn’t do any work.  Suddenly, we heard a rattling sound under my seat – uh oh!  Pulled over at the next exit into a gas station to find that the kinda rough belt was now really rough – undrivable rough.  Time to call the mechanic!  The mister put in the call and he’ll be out in the morning.  For now, we are headed to bed in the parking lot, staying safe, somewhere between Santa Rosa and Albuquerque – chilling on Route 66.

Everyone is safe and sound in their own beds.  Luckily, we built in two extra days to our trip, just in case.  But, man what a day!!

Welcome to our RV (and our new blog!)

It’s official!  We bought our RV and have hit the road on our latest adventure – a grand tour of the USA, Canada, and wherever else the road leads us. First stop? Las Vegas!

We’re the Raki’s – previously from Journey to Morocco and still to be found at Raki’s Rad Resources, Raki’s Rad Language Resources and Traveling from a Kid’s Point of View.  After 3 years in Morocco, we decided to go in another direction.  We want more time with our kids, and more time enjoying our life, so we came back to the US two weeks ago and went in search of a motorhome.  Since I am attending the first ever Teachers Pay Teachers conference in Las Vegas on July 11th, we knew we had to find one quickly!  We started in our favorite marketplace – Craigslist!  Last year, we purchased a minivan from Craigslist and drove it around the US for a month on our summer vacation.  This year we wanted something bigger, and we’re going to be living in this one for much longer than a month!

Here is our RV:

 

We paid $4,000 for this RV.  It is a 30 foot long, 1990 Airex motorhome.  It needs some work – we’ve fixed brakes and generators and we need to get the fridge serviced, but for the price, you can’t beat it!  Now we have a home, and we can travel any time we want to – and do we want to!

Let’s take the grand tour of our new home:

Starting in the back - Here is the bedroom for our two older boys – aged 6 and 10.  Nice, comfy beds and plenty of storage for everybody’s clothes, toys and even some books.

 

While the bathroom is small, it does contain a toilet, sink, shower and additional storage!

 

 

Our fridge – and more storage!  Both hold a surprising amount, I have plenty of room for everything we need.

 

This dinette allows the boys to have breakfast or play a game while we are driving, and also doubles as our youngest son’s bed, AND the drawers underneath is the storage allotted to the boys’ homeschooling materials.

 

Across from the dinette is our kitchenette – functional stove, microwave and sink, plus storage for food and pots.

 

This sofa comes equipped with seatbelts to strap in our youngest son’s car seat, then it folds flat and provides a bed for my husband and I. 

 

 

 

We have additional seating across from the bed, as well as a small desk, perfect for school work or blogging on the go.

 

Of course, we also have to drive this thing, so here is where my husband and I sit while we’re on the road.

 

While we love our new home, the best part is that we also have access to the outside.  Popping up our awning and some lawn chairs and watching the kids take off on their bikes is best part of the day!

 

Thanks for taking a tour of our new home.  Please stop by and visit us again.  We will be posting about our adventures, recipes cooked on the road, and homeschooling lessons too!