RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Education on the Road: Essential Tips for Road Schooling
Part 2 of 2 Homeschooling Episodes, I (Patti Hunt) talk with Nicole Schroeder, a seasoned road schooling mom and co-owner of Full Time Families. We discuss the unique challenges and rewards of homeschooling while living the RV lifestyle. Nicole shares her family's journey from traditional schooling to road schooling, offering practical tips and insights for families considering this educational path.
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What are the best practices for homeschooling while living the RV life? I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. When I got on the road over three years ago, all of my kids were all grown up. They had all gone through the traditional school setting and I was a teacher in a traditional school setting for over 20 years. But having been on the road and having taught and having helped raise five kids, I know that there are other options for educating our children. Today's guest will provide tips to help you decide if homeschooling or road schooling as it's called is for you and how, if you're looking to road school, how to make that a little easier. My guest today is the expert and I can't wait to hear from her Now. This episode is part two of our homeschooling series. On September 4th, episode number 97, Jacob Gooding, who had been homeschooled for 11 years and now has a podcast called Ex-Homeschoolers Club, was on talking about what it was like to be homeschooled for 11 years. Now, the RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, and it is my mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. This week, on what you Need to Know, it is brought to you by Open Road Resorts and, and I always said, they have five locations, but I'm here today to announce their sixth location. So they have locations in Montana, Idaho, Texas, Nebraska, just from a few months ago. And now they opened their newest location in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and it's called Santa Fe KOA Journey and my plan is to get to that location this fall. So I know they are listening and I'm looking to set up a call because I do want to come check out that location. What you need to know this week, as we are into the fall, I want people to look at events that are coming. So we just finished the Hershey RV event, which was amazing, and I know I'm looking forward to the Tampa event, which is Florida's super show, is what it's actually called and it is in Tampa and I'm looking to make plans of where I'm going to stay and those kinds of things, because it's kind of around the corner now. But, as you plan for your fall and winter, there are a lot of small rallies, big rallies, meetups, all kinds of events that I encourage you to look for and be part of the community when you go to those events. I think that's the biggest thing for me. This, what you Need to Know is brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and you could check out all their locations at openroadresortscom. But let's get into my guest because I am so excited.
Speaker 1:Nicole Schroeder is a homeschool mom originally from Minnesota. Her children started out in public schools and in 2014, her homeschool journey began together as a first fourth and seventh graders. After launching into the RV in 2017, the home education style moved to what is known as road schooling. Throughout the last 10 years, styles have changed, but a love for learning and togetherness has always been a priority. The Schroeder family loved the lifestyle so much that they bought full-time families in 2020 to help foster community and share resources, educational and more with other families who are traveling the country full-time and participating in home education. Two of the three children have since graduated during this period, so something must be working. Nicole Schroeder, welcome to the RV Life podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm super excited to be here today.
Speaker 1:Me too. So now let's talk about you. How old are the kids now?
Speaker 2:So the kids now just had birthdays, so they are 16, 19, and 22.
Speaker 1:Wow. So they really did their schooling on the road, a good chunk of their schooling on the road, and I can't wait to hear all the tips and tricks, the mishaps that might have happened, the things you've learned along the way. So tell us about RV Life. Your RV Life started many years ago. What made you start down that road? I know your husband, Dustin. You work together. What made you guys decide to go full time on the road? I know your husband, Dustin, you work together. What made you guys decide to go full time on the road?
Speaker 2:So my husband, Dustin, has some Verizon stores in Minnesota and that's something that he started when our second was just a year old when he opened that very first store, and so, as you can imagine, owning your own business takes a lot of time, and so he had been spending anywhere from like 70 to a hundred hours a week working. Especially at the beginning, that was a huge blessing. We were actually a lot busier than we thought we were going to be, but then the backside of that is that he was working a lot more than he thought he would be because they didn't have employees at that time that he was working a lot more than he thought he would be, because they didn't have employees at that time and so many years later I had been.
Speaker 2:you know, I'm just saying I'd really wish that you were home more. You know I really want to prioritize our family time now that our kids are getting older, and so we had been taking trips in the RV. Our very first RV was actually a pop-up we got when my daughter was just a year and so um just our first two at the time and we had been out in the pop-up and just love camping.
Speaker 2:Um, so we went a couple of times a year and then um my husband's uncle um actually passed away, um at just 50, uh, he was only 50.
Speaker 2:And so that kind of prompted um him to think, like you know, I might not have as much time as I thought I was going to have, and so he agreed to go on a nine month trip with me. We thought we're going to take the kids basically for the school year. We had already been homeschooling for a couple of years and so we thought this will just be like a great trip for us. We're really going to bring history alive for the kids and really just focus on our family time and growing together. And so I'd say, like that first year, we really focused on locations. We all had a list of places that we wanted to go and things we wanted to do, and it was basically a huge vacation the first few months. So the kids loved it. We were eating out, we were going to all of the fun amusement parks and all of the festivals and quickly found out that was not sustainable. Kids were missing, friends at that point. And so you're kind of thinking about what does this look like? We had actually sold our house right before we left, thinking that we were just going to build in a different neighborhood, you know, 10, 15 minutes down the road, and when we're reaching the end of that, dustin and I were thinking like we don't really want to go back to that Kind of like that first nine months really just changed how we looked at life.
Speaker 2:Changed how we looked at life and we really, I mean, there was a transition period, you know growing period, and you're in a house, then you're in a camper, close proximity. Dustin's used to working, you know, 70 to a hundred hours a week and now he's not going into work at all. The kids are seeing him a lot. He's, you know, in injecting himself into my structure, and so we had a lot of things to work through. But we um him and I really thought that it was um had, we had really become fond of the lifestyle.
Speaker 2:We went back to Minnesota for the summer. We were supposed to um find a lot to build our new house on, and we did not even try. And then winter was coming, so we were in Minnesota. And then winter was coming, so we were in Minnesota, winter is cold, and so we decided you know we're talking to the kids about how can you know we maybe make this work? We always just thought, like you know, one season at a time. We were never wanting to put like a big, you know five-year plan into it. But so we had actually went to a full-time family event in Michigan and just like completely changed the way that we were traveling because we saw community there.
Speaker 1:And so there's. I love hearing people's stories and I usually start out after I edify somebody and bring them in. I want to hear the story, and everybody's story is very different, very unique. But the one thing that I hear over and over again with stories is somebody passed away and we decided we didn't want to wait. Those are the kinds of stories we hear all the time.
Speaker 1:You know, I've had guests on where they've lost both their parents and they said life's too short. No-transcript. What we're talking about could apply to somebody who's homeschooling or road schooling. So today, anybody who's thinking about it or who's already doing it, the tips will apply to them. And I just want to say in no way are we trying to convince people to get out on the road full time. You know it's not for everybody. Take what works for you, do what works for you and your family, but okay, so now you touched on full-time families. I, as I said, I've raised Dan and I have five kids. I've raised my three kids, I raised some of his. They were a little older. I have many grandkids. They're all in traditional school settings. You know it works sometimes. It doesn't work sometimes.
Speaker 1:When I was going into campgrounds and I started seeing these flags that said full-time families. There's flags that are put up I'm going to let you talk about that and I started seeing the kids in the campground and I started seeing how they were being road schooled and talking to people and Robin, who has an amazing blog it's called BG Barnstormer. I'll put that in the show notes. She's the one that I said. All right, talk to me about full-time families. I met her and her family very soon after I started my RV adventure and when she talked about full-time families and the word community came up all the time, I really I just was wowed by it. I thought it was an incredible organization. So, nicole, can you talk to my listeners about Full-Time Families? You are the owner. You and your husband, dustin, are the owners. You bought it several years ago. Tell my listeners about Full-Time Families and what it is.
Speaker 2:Yes, so Full-Time Families is a community membership community. We are online and live Facebook groups, separated in interest and also location, just to really help the connections flowing. Either you know location wise if you want to meet up or you really just want to talk to somebody about um boondocking, or you know road schooling, or you need some suggestions on certain things you can have, like a taste of travel. We want to foster connections for these families and then we also have events, which is a really big part of our community, and so this was an event that we had joined full-time families a couple months ago and we went to this event and it really just changed. And I do want to say there's other events, not just full-time families. Other companies have events too Escapees and Republic of Nomads and other groups too.
Speaker 2:But we had went to a full-time families event and just the community there and also the education. The kids were, you know, taking apart or like an engineering style, and so they were like reverse engineering and taking apart toasters and trying to figure out how things worked and trying to program robots, and it really kind of opened our eyes to, you know, different ways that we could school the kids and their learning and also how much it impacted them to have their friends around during these, you know, activities. So full-time families just has. We have about 10 to 15 events a year. You do have to be a member to attend the events. Our biggest event is in Madison every year. Last year we had 102 families, I believe. So it's just an awesome way to get together, to connect and just to like make those friendships. And then we do our best to help people to connect and just to like make those friendships, and then we do our best to help people, you know, stay connected throughout their time and also just like support them in their road, schooling and RV journey.
Speaker 1:And for my listeners, I am going to put the website and there is a coupon code that I'm going to put in the show notes for anybody that wants to check out full-time families. Again, as a mom and a teacher and what I've seen on the road, I highly recommend checking out full-time families. Give it a. You know, try it out, talk to people who have been part of it. I think it is an amazing group.
Speaker 1:I've seen so many activities and campgrounds and I'm just really wowed by it and the groups of kids that you see. There's anywhere from teenagers to these little tiny kids. I was sitting once I was in the Poconos at a campground and across from us there must have been 15 plus kids running around of various ages, the teenager down to this little kid that couldn't keep up. They were running around and so one of the bigger kids would pick her up and move her along and just the amazing sense of community. Later in the day they were all sitting together doing quote unquote homework or schoolwork and it was just amazing to see these different ages together and helping and supporting each other. I was really impressed. I was very impressed. Now you're a licensed early childhood education teacher, did you get the opportunity to use that so I actually finished.
Speaker 2:I graduated in December um of that have been 2016, and then we were just going on this, so I did substitute teaching for the second semester and then we were just on this nine month trip. So I was like, okay, I'm going to be gone for nine months and I'm going to come back, we're going to build this house, I'm going to be a teacher in the public school and but yeah, all of that changed.
Speaker 1:All of that changed, but you have something to compare Now, just to be clear, I know the names that have been used are homeschooling, road schooling, unschooling, world school. Is that what it's called? We've heard these various names. Did I miss any?
Speaker 2:I would say those are the main ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just to make it clear for people. Now we are going to jump into all of the details. You know, what does it cost to road school your kid, how kids perform? We're going to talk about testing and sports and socializing all the questions that I hear out there, and if there are other questions, you hear a lot. I have a whole list of things we're going to cover.
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Speaker 1:Okay, so let's talk about. There's so many big things that people think about before they decide to homeschool or road school. Give us like that one thing. That is probably the biggest thing, and it sounds like you kind of went through that yourself because you started homeschooling your kids. What is one of those big things that parents could do to start that process or decide is this right for my kids?
Speaker 2:I know a lot of people will say like I can't. You know, I can't do this, I could never do that. And I think you have. If you feel a calling to it, I feel like you know you can definitely be successful in it. If you're wondering if it's a good fit, I would say just start out with like read aloud.
Speaker 2:Read aloud is a super easy way to kind of get into it. You can kind of see how you're connecting and just have, you know, just that voice for your children. So that was one of our very favorite things that we were doing was doing read-alouds with the kids, and so you can, you know, let it be fun or let it be, you know, super educational, like a biography or something. The kids' favorites were always when we read a book, like you know, bfg, and then the movie came out, and so then we'd have like a pizza party and watch the movie together after we had read the book, and so I feel like that's a good inkling to. You know, can you engage with the kids while reading aloud? Are they, you know? Is it interactive? Are you know? Can you talk about different parts of the story? Are they listening? Super simple, I think. First piece to figure out if that could work for you.
Speaker 1:Right, and as both of us are teachers, I think and again, this is probably when I go into campgrounds and I talk to people who are road schooling I talked to a woman. She was in a fifth wheel with five kids. She was road schooling, she traveled with other families. She was the one that kind of created curriculum and what she was doing. And while we were talking she said I, you know, she was homeschooling her kids or road schooling her kids. And I said, well, I was a teacher for 20 years and it was a shame because she visibly took a step back as if she felt I was going to judge her and I said, no, no, that's there. So one of her concerns, and we talked, thankfully, and I was like there is no judgment and and I'm saying that to everybody listening do what works for your kids. I believe that traditional schooling has major limits on it. I talked about that when I talked to Jacob and we could get more into that, and she was concerned because one of the kids wasn't reading at what she thought their level of reading should be and there was just this conversation about kids growing and learning at their pace.
Speaker 1:She's got five kids. You can't compare them. The five kids that Dan and I had together. They were totally different kids and you know. But you get to first grade or second grade and you see other kids are reading, let's say, and her one kid wasn't reading where she thought they should.
Speaker 1:And it's a like they catch up, they learn, they get it. They might get it at another time in another way. It's the same as when we compare our kids. You know, my one kid walked before she was 10 months old. My youngest didn't walk till after she was one, because all the other kids were constantly picking her up. So, but can she walk today? Yes, she's a grown adult and she could walk no problem. And I think that's the same with education. So I guess what I want to ask that comes up a lot in this does somebody need to be an expert in all subjects? I taught science. If you try and put me in an English class and teach you know grammar, I'm done, I'm lost. Could I learn it? Yes, I don't want to. So for parents that say, well, I don't know about calculus or I don't know about biology, you know, do people need to know, be experts in all subjects?
Speaker 2:Definitely not. I think one of the most freeing things that I learned in my homeschool journey was to teach the things that I was passionate about and to find people to fill in the gaps for the things that I wasn't passionate about or didn't have the knowledge for. So I understand especially. It seems easier to homeschool a younger child, right Like we're working on colors, we're working on letters, we're working on, you know, more basic things. And then, as they get older, in middle school and high school, and people are worried like you know, can I? I can't homeschool them. I'm not. You know, I don't know enough. You know I forgot algebra or I don't know biology, or I didn't take this class, and there's so many resources out there that you can. You know. I mean even free resources, like Khan Academy is a big one that people will use, and just like free resources that you can use to fill in you know those holes and I think one of the biggest things for us is like there's a lot of places that do like.
Speaker 2:I was worried about science doing like dissections was a big thing. I was like how do I get my kids to do dissections? Because I don't feel like I can lead that and I don't want to. And so you know, there's like the aquarium here in Gatlinburg, near where we are right now, like they have a dissections that you can sign up for somebody who's fully qualified and will teach your kid how to dissect a shark for like $10. Wow. So just you know there's a lot of. I would say, don't worry about that at all, you teach what you can and then it's so easy to fill in the gaps.
Speaker 1:Dissecting was my favorite. So I taught ninth grade and we dissected. So we dissected a frog, but we also dissected a fetal pig, which is, you know, very real. So we dissected a frog, but we also dissected a fetal pig, which is, you know, very real. And the kids that I was teaching had never seen or experienced anything. The kid that said ooh, the most that was like I'm not doing this, so that's fine. Nobody was pressured to touch it or even look, and they were the ones that became the most excited. So I love that. I wish I can get the materials and come into campgrounds and teach that. That was my absolute favorite. Okay, you'll be in the back with the kids who don't want to see it. I hear you. That's not for everyone, but again, I love what you said about do what you're excited about. A kid is going to know if you're just trying to fake your way through a lesson.
Speaker 1:Just, I was sent to fifth grade. When I was teaching, there was a year, a couple of weeks before school started, they told me I was going to go teach fifth grade. I fought it tooth and nail. I was like no way, okay. And when I got there and they said you have to teach grammar. I was lost. You could have told me to teach. You know rocket science. I think I would have done better, and I ended up convincing a teacher on the team to teach all the kids grammar and I would teach them science.
Speaker 1:So it worked out well. So, even as a teacher and I have, you know, I have a degree from K to 12, but that just wasn't my thing. So I think that's the same thing for parents Do what excites you. But to your point about resources, there is a tremendous amount of resources and you guys have a blog post on full-time families called 27 Amazing Road School Resources and I just started to read some of those and that is just an incredible wealth of information. You want to talk a little bit about some of those resources?
Speaker 2:So I mean I went through and just picked out a bunch of lists.
Speaker 2:And so a lot of things that we're hearing are, like I said, khan Academy is one. There's like an easy peasy, like all-in-one homeschool time for learning, and so those are great resources to go on, there is a ton of Facebook groups that you can go into to find resources for, and then there's also unit studies that you can do, which have been really popular and work really well for road schooling as well. And so for unit studies, basically, like you pick a topic. So let's say, we're gonna, you know, learn about ice cream even, and then you're learning about maybe, like, maybe for math, you're gonna pull all your neighbors on like what is their favorite kind of ice cream? And then, you know, for English or language arts, you're gonna, you know, write a story about somebody who loves ice cream, or, and then you're, maybe you're going to go to, like an ice cream shop and maybe you can get a tour, or like a dairy farm and get a tour on. You know how this process works. And then you know, for art, you're going to draw a picture, you know, like make a painting of an ice cream cone or something, and so unit studies are really great for just like having one topic and then bringing in all of the subjects.
Speaker 2:Lots of different resources there, tons of different homeschooling blogs that are full of resources that you can use. Also, national parks are full of resources. They also have the Junior Ranger Program, which is very popular among road schoolers and even I mean even if you're taking a vacation I highly suggest checking out the National Parks and the Junior Ranger badge. Basically, they have a booklet that you can get. Most of them are free. You can get them at the visitor center and then they just go through and talk about different things about the park. Like you know, maybe you're in the sequoias and they're talking about different types of trees and how you know how can you tell how old this tree is? Or you know what does this tree need to survive? And then talks about the different areas and you might. You know younger kids might be doing like a word, find or something, and older kids are doing things that are more suitable for them.
Speaker 2:Museums are a huge one. Check out a museum. There is a museum. You can get a membership for a museum. It is the ASTC. When you buy that wherever your location is like, you can buy it in your hometown and then that's good for like 400 museums around the country just for that one price. And so there is a few tricks on how to get it for the least amount of money. And then you know you can go to the more expensive places usually a certain number of people they'll allow in. But you know just all kinds of resources and different places that you can go.
Speaker 1:And what I like and what I've seen is, again, this can be very affordable. You can make it. So. You're like you said. You have memberships to certain things. There's museums you could go to. Like you said, you have memberships to certain things. There's museums you could go to. Sometimes museums will have times of the day or days of the week that are discounted.
Speaker 1:So for people who are saying, ok, I can't afford to take five kids to these things and do certain things, there's a lot that you could do budget wise that makes it affordable and that's probably a whole podcast episode in itself of you. Know anybody, I'll put it out there. Anybody listening to the podcast. Please put in the podcast there's a review section any tips that you have at any time. Or reach out on Facebook or Instagram at RV Life Podcast and put your suggestions in, put what works for you and how you've managed to do certain things. Again, whether it's cost effective or you decided that you're going to spend money on certain things. Like you said, it's all about community and sharing what people are doing is certainly helpful. I have seen and talked to people who have an online program and I know in the 27 amazing road school resources. I'm not going to put you in the spot to remember those all, I'm just going to lead people to that resource, but there are online where it will teach the math type. So if you want to make sure your kid is learning algebra, it will teach that. I also have heard parents talk about their kid became interested in biology, let's say, and there was a program, there was something they could do specifically that went along with their interest, and I love that idea. Sometimes you have a 78-year-old that's interested in something that in our regular school system isn't necessarily school appropriate. I have. My grandson is eight years old. He's very into videography of all things, so I have I do my videos down with my phone and a gimbal. I don't know how to use it, but he took that thing and figured out how to use it. So that would be something that you know. Could it's learning, you're still learning. Some people would say that you know, could it's learning, you're still learning. Some people would say, well, that's not age appropriate or no. As you know, kids learn and if they can learn within hands-on, a lot of times that is a better way to learn.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to take a little break and talk about a fantastic way to save money on diesel fuel Open Roads Fuel Card. This card is free to sign up for If you have diesel fuel. It is the best way to save money on diesel fuel. I've used this card for over three years and every time we'd stop for gas we used the diesel fuel card the Open Roads diesel fuel card and it saved so much money. Over the last three years my husband and I traveled back and forth across the country three times. We had 125 gallon diesel tank. It used a lot of fuel. It was not fuel efficient at all and being able to save money with this card was so great. It just you know when you're on the road you are looking to save money wherever you possibly can. You could go to this card the link will be in the show notes myopenroadscom and find out all about the fuel card. Okay, let's talk. So we talked about cost and I think people can make it cost effective.
Speaker 1:Again, it's learning. It's knowing where your particular kids are and how to you know, provide that education. I go back to thinking about the traditional way that you know it used to be by third grade you were memorizing multiplication tables. I hope in today's environment. People aren't necessarily doing that. I don't think the road school community is necessarily focused on that. I will say, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, but when I was in school and we were learning about percentages, you know you sat at a desk. I was in school and we were learning about percentages. You know you sat at a desk, you were talked at you. You know you had your book and I was trying to learn about percentages and I did not get it. I did not get the concept and you know obviously didn't feel good about that. And one day my mom and I were out shopping and there was a 20% discount. Well, I wanted to buy that thing. So she explained percentages in a way that was like could I get this item or not? And from there on I understood percentages.
Speaker 2:I think making it a real life experience has is a huge advantage in homeschooling in general. But just like you know you can make things. If you can talk about percentages, yeah, like you know your discount, you're like, okay, you have this much money and it's this much off. Like you need to figure out if you can afford that. Or you know, just real life examples I think really makes it worth it, especially for certain learning styles. For kids Like my youngest, if it doesn't like, if he doesn't see a real world application for it, he is not interested in learning at all. And so that was super, you know, important for me to make sure that I could like apply this to real life, or I knew it was going to be a big struggle for him.
Speaker 1:Right, and the same thing with fractions a very difficult concept, but take it literally a Hershey's chocolate bar and they now have a book that came out long ago and it's got sections to it. Well, now it's easy to think about fractions and you know, again, talk chocolate to me and I'm in, but I think that that real world really helps. Let's talk a little bit Again. These are questions that I've gotten and I've heard, and jump in with any questions you feel like you hear a lot. Let's talk about how kids perform. Now, on the episode I did with Jacob Gooden, you know he graduated and they kept track of scores and things like that, and he went on to college and graduated with a four-year degree. So let's talk about how kids are performing in these settings.
Speaker 2:So actually kids seem to be like. I mean, like you said, clearly some people are wondering like, if I homeschool, will my kid ever be able to go to college? Absolutely yes, and two of mine have their associate's degree while in high school as well, so there's a lot of opportunity there.
Speaker 1:So I don't want anybody to worry about that.
Speaker 2:So the thing is that they can. You can meet them where they're at and really help them, and I think that that makes it easier for the children to be learning because, say, you're struggling on a math subject in the traditional school, you know it's like you're in first grade, then you're in second grade, these are the things that we're working on, and then these are the things that we're working on and you just keep going and moving up. But when you're homeschooling or road schooling you can really focus on those areas that your child needs help with. And so that makes it easier because it's like especially math really builds on each other. So if you're missing something, one of the main building blocks, then you know it's harder as progressively harder as it goes on for them. But if you're able to really solidify that at the base, you know, then they can do really well. And so I feel like you're really able to meet your child where they're at and to work on the things that they need to work on and maybe spend less time on the things that you know they really have that really come easy to them. And then there's ways that you can, like you can look up the standards for each state for what they're saying like, okay, this is what a fourth grader should know, or this is what an eighth grader should know. Those are very easy to look up state by state, and so you can see, you know what they're teaching in the public school and you know. If you have that sense of you know, like I really want them to know or maybe I'm going to, you know, put them back in school at some point, and so you know you want to be really conscious of that. It's an easy way to do that.
Speaker 2:You also can do testing on your own and we use the CAT, which is the California Achievement Test. Super easy you buy it online for like it was $25 last time I bought it, an online test, and we always made it fun for the kids. We let them, like, go to Starbucks or a local coffee shop and pick out, you know, a drink and a snack, and then we'd have them go into the room and they would take their test drink and a snack, and then we'd have them go into the room and they would take their test. And I just kept that information for myself just to see you know, when you're spending this much time with your kids you have a pretty good handle on, you know what they're struggling with and what you know they're really good at. But just for me, I liked to just see that progress and just know where they were at.
Speaker 2:And some states will, you know, make they have mandatory testing for homeschoolers and some don't. So you have to, you know, check with your domicile state on that. But, like I said, it was just like $25. We did it once a year and then that just really gave us a really good handle on. You know where the kids were at, you know, and basically, are they progressing is what you're really worried about Because, like you were mentioning earlier, you know like not everybody learns to walk at the same time and not everybody's going to pick up algebra at the same time or reading or any of that. So, yeah, yeah, I think there's definitely ways to just know and make sure that they're progressing, make sure that they're doing well, and then, yeah, I mean there's tracks to go where you can go to college. Homeschoolers have been performing really well in the testing and also in acceptance. There hasn't been I haven't read any articles or anything that are saying, you know, like homeschoolers are not allowed or homeschoolers are doing poorly in any of those areas.
Speaker 1:And that's the same experience I had. And again Jacob talks about that in the episode I did with him September 4th his experience spending 11 years as a homeschooler and the difficulties. It wasn't all perfect, he hated it in the beginning. He tells his story. I highly recommend people go and listen to that. But again it's focusing on your kid and what they need, what their needs are, and so different states from what I understand.
Speaker 1:So I was domiciled in Florida. I didn't care about homeschooling, but different states have different rules and I'm thinking that as some full-timers. So let me back up a little bit for people who aren't familiar when people are full-time they do have what's called a domicile, so they are states that they can be quote, unquote. That's their home state and that's where their driver's license is and things like that. If you have kids. That state also can dictate what somebody needs as far as being homeschooled or road schooled, correct, and so different states are different. Now I know I have my domicile through Escapees RV Club. I highly recommend them. But again, I've not had to worry about school and testing. Some schools will ask for certain testing, correct, they do their own testing or you have to follow a certain curriculum.
Speaker 2:Some schools will ask for you to do that, and if you're talking about like college, you know, then most of those are standardized, so like the SATs and the ACTs and stuff which you can sign up.
Speaker 2:Just, you know, google online sign up, so those aren't hard at all. Sometimes the colleges or you know some of the like private high schools or such will have an entrance exam, but they'll typically just offer that in person at their campus to go through that. So, yeah, it's pretty easy, I would say, and most of the time Florida is a huge. It's very popular for full-time RVers for many reasons, homeschooling rules being one of them. And they also do offer, especially if you have older kids. They have like a Florida virtual school that you can go to and then they have like a flex program and a regular program. So the regular program, like you would still meet online, but maybe at like two o'clock every Thursday or whatever and then they have like their flex program which is basically like on your own pace and you just have to you know progress every week and check in with your mentor or teacher, and so there's a lot of options for schooling, especially like older children as well, older students.
Speaker 1:So the parent who says I just don't think I could do this. I don't work well with teaching quote unquote teaching my kids and I think I saw this a lot when we went into COVID and the lockdown and parents having to monitor their kids and quote unquote teach them. It was sad and there were a lot of people that felt like they had to do a lot more. Obviously, we as a country and teachers were not prepared for that. I don't see that in the RV.
Speaker 1:The road schooling situation and, like you're saying, there are programs where kids can get on every day and listen to certain subjects. So if the parent just really wants hands off, they just want to do their thing and they don't do well with quote unquote teaching a kid. There are those programs as well that people can sign up for. So you have so many options and that's really what I wanted to bring to light here on this show. Like you said, testing, they're doing well, from what I understand and I don't have the statistics, I should have read them Sometimes homeschooling situations, they're actually excelling Right. That's asked all the time and that is, you know, my kids aren't part of sports and what about socializing? So what about kids that are road schooled, how do they keep up with friends? How do they do sports? How do they socialize and learn how to talk to people?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I guess we'll take them like separately a little bit. So socialization is definitely a lot of people outside, even for homeschoolers, just in general. If you're not in that mindset, people are wondering like how do you get socialized? And I think they're thinking people are just like learning inside the four walls of your house and you're not getting out. And that's actually couldn't be further from the truth, especially for road schooling. You know, when you're road schooling, kids are out all the time. So your RV is, you know, 300 square feet, 400 square feet. You're not sitting inside all day, every day. So they're outside learning, they're outside with their friends. So there's lots of different options. Like we were saying before, you know, it's like they're going to national parks and they're going to museums and they're doing, you know, natural history reenactments and so, um, they're interacting with people constantly and I think, um, they're not just interacting with people, you know, like just first graders or just high schoolers. They're interacting with people of all ages, including adults, with people of all ages, including adults. And I think this also, you know, when it's like our homeschoolers behind, are they excelling? I think, like this is an area that definitely helps them excel, because you're not, you know, just in.
Speaker 2:You know a group of 10 year olds or 12 year olds, like if you have a 12 year old who is really interested in something and they're at the campfire, you know with a dad who you know like that's his line of work, you know they can really connect and learn a lot and so definitely not a problem for socializing.
Speaker 2:And we actually had a time. So we went like three and a half months where we were not alone one single day. And so I just I always tell people, you know, when they ask, that like there is plenty, there's thousands and thousands of people that are out there, you know road schooling and living in the RV, and so, like you only need to be alone if you want to. Like we had to purposefully say this week we're not going to be with any friends because we need to take a breather or just have time for our family, have time for our family, and so, yeah, socialization is definitely not a problem unless you intentionally, you know, stay away from other people, but otherwise there's people everywhere. And also, like the events that you know people are putting on, and just even in the campground, you know it's like certain campgrounds have activities for the kids, and they're playing basketball and they're at the pool, and so there's tons of interaction.
Speaker 1:Right and one of the things that I've done, some other podcasts on it. But there is also a Facebook group just for kids, if I'm saying that right, so like their friend, that they met in California and now they're in Arizona. They have a safe space, and if I'm not saying that right, correct me please, but I thought there was a Facebook group that was for kids, or a way to communicate.
Speaker 2:Sure, so there's a few different ways that kids will like communicate and stay in touch when they're not in person. So Facebook, like they have a kids messenger, that's what it is.
Speaker 2:People will do that. Um, there's also discord. It's like full-time families has a discord um channel that's monitored, um, and so the kids can join that. People that are members of our group. And then also, you know, I mean kids are connecting on Instagram and kids are connecting through their, you know, gaming, um that they're doing and um, just text messaging and things like that as well. So lots of different ways.
Speaker 2:Thankfully, with technology, that kids can stay in contact, and I know that some people will also like encourage their kids to do like Zoom calls or FaceTime with their friends. Just, you know, so they can also see them and not just be messaging as well. But, and then most people in the RV community are very especially if you've been doing it for any amount of time are very intentional about meeting up with friends. So they will, you know, they'll have meeting points like we're going to be at this event or we're going to, you know, all explore, you know, this national park together and then maybe they'll split off for a while, but they, most of them, tend to kind of weave in and out. So they know, you know, we're going to see these people at this time to just continue and foster those relationships as well.
Speaker 1:And I have seen that with little and on the outside I've seen a lot of that and kids that get together, that saw each other clear across the country and now they're seeing each other. It's I think it's. I just have seen a lot of really cool, you know, get togethers and people doing those kinds of things. So there is a lot. You've given so much information. I'm sure my listeners are going to have questions for you. How can people reach out to you?
Speaker 2:So Full-Time Families does have a big group for non-members and so it's just full-time families on Facebook and so you can request to join that and that is a wealth of information in there. If you're looking for, if you have a question for me specifically for um, if you have a question for me specifically um, nicole at fulltimefamiliescom is my email and so you can send um messages there. And then, um, do you want me to check on sports really quick? I just talked for a second. Yes, I forgot about that. Sports, yes, okay, I'll just be real quick. Um.
Speaker 2:So sports, there's a lot of um different ways that people are doing sports, but a couple of ways, especially like Florida is a big place for people to winter and they also do, I know, like Vegas and California has similar things, but there's like an organization called I-9, I believe, where the kids can sign up, and so a lot of parents are just taking a season, maybe two to three months, and just kind of staying in a local area so that the kids can get that sports experience, or maybe going back to their home base for, you know, whatever the summer or you know, depending on which sport that they're doing, and then also different sports. Like you know, if you carry a basketball with you or a pickleball or something like that kickball, there's just a lot of opportunity we tell people to. Just you know like you can find people to hang out with, to do sports with. So maybe it's not in a competitive setting, but you're still able to kind of drop in and do those activities as well.
Speaker 1:So Okay, so we've covered a lot of the questions and again, I'm gonna put all of your information in the show notes for people and I'm going to say people can in the there's a review section on any podcast platform that they're listening. I certainly welcome comments. I would love to hear from my listeners and if there are questions for you, I could pass it along. People could also reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook at RV live podcast, private message me, leave a comment, whatever, because this is all about community and helping each other to get the information. While you gave so much valuable information here, I know it's also sparked some other questions for people. I do highly recommend the blog post in full-time families with 27 resources. I found that was, you know, just again, a wealth of information. Okay, as we wrap up, it is now time and we have a lot more to cover. I'm going to ask you a question.
Speaker 1:It is now time for the question of the week, and this is brought to you by Open Roads, innovative Toll Solutions, and this is a toll pass that covers all of the toll roads across the country, all 48 states. Somebody asked me. I was at the Hershey Show and they said well, there's a monthly fee. They were arguing with me. I said no, there's no monthly fee, it's $24 a year and it covers.
Speaker 1:Yes, nicole, just went wow, which is what people do when I mention this, and I'm excited to get it out to people because I know that, having the toll roads and going back and forth across the country three times, I paid a lot of money in fines. So not only does it cover all 48 states, and you have an app that shows you your toll went through. If something is a problem, they have concierge service that will work through it for you. You either go on your app or you call and they will take care of it. So I love this toll pass. Check it out at MyOpenRoads and there's a drop down menu for innovative toll solutions. It will be in the show notes. So I have a question for you, nicole what is on your bucket list, something that you've done already that you would recommend to my listeners, or something you are planning on doing? Bucket list item I always put people on the spot. They don't know it's coming.
Speaker 2:I see you're thinking yeah, so we've RV'd in all 50,. Well, we've camped in all 50 states and the Baja of Mexico and Canada. I would say I'll do two really quick. For the US I would say Vermont, in the fall, is amazing. Burlington was one of our favorite cities, so much to do and so beautiful and there's tons of factory tours which are awesome for road schooling. So so interesting. And then, if you have ever been thinking about doing the Baja of Mexico, highly recommend it, definitely a bucket list trip.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and I like those suggestions places I've never been, so I'm always taking notes and adding to my bucket list. But for some people, being it is the fall, they are looking to put their RV in storage and I know this could be a sad time of the year. But if you're looking to put your Class A, b or C in storage, national Indoor RV Centers they have six locations across the country and they are the storage people. They have an array of concierge-level services, truly taking the hassle out of motor coach ownership, and you can easily store your RV. National indoor RV centers actually started 10 years ago as a storage company. They have it down Again. They have concierge service. They will wash in detail, they will take care of anything that's needed on your RV. They are storing it inside, so no need to winterize. I highly recommend National Indoor RV Centers and you could go to NIRVCcom to check them out.
Speaker 1:Now, those of you who are staying on the road and you choose to do those cold weather places, which has never been a thing for me I like the warm. I want to mention air skirts. I just saw them at the Hershey RV Show. These are inflatable tubes that fit around the bottom of any RV. So any size, any shape RV, they're custom basically to fit your RV and they will keep the warm air inside. They help to keep the critters out, because it's a really tight fit, and they will help reduce your need for heat for those of you who want to be in the cold weather. But it is now time for our featured campground and this is brought to you by RV Life, and I know, nicole, you are a RV Life customer and use the RV Life suite of products right.
Speaker 2:It's great for finding that. I actually use it for, like the kids will help when they were helped into route plan, just finding cool things on the way Super helpful so yes, yes.
Speaker 1:So for those of you don't know, rv Life does trip planning and you can find cool places. You can find things like the Walmarts and the Costco's. They have campground reviews and they have RV safe, gps and when you go to that trip planning, I mean there's just a wealth of information there. The campgroundsrvlifecom. Our campground this week is Encore Tropical Palms Resort, kissimmee, florida, and it is a Thousand Trails Campground Resort, kissimmee, florida, and it is a Thousand Trails Campground. It's got 343 sites and Encore Tropical Palms Resort.
Speaker 1:I was there. I had the pleasure of staying there, really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful campground, nice and clean, easy in sites. They have full hookups, they have pull-through sites. There is cottages and cabins you can rent. They are close to Disney, which is why I was there. I have my Disney annual pass and it's like a camping retreat and when you go in it almost feels Disney-like to me. That's just me. You are close to Disney, so it's easy to get back and forth.
Speaker 1:They have a solid 7.1 rating on the RV Life Campgrounds with 218 reviews. What's really nice is this is a featured campground. So when you go to campgroundsrvlifecom and you go to Encore Tropical Palms, right there there's a book now button, so it makes it easier to click that button and book this resort. You don't have to be a Thousand Trails member to book here, but if you want to look at Thousand Trails membership, I have a membership specialist listed in the show notes. You just need to visit campgroundsrvlifecom and you can see lots of pictures, tips, the full list of amenities for this property.
Speaker 1:Rv Life Campgrounds is part of the RV Life Pro suite of products and it's the most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds, resorts. They even have city state national parks and, as we talked about, you can find cool things to do, museums there's so much there and they're always adding stuff. Well, nicole, I just want to thank you so much for being on the show. Tell people real quick one more time it is fulltimefamiliescom that they can check all of this out and all of your information will be in the show notes. Thank you for being a guest on the RV Life Podcast. Thank you so much for having me today. You're welcome. I'm Patti Hunt and you were listening to the RV Life Podcast, and I want to wish you a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.