Homeschooling in the City

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About two years ago, we uprooted our family and made a cross-country move from a mostly-suburban, part rural football town in the deep South to a small but eclectic city out on the coast of California – where jazz festivals and urban farmer’s markets abound.

As we transitioned from homeschooling cross country, I found out quickly that our world of home education was in for a major change. And although no comparison to a massive city like New York or L.A., beautiful, sleepy Monterey and occasional trips to busy San Francisco managed to give me some useful ideas about homeschooling in a city.

Although we now live in the ‘burbs 30 minutes from our first rental in Cali- the memories of our crazy but fun months of homeschooling in the city remain.

Here are some ideas for homechoolers living in the city…

Schooling by City Transit

We moved to California with one family car and had no plans to purchase another vehicle anytime soon. (We were able to finally purchase a second vehicle, thankfully-but much, much later).

The adjustment to being a one-car family wasn’t too much fun at first, but it turned out to be our blessing in disguise. Sharing the car back and forth between my husband’s lunch breaks and meetings and my own outings with the kids was getting to be pretty hectic, so I quickly learned to use the local city transit and hopped the bus around town to local parks and museums that weren’t within walking distance from our apartment. This opened up a whole new world of learning and exploration to us which we would have never discovered otherwise.

Two tips that helped me with homechooling by city transit are:

1. Pack Wisely. When walking or riding a bus, trolley, train, or taxi have your kids carry a lightly packed bag with learning essentials– lightweight notebooks, worksheets, pencils, pens, bottled water, a cell phone and camera. No heavy textbooks. (Who wants to carry them around all day?) My days out in town were my easier, lighter homeschool days. If we had schoolwork to complete from workbooks, we tore out the worksheets or photocopied only what was needed to make our load lighter. I had an 8 year old and a 3 year old in her stroller- so the lighter the better. Most of what we’d learn would be hands-on anyway.

2. Squeeze In Learning Time. Check your time points in between buses and during bus rides. If you have thirty minutes or so of wait time, your older children can easily take take out a book and read or squeeze in a math lesson with you. A verbal review of math facts can be just as impacting as a workbook. You could chat about transportation with younger kids or learn to read road signs- or even crank up your iPad educational apps and let the little ones explore away while you wait to arrive at your destination.

Schooling Through Photographs

I’ve always encouraged my kids to capture the moments around them. It helps them to appreciate new environments and maybe peak an interest to learn more about the history of a place or monument. Taking pictures is a great way for kids to begin a journal.

homeschool-fieldtrips2 — A local art center in town- picture taken by my daughter at age 8

Taking a photo of the ocean.

homeschool-fieldtrips — Capturing the wonder of architecture on camera

Libraries, Museums, & Enrichment Classes

Libraries are one of our favorite places, and we make sure to support our local libraries with our money (in addition to our overdue fines, of course!) and our time. In one city, the librarians know us by name and love to help my oldest daughter with her selections. They also have good after-school and summer reading programs.

Our local children’s and art museum are nice, and there are always many enrichment classes to choose from-including at the aquarium. There is never a lack of things to do and see and learn.

We bring a notebook, pencil, and camera, and we’re all set.

childrens-museums — Art Class at the Children’s Museum

historymuseum — Museum of Natural History

Free Time at Parks

Younger kids need time to burn their pent-up energy, so we swing by community parks a lot.

Outdoors in the City: Experiencing Nature

Most bigger cities have parks and some recreational trails for fun excursions. Our city is a nice combo deal because we have the urban and the rural together. Whenever we get tired of the bustle, we feast on nature, attempt gardening, or take a trip to a local farm with friends.