Traveling with children and school choices.

[twirler]

We are new parents. We are wanting to snow bird during the winter and head to the mountains during the summer. Does anyone know if it’s possible to have your kids in two schools? How does that work?

 

[Koolau]

I just assume it's possible. Anytime you have school age children, they are eligible to attend school wherever they are living. My question would be: Can you plan your time in the various areas to coordinate with just ONE school, so your kids don't have to change schools in mid semester? That's very disruptive.

 

[RetiredHappy]

While this arrangement is what you want, it may not be what your children want.

 

[SecretlyFI]

I can’t imagine putting my kid through this. I don’t know how they’d adjust to different teachers, material, curriculum, projects, grades, activities, sports and friends being switched multiple times a year for a dozen or so years in a row. For instance, when midterm exams are given in January, but your kids were in a different school from Sept to Nov, they would have learned different content for those months. Alot of public school content is defined at the state level.

As they get into older grades, courses are often taught at different levels based on prior quarter or year standardized test results. So it would also be challenging to get your kids placed into the right courses all the time.

I would imagine it would be an admin chore for you as well, to re-enroll them multiple times a year, if that’s even possible. And all those parent-teacher conferences would be dis-jointed if you switched in & out of schools over the course of each year. Ugh, just thinking about this makes me cringe…so glad all this is behind me. It’s tough getting your kids through school, sometimes.

 

[Gremlin]

If you are new parents you either have a baby or you adopted older, perhaps school aged children ( I have done this so am familiar with the issues this entails) If the former, I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about this issue until you adjust to being parents. Your world has completely and permanently changed. Overtime, you might decide that you aren’t interested anymore in moving twice a year with kiddos in tow. If the latter, I’d be worried about placing undo challenges on the kid’s/ family’s adjustment.

Just my two cents.

 

[FlaGator]

While this arrangement is what you want, it may not be what your children want.

Or what is good for their development at that age. Home schooling could be a way to make this work.

BTW-IMO kids don't get a say in what they want at that age. I'm the parent, and if they are unhappy about their upbringing after they become adults, I want them to be unhappy with me, not the decisions of their undeveloped brains.

 

[Koolau]

Or what is good for their development at that age. Home schooling could be a way to make this work.

BTW-IMO kids don't get a say in what they want at that age. I'm the parent, and if they are unhappy about their upbringing after they become adults, I want them to be unhappy with me, not the decisions of their undeveloped brains.

I agree that we have to be the major decision makers for our kids - especially when they are young. I like the way you state that: "I want them to be unhappy with me, not the decisions of their undeveloped brains."

It's also important that we have their best interests at heart and (for the most part) put their needs ahead of our wants.

I can't imagine uprooting kids from school to snow-bird, but if parents can figure out a way to do that with minimal stress on the kids, I suppose it's possible. I would never have considered it. In fact, we jumped through all kinds of hoops (including private schools and also moving school districts) to insure our kids had the best chance at an excellent education. I think it paid dividends for our family.

 

[Chuckanut]

Not all schools teach the details in the same order. For example when I taught math we taught fractions first half of the year then decimals. A child transferred from in a district that taught decimals then fractions. You can see the problem. He doubled up on decimals and got little of fractions.

Subjects like math that build on previous learning are the trickiest.

I won’t even start on the potential emotional and attitude problems of switching schools often.

The Devil is in the details.

 

[MBSC]

South Carolina has online K-12 schools. They are free because it's part of the public school system. One of them is Connections Academy and this says they're also in Washington state.

Washington Online School - Washington Connections Academy

Enroll in Washington Connections Academy, a tailored online public school for grades K-12. Start Today!

www.connectionsacademy.com

 

[marko]

Home school?

 

[athena53]

Yeah, I'd recommend home-schooling. One issue I see with the public schools is that for tax purposes you'd have to live in one state or the other. Let's say the state where you live in the winter is FL (good choice since there are no state taxes). In order to establish residence there you not only need to live there X days out of the year but have a driver's license, auto insurance, doctors, etc. in that area. Probably easy to get the kids into the FL school but in your second state where you live in warm weather you also need to prove residency before you can enroll a child in school. I'm not sure if it's just proving you have a home there or if it's more rigorous.

I do agree with the concern about the schools being at different places in the curriculum for each subject.

 

[folivier]

Ask this question on RVing Families
You may have to join the forum and it is mostly RV'ers but they are doing this, mostly home schooling. They should be able to direct you to what you're looking for.

 

[Chuckanut]

Home schooling is not for the faint of heart. The best home schoolers I’ve known usually do it as part of a group of dedicated parents who are willing to put hours into it.

If yourchildren are all bright, cooperative and adapt to new circumstances that makes it easier. If one or more is strong willed and defiant, good luck with that.

 

[pacergal]

Switching schools twice a year is very disruptive both to learning and to developing friendships. As a parent who has raised two kids, I can not imagine doing that to them.
I would recommend on line school that has a good curriculum (research well) with both parents ready to assist in a home school manner. This will most likely involve much of your time also.

As new parents, (a baby?), you do have time to travel now, with a chance to research good school districts to move too or finding an excellent on line curriculum

 

[rodi]

Have you considered subdividing the year into school year/summer break rather than a 50/50 split?

A friend did that - school year here in San Diego, summer at the family cabin in Maine. She was out the door the day after school got out each summer, and showed you the week before school started. It helped that her job was with the district (school counselor) so her schedule matched her son's.

 

[Kings over Queens]

We are new parents. We are wanting to snow bird during the winter and head to the mountains during the summer. Does anyone know if it’s possible to have your kids in two schools? How does that work?

Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good idea? Not for me to decide.

As mentioned, remote or online, or homeschooling for the period of time when you are away from your home base, and the children's primary school could be another option.

 

[livingalmostlarge]

Homeschooling for sure. I don't think it would be easy to switch school districts. Especially out of state. Were you aware of how different states start schools at different times? We start after labor day and end at the end of June...I know CA and Hawaii start in early august and end in May. So I would caution the plan as probably not necessarily feasible especially in high school wihtout homeschooling. Which is a great possibility!