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Road Scholars: Teach Your Kids While You’re Driving

Given how much time the average parent spends driving their kids around, it’s a bit of a surprise that more people aren’t into ‘carschooling’.

The concept, the subject of a book published five years ago by homeschooling authority, columnist and author Diane Flynn Keith (http://www.homefires.com and http://www.carschooling.com) turns the mundane reality of travel time on its head.  Those who employ it say that the hours spent in freeway traffic can be used for purposes greater than listening to talk radio or, worse, allowing the kids to watch yet another DVD on their personal players.  Drive time, say believers, can be transformed into learning time.

And although Flynn Keith wrote the book based on her experiences homeschooling her two young sons, this isn’t something that should be exclusive to homeschooled kids.

"As my publisher said to me, all families carschool to one extent or another,” she said. “This is not a homeschool-specific activity.  If you spend time in the car with your children, then you've undoubtedly answered their questions, endured a travel game like Slug-Bug or engaged in Twenty Questions, and had meaningful conversations. That's carschooling!”

Flynn Keith’s book provides innovative ideas, activities and suggestions beyond traditional car or travel games for how to enhance time on the road with your kids. I bought the book a couple of years ago, when my sons were one and four, but have only started really using it recently.  On a recent expedition to Venice Beach, as my husband drove, I turned to the section on Carschooling Geography, where Flynn Keith had compiled a list of US cities with wacky names. There was Worms, Nebraska, Monkey’s Eyebrow in Kentucky, Square Butt in Montana.  My older son, Jahan, giggled gleefully as I read them aloud to him, pausing for effect before each one, and Nirvan just enjoyed the fact that we were all having fun. 

Which, according to Flynn Keith, is really the point: that the time spent running back and forth between soccer matches, play dates, park trips – even commuting to school – should be spent in a way that engages and educates a child.

We talked to Flynn Keith about her reasons for writing ‘Carschooling’, and what she hopes for parents who try it. 

What is carschooling?

“Carschooling is the act of turning travel time into learning time, whether you're running a five-minute errand or taking a 500-mile road trip. By using the world whizzing by or resources you bring along in the car, you can have fun, boost your kids knowledge of the world, and turn them into ‘Road Scholars.’"

What prompted you to write this book? Following on from that, was there one specific outing with your kids that made you think: “Somebody should write a book about this?”

“My kids were in the circus for about four years. Each day we had to travel to their trapeze, tumbling, juggling, and high wire classes that were many miles apart. At one point we were on the road four hours a day, five days a week.

“I homeschooled my children, and we needed to use the time in the car to cover the subjects they needed to learn. I began looking for innovative ways to cover math, language arts, history, science, etc., while we were in the car, on the road. I discovered and invented many educational activities, and then I started asking other parents what they did with their kids in the car. I couldn't believe some of the wonderful suggestions people had – and realized that many parents engage in "carschooling." I decided to take all of the ideas and put them in a book to help other families enjoy learning while they were in the car, on the go.”

Did you devise a lot of the games and exercises as you went along?

“Yes. Once you start to pay attention to the world around you as you're driving along, you realize that everything provides an opportunity to learn. The traditional car game "I Spy" encourages observation. And once you notice something in the environment, it can lead to all kinds of learning opportunities. From the flora and fauna along the highway, to billboards, to historical markers and more - the world is a veritable classroom and laboratory. 

“The boys often noticed things that sparked their interest.  For example, roadkill. If safe, we'd pull over and look at the carcass.  That would lead to all kinds of questions about animals, lifecycles, and more. Back in the car, we used field guides as well as educational CDs about various species to satiate the kids' interest and curiosity.”

Did it surprise you to find out just how many families out there were interested in this kind of thing, or had been doing it on their own anyway? 

“I was amazed by the ingenious ideas and activities other families concocted to take the whine out of drive time. All of them reported that not only did they enjoy learning together, the act of doing fun activities together also improved their relationships.”

Votes: 15

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