Homeschooling on a Boat

[samsiam]

Anybody out there doing this for the long term and care to share some information and hints ?

[katsumi]

Hi there samsiam, we are currently in Australia on the east coast cruising from Cairns to Sydney. In the future we hope to sail further offshore. We've been living aboard our 40' Lagoon for three years. I have been homeschooling for two years and our daughters are almost 8 and 5 1/2. I have been keeping a blog that may interest you the address is www.homeschoolahoy.com

I would be happy to answer any questions you have
Katsumi

[Capt Phil]

katsumi, what a wondeful thing you are doing... my son and daughter-in-law are both teachers and chose to home school both their children because the school system in which they teach are so inadequate, they don't want to have the grandkids exposed to it!
My wife grew up on a property in the far north of Australia and and is a graduate of the Aussie 'School of the Air', an HF link that taught kids on remote properties in the outback over their HF radio.
She is now a physician so the early schooling couldn't have been all that bad! Phil

[katsumi]

Yeah Capt Phil, we think it's pretty special too. I've met a few homeschooled live aboard kids and they are so amazing. There are many benefits to families and as a result we can't consider life any other way at the moment. Unfortunately the school system is sadly inadequate and most families don't even know they have another option. We tend towards unschooling which means no formal studies at home, their education is interest lead. This works the best for us.

[Boatguy30]

While home schooling is pretty essential when cruising it seems like something of a fad ashore.

It's interesting well educated, successful country like Germany only allows homeschooling in very rare circumstances. they know a thing or two about extremism and prefer to try and integrate their children into a productive society not isolate them from it.

[bobconnie]

We raised 4 kid's aboard and they took school by snail mail till the 3 girls were ready for high school. Than we did the marina thing till they were out ! Worked for us and them, 2 RNs (like there mother) 1 girl owns a string of FL Spas, and our son is first mate on a 100+ ft yacht. So I feel that todays internet, boat schooling should be a bunch better then 20 yrs ago or more! Just our 2 cents

[Tantalus]

I've known a number of home schooled kids and their parents. For the most part the kids did very well. The family I think did it best was a family from our church when we lived on Cape Cod. They actively sought out educational experiences for their kids through others they came in contact with to supplement their own interests and skills. It seemed to work very well.

[redsky49]

We have done this with two daughters, but only for a years period at a time. We used an American school for the curriculum development and supplies/textbooks, as well as teacher supervision and feedback.

We used this school located in Baltimore , Md., and which serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade:

Homeschooling Your Child: Accredited Homeschool Curriculum | Calvert

We found many other cruising families used this as well. Kids in higher grades used a similar program done by the University of Nebraska.

As the kids got older I felt it was important for their development to have a more land-based education for a number of reasons, not the least of which was socialization.

We were/are quite impressed with Calvert School. They have the home schooling thing figured out. You receive a huge box which includes books, note pads, science experiments, art projects, tests and answer sheets - you name it. You can elect to have a mentor/proctor follow you all the way through the school year, or you can supervise the student by yourself.

Give them a look. I think they have done this for a hundred years or so.

By the way, the older daughter has a Masters in Education and teaches fourth grade in Fairfax, Va. The younger daughter, a junior in college, just returned from a UN Seminar in New York, NY and will be studying at the University of Granada, Spain next semester. Seems to have worked for them

[12BCruzn]

We are planning on home schooling our child (she will be 9) while cruising the Caribbean next winter (2015). I will follow your progress with great interest. Katsumi, I'm inspired

[Badsanta]

Go for it. Lots of programs to pick from.

[Wattsailing]

We have been home schooling for quite some time both before beginning cruising and now. We have always used an interest based approach, allowing our children the freedom to explore and discover rather than sit poring over books. Our kids have benefitted enormously from our cruising and actually, at one point, when we were struggling with the education department , we enrolled the two kids who are still of school age, in the local schools - they were way ahead of their peers and not needing to catch up on anything.

We feel very confident of our children's capacity to learn, the learning-rich environment they are in and the fact that our life is so broad and interesting enhance their learning opportunities daily. We encourage reading and loving to explore - the rest is spontaneous! We find the children are mature, have a lot more common sense than their peers and have a lot to contribute in conversation. They are not peer- dependent and so when we chat with other cruisers they feel happy to join in.

The unschooling approach we base our schooling on is supported by Dr John Holt - he has written extensively about his views. Further information would be available
Through local home-school networks. I guess at the end of the day, every family has to work out what fits with them, their views, their lifestyle.

[samsiam]

Nice.

Have not read any of the links yet, but shall do.

Just some thoughts, how do older kids cope with this and the parents, especially me being dumb and failed school....actually did not fail, just was not there to pass at those crucial times of tests and such....how do you go about teaching and supervising a kid in 10th/11th grade for example ? I mean I cannot even spell pysics...?

What do you use for internet while at sea for downloading everything, or do you do it the old fashioned way to gorge on info when in ports with accessible wifi ?

And this Calvert I have heard mention a few times, how much does it cost ?

Cheers

[samsiam]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

katsumi, what a wondeful thing you are doing... my son and daughter-in-law are both teachers and chose to home school both their children because the school system in which they teach are so inadequate, they don't want to have the grandkids exposed to it!
My wife grew up on a property in the far north of Australia and and is a graduate of the Aussie 'School of the Air', an HF link that taught kids on remote properties in the outback over their HF radio.
She is now a physician so the early schooling couldn't have been all that bad! Phil

Most kids from the outback usually went off to boarding school though for secondary school, primary was quite adequate via school of the air.

Wondering how the modern day counterpart works now with internet, but satellite so expensive.

[samsiam]

Originally Posted by katsumi

Hi there samsiam, we are currently in Australia on the east coast cruising from Cairns to Sydney. In the future we hope to sail further offshore. We've been living aboard our 40' Lagoon for three years. I have been homeschooling for two years and our daughters are almost 8 and 5 1/2. I have been keeping a blog that may interest you the address is www.homeschoolahoy.com

I would be happy to answer any questions you have
Katsumi

Thanks, shall check it out....couple of questions in a post above.

cheers


ps....just had a quick look over it....looks great, can't wait to have a more indepth look around and read.

[samsiam]

Originally Posted by katsumi

Hi there samsiam, we are currently in Australia on the east coast cruising from Cairns to Sydney. In the future we hope to sail further offshore. We've been living aboard our 40' Lagoon for three years. I have been homeschooling for two years and our daughters are almost 8 and 5 1/2. I have been keeping a blog that may interest you the address is www.homeschoolahoy.com

I would be happy to answer any questions you have
Katsumi

How do you subscribe to your site ??