Were you Homeschooled?

[sy_gilana]

Our daughter Liz was home-schooled. As part of her schooling she wrote some of our sailing web page (Been around longer than the noun "blog")
There might be some insights there for you.
She is now all grown up and doing very well in her career as a professional mariner.
see The adventures of yacht Gilana for the blog, and http://gilana.org/liz/ for her online resume.
Home-Schooling is a pleasure, an honour, and the best time we ever had together.

[water babe]

Oh my goodness you all have been so helpful. I am really bubbling. Worry is I supose a good parents burden. Thank you so much. I do already homeschool my oldest, though he's only in preschool. He seemsrto me very well socialised and well spoken. Other school kids seem terribly behaved in comparison, he is so kind helpful. :') I am so blessed with my 2 boys. I am an information junkie and have been researching this path for some time now. It is so refreshing to find first hand accounts. I always say you can read every book on the subject and not know anything until you talk to a real person

[water babe]

Please excuse any grammatical errors, you must realise at this point in time all my posts are typed on my cell phone.

[FSMike]

I don't have any first hand experience with home schooling, but it seems like you have two questions in one: home schooling vs. home schooling while cruising.

I have heard no negatives about home schooling in general. I believe most high schools and colleges welcome home schooled kids. They seem usually to be ahead of their age group compared to public schools, and have a reputation for a superior work ethic. If anybody disagrees, don't yell at me, I've just read this somewhere along the line.

Some friends of mine have home schooled their two daughters. They have raised two delightful girls, who are well socialized due to the network of home schooled kids in their area (Florida).

I do remember an article in one of the boating magazines quite a few years ago, written by a couple who had taken their son on a circumnavigation. They left when their son was about 5 years old (I'm sure I'm screwing up the ages) and returned when he was about 10. Like most boat kids, he was good at making friends quickly, and generally socially adept. When they returned to the states and he was thrust into a different milieu, there was a period of adjustment. I remember that the father commented to the effect that they had a son who could bargain for vegetables in three languages, but he didn't know how to play baseball.

If you can somehow find it, there was another article written by a father who, with his wife, had circumnavigated with three (four?) daughters. He wrote the article years after the fact, with input from the daughters after they were grown, or nearly so. As I recall, the daughters reactions varied from one being a cruising sailor to one saying she would never take her children around the world on a boat. However, all of them said they were glad they had the experience.

My only real personal experience has been meeting home schooled cruising kids. From what I've seen, I would not hesitate to go cruising and home school my children if I had that choice.

An anecdote: While walking down the beach on Stocking Island (Bahamas) one day, I was following about half a dozen boat kids of varying ages. Two of the girls had just had a couple of their friends visit from the states, and the conversation was about the two visitors being bored because there wasn't a mall. The boat kids felt sorry for them.

Home school? Cruise? YEAH!

[Autumns Wind]

I have to say it really depends on the relationship between kid and parents. My 7yr old after attending 2 yrs of charter school, has friends, in sports and wants to be home schooled. We plan on leaving early 2014 for a two year cruise around the carib. My daughter is looking forward to all the different islands and culturals of people we will meet. She is only 7, yet we talked with her and allowed her to make the call to leave school early. I know of alot of kids home schooled who turned out great, while there are kids who go to public school who turn out great. At the same time both sets of kids can turn out bad. For us its about the relationship we have and the positive influence we have with our kids. (one shoe does not fit all) My daughter loves to sail and has pleaded with us to buy her a sailing dingy for the trip so she can race with other kids at local sailing clubs along the way. (she even has a scrap book ready) MHO as stated many times, its allowing them to be apart of social activities, which can be done cruising are at home.