Homeschooling on a Boat

[sabray]

Your spittle? Nomadic I get but being spittle?
Smile face thing moticon inserted.

[goat]

At least they sent a corset

[SV THIRD DAY]

We home schooled (ok...my WIFE home schooled) our two kids for 4 yrs while cruising in Mexico. We tried it all, Calvert, Sonlight, and another preset program and in the last year did an online school program through the State of Califronia. Without a doubt, the home schooling process was the hardest thing about cruising for us and we got the same feedback from the other cruising families we were with. This isn't to panic you or deter others, I say this to just get you mentaly ready for the panic and stress you will put yourself through thinking you are not doing a good job and somehow hurting your kids futures (as we were told over and over by our family). But then when you go back and your kids are tested way ahead of their peirs you will realize (or confirm) just how worthless the public schools have become is this Country. My kids are now a freshman and sophmore in high school and literally come home and laugh at how they get to retake tests until they get a B or how the system babies them to make sure they get good grades (forget about learning something it is all about the fake grads these days or the state common core tests).

I'm convinved that you could do the worst job possible while out home schooling and still do a better job than most of the public schools in America to day.

We skipped all the fluff...just literally tossed it overboard and just focused on the basics. It not only cut out a lot of what we saw as busy work but why teach lessons about "cultural diversity" when we were living it.

In the end what worked best for us as to make up our own lessons based on what the State criteria was for a student their age to learn. It was a LOT more work than a preset program, but we never got into the preset mode and always picked what we liked and wanted from the various programs. We had ZERO homeschooling or teaching experience before we left and started home schooling the day we moved aboard. The one big piece of advice I would give is to start home schooling the year BEFORE you cast off if possible, then you won't have as much stress of not just casting off and getting acustomed to that lifestyle, but home schooling as well.

[littleadventure]

Hahaha oh my
Its terribly hard to type on this tiny phone. with that spelling job I don't seem fit to teach!

[redsky49]

Congratulations on your decision to use Calvert. It worked very well for our two kids.

As to the teacher assistance, it really depends on the teacher that is assigned to you. One of the teachers we had was really interested in our travels and the positive feedback - both directions - was wonderful.

And don't just concentrate on readin', writin', 'n 'rithmatic. The arts and sciences are just as important, especially as you can tie in to your everyday cruising experiences the lessons you learn from the curriculum.

Have a wonderful trip!

Cheers-

[redsky49]

to SV THIRD DAY

I am sorry to hear about your opinion of public schools. It is the exact opposite of our experience.

What matters in public education are parents and community that actively participate in the education of their children. Get involved. Make things better. Celebrate, not berate teachers. Support smaller classes. Challenge everyone involved and strive for excellence.

When it is impossible to find a parking place for "back to school night", you likely have found a good learning environment.

I was directly involved in the mid 80's in upgrading the schools in a district just over an hour's drive from Washington, DC. My first exposure to this rural county was eye opening. There were a total of four electrical (non-grounded) receptacles in the classrooms. Two fluorescent light fixtures augmented the natural light from the windows. The wood corridor floor sagged when walked on. The heating systems, bathroom facilities, cafeteria, ventilation, life safety, etc. were appalling. There was no in-school library. The list goes on...

Despite this, the teachers and staff that I met were dedicated to doing their best to educate these children, most of whom were from poor neighborhoods. And most gratifying was the response from the parents, who were quite cognizant of the need for a quality education. The point here is that when given the tools, and the support and involvement of the community, good things can happen. If you can't read a textbook in a January classroom because the sun is too low on the horizon, or if you are continually cold or haven't had any breakfast, it is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve success.

A strong public school system, including higher education, is critical to the success of this country, just as it has been the reason for our successes to date.

Go hug a teacher!

[Tellie]

I'm going to side with Rich on this. First understand where I'm coming from. We too home schooled our daughter both on boat and land based. I understand quite well the public school system, not only because I am a product of one but that everyone in my family were and are public school teachers. I grew up with teachers, both parents, siblings, and their many teacher friends at the dinner table. My father taught in Dade county for thirty nine years, my mother in Broward for thirty years, my sisters in North Carolina going on thirty five years. My father had two masters, my sister a masters and one of the highest scores on the national boards which she completed in eight months. I've seen and heard the public side and the private side of their conversations about public schools. I assure you there is a public side and a private side. I sent my daughter to a private school until third grade. When my wife and I announced to them that we would be home schooling our daughter from that point on I thought the apocalypse was beginning. It was practically heresy. What could we be possibly thinking? How could we stunt the educational process of their blood line? Our parenting skills are in need of some serious evaluation. Why she will be a social outcast, a pariah, unable to communicate with society or her peers. How could we, mere untrained mortals, even think we have the capabilities to teach her science, mathematics, and writing? My response that my wife and I have thought about all this and much more before we made our decision fell on deft ears as the game of intervention for them was on. I think in many cases the public school system with it's abhorrent drop out rates, violence, social engineering, and attempts to cater to the weakest links while letting slip by those who will make good use of the free education afforded them, speaks louder than words can describe. I was very much part of the private school system as well and saw that many of the teachers in these institutions did not even have teaching certificates much less advanced degrees in the subjects they were teaching. Yet the private school system turns out far better educated students than the public school systems do. Homeschooling once thought of as some perceived conservative bunker mentality, and God forbid kids and families that actually might be Christians, is and has been growing by leaps and bounds. It is all encompassing. People from all different walks of life, sailors, religion, race, GLBT, and political persuassion are opting out of the public school system in favor of home schooling their kids. Though these people might not be teachers they are not stupid either. They are capable of making informed decisions about how their children are educated. They are realizing that not only has home schooling been misrepresented but that it's support structure is getting stronger everyday. In fact the Broward county school system was extremely helpful and supportive to my wife and I throughout our home schooling years. A homeschooling parent is not alone and has a ton of support. In fact it is a lot easier to get support from those who can provide it in the home schooling community than it often is from a public school teacher that has thirty other parents to deal with as well. This is certainly not a decsion to make lightly to be sure. But I can assure you this, once made and the decision to see it through will be one of the most rewarding endeavors you'll ever take on and certainly one of the most rewarding.
And to the German idea of being against home schooling. My daughter, now in her third year of the university of Vienna, is taking all her classes in high German. I never got much past Algebra in high school and last year my daughter finished, again in German, her required classes in statistics. She has friends of all ages, from all parts of the world. She can communicate clearly and distinctly with toddlers and adults three times her age and all those in-between. Though we never got to plaster 327 different "My child made the Honor roll" bumper stickers all over the back window of an SUV. Unlike so many helicopter parents today, we realized that our daughter was just a normal kid with normal capabilities and would most likely not be the next Einstein no matter how hard we wanted that for us. We are happy with that as she is a well rounded happy kid capable of as many great things as the next kid is and to our pride and joy, a great citizen and member of society.

[rebel heart]

Third Day - How old were your kids for those four years?

Our girls are young, my oldest is 3 1/2 and my youngest is 9 months, so homeschool largely consists of preschool workbooks, playdoh, flash cards, Dr Seuss books, and the such.

My wife used to teach high school and in my day job I do a lot of mentoring so we actually sit around talking about teaching styles just for the hell of it sometimes.

[rebel heart]

And just regarding homeschooling, what I've learned is that you have the opportunity to provide a vastly superior education for your children than they would get almost anywhere else. Whether or not you seize upon that opportunity and make the best out of it is largely up to you. It's really easy in the multi-week yard sessions or when underway bouncing for a week to skip out on lessons.

On an international voyage you're exposed to a multitude of languages and customs, and so many things change that we're constantly having to explain things. Just today my daughter and I were walking back from the plaza in town (where all the kids speak Spanish obviously) and there was a huge iguana in a tree. So wanted to know why we see iguanas and crocodiles on the mainland but not in Baja, which then turns into a discussion about weather, which then turns into a discussion about astronomy.

Kids on boats traveling afield get exposed to way more than normal kids and honestly are required to be way more disciplined and capable. The price for being stupid on a boat, even as a little kid, is expensive and bloody.

[Auspicious]

For a while I was married with two step-daughters. We lived in Fairfax, VA - one of the best reputed school systems in the country.

I thought it was awful.

I started grading the notes from the teacher and sending them back - grammar and spelling were horrid. Her response was that she wrote notes in a hurry at the end of the day when she was tired. What kind of excuse is that? I also found math and science examples that were simply wrong. I worked my way up through the school system with little support for higher standards of teacher performance.

Some of the other parents started a drive for me to run for school board, but I got divorced instead. *grin*

Some of the greatest kids I have met are those home schooled while cruising. Interestingly their parents are interesting and engaging also. I don't know which is the cause and which is the result but the correlation is definitely there.

My conclusion is that home-schooling kids is good for them and good for you.

[sww914]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

And just regarding homeschooling, what I've learned is that you have the opportunity to provide a vastly superior education for your children than they would get almost anywhere else. Whether or not you seize upon that opportunity and make the best out of it is largely up to you. It's really easy in the multi-week yard sessions or when underway bouncing for a week to skip out on lessons.

On an international voyage you're exposed to a multitude of languages and customs, and so many things change that we're constantly having to explain things. Just today my daughter and I were walking back from the plaza in town (where all the kids speak Spanish obviously) and there was a huge iguana in a tree. So wanted to know why we see iguanas and crocodiles on the mainland but not in Baja, which then turns into a discussion about weather, which then turns into a discussion about astronomy.

Kids on boats traveling afield get exposed to way more than normal kids and honestly are required to be way more disciplined and capable. The price for being stupid on a boat, even as a little kid, is expensive and bloody.

75% of our schooling is like your iguana story. It works better.

[Gemini Dreams]

HOMESCHOOLING IS THE FUTURE! Get on board now.

My 9th grade daughter attending public school already has two of her classes "virtual". This leaves only 4 classes for the teachers to actually teach. This is the cost effective way to make things happen.

Building costs, buses and utilities are the largest costs to public school. If the government can offer the same information in YOUR home and delete the costs mentioned in the previous sentence, do you really think they will continue to supply the costs needed for brick and mortar?

Eventually the online teacher support will vanish and a computer generated "assistant" will take over.

The bus costs and greenhouse gas issues they impose will go away. Kids can ride their bikes again.

The undesirable teacher will no longer be chastising your children. They will loose that "one" teacher that made a difference and gain a parent that made a difference.

They will no longer be bullied.

You know what they have for lunch.

Your costs for supplying a homeschool education run less than $1,000 a year! Why does it take the states from $9-18k? Why do the teachers ask for supplies from the parents every year, cookie sales, mum sales, magazines etc. Why do they still not make it with millions from the lotto?

Seriously those that are currently teaching their children at home could do so much with and extra $9,000 per kid? A trip to Rome during studies of the Roman Empire? You name it. A tutor in the subjects the parent is weak on? New computers, A trip to a remote island to see the Milky Way in the night sky instead of an enhanced photo in a book.

Besides everything a kid needs to learn to survive in the middle and lower class workforce they learned before they started the 1st grade. And, if you can read you can move up to management.

Wes

[littleadventure]

Read
"The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way"

The U.S. is not the place to send a kid to school, if you want results take a note from Finland. All you have to do is turn on the TV or look around to see the "success" of American youth. I'm not saying our teachers are bad... I am saying there are solid facts that we are below the bar. Until education gets a serious reform, I'll homeschool.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Third Day - How old were your kids for those four years?

Our girls are young, my oldest is 3 1/2 and my youngest is 9 months, so homeschool largely consists of preschool workbooks, playdoh, flash cards, Dr Seuss books, and the such.

My wife used to teach high school and in my day job I do a lot of mentoring so we actually sit around talking about teaching styles just for the hell of it sometimes.

Missed a few days eating Turkey....

When we left our kids were 9 and 10, so they were in 4th and 5th grades.
They entered back into the public school system as a freshman in high school and 8th grade. For all 4 yrs my family (3 public school teachers in the family) were convinced we were destroying our kids futures and making it so that they would never get into a good school later in life. Every trip home was a fight as we were lectured on how we were hurting our kids. I'm not exaggerating; you would have thought we were selling their grandkids into slavery!

San Luis Obispo public schools are some of the best in the State of California, but what my wife and I and even our kids see going on frankly scares the **** out of us! Not drugs, sex, gangs that’s just normal life that you have to teach your kids how to deal with…what scares the **** out of us the education. I honestly don’t think we would have even noticed it if we hadn’t been out of the system for those 4yrs. But when my kids come home laughing about how they got extra points for this today, extra points for that today, even they realize that the game is all about the schools test scores and class cumulative GPA. When a student can fail a test and retake the same test over and over until they get a grade of “B” then a 3.0GPA is meaningless. Is it any surprise that a growing number of high school graduates can barely read their diploma? Community colleges have to add remedial classes because the kids are not up to traditional standards, but they have great “self-esteem”. Kids are no longer suspended for bad behavior but put on “in school suspension”. Why…because the school cares more about getting the Tax Dollars from that student for the day than they do about the educational environment for the other kids or even trying to teach the offending kid a life lesson.



The only reason we are staying in the public schools for now (and I’m not sure we will continue for all 4yrs of high school) is because…well…honestly…because that is the ONLY reason we came back to the States from Mexico, to give them the “normal school experience” that everyone said they should have. I should have known how bogus that was, but here we are, and I will take the blame for that. On the bright side, both my son and daughter love the team sports and so far are doing well in understanding that life will not let them retake the test 3 times to get a passing grade!

We are keeping a close eye on the school situation and supplimenting it at the boat (we live aboard). At the first signs of any trouble we are casting off the mooring ball and heading back to Mexico and will pick back up with home schooling. These days with a laptop computer the older kids can do almost everything online...which they like and takes some teaching heat off the parents.

[sww914]

Sorry Rich. I've heard that MBHS is pretty good, but LOMS was a disaster. We pulled our son out of school and started homeschooling a year earlier than planned because of LOMS.
The biggest problem was Crotzer.