Liveaboard with Kids, Schooling

[SeaSeeker]

I'd like to take a quick, informal survey of those of you who are home (boat) schooling your kids. If the opportunity were available would you like to have an education professional, like my Ph.D. wife, evaluate your children or grandchildren for their educational progress, on board your vessel?

We know that in general live-aboard kids are MUCH better informed and socially mature than the average, the question is only how do they stand on a comparable basis when you are preparing them to apply for college acceptance? Standardized testing considers both achievement levels (accumulated knowledge) and cognitive abilities (genetic make-up) and then the final report offers the parents a clear picture of what areas are "up to par" or higher and what areas need some additional monitoring for the achievement of excellence.

Additionally, my wife's speciality is special educational needs, if your child or a grandchild has one or more areas where a developmental delay may be present often an appropriate and timely intervention will bring the child up the the level of classmates or beyond. All responses to this survey are for our information only.

Thanks

[maxingout]

The hardest thing about home schooling is to get the kids to actually do the work. At least that was the way it was on our boat.

We used the University of Nebraska high school curriculum which is extremely challenging. Many high schools use courses from the University of Nebraska for honors courses for kids in their high school.

The only way we could make it work was to take the syllabus for each course and write specific dates by which the work was to be accomplished and the tests taken. Once we did that, the work got done. Of course, I checked their progress on a daily basis to be sure that they were actually doing the work rather than just sitting there with an open book.

The University of Nebraska is outstanding, and my son recieved a perfect score on his SAT verbal test after all the dust had settled on the home/boat schooling. David took the test in New Zealand after we sailed there. That was good enough to get him a college scholarship.

[SaucySailoress]

Having read through all the posts, it would seem that boat-schooled children are way better educated than regular kids - and as a school teacher I can see how you could do a better job educating one to 3 kids at a time than we can teaching 30 at a time.

[ArmyChief]

I hope this is not a hi-jack...but what about the lack of social activity of other kids same age?

Did anyone see any issues cause:

No bully fights
Playing sports
girlfriends and break-ups
etc..etc...the things we "think" are bad..that add up to a well-rounded developing social life

[schoonerdog]

Well, we boat school, but our little guy is not old enough to be "evaluated" plus I truly don't think complete stranger (expert or not) could get a feel for how he thinks better than his parents who are with him 24/7. I would be interested in reading more about your wife's findings however.

As for socialization... nothing is more anti-social than being indoors for 7+ hours a day with the same group of people who are exactly your age. My son can have intelligent conversations with 40 year olds, 12 year olds, and 4 year olds (he is 6). His classroom is the world, and you truly cannot beat that. Have a peek at our blog.
(cindy, schoonerdog's wife)