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Home Schooling At Sea - The Ugly Truth |
Ahhh, here we are after a
lively passage, anchored snugly in a bucolic Caribbean Cay. The
turquoise water is so clear that if you dropped a dime over the
side, you could tell if it landed heads or tails. The white
sandy beach beacons with some dangerous looking beach bars and
ethnic restaurants wafting spicy fragrances towards the boat.
Now it’s time to swim in and belly up for a cold beer and a hot
roti – tell some jokes, swap some lies, sneer at some cruise
ship types - enjoy the good life. Whoaaaa there buckaroo.
Time for school; we missed a couple of days already this week on
a passage and we gotta catch up. Ayeeee.
Get a bunch of cruisers
with kids together and mention home schooling and watch the eyes
roll. It is without a doubt the most challenging aspect of
living aboard with school aged children. We have two great
daughters, age 6 and 8, who love to learn and are fine students;
no problem there. The real question is: are my wife and I up to
the task of teaching second and fourth grade? In our last
school, the kids disappeared for 7 hours a day and reappeared
with corrected papers, artwork for Gran and Gramps, and
occasionally a report card. What were we getting into here? My
offer to handle all of the diesel maintenance if Christy did all
of the teaching was met with belly laughter. Since we really
have no other hard obligations while cruising, we have to take
at least this one very seriously.
On Zia, we decided to
divide the task up by students – as opposed to by subject. We
each teach a kid, soup to nuts. This works well for us, but we
have friends who divvy up the load by subjects, mom does math
and dad does history etc. Surprisingly, home schooling teaches
the parents as much or more than it teaches our kids. Sure, as
adults we already know math and grammar (basically) but what we
are really learning is how to teach. Not just how to teach, but
how to teach our own children – without strangling them. I
personally have discovered that screaming at a 6 year old does
very little to help her math skills. Patience and perseverance,
or at a minimum biting your tongue when you get frustrated, is
the ticket. As much as we would like to, you can’t force the
knowledge into their little heads. On the plus side, I have
discovered the joy of watching the bulb light up when she picks
up a difficult concept.
We have come to learn that
discipline on the part of the teachers is paramount. We start
school on Zia right after breakfast. Cabins must be clean and
neat, teeth brushed (hair optional), books set out, pencils
sharpened and ready to go. We use the Calvert system which has
a very comprehensive curriculum that includes all materials and
subjects in an easy to follow format. When we disagree with a
lesson or just don’t like it, we skip it and make up our own.
We generally start with math and get that behind us first. Next
comes reading, writing, spelling and either science or history.
Art and poetry are sprinkled in as well. Every 20 lessons is a
review day, which can be long and laborious, followed by a test
day which is usually quick and painless.
We augment their lessons
with local trips when it makes sense and then have the kids
write up their experiences in a journal. One of the best
features of home schooling is the flexibility that it affords
the family schedule. Some weeks we will have school all through
the weekend and take a couple of days off in the middle of the
week.
It has taken a few months
to get used to the routine and now it all seems to be running
smoothly. The old cliché about the “toughest job you’ll ever
love” comes to mind. I even have found myself wondering what we
would do with all the extra time if we didn’t have school to
deal with – I guess I will find out again when we have summer
break – Yeeeehaaaaa.
My student turned in the
following paper for here weekly composition. I couldn’t be more
pleased with her progress. Most of the typos are hers……
Winter
Winter in the islands is
mostly 85 digreas. Instead of wering boots, scarves, and coats
we wear shorts and a t-shirt and sun screen. Instead of ice
skateing you swim. The only thing I miss is snow but the sand
is like warm snow. I love winter in the VIs.
Juliana Boyle – Second
Grade
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