Home schooling
or boat schooling
I began home schooling our two eldest sons a year before we departed so we could get used to it. I did lots of research and had grand ideas before I began and I don’t feel like we have achieved all those goals but the great thing about children is that there is time. Home schooling is good because it allows a certain amount of flexibility. If I feel that one of the children are really involved in what they are doing I don’t need to stop them to move onto the next subject, alternatively if I feel that someone is struggling I can notice quickly and help or let them have a break if that seems more appropriate. On a boat there is an extra flexibility, sometimes the formal schoolwork stops altogether because we have arrived at a very special location and there is the amazing world of nature to learn valuable lessons from. It is wonderful to stop at lunchtime and have a swim, or to sometimes spend all day drawing, fishing, crabbing, cooking or many things that are not part of the regular school curriculum. There is even lessons in doing laundry, folding clothes, or scrubbing down the deck.
Giving children something worthwhile to do
If there is a secret to preserving your sanity when caring for children on a boat it is having them occupied at something useful as much as possible. This is true whether at land or sea, but in a boat it is absolutely a must, otherwise we would all be scaling the walls. Home schooling is good because it takes up a good portion of their time. The boys are genuinely interested in history, marine and land life, stories and poetry even current affairs such as the environment. I don’t remember being that way when I was young. I was more concerned about whether my friends liked me or not, (but maybe we are just raising a couple of geeks)!
Young children
We don't have room for many toys on the boat but the children have had hours of fun playing with lego and match box cars. The other favourite is making tents out of pegs and sarongs and working with the cooking gear. Sometimes I make a batch of play-dough. They also enjoy drawing and five year old Amelie has begun a little bit of basic schooling. The other thing I do to keep the young children occupied is having them help with basic chores. Amelie hangs laundry along the boat railings and folds tea towels. Even three-year-old Channan can help by packing away his toys, peeling carrots or helping mix a cake. There are many ways in which children can help, it builds confidence.
The classroom
It would be lovely to have a separate classroom for the boys, some boats are probably big enough to do this. I would like to have a room with everything in its place and their artwork on the walls. It would be nice for them also to have a sanctuary of quiet where they could do their work in peace but instead there is approximately five meters of room and five different personalities. Sometimes if one child needs to concentrate he will work on the table in the cockpit with the canvas shelter and a very pleasant sea breeze. (If you think about it, this really is a beautiful classroom.) Craft is pretty limited on the boat. I have done painting with them, but it gets really messy and I am not always game to start it in such a small space. We try to stick to using crayons and colouring pencils.
Summary
It is an honour to teach your children and a joy to watch them learn. I am so happy that I have this time to watch their minds open and their talents unfold. I don’t know how they will remember their time on the boat or how they will reflect of me as their teacher or my husband, their captain. I thought they would have been thrilled by living so close to nature, but to appreciate nature is a lesson that children also seem to have to learn. I point out an insect, a flower and insist they notice small precious things of earth, now after two years they are pointing out those things to me. Sometimes we are sailing and we call the children up on deck to admire the sunset or a sea bird flying. ML