Back in the days before the internet, tablets, and social media, parents who wanted to boatschool their kids basically had two choices: make up school as you go, using the world around you, pencils, notebooks, and a good sense of adventure, or buy a boxed curriculum from Calvert School. While there is still no WiFi in the middle of the ocean, technology is evolving, and it’s changing the way boatschooled kids learn about the world.
It can be intimidating to take that first step into boat schooling, especially with the steep learning curve on everything else in cruising. Lyndy Atkinson has been schooling her girls aboard from the start of their education. They live aboard a Lagoon 400 and blog about their boat schooling experiences.
“Think about the learning style of your children and remember it has to fit them first,” Atkinson says. “Then spend a period of time de-schooling yourself and your children. You’ve probably spent a lot of time at school, and there is a certain level of fear that comes with pulling your kids out of the system you were a part of if you don’t understand the alternative yet. You will need time to decide what’s right for your kids and what’s a good fit for your family.”
Boxed curriculums
Calvert School has long been the default for boating kids and traveling families of all kinds. Based right here on the Chesapeake in Baltimore, it’s been around since the late 1800s and has been offering home education packages since the early 1900s. The school claims that in the early days, parents in far-off places would look forward to receiving “school in a box” delivered to remote locations by dog sled, camel, supply boat, or air drop. It’s a natural fit for cruising kids who need a compact, all-in-one solution to finishing a grade while voyaging under sail.
Today Calvert has a solid reputation backed by top educators and 100 years of experience, giving peace of mind to boating parents who are new to the idea of home education. The lessons are broken down day by day, topic by topic, with everything you need in the infamous box right down to the glue sticks and erasers.
Calvert has competition, lots of it. Name the style of education, and there is a homeschool curriculum to match it. Some popular whole grade programs are Oak Meadow, Moving Beyond The Page, Sonlight, Christopherus, Book Shark, Global Village School, and many more. Parents can research and order a whole year or more before casting off and have the lessons laid out weekly or daily for the appropriate grade level.
Boxed curriculums are a good fit for sabbatical cruisers, those who are taking just a year or so to check off their bucket list and plan to slide back into land life and conventional school before too long. These programs take the worry and learning curve out of the equation for the parents, and they often mimic what a child would be getting at school day by day, allowing the child to transition back into the system easily. Some parents don’t like boxed curriculums for cruising because they leave little room for using your destination in your lessons. Why memorize facts about the American Revolution when you’re cruising around the Greek Isles? While the boxed curriculums are very complete, to some they represent the routine life they just worked so hard to sail away from.
This and that
One thing any parent knows is that kids don’t all come from the same cookie cutter. Your cruising kid may excel at math, but really need help in reading and writing. Maybe your kid has a passion for science and music and not much else. Not to worry because there is no need to just buy a whole grade level and hope your child fits into every topic. It’s possible to buy math from one program at one level, and then maybe a literature and writing curriculum from elsewhere at a different level, and then get a science book elsewhere, and top it off with social studies from a different program.
Atkinson realized from the start that a boxed curriculum was not going to work for her boat kids. Her daughters are ages seven and nine. The family is in New South Wales, Australia, with an eye on cruising Tasmania this year. “We started out like most families trying to replicate school at home and found it just wasn’t a good fit for the girls or for us,” says Atkinson. “Our lifestyle is anything but nine to five. We fit in with Daddy’s schedule. Family time is a priority, and education happens all the time, not just Monday to Friday. The pressure of stuff ‘having to be done’ in a certain time frame just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Making sense of the enormous homeschool market can be overwhelming, too. You can get a curriculum for just about anything from foreign language to art to electrical engineering to stop-motion animation. These eclectic mixes require more planning and research and creativity on the part of the parent, but they often result in a better fit for your boatschooled kid catering to his or her strengths, weaknesses, and individual learning style.
Technology and travel
Technology is probably the biggest change in the boat schooling world. While Calvert school has competition from other distance learning providers, they all have to run to keep up with what’s available online. Of course, there is no online in the middle of the ocean, but there are still choices available with the right planning. The very popular Khan Academy offers an offline version called Khan Academy Lite. Even the ubiquitous Wikipedia has an offline version that can be loaded on to a tablet or laptop, and you can look up the gestation of bottlenose dolphins or the history of a port you’re approaching in the middle of a passage.
When WiFi is fast and free in port, then it’s time to splurge on school. Watching or downloading Crash Course videos, Bill Nye episodes, BrainPop lessons, or just Google opens an amazing world of learning far beyond the old school in a box. With devices such as a simple e-reader you can carry a whole library with you and not sink the boat. And tablet computing opens a diverse array of off-line learning apps that can help your child learn everything from the history of the Titanic to multiplication to biomes and human anatomy, all on a device that takes up less space than an issue of SpinSheet.
The beauty of schooling while cruising, though, is using your surroundings as lessons. Teach the history of where you’re traveling. Learn the science of the ecosystem that surrounds your boat. Write about the rich experiences happening along the way. Sketch the new creatures you encounter. Hike and swim and climb and you’re doing P.E. For many families, that’s all the school they need.
You’re not alone
One final innovation in boat schooling is social media. While there are some good social media resources to help older children with schooling, the real jackpot is for boat schooling parents. I shudder to think of the days when a mom with three young minds to guide sat isolated in an anchorage hoping another boat came along and hoping still that the boat also had kids. Today blogs and social media networks makes connecting with and learning from other boat schooling families a snap.
Atkinson started her blog homeschoolahoy.com as a way of journaling her daughters’ boat school journey. She says it’s evolved over time into a wonderful way to connect with other families all over the world. “I meet lots of people through the blog, who email or private message me, who are very kind and generous with their comments. I hope sharing what we go through will help others widen their view.”
Connecting with others trying to school afloat is a good way to take that first step. Whether you pick a traditional boxed curriculum, mix and match your own, or just let the wonder of travel and living a life at sea guide your lessons, the end game is still the same. Boat kids all learn the unwritten lessons of self reliance, independence, appreciation for the natural world, open mindedness, and flexibility required for a life afloat.
In Zach’s Words.
“I’m 11 years old, and I have never stepped foot in a school. I’ve been living on my St. Francis 44 Catamaran since I was born and boat schooled since I was five years old.
My typical day starts with doing my boat chores. Then I have breakfast and start my school day. Unlike land school, my mom teaches me and helps me with my work. I can study any place on the boat; one of my favorite places is on the stack pack. For recess I go out fishing on the dock or swing from the rigging. After lunch I finish my work with the occasional intermission to go catch a crab.
One enjoyable part about being boatschooled is being finished much earlier in the day than land school kids, and I get to travel to cool places with my family. Also, if there’s a crab outside, I’m always allowed to go catch it. Being homeschooled on a boat is an awesome privilege.”
About the author: Annapolis liveaboard Cindy Wallach homeschools her two children on their 44-foot catamaran. Click to Cindy’s blog at zachaboard.blogspot.com
