Lessons Learned

When it comes to home-schooling the kids while cruising, these parents learned that flexibility, and sometimes changing course, is key.

- Jennifer Brett

Warm, dappled morning light streaming in through the open companionway, my daughters working on journal entries. Me making coffee while gathering items for our morning science lesson, which would, of course, tie into that day's reading assignment. My husband, Green, working on route-planning and navigation exercises over breakfast. After a snorkeling break (with fish and coral identification, naturally), the girls would do math without complaining, and then we'd hunt for shells, which we would somehow turn into an art project. Visits to town would be prefaced by a study of the area's history.

There would be lesson plans. We would be organized. Our curriculum would be exciting and relevant, and meet all of the standards from back home. The kids would be engaged and eager to learn.

This was, obviously, a fantasy.

When an old friend reached out recently with questions about home-schooling while cruising, I hesitated to answereven after a couple of winters sailing south with the kids to the Bahamas.

Why did I go silent? Because, while some of our days had included some of the elements I'd envisioned, most days saw the kids begrudgingly sitting at the salon table doing some pages in workbooks, with me imploring them to "get school done" so we could go ashore. If we were underway, forget about it. School took a backseat. I was not quite the teacher I had hoped to be-nor was I terribly creative or organized. I worried that they'd be behind their peers, and that I was failing to embrace the opportunities around us.

Looking for advice that I could pass on to my friend, I reached out to a few veteran cruisers who had many years of "boat-schooling" in their wake. What I discovered was surprising and comforting: What they envisioned wasn't always what ended up working either, and doubts were common.

What Worked, What Didn't