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Homeschooling While Cruising

Over the years we’ve been heartened to meet many families cruising with school-age kids who are home-schooled aboard while experiencing different cultures firsthand. And we know that when those kids return to regular classrooms ashore, many of them test higher than the majority of their peers. Needless to say, of course, such results require a special parent-child relationship that not all families have.

In 2015 the San Francisco-based Tzortzis family set sail for French Polynesia from Puerto Vallarta with five kids aboard ranging in age from 21 to six. No doubt the roomy salon and cockpit of their Lagoon 470 cat, Family Circus, was a benefit when it came to home schooling.

Family Circus
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

We are certainly not experts on homeschooling, but we’re convinced that there’s no single method that will work for every family. Some use long-established international correspondence courses, some customize curricula with their hometown teachers, and others simply ad lib.

If you’ve homeschooled your kids while cruising internationally, we’d love to hear what worked and didn’t work for your family. Please tell us:
– How old were your kids at the time?
– What teaching method did you use (are you using), and why did you choose it?
– Did you (do you) maintain strict ‘classroom hours’ or keep things loose?
– What were (are) some highs and lows of your onboard teaching experience?
– And how did your kids cope with re-assimilation into regular classroom learning, assuming they did so?

Also, if possible, please send a few photos of your kids hitting the books aboard your boat, and/or enjoying firsthand learning while exploring the world under sail.

PHOTO

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If you missed the award-winning film The Weekend Sailor when it debuted in San Francisco in March, you’ll get a second chance to watch in a theater next month.