The Three Rs (not rowing, reefing, and reckoning) Lindsay McRory February 14, 1996 From the earliest planning stages of our voyage, until the day before we left Canada, we were concerned about education for Kita, who is 6, and Wesley, who is 4. Could we provide an education similar to what was being provided by traditional public and private institutions? There are many home-schooling services available throughout the United States and Canada. Availability of products and services was not the issue. We wondered about our own capability and willingness to assume the "teacher" role while sailing. Our options ranged from ordering basic course material to complete "all-in-one systems" that included basic learning modules, as well as grading and testing materials. These options also considered the age of the kids, anticipated time between mail pick-ups, and the amount of time that would be spent at these mailing locations. Initially, we started by researching these options ourselves, but soon started working with a home-schooling specialist who helped us to better understand the alternatives. We ultimately selected a program that provides course work and materials from kindergarten through third grade. Once Kita is ready for fourth grade, we will reevaluate our options. We plan to use this system, but if we find it isn't working we will scrap it for another. Kita and Wesley's courses are in complete kits by subject, one for each year. Their math programs are from Horizons, while reading and writing are from International Learning Systems. Both these packages are designed for the home-schooling environments without a professional teacher. The systems are complete with texts, videos, study aids, and teacher's guides. For sciences and arts we have a rather large library of books, science projects, and art supplies for kids in Kita's and Wes's age ranges. Most of the cruiser families we have met use Calvert home study. School assignments, once completed, are mailed back to Calvert for grading. New assignments and materials are mailed back. We grade Kita's and Wesley's homework ourselves. Using a schooling system like Calvert has the benefit of not having to carry three years of study materials on board. This little fact escaped both Denise and me until we saw the big crate delivered to our door one day. Courses not being used are wrapped and stowed away, but still run the risk of getting attacked by water and mildew. It was interesting that none of the remote schooling programs like Calvert had any sort of computer access. Kita had already spent one and a quarter years at public school, prior to starting onboard school. Her grades were very good. The first month of "sail school" proved the most difficult. Every day was an exercise of wills. She would sit and sit, look at the problem, doodle, talk about something else. Ten minutes of concentrated effort was average. Three months later things have completely turned around. A typical lesson consists of: Two math lessons (40 to 70 problems). Denise or I grade these exercises, then Kita corrects her work. This usually takes 20 to 40 minutes. A little break with some juice or hot chocolate. Reading activities (40 minutes). Spelling test ( 20 words). Denise and I grade this, and she then has to rewrite the incorrectly spelled words three times. Reading from one of her books (20 minutes). Playtime. An art or science project after lunch or after dinner once or twice a week. Some of the projects so far include making a rain gauge, tracking the barometer, and several paper projects. We just added a Spanish course for the whole family, which is now part of our daily schedule. Given the amount of time we expect to spend in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Mexico, we figured it was a good time to start learning the language. Sailing school is usually held every day, although sometimes we break on Sunday. No holidays or summer vacation--while living and cruising on the boat we don't keep track of either, only the weather. One of the biggest changes is the reward system. The rewards are roughly the same as in school (a snack at recess, play with friends at lunch), but now they are based on quantity and quality of work, not putting in time waiting for the bell. All of her work has to be done, and it has to be right before any rewards. It's an immediate feedback system. The last couple of weeks have been amazing. We go over each lesson before she starts then she just grinds it out. Neat, correct, and quick. I swear Kita can add two-digit numbers faster than most bean counters I know (no calculator, number line, or fingers). It's been especially good seeing exactly what difficulties Kita's having on a day-to-day basis. When she comes across something that is a little tricky, we can concentrate on that area or do some extra reading. We don't have the same kind of library system or teaching tools that you'd find at a public or private school. We have a comprehensive collection of computer education and reference software. I'm sure we must have at least one package from every major company. The software, from an educational perspective, has been very disappointing. The whiz bang animation and sounds sure are impressive, but the kids seem to retain very little from it. Reference software such as Encarta and the Encyclopedia Britannica have already proved very valuable and their roles will grow as the kids get older. In combination, all of the basic academic areas are covered in these computer and at-home schooling programs, but they don't substitute for social experiences, including team sports and school buddies. But, with all the things that are now going on in our schools, being away from today's schoolhouse seemed like a positive thing for Kita and Wes. As for team sports, we decided that at their ages, we aren't depriving them of much at this point. And they do have plenty of opportunities for sports and exercise, including swimming, windsurfing, body surfing, and diving. So, all in all, education onboard was not nearly as difficult as I had initially assumed. Once everyone is in the learning mode, it's actually a lot of fun.