Homeschooling on a yacht

This blog post is dedicated to our mums and dads who teach their children
when they are sailing at the same time.Whether its around the world or maybe around the Pacific islands we just wanted to say a few words of encouragement and to let
you all know that whatever the circumtances you can still teach your children.
It doesn't have to be a classroom as long as your heart is in it.

Homeschooling - the value of reviewing what you have achieved

When i was at school there was always tremendous peer pressure to achieve more and to do it better than our school mates. We used to rush through the tasks set and flick through the work books as fast as we could.

There was no encouragement to sit back and to reflect on what we had learnt, how it tied into other lessons or indeed how it related to our world away from the classroom.

This tended to encourage a rather one dimensional approach to life. It was all about tick sheets,getting on to the next book before your class mates and so on.

Homeschooling helps to encourage the kind of learning atmosphere which will encourage reflection.

Children should be able to sit back and talk about how what they have just learnt relates to other work.They will have time to see if there are examples of the lesson subject in their home life and overall their understanding of life will be so much better.

So don't make the lessons pressured. Relax and enjoy it.

Homeschooling - looking after yourself

This is a short blog just to reiterate a point we often say to our mums and dads.
Make time for yourself.This all comes down to routine and having your children understand what is required.

It can be simple things like

a. Every day at 2 pm....take a 20 minute break on your own to recharge your batteries.Explain to the children that this is their opportunity to have their own free time too. Or make it into their reading time.

b. Schedule the day around the lessons but make sure that there are breaks at the start, during and after lessons for your own time.

c.Some weeks the teaching seems so easy and other times it is just darn hard. You need to recognise that there are ups and downs. That is life and even the best homeschoolers experience this.
These hard times will pass and the sun will shine again.

So be aware of how you feel, track the swings during the months ahead and allow yourself enough precious time to recover and unwind.

The benefit of good books

We all take for granted that our children grow up talking like their parents. After all how else can they learn?

But isn't it funny how so often we forget the importance of good books as well.

Reading good books, copying down the descriptive phrases and hearing them read aloud will surely help our children to appreciate good writing and then go on to carry this lesson into their school work.

This doesn't need to be an expensive route. You need not pay for the latest Harry Potter in hard back. Second hand books are fine and don't be afraid to go back to some of the classics from the 19th century.

Home schooling - finding life long interets

I thought that it would be nice, on one of our first posts
to talk about something which is very special to us.

Time and again when our children come to the end
of their primary education through WES we hear from their
parents how their children have developed a lasting interest
in one or two areas.

As a matter of fact this isn't really surprising. Homeschooling
really gives each child more one to one attention than they would
get in a normal school. Naturally the work will tend to gravitate towards
what interests your children.

Look at it another way, we all know how much easier it is to teach our children
when they are interested. So you see that gleam in their eyes and you want to
spend more time on those special subjects.

Is this bad? No, don't worry if you have to adapt your teaching time to match where
your childrens interests lie. It happens all the time and as long as you try
to balance it out in the long run then they will be OK.