As organisers we were delighted when 3 families, who have children being educated aboard, joined the 1998 Blue Water Rally. In our 1999 event these numbers will increase, with a further 4 families educating their children as they sail around the world. The topic of Education Afloat is of great interest to many cruising yachtsmen and Wendy Yorke, whose 2 daughters Sarah-Jane and Anna are being educated on board their Swan 61, "Windfall", has written the following article. We are most grateful to her for finding the time to share her experience with others through the Blue Water Rallies' website. Peter Seymour, Rally Director

EDUCATION AFLOAT by Wendy Yorke, Yacht "Windfall"

Sailing around the world on the Blue Water Rally, with our two daughters Sarah-Jane (12) and Anna (9), has certainly provided the stimulating challenge that we hoped it would for our small family crew. Home Schooling on board is an integral part of the fun times we have together wherever we find ourselves in the world. But we are all learning from the experiences we have together.

We had been living on our boat, "Windfall", for a year and a half before joining up with the Rally in Gibraltar in October 1998. We already had an established home-schooling routine that suited our Mediterranean cruising, but we quickly discovered that rally schedules would change our timetable. At each landfall, BWR organisers arrange excellent inland trips and social gatherings. Schoolwork takes a back seat during these periods. Instead, we all enjoy the experiences of new places ashore and the company of our rally friends. Now we have Rally School – with an updated timetable; a passage-making one that sets new challenges for us all to adapt to.

Our usual routine is to start school as soon as we have breakfast put away and to work through the morning when everyone is at their brightest. We have a couple of breaks in between and the whole exercise is dependent upon the sailing conditions. We tend to take over the saloon table, wedging ourselves in and holding onto pencil-cases and books to stop them rolling off the table as we sail along – a part of the fun of school at sea that most schoolchildren do without? Both children enjoy a little independent study and are set a piece of work to do after lunch on their own while their teacher catches up with her night watches and has a well-deserved sleep in peace. This 'homework period' has proved highly successful – developing as we have cruised and as the girls matured. The individual worktime teaches them at an early age to take responsibility for their work and to complete a task within a certain timeframe.

When the going gets rough and it is just too rolly below, we move up to the cockpit, where much fun can be had with impromptu quizzes with all the crew involved. The girls love these sessions and we conduct useful mental maths, times tables, spelling, verbal reasoning tests, as well as French and Spanish vocabulary learning periods, for everyone whether at the bow, on the stern or sitting out on the rails while on dolphin watch.

At the beginning of Home Schooling we were only studying the core subjects of English, Maths and Science, but Sarah-Jane in particular has a thirst to learn about all she can and she has taken on four further subjects, as well as a foreign language. Anna has now included History and Geography in her curriculum. There is a certain advantage in variety to keep the interest levels up and we have a super tutor in England to whom all their work is sent at the end of each 12-week term.

We tend to supplement the curriculum with extra project work, which the children enjoy as this provides room for plenty of creativity. These we tie in with the wonderful places we visit with the Rally. We collect information and take photographs as we go, susing them to reinforce the girls' own experiences; for example, Anna completed a detailed geography project on volcanoes after visiting Mount Teide in Tenerife, Montserrat in the Caribbean, seeing Cotopaxi and the Avenue of the Volcanoes in Ecuador, and discovering the lava tunnels and fields of the beautiful Galapagos Islands. Sarah-Jane, who is an artistic chld, sketches the things she sees around the world, and has illustrated a fascinating science project, entitled "Endemic and Endangered Species of the Galapagos".

The girls also enjoy plenty of art and craft. When we can we collect all sorts of kits for painting, model-making, sand art, beading, braiding, metallic stickers, papier maché etc. and these offer a relief from the more serious schoolbooks. Both children cook and bake delicious treats, such as banana bread, cheese scones, birthday cakes and biscuits. We also read an enormous amount, often two of us reading the same book at once and then having great discussions about them. The girls and I sew, which is another excellent pastime at sea, mostly tapestry, and recently we have been improving our ropework, with Sarah-Jane making an attractive companionway doormat out of an old reefing line.

Both children have become competent crew, learning how to helm, assisting with ropes and sail changes, plotting positions on the charts, filling in the boat's log book and spending time talking to friends on the radio. They can operate the radar and navigation equipment. Everyone on board has a daily cleaning chore. This also helps to keep things in their place, which is important when we are at sea. We listen to a lot of music, both modern and classical, and we have a video on board, which not only is an important relaxation after school but is also a wonderful education support. We all use the computer, and CD-Rom drive. The children word process a selection of their school work, mostly poems and creative writing pieces. We find that the computer and the television help to keep us all up-to-date and friends joining us along the way often bring new films and games as gifts. We do have e-mail communication on board, which both girls know how to use but, as ours is a satellite system, it is very expensive and we only use it for important messages.

Certainly the girls are missing out on the group activities that they would be enjoying at school ashore – sports, plays, concerts etc., but they are learning about the world from the countries we visit and there is a terrific social advantage by sailing around the world with an organised rally. They learn much from our friends with the Rally and have both forged their own relationships with the children and several adults on the other boats. This provides a naturally stimulating time, with different people with new interests and skills, sometimes from different countries, which is very good for the children and teaches them the social skills they need at this stage. We also have friends and crew who join us from time to time, whose company we all enjoy and who offer children a bit more variety than their parents all the time.

The other exciting point about travelling around the world at such a young age is that Sarah-Jane and Anna are seeing at first hand what the majority of school children only read about in books. They have learnt from their own experiences what volcanoes are, how atoll reefs are formed and the dangers of sharks in the Pacific. They have seen cotton, tea and coffee growing, and they have tasted a marvellous array of fruits, vegetables and food from around the world. We have all learnt together about new cultures, countries and the people who live there and these are memorable experiences. When the children do go back to a conventional school, we feel very confident that they will adapt quickly, probably being really pleased to be at a school and surrounded by children again.

Sarah-Jane, who exhibited some of her paintings in the Bonaire Art Gallery says, "Home Schooling is fun, but I miss other kids to work things out with. I love best all the places we visit and the opportunities we have to do so many new things." Anna, who has just learnt to scuba dive in French Polynesia says, "I miss my friends, but am very happy that we are all together as a family. I like my school because my mum is a gentle teacher and she gives us lots of snacks and cuddles when things go wrong."

The Yorke family are using Worldwide Education Service, based in Bicester, England to provide a British curriculum through the primary school years up to Year 8 inclusively, which they highly recommend. Further information can be obtained from :

World-Wide Education Service
Unit D2
Telford Road
Bicester
Oxon
OX26 4LD

Tel: 01869-248682
Fax: 01869-248064
Click here to send an email

Click here to visit their web site

Other families educating children aboard