Unit 11

Part B

Home-schooling on a World Cruise

I've never believed that the only way to get an education is to sit at a desk with four walls around you. The world is our classroom and our home, a 41-foot sailing boat, takes us there. My husband and I dreamed of sailing around the world before our daughters were even born. Their arrivals only increased our desire to live the cruising lifestyle, a way of life that has given us the opportunity for lots of quality and quantity family time. Educating our two daughters while living afloat on our sailing boat has added a wonderful new dimension to our lives.

We started out years ago with a kindergarten correspondence course for our daughter Kate. It's what most cruising families use, but as Kate zoomed through the entire year's course in a matter of two months, we realized that a pre-packaged school was not what she needed. Kate's gifted mind needed to be challenged, excited, sent into orbit. We devised our own curriculum for the rest of the year.

Choosing courses of study for Kate was great fun. We looked at where we would be sailing to during the school year, or where we would be stopping to work, and all sorts of topics of interest presented themselves. For example, while cruising down the East Coast to Florida, we chose space exploration for a unit of study. Our studies included both fictional and non-fictional reading, experiments and writing assignments. The finale was watching a shuttle launch and visiting the Kennedy Space Center museums.

We do miss out on a few things that most home-schooled children are able to take advantage of and which would perhaps make our academic life easier. Our home afloat is small. School is held on a small dining table and it's difficult to leave artwork, science experiments or projects 'until later'. We also have limited room for school books and so those we have must be chosen carefully. Perhaps the thing we miss the most when traveling is not always having access to a library. We hope to upgrade our notebook computer to one with CD-ROM soon. Imagine having resources like encyclopaedias and atlases all in a small enough format to fit on the boat!

But the advantages of our floating school far outweigh any disadvantages. Part of the reason we cruise is for the wonderful opportunities to learn about the world around us. Hands-on learning experiences we get from hiking through a rain forest, snorkeling over a coral reef, visiting historic ruins, shopping in foreign markets or participating in local festivals are an important part of our schooling.

Statements:

1. The speaker and her husband adopted home-schooling for their daughter Kate because they lived on a sailing boat.

2. The cruising lifestyle had been the dream of the couple before the daughters were born.

3. As Kate was very intelligent, she needed a more challenging curriculum than children of her age.

4. There were plenty of books but no encyclopedias and atlases on their boat.

5. The couple chose space exploration for Kate to study because they would like to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

6. Kate's experience is typical of most home-schooled children.

7. Kate had learned many things which students at school would have no access to.

8. It can be inferred that Kate had a random course of study that depended on where the family would be sailing to.

9. It can be inferred from the text that Kate's education was unsystematic but interesting.

10. It can be concluded that combining sailing around the world with studying is a very effective way to home-school

Part C

The Fun They Had

"Today Tommy found a real book!" Margie wrote in her diary on the page headed May 17, 2155.

It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

They turned the pages, which were yellow and delicate, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving about the way they were supposed to -- on a screen, you know.

She said, "Where did you find it?"

"In my house." He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. "In the attic."

"What's it about?"

"School."

Margie was scornful. "School? What's there to write about school? I hate school...why would anyone write about school?"

Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. "Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago." He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."

Margie was hurt. "Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago." She read the book over his shoulder for a while, and then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."

"Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man."

"A man? How could a man be a teacher?"

"Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions."

"A man isn't clever enough."

"Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher."

"He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher."

"He knows almost as much."

Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, "I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me."

Tommy screamed with laughter. "You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there."

"And all the kids learned the same thing?"

"Sure, if they were the same age."

"But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently."

"Just the same, they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.

They weren't even half finished when Margie's mother called, "Margie! School!"

Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her.

The screen was lit up, and it said, "Today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot."

Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

1. When did the story take place?

2. Who are Margie and Tommy?

3. Who does the word "they" refer to in the title The Fun They Had?

4. What did Tommy find one day? Why was it so special to Margie and Tommy?

5. Where and how do Tommy and Margie study?

6. Do Margie and Tommy have the same teacher? Why or why not?

7. How did Margie feel about the children in the book?

8. What is the genre of this kind of story?

Part D

Compulsive Unschooling

Two years ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her. I have always felt that the 0-5 years are an irreplaceable dreamtime. As Fiona is an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, it would be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness.

I tried not to reproduce school at home. I never had the urge to get a pointer, or chalk, or a blackboard. I didn't go and search out a curriculum. I felt that my children would learn best if I stayed accessible and stayed out of their way.

Fiona is a structured child. At the start of the day, she wanted me to tell her each and every thing we would be doing. Each morning she comes into my room with "What are we doing today?" and "What else?"

Every day we go with the flow, work some, relax some, read some, play some, but Fiona does not seem particularly happy here. Her fiery temper is set off continually.

How strange it is that my child who is free from school doesn't want to be free at all. Her friends all go to pre-school. So do all her nearest acquaintances. She feels left out of a major part of her friends' shared lives and experiences.

Well, here is a dilemma I hadn't anticipated. It is important to me to respect my daughter's opinions and feelings and allow her to direct her own education. If her curiosity leads her to school, isn't that where she should go? On the other hand, she is not in school for very strong, clear reasons. I know the quality of learning my child does at home is superior. How can I allow her to get an inferior education?

When we first decided to do this, Sam and I agreed that we would reassess the situation for each child as she turned seven. This would allow us to work out any difficulties and listen to how the child felt about home-schooling, as well as allow us an out if it wasn't working. Meanwhile we would offer her non-schoolbased opportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids -- ballet lessons, swimming classes, T-ball. When she asks when she's going to school, we tell her that there will be a family meeting about it when she turns seven, and we will decide as a family. She nearly always responds, "That's when I'm going to go, then." A fair amount of her curiosity is about school and I am afraid she'll like it.

We have one year. I hope that Fiona will either learn to read and the world opens up for her or she discovers something wonderful to pursue. I hope she will find the activities she is involved in provide her with satisfactory kid-time. I hope that if she does try school, it's only for a little while.

1. Why did the speaker decide to home-school her daughter Fiona?

2. What approach did the speaker use in home-schooling her daughter?

3. How did Fiona respond to her home-schooling?

4. What did Fiona's parents decide to do when each of their daughters turned seven?

5. What was the speaker's biggest problem in home-schooling her daughter?

6. What does the title suggest?