homeschoolers who cruise

[Tess2mommies]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm not a parent, however growing up, grades 2- 12 I was homeschooled and now i'm on my way to medical school soon.

 

Homeschooling is the best way to ensure your children have a great education and I think your idea of having an education cruise as well as the scrap book is a great idea.

 

Keep up the great parenting,

 

A Former Homeschooler

[Deb in Cali]

Dear Ice,

 

Be sure to thank your parents for homeschooling you. I'm sure that you are where you are today because of them. Wow medical school. Congratutations.

I'm sure that you will do great and make Mom and Dad proud.

 

Are you planning on being a GP or do you want to specialize? When you hang out your shingle please hang your homeschool diploma next to your medical school diplomas. That way the world will realize that this smart, beautiful doctor was educated by her parents and not the public school system.

 

Deb

[Tess2mommies]

I plan to specialize, neurosurgery. Although rumor has it that ocne you get into medical school you quickly change your mind. Neurosurgery has a 7 year residency, so many women do not choose this field because they want to have a family and actually spend time with their family.

 

We'll see....

 

Enjoy your cruise to Alaska!

[Deb in Cali]

Ice,

 

You go girl. My cousin is a neurosurgeon. He started a practice in a moderately sized town in California. He currently has about 4 neurosurgeons working under him.

 

Ironic neurosurgery was orginally his last choice. He saved that for his last rotation. Once he realized that he loved neurosurgery, he had to scramble to get everything changed for his new speciality.

 

I'm sure that you have read the book about Ben Carson. (I hope that I remembered the name correctly.) Great book, great doctor.

Deb

[whale-watcher]

Congratulations, Icebrat! You are correct that you will change your mind many times while you are in Med School -- I did with every rotation (and Ben Carson was one of my professors...). You will love Medical school -- it is a lot of work, but an amazing experience--even better than cruising! We will be on the Jan 13 sailing of the Coral Princess to the Panama Canal, so we will look forward to hearing your suggestions for homeschooled kids.

[Tess2mommies]

Congratulations, Icebrat! You are correct that you will change your mind many times while you are in Med School -- I did with every rotation (and Ben Carson was one of my professors...). You will love Medical school -- it is a lot of work, but an amazing experience--even better than cruising! We will be on the Jan 13 sailing of the Coral Princess to the Panama Canal, so we will look forward to hearing your suggestions for homeschooled kids.

 

Medical school and cruising in the same sentence, never thought I'd see that.

I'm sure medical school will be fun during the 3rd year. 1 and 2nd year don't seem fun, 3 year sounds good and 4th year with the match seems stressfull. All the students I know at UCSF are reading to kill to go on a vacation.

 

I'm really excited about the opportunity to do clinical roations for surgery I think that's it, i'm not looking forward to ob gyn.

 

I'm sure any child that is being home schooled on going on the Panama canal cruise has tons of educational opportunites. Costa Rica should be amazing, I would focus on environmental science and possible ecology with a little bit of history on the wildlife. Panama canal is a given with the locks, simple history lesson. Not too sure about the other ports. I would bring a camcorder and a digital cam and have them make presentations on the computer and possibly when they get home meet with other homeschoolers and show them what they learned and what an amazing experience it was.

[whale-watcher]

Yes, you are certainly ready for vacation at the end of each year of Med School! 3rd year is amazing, but even the 1st 2 years will be interesting. I didn't think I would enjoy my OB rotation either, but I will never forget the first time I assisted in a delivery.

It is so nice to hear about another homeschooling success story -- not that we homeschoolers ever had any doubts.

[heymom32000]

We are a homeschool family of 3 planning on taking a cruise in Sept. Our oldest will be turning 18 during that month. We thought it would be neat for our family to go on a cruise to celebrate his senior year. We also wanted to do a vacation that was also educational. What better than a cruise to other parts of the world. We are hoping to see at least Cozumel (the boys are taking spanish right now) and the Grand Caymans. Would love to do Belize as well since a good friend of ours is from there. Her brother does tours there. So would be neat to meet him. Just depends on what kind of deal we can get though. I love the idea of keeping a journal of sorts. We always give the kids cameras of their own so the journal will just add to the memories.

 

Michelle

[sandyneck]

Michelle, we just did a cruise on the Norwegian Sun that went to Grand Cayman,Honduras, Belize and Cozumel. Sounds like this would be great for you guys. It is usually a very good price and I found it to be the cheapiest way to do the Western Caribbean. If you do go, there is an orphanage in Roatan(Honduras) that a lot of cruisers bring donations to. We brought some supplies and took a tour. My kids really liked it and it let them see first hand where our donations are going.

[LittleBit]

gee - now I want kids so I can cruiseschool 'em!

 

I always use the 3 ring binder style photo albums for my own scrapbooks. I get the kind that I can add in the plastic sheet protectors because I like to keep maps, various papers (daily compass/activities list), and other things with all my photos. That way the kids can just add in whatever reports, essays, or journals that they write.

 

I have plastic sheets that are sized for postcards (so you can see both sides of the postcard). I try to send myself a postcard from the different ports we visit so I get the local stamp, the postmark of that area, a quick note as to what I was doing, and a great picture (usually something I couldn't take myself, like an ariel view or night time shot). I also try to get local currency (coins, maybe a $1 bill) and these fit nicely into the plastic protectors too.

 

If there is a scavenger hunt or contests I try to get them, fill them out, and keep the sheets for laughs.

[MNfamilycruiser]

me feel bad! I homeschool two dds - 7 and 5 and I am planning our cruise as a vacation! Especially for ME. Actually there are a lot of great ideas here -as my girls get older, I would love to incorporate some of these things into our homeschooling.

[suzsummit]

MNfamilycruiser -- didn't mean to make you feel bad. It's just amazing when you realize that with homeschooling the journey is the school.

[MNfamilycruiser]

MNfamilycruiser -- didn't mean to make you feel bad. It's just amazing when you realize that with homeschooling the journey is the school.

And I know my kids are pretty young yet - we can add in some more formal "school" as we continue to cruise through the years. I really like the idea of keeping a list of what countries the staff are from. For now, I know they are just absorbing everything they see and hear!

[suzsummit]

This is my first year homeschooling. Used to be a Middle school teacher:D. Had to pull my 12 year old out of middle school due to the cruelity of other kids toward a girl that is smart and thinks 'different'. Son was also pulled out of kindergarten due to a totally incompetent teacher who managed to take a bright little boy who entered her classroom in September and turn him into a neurotic mess by April. Have one child completeing 5th grade in public school (her choice wanted another year with her friends and wanted to enjoy all the special things the 5th grade class does) but she will be homeschooled next year. Not going to try the social pressure cooker of midddle school again.

 

Having a great time. Cruising just fit in nicely. It's great to be able to take long extended vacations like the Pananma canal cruise. Looking for an Asian cruise for next year (2006) and then we have to go back on school schedules again(2007). Oldest will be in high school and my husband feels bettter if they are in some sort of public/private high school. He gets all worried about colleges and such.

 

We are also planning on renting an RV and driving cross country next November. That should be fun? (funny?) We are just glad we don't have to do it in summer!

 

I think a lot of homeschooling families forget about cruising as an option. Because of our flexability we are able to take cruises when the prices are better and the shipas are not jammed with 800 other children. We are also able to pick up last minute cruise deals due to the fact we don't have to 'get the OK' from the school system or endore the dirty looks from the teachers when we take a two week adventure.

 

Just some thoughts for everyone --

 

 

Actually I am really getting ready for our upcoming cruise. Got maps copied and packets of info for the kids. Scrapbook materials are bought and have even put together mini 'Learn Spanish' books. Have a mini digital microscope packed that hooks up to my laptop so the kids can do a sand investigation. My 7 year old son started his own experiment last week with color changing beads (works from UV light) he decided to put different suntan lotions on the beads and see which ones keep the beads from changing color. He now wants to bring some beads with us and see if our latitude will make a difference. Kinda fun -- and he thought about this project all by himself -- it really impressed me.....

[Deb in Cali]

Suzy,

 

Your son sounds really smart to come up with the sun experiement at that age. He will benefit from you educating him.

 

I have to ask about the sand invstigation. Are you collecting sand samples from the various ports on your cruise then comparing/contrasting them? It sounds interesting.

 

I taught jr. high/high school level at a private Christian school for a year and a half. Jr. High is such a tough age/stage to go through. Some of the other students can be downright cruel.

 

Deb

[goldminer1951]

My daughter is finishing her high school requirements this spring, and as reward I am taking her and my 14 year old son on an 11 day eastern Mediterranean cruise and for a visit to Rome this summer. This should round out her homeschool education before she starts college in the fall. This will also be another great learning experience for her brother, who has been studying ancient Greek and Roman history this year. The scrapbook idea sounds really great- we will do it!:)

 

'Miner

[Tom4Ben]

Just returned from our first cruise and wanted to say thanks for all the ideas posted in this thread. We did a number of the suggestions (scrapbooking, 'plotting' our travels on a map, gathering information from our dining room and stateroom staff and then 'researching' their countries etc) and they were all hugely successful.

I don't actually homeschool but I am seriously considering it for the future. We are from the UK and I teach in the school where my kid's attend so I consider myself very lucky. However, homeschooling is definitely a possibility as they get older. I was wondering if anyone can suggest any homeschooling books or websites which you think may be of interest ?

 

Thanks again,

 

Julie

[suzsummit]

Tom4Ben - I am SO glad many of the ideas posted on this thread have worked for you. We leave next week so I really get to put my ideas into action.

 

I have spent the last year reading extensively about homeschooling and the American Education system. I am a former middle school teacher. A few quick recommendations. Problem is after a while all the books seem to state the same ideas. So pick and choose.

 

My favorite and good if you still want to work within the school system:

Guerrilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver

The First Year of HomeSchooling by Linda Dobson

 

Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt (may be too Americanized though....) He wrote a lot of thoughful essays on the American School system

 

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home

by Jessie Wise

 

 

Good luck on your jouney into possible homeschooling.

Homeschooling: The Middle Years : Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 8- to 12-Year-Old Child by SHARI HENRY

 

So where was your cruise too? How old are your kids? What was their favorite part?

 

[Tom4Ben]

Hi Suzsummit !

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I have the John Holt book already but will get on to Amazon today and see if I can order any of the others. I would like to stay within the National Curriculum (UK) just incase they ever wanted to return to school. However, the few home educators I have spoken to in the UK seem to be less structured and just 'go with the flow'. I was worried as to how I could 'teach' all the subjects at secondary level ( I teach in the primary sector 3-11)but someone told me to look at it as "guided autonomy" rather than "teaching" and that you can concentrate on their interests and learn all together as time goes on. What do you think ?

Anyway, back to the cruise. I can't believe I can discuss my two favourite topics, homeschooling and cruising on the same board - how great is that!!!

We went on our first cruise to the Caribbean with Royal Caribbean and did the Western itinerary (Labadee, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Cozumel). My kids are five and seven and they really loved swimming with the sting rays in the Cayman Islands. However, the dolphins and wild iguanas in Cozumel came a close second !! To be honest, I think the whole experience was "mind-blowing" for them and they couldn't really take it all in as they were so excited. I took lots of worksheets for them to complete but we were far too busy to complete them and are now doing them at home instead !!!

Anyway, thanks again for all the information - keep it coming please !!

 

Julie

[Nliedel]

In Ocho Dunns River Falls is educational and fun. I did that when I was about 10 and really enjoyed it (long time ago). In jamaica I suggest getting away from the dock and the main areas in Ocho and getting to see more of the island. It is so beautiful and interesting.

[suzsummit]

I just found this site in reply to another posters question on another thread. Thought it might be of interest here too.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/cruise.htm

 

Fun reading -- gives you some background. Anyone have ohter sites?

[suzsummit]

Cargo ship lesson -- looks interesting

 

http://www.poal.co.nz/students/lesson-plan-1.htm

[Tom4Ben]

Suzy,

I bet you and the family are excited now that you are on the countdown !!

Have a lovely cruise and tell us all about it when you get back. In the meantime, I'll be reading some homeschooling books so I may have a few questions for you to answer when you get back from your vacation !!

 

Hope you have a fantastic trip,

 

Julie

[Deb in Cali]

Julie,

 

I homeschooled my two boys for 10 years. If you would like to correspond with me directly about homeschooling you can email me at yosemitelupine@yahoo.com.

 

Deb

[MommyInSC]

My dh and I just took a cruise, alone, last month to celebrate our anniversary. Thankfully my parents watched the kids for almost 2 weeks so we could do this. The kids are now dying to take a cruise after hearing all of the fun we had.

We have been researching and found a great cruise, but it is 15 days next April. It leaves SC (where we live), goes all over the Caribbean and ends in Boston. We would rent a car and take another week to tour the east coast as we drove home. The different leaving and ending ports make the cruise cheaper =)

I am thinking huge homeschooling project as we research the places we will be going before the trip, etc. By then my sons will be 9 and 5.

My question....have any of you homeschooling families been on a cruise and been the only family with kids?

I am not concerned about my boys behavior (we will make sure they behave!!!), but I want them to have fun on the cruise as well =) The Kids Camps, when you are the only kid, could not be that exciting right?

Thoughts? This cruise is with NCL BTW. We looked at a Carnival 7 day, and this NCL jumped out. So we are investigating it first.

TIA!