Exodus from Charleston

Well, we are one of the last of the wintering boats here in Charleston. Our friends are leaving one by one as we try to finish projects and get ourselves out of here.  Now that Bill is on leave from work we don't have incoming funds to stay at a marina for very long. We hope to finish up and be out of here by the end of next week. We are headed south (while everyone else is headed north), destination will be the Bahamas or the Florida Keys. We are still waiting for Cooper's passport which is taking longer than usual to process.

Homeschool Kids

The other kid-boat here in Charleston with us, Inconceivable, left Saturday. Sabastian and Paisley were just about the boys' ages and were great playmates for the months we were both here.  But, now they are on their way north to begin the Great Loop, a trip that will take them (basically) up the Hudson, through the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.  While we have been here, we were lucky enough to join a homeschool group that had different activities going on in the area, including a chess club and book club.  Usually we don't stay in one place long enough to get involved like that, but since we were here for 4 months (yikes!), it has been very helpful to have a little routine to get into and other kids to play with. The marina is also walking distance from the library so that is a big plus.  

Homeschool Prep

Homeschooling is a difficult but rewarding job. Difficult because of all the little things that it entails; putting the curriculum together, ordering materials, keeping track of the schedule, teaching, making sure the work gets done, tweaking the curriculum, etc. and it doesn't end at 5 and then you get to go home. Being on a boat can make it more difficult, after all, where do you get all that stuff sent? You don't have a home and address anymore.


There are as many ways to homeschool as there are people on the planet, and the right way for one is not necessarily right for the other. While there is a whole camp of people who "unschool" (what I call a student-led curriculum), I am at the other end of the spectrum, trying to cram in as much structured curriculum as possible in the hopes that I don't ruin my kids education by not teaching them enough. I also use an excellent book, The Well-Trained Mind, which is a guide on teaching a classical curriculum.

We've Moved....and Bought Another Boat (almost)

Well, after a year squatting at my in-laws place in Florida, we finally moved into the realm of rental houses. We are renting a house by the Sound in Connecticut until the end of June. It's an academic rental, so the house comes furnished and we only get to stay in it until the start of summer (July here). It works out well for us because we were able to leave our furniture in Florida while we get this boat thing out of our systems, and don't have to pay to store things.

The boys are in school for the year (Cooper in K and Cole in 4th). Cole has only been to school for K, so all his knowledge has come from me homeschooling him.