If you had asked me five years ago if I would be living on a boat and home schooling my children, my answer would have been an unequivocal "no."

I never dreamed I would be a home–schooling mom. I'd envisioned sending my children to private schools or to an outstanding public school if we could afford a house in one of those neighborhoods, but those visions evaporated with my husband Chris' obsession with sailboats.

MICHELLE SNOWJust another school day on board.

His talk about boats progressed to multiple magazine subscriptions, which led to visits to boat shows and viewing private boats for sale. After lots of boat shopping, my husband finally got me to agree to a two–year trial cruise. Agreeing to cruise on a sailboat sealed my fate; I would have to home school my two children, Brandon and Phoebe, now 8 and 4 years old, respectively.

To be a home schooler, you have to become the architect of your child's education. It is your job to decide which curriculum, if any, you will follow. As your child's educator, you take on all the responsibility. You're no longer just the parent, you're the principal, handling all the discipline issues, and the teacher as well. It is your choice how you structure your school day and what you study; should we study the Roman Empire this week or the works of Roald Dahl? You decide.

After two years, we're finally comfortable with the school we've managed to structure aboard Sea Gypsy. It takes a lot of effort and dedication to make home schooling work while cruising, since everyone involved has to be "on board."

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Before you begin home schooling your child, you should check with your local school district to find out what specific guidelines you might need to follow. Each state is different in how home educators are regulated, if at all. You can find out what your state requires by visiting the Home School Legal Defense Association.

In Texas, as long as the child is being instructed using a written curriculum consisting of grammar, math, reading and spelling and a course in good citizenship, there are no other requirements. Other states are more stringent in their conditions for home educators. Pennsylvania is one of those states, requiring attendance records to be maintained, annual reports filed with the school district, testing of children and a host of other mandates, according to the National Home Education Network.

GETTING STARTED

If possible, start home schooling your child before you set sail. This not only allows you time to familiarize yourself with teaching your children, but also allows you time to figure out what extra materials you'll need and to purchase them while it"˜s still convenient. It is an uncertain time for both parent and child. A good place to start your research is A to Z Home's Cool Homeschool Website. Another fine source of material and worksheets is EdHelper.

MICHELLE SNOWBoys will be boys...even on boats.

It took us five months to find a boat, so during that period I began to home school. Our car was our first classroom, as we drove up and down the East Coast searching for a boat. My daughter was only 2 years old at the time, so she didn't require much and enjoyed singing her ABC's and counting. My son, on the other hand, missed his school friends and didn't like doing school with Mommy. We started out using a workbook that covered the basics: reading, math, writing, and grammar.

Since that time, we've purchased our books online and had them delivered, except for a few generic workbooks that I've picked up at Barnes and Noble. There are lots of home–school sites selling materials. Penny Wise Learning is a favorite of mine; it has the lowest price on the Saxon math curriculum we use.

Many cruisers seem to use a home–school program from a private brick and mortar school located in Baltimore, Maryland, called the Calvert School, which covers pre–K to 8th grade. The Calvert School curriculum is all–inclusive, with books, workbooks, flash cards, manipulatives (educational tools and toys used in the lessons) and tests. Each lesson is thoroughly laid out, from the concepts your child will be learning to the list of materials you'll need for the lesson. You can even pay extra to have tests and essays graded and commented on by professional teachers, an option which allows you to get a transcript of grades and your child to receive a diploma. The cost varies by year; for example, 1st through 3rd grades are $755 per year without teacher support or $1,085 with support. This program was exactly what I needed as a beginner in home schooling; it held my hand and walked me through each lesson.

Although I loved the Calvert program and its ease of use, once we finished 1st grade, I asked my son if he wanted to use the program for 2nd grade, and he did not. It is a little dry, and coming from a pretty good pre–kindergarten and kindergarten program, he thought it was a little too easy. So my husband and I decided to try an alternative program we had heard about from a couple of enthusiastic home schoolers called The Well–Trained Mind.

The Well–Trained Mind is really just a book, which lays out a philosophy of education and then reviews and recommends books and materials from a variety of publishers for each subject. The attitude it promotes is that of a "classical" education, similar to what your child would receive at a Jesuit school: classical literature and history from ancient to modern; math; science; grammar; and even Latin, logic and rhetoric (starting in the 4th grade). It is the kind of education your grandparents might have received.

AT WORK

On average we spend at least three hours each day on school. However, the curriculum we use doesn't require a specific amount of time be spent on each lesson. The beauty of home school is that it doesn't matter if it takes my son 30 minutes to finish a particular lesson or an hour, as long as he is learning. Every morning we do math, grammar and spelling. We add crafts, science, cursive writing and history on alternate days. We try to do school Monday through Saturday, with Saturday being our optional/make–up day. Having a schedule of the day's study subjects taped to my wall helps me stay prepared. If we stray far from our schedule, we can also use Sunday as a make–up day.

MICHELLE SNOWPhoebe expresses herself at an art fair in Florida.

For example, when we're doing an offshore passage, having school really isn't convenient. My husband and I are too tired from too little sleep after our watches or putting our energies into battling seasickness to even entertain the idea of teaching. So, when we finally make land and recuperate, we can catch up. Also, when morale is low, you just need to agree to make up the day, get off the boat and do something else.

TRADEOFFS

Dealing with my son as his teacher has at times been mentally and emotionally taxing. For me it has been one of the more difficult parts of cruising. There have been times I've had to fight the urge to pull up anchor, dock the boat and put my kids in school. Having someone available to give you a break from your teaching duties is essential. The kids get to learn from both parents, they get a different perspective, and they get a break from the regular. It's like having a substitute teacher.

One thing that concerns me about boat schooling is that my kids don't get to be involved in activities that home–schooled children or children in a traditional setting do. I would love for my kids to take karate, tumbling or ballet, but we're constantly moving. My son would love to be on a soccer team like he was when we were in a house, and kicking the soccer ball around with his family every once in a while is just not the same.

While home schooling can be trying at times, it affords great benefits. The flexibility is so important while cruising. If a family had to abide by a traditional school schedule, cruising would be limited to the months of summer break, June through August. Being boat schooled while cruising is a great experience for my children. They're getting something they'd never get in a traditional classroom. My son can go up on deck and fish after we finish for the day. He can then watch his dad cut up the fish and see the gills, lungs and other organs – an impromptu science lesson. They can sit on the deck, see a manatee or dolphin, something they'd never see otherwise.

I really love the flexibility. One day the kids were really excited that they were going to meet up with some friends. I didn't want to miss a whole day of school, so I told them they could either do school or write a poem for their friends. They chose the poem, which took us about 35 minutes to create. We were laughing and giggling, yelling out rhyming words. Once the poem was finished, Brandon then spent another 30 minutes carefully rewriting the poem in his best handwriting onto decorative paper. He hates writing. "Next time,"he said, "I'm going to choose to do school."