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#144: Teacher Exposes School System 'Meat Grinder' | Homeschools 5 Kids on Sailboat Instead
Episode 144
What happens when you ditch the American Dream, move onto a boat with five kids, and homeschool while traveling the Caribbean? In this inspiring episode, former public school teacher Tanya shares her family's extraordinary journey of "boat schooling" for nearly a decade.
From their catamaran "Take Two" in Florida's 10,000 Islands, Tanya opens up about:
Why They Left Conventional Life Behind
- The "meat grinder" feeling of the traditional education system
- Moving from Atlanta suburbia to life on the open ocean
- How a childhood dream became reality with five young children
The Reality of Boat Schooling
- Managing seasickness, morning sickness, and life in close quarters
- Using the world as your classroom: from banana plantations in Belize to Christopher Columbus's landing sites in the Bahamas
- One-room schoolhouse methods that work with multiple ages (toddler to teen)
Honest Conversations About:
- Unschooling yourself as a former teacher
- The socialization question (spoiler: she's seen what socialization looks like in classrooms)
- Teaching five different kids to read five different ways
- Why the "hard parts" of their unconventional childhood made her kids tougher and more resilient
- Creating deep family bonds that last into adulthood
Mentioned Resources:
- Life of Fred math curriculum
- Teach Your Baby to Read (Doman method)
- A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz
- Tanya's book: "Leaving the Safe Harbor: The Risks and Rewards of Raising a Family on a Boat"
- Blog: https://www.taketwosailing.com/
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Published on 1Â week ago