Welcome to Bomeschool

On our sailing vacation last year, the kids were having trouble differentiating the location of "home." When we said "home", did it mean our house or boat? Wavey solved our dilemma by creating a new word for where we are when we are living aboard: Bome.  A combo of boat and home. Clever girl.

So, when we started making plans for homeschooling, it made sense that we would call our floating school Bomeschool.

On August 29, 2016, we started formal school. We started out with "Breakfast Club" (cooked by of course, the volunteer Mom) followed by an orientation to the new teacher, and new classroom (our salon table, Mom and Dad's aft cabin, cockpit). School supplies were provided (once they were extracted from hard-to-access lockers), the class rules were established (e.g. be respectful, sit at the table, no swearing), and the work began. First Language, next Math, and followed by Social Studies, French and whatever else we could throw in.

First day = Success. No yelling and no tears. I seem to recall hearing,"Hey Mom, this is fun." 

The second day was more interesting. We began travelling from Cornwall to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield as we cracked open the books. John navigated down the river for several hours while we read, multiplied and contemplated the routes of early settlers. John yelled warnings as freighters, with their rollercoaster wakes passed by. We hung onto our books as the classroom momentarily lurched around.

We intended to study the third day, but the conditions were not favourable. John and I both needed to be available for transiting locks and passing under lift bridges as we travelled to Montreal. With news of a "travel day" Simon and Wavey happily disappeared into a pile of Lego. Occasionally, they surfaced when we required their assistance, or when they were hungry.

There was great anticipation the following day. The kids flew through their lessons, packed up the books, and waited for the El-Hassan family to visit on their way back home from vacation in Quebec City. It was wonderful to see friends from home and catch up on news.

Visiting with El-Hassan family

Mohammad, Yousef, Wavey, Simon and Canaan

Mohammad and Simon

On Day 4 of Bomeschool, we became saturated with science. Our grand field trip took us by bus and Metro to the Olympic Stadium which now houses the Biodome, Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, Insectarium and Botanical Gardens.  This is the place to be if you are an outdoors kid who loves everything. (Luckily, we have two them.)

The Biodome houses five ecosystems including the Laurentian Maple Forest, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador Coast, Sub-Antarctic Islands, and Tropical Rainforest. The animals' habitats were well constructed and the staff were very informative. We were mesmerized by the puffins, penguins, otters, beavers and aquatic life. They also featured an exhibition throughout the Biodome focused on the poop of animals. There were "match-the-animals-with-their-poop" games and cool presentations about "crotte". Dream education for 8-11 year olds.

Beavers swimming. You could see right into their lodge!

Oh, so adorable puffins

It would have been hard to drag the kids out of the Biodome, had our next stop not been the Insectarium. One huge place filled with bugs. Bug city. Cool bugs. Big bugs. Bug poop.

Simon with a dung beetle (what else?)

Wavey with some quivering (and very cool) stick/leaf bug

I am sure we would still be there watching the leaf cutter ants if we did not have tickets to see two shows at the Planetarium on Asteroids and Mars. Comfily lying in bean bag chairs (the shapes of asteroids, of course) we were bombarded by so much cool stuff about space that I rekindled my secret desire to be an astronaut.

After our space experience, it was dusk. The responsible parent in me was thinking about getting back on the Metro and finding some supper for our kids. But no, not in Bomeschool. Instead, we marched all the way back to the Botanical Gardens to see the Japanese and Chinese Lantern Festival (see  http://espacepourlavie.ca/en/programming/gardens-light). As darkness fell, the lanterns took us (and many others) on magical garden walk. 

On our way back to Bome,we found a Thai restaurant still serving food. Our tired scientists heartily ate their meals with their heads propped up. What devoted learners!

Our second week of Bomeschool settled into more of a routine; one that is flexible, but predictable. It is not always smooth sailing, but we all agree, we have made a good start.

Creating a historical timeline

Noise cancelling head gear to block out the sound of the engine (and her classmate)

Blocking the engine noise (and that of his classmate)

 As school in Ontario has started this week, our thoughts have been with our friends and teachers. Simon and Wavey have wondered aloud how their friends are doing and how the first days of school have been.  I have a crazy new appreciation and admiration for all of the teachers and teacher-friends who have supported our efforts in getting our little school afloat. My thanks to all of you!