End of term at boat school.
“Education is the most
powerful weapon we can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela.
The Autumn term always ends with a roar – a shower of
glitter, singing and general positivity. This term has been no different.
The deckhands have worked really hard at many things and
rose magnificently to the challenge of writing and producing an end of term
Nativity play. From writing their own story, designing scenery, learning new
songs, making clay figures to putting the whole thing together and finally
recording a short film. There was a lot of research into how a census works and
what it is for, what the landscape en route from Nazareth
to Bethlehem
would have been like and even what a carpenters bench from Roman times would have
looked like. Hopefully the Grandparents will enjoy it.
In this marina we have good (and free!) internet. This means
we have a new toy in the form of a computer programme for numeracy learning.
Called IXL (http://uk.ixl.com) it generates
questions and as they master different skills they achieve various awards -
small pictures representing things as diverse as an alley cat, a skyscraper or
a pineapple (each year has its own theme). The deckhands are really enjoying
it.
A rare moment of peaceful writing from all 3 together. |
We’ve had some interesting trips out this term. The best was
possibly to Brest
castle which also houses the maritime museum. We’ve also covered some very
random bits of learning such as the gunpowder plot, Nelson Mandela and his
legacy, the history of Christmas trees and done some interesting science
experiments. Looking into the French Christmas traditions led to an interesting
discussion about Santa’s ability to understand and deal with all the different
customs around the world.
Brest castle - still an active service base and a museum. |
Since setting off we have tried to loosely follow the
British curriculum to help with the transition back to school when we return. Although
we were aware that change was due, we were quite surprised to discover recently
that the new system is being introduced from September 2014 so the curriculum
as it stood was suspended from September this year to allow schools the
opportunity to prepare for the new!
Scenery, characters and props all ready for action in the Nativity. |
Having expected to return to England a few weeks ago, until the
weather and the engine problems decided otherwise, there had been a possibility
of the boys starting formal schooling in the New Year. This will obviously not be
happening now so we have the pleasure of continuing boat school for a while
longer. We're looking forward now to the Christmas holidays then back for more fun and learning in
January.
Happy Christmas to you all – thanks for following the blog.
For more boat school
blog posts use the tag cloud on the right – if you want to find out more about
how we use the British primary school curriculum whilst travelling, want to chat about home education on the move or about anything we have tried in boat school please feel free to contact me via the comments.
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