First, I'm loving your videos! Just found you, and I'm enjoying watching all of your blue water! Wish I could sail along!

And, second, you asked our opinions about schooling for Bianca … so I'm going to share my thoughts on this issue, too. Be forewarned, I write fiction, so I'm longwinded! 😉

One, my daughter has homeschooled my four grandchildren–and two have graduated so far and gone on to secondary education–so I know it can have tremendous value. They also full-time RV'ers, so their life is somewhat similar to yours.

The #1 difference I see between their life and yours is this: it's not nearly as much work for them to drive/park/camp their RV as it is for you and your crew to run a sailboat on a day-to-day basis. They also camp in one spot for often weeks at a time, so they're not actively traveling all day/every day. In other words, they've giving their children the traveling/self-reliance education … but they also have a good bit of time that they can devote to the actual book-learning part of homeschooling, too. In your case, you're providing an amazing world education–one that few people will ever be able to meet–but I honestly wonder if you have the time to devote to really giving her that more formal part of her education, too–especially as she gets older–at least, not without putting some major attention into the entire process.

One of the ways to devote that attention is to find her an actual curriculum that you can use to teach her. That's what my daughter's done with her four. And there are tons of programs available out there–some free and some expensive, with everything in between–so do some research into what you want Bianca to learn/not learn. For example, the various curricula my daughter has used over the years have ALL been Christian-based education … but you can find plenty of non-secular studies out there, too, if that's not something you're interested in.

And, finally, if you'd like to see some real-life examples of raising kids on the road and how it impacts them … then I'd suggest that you find a copy of the documentary "Surfwise" and give it a watch. It was available on Netflix at one point, but it seems to have rolled off. It's the story of the Paskowitz family, a vagabond surfing family of eleven, often all living together in a van as they traveled. Here's a link to the father's Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_%22Doc%22_Paskowitz

None of the Paskowitz children were formally educated, and–now as adults–they have varying opinions of how great it was to be raised that way. Some thrived in that environment. Some did not. And not that I would EVER think that you'd treat Bianca this way … I was struck by watching the video that the father apparently spent a lot of time berating his children as they got older–especially his sons–for not being successes like he was, given the "world-class education" he gave them … when he had an Ivy League education as a doctor himself, an education that allowed him to get a high-paying job no matter where he/his family traveled. In other words, their father abused them for not succeeding … when he didn't give them a chance to even attain the same money-earning skills he had himself.

I ended up feeling bad for many of his children in the end. Most left home young because they were tired of cramped conditions, and tired of hearing their parents have sex in the same space with them. A couple of them ended up with substance and other problems, and they speak very honestly in the documentary about what it was like for them growing up. In spite of it all, thought, the #1 sadness I heard in their stories is how they thought they were getting this great, world-class education on the road–as their father kept telling them–but then they came face-to-face with everything they DIDN'T know once they left that environment and struck out into the world everyone else lives in. That's when their lack of any formal education really showed. That's when they really felt cheated.

Do I think you can give Bianca a formal education while ~also~ giving her a traveling education at the same time?

Absolutely! But it's going to take a lot of time and devotion on your part to give them BOTH to her … and–I'm sorry to be so blunt, but–you're not going to be able to accomplish it by picking up a couple of math books for her at a minute mart on some far-flung island. It will take planning, getting the right materials in-hand for her that are age-appropriate … and that build on each other with time….and then it's going to take time, devotion, and a lot more on your part to lead her through the materials … but she's a wonderful child …. and you're a smart mom! I have no doubt the two of you can do it! You just have to try!

Make sense? 🙂