NEWS: Announcing a third edition of Lesson Plans Ahoy!
Whew! After years of steadily widening the scope of the original edition, I've just come out with a third paperback edition of Lesson Plans Ahoy, which includes new insights gained during over a three year Pacific cruise aboard our 35 foot sloop, Namani. This new edition brings the paperback and e-book editions of Lesson Plans Ahoy in line with each other. It's been a heck of a journey for one book and it's author!
Back in 2011, I was back to teaching in an international school after a year's sailing sabbatical that took us from the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic Ocean, around the eastern Caribbean, and up the US East Coast to Maine. Eager to fill the need for a useful guide for home schooling sailors, I wrote and published the first edition of Lesson Plans Ahoy, which included six learning units (two in science, two in math, one history unit, and one on physical education).
In response to requests for more information, I wrote an expanded second edition of Lesson Plans Ahoy. In it, I added a long section on the how-to's of home schooling on a boat (covering topics such as choosing an approach, packaged programs versus self-designed programs, creating a schedule, and more). I also added four more learning units to the book for a total of ten (including writing, chemistry, navigation, and another history unit, this one on Captain Cook). Realizing that much of Lesson Plans Ahoy applied to families in other home schooling situations, I then published a related book called Lesson Plans To Go, which adapted existing units to a land environment and added entirely new units so that families could take learning with them out into the real world – from the backyard to the beach, in museums and parks, or during a vacation or camper trip.
During our second extended sailing sabbatical aboard Namani, I was home schooling my son through grades two, three, and four and in contact with many other sailing families as we transited the Panama Canal and crossed the Pacific Ocean. The biggest issue parents reported was motivating kids for home schooling. Not surprisingly, many sailing children do not relish the idea of school when they could be doing – well, just about anything else. Sailing parents were grateful for a few simple tips and tricks I provided that took the struggle out of home schooling. I wrote those into a new section called Motivating Reluctant Learners and published them into a Kindle edition of Lesson Plans Ahoy.
Now, in 2014, I've added the section on motivation to a third paperback and kindle editions of Lesson Plans Ahoy, along with a few more tidbits learned during our three year Pacific cruise. This brings the paperback and e-book editions in line with each other; both are available on amazon.com. It's been a great journey for me as an educator, parent, sailor, and author, and I'm proud to offer a truly useful book to the cruising community. May it serve you well on your own learning adventures!