{"id":10175,"date":"2022-08-02T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/2022\/08\/02\/clonlara-at-sea-from-dream-to-highly-personalized-education-on-the-go\/"},"modified":"2023-11-20T16:01:03","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:01:03","slug":"clonlara-at-sea-from-dream-to-highly-personalized-education-on-the-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/2022\/08\/02\/clonlara-at-sea-from-dream-to-highly-personalized-education-on-the-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Clonlara at Sea: From Dream to Highly Personalized Education On-the-Go"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For some families, \u201ctraveling the world\u201d is a fanciful dream, something to attain after the children have grown and graduated. But what would it look like if your children\u2019s schooling could be part of the dream? With three children enrolled in Clonlara\u2019s Off-Campus Program<\/a>, one family (\u201c5abombordo<\/a>,\u201d as they are known on social media) has spent the past four years showcasing the reality of a highly personalized education while at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dream<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jo\u00e3o and Rute aimed to sail around the world together\u2026in retirement; but with the birth of their children, they reimagined living their dream with their whole family. \u201cThe impact that this voyage would have on the education and growing of our kids would be so big that we had the responsibility to make it happen,\u201d said Rute. So, in July 2019, their family began an epic journey around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While living full-time onboard their 33-year-old steel sailboat, Domum (which means \u201chome\u201d in Latin), Jo\u00e3o and Rute have taken every opportunity to live new experiences with their children: to know more cultures, see different ways of living, and reflect on the changes they see in themselves as they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World as a Classroom<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of Jo\u00e3o and Rute\u2019s favorite parts of their journey has been the hands-on participation in their children\u2019s learning. Literally surrounded by nature, the family has had countless hours of exploring the ocean and studying marine life with their three children, Carmen (age 7), Afonso (age 10), and Marta (age 16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each new destination along their route has offered the chance to get to know a nation\u2019s people, history, culture, government, religion, economy, agriculture, cuisine, art, wildlife, terrain, and more. Long ocean passages have presented time to study basics, read books, prepare emails, play chess, and figure currency exchange rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us,\u201d says Rute, \u201cevery place is a good opportunity to learn by snorkeling, seeing new species of animals, picking up trash from beaches, exploring mountains, visiting museums, playing with friends from other countries, and even spending hours on a crossing waiting to see a shooting star!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This family\u2019s trip exemplifies Clonlara\u2019s core beliefs that the world is our classroom, and neither academic learning nor the mastery of skills is limited by the location in which they are sought, whether in a school, at a home, or, in this case, on a boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life and Learning Onboard<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Rute knew that living on a small boat with three kids would be challenging, but she confesses that adapting to life at sea was more difficult than she imagined. Chores take more time without a washing machine and dishwasher, and depending on the location of the store, normal grocery shopping takes much longer than usual\u2014sometimes an entire day! Rute\u2019s husband, Jo\u00e3o, spent two years before their trip refitting the boat, but it still needs a lot of work daily to ensure it is safe and prepared to sail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, enduring long ocean crossings, missing family and friends, and adjusting to cramped spaces has strengthened them all. \u201cWe have grown to respect each other\u2019s space and read each other\u2019s mood,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with the normal challenges associated with full-time boat life, the family appreciated the innumerable opportunities to learn. They have met new people, experienced different cultures, and explored both land and sea extensively. The benefits of life onboard outweigh the burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom and Flexibility<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jo\u00e3o, Rute, and their kids have traveled along the coast of Portugal; cruised through the Spanish Mediterranean islands; visited several Caribbean islands; hunkered down on the Columbian seaboard; passed through the Panama Canal; journeyed to the Galapagos Islands; made a 21-day voyage across the Pacific Ocean; and explored French Polynesia in the South Pacific. Living on a sailboat has given them the liberty to travel around the world, and Clonlara\u2019s Off-Campus Program has afforded them the freedom and flexibility to meet academic standards along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The helpful team at Clonlara gave the family the confidence they needed to employ highly personalized learning for each of their children. \u201cDefining a different program of study for each child\u2014depending on what they like to do\u2014makes them more active in their own education,\u201d says Rute. She has also noticed her children having more interest in learning, and they have developed new curiosities, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rute notes that the engagement their children have in their own education has \u201cgiven them the autonomy and responsibility that in a normal school would be difficult to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shark Finning and Full Circle Learning<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Clonlara\u2019s Full Circle Learning (FCL) Model<\/a> can be employed on every learning path, even when a student\u2019s passions take her under the sea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marta the family\u2019s oldest child has always loved the ocean, and one of her favorite aspects of boat living is the proximity to marine wildlife, especially sharks. \u201cI have been lucky enough to dive with sharks and to see their behavior,\u201d she writes, but her expeditions surprised her. \u201cIn some places where I thought I would see a lot of sharks, like in the Caribbean or Cape Vert, I saw none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intrigued, Marta started researching. She suspected \u201cshark finning,\u201d the practice of removing a shark\u2019s fins while the animal is still alive, to be the problem. Through discussions, documentaries, articles, and books, she discovered that humans kill (legally, accidentally, and illegally) almost 100 million sharks every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using FCL, Marta honed and practiced skills in research, English, writing, interviewing, science, diving, analysis, persuasion, economics, and more while working on her project. Because she visited natural habitats where shark populations were absent and environments where shark populations were protected and thriving, she could see for herself that her research proved to be true. Invested emotionally and intellectually, Marta independently searched with excitement for the answers to her questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Is an Adventure<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At Clonlara, we believe family is a big part of the learning adventure. Our advisors work closely with Off-Campus Program families (even those who spend years at sea!) to understand their goals and guide them on their respective education journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past four years, Jo\u00e3o, Rute, and their children have been living their dream. Rather than stifling or limiting their plans, schooling has fit perfectly into their nomadic lifestyle. \u201cIn our family\u2019s case, our dream was to live this experience with our kids in a sailboat; in your case, it may be different,\u201d says Rute. \u201cTo start living your dreams, you must take the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you see your children\u2019s education as an obstacle rather than a complement to achieving your family\u2019s dream, contact us<\/a> to learn how Clonlara can support your learning journey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is YOUR family\u2019s dream?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some families, \u201ctraveling the world\u201d is a fanciful dream, something to attain after the children have grown and graduated. But what would it look like if your children\u2019s schooling could be part of the dream? With three children enrolled in Clonlara\u2019s Off-Campus Program, one family (\u201c5abombordo,\u201d as they are known on social media) has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,24,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-full-circle-learning","category-parent-perspective","category-student-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10224,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10175\/revisions\/10224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}