School in the Boatyard

Homeschooling in the boatyard.

For a ten-year-old who hated school, I figured home schooling would be a dream come true. It would have been for me, at his age. I could have immersed myself in books and learning without having to deal with all the bullying and teasing that bright kids who wear glasses usually have to endure. 

In 1987, homeschooling was unusual and allowed only in special circumstances approved by the school board. Those categories were sick kids in the hospital or kids whose parents worked overseas. 

The entire year of lessons, exercise and textbooks were compiled and packed into several cardboard boxes.  Completed assignments were mailed back to British Columbia each week, and the corrected lessons were mailed back to us in Hawaii, complete with stickers, stars and notes from his teacher.  No computers, Zoom or email. And it was free, even the postage supplied by the district.

Gavin loved to read and learn. When we opened the boxes, he was thrilled and was immersed in them for a month, reading every textbook cover to cover. However, he was highly resistant to doing the exercises for his distance teachers. Encouragement, sitting with him, begging him, didn’t work. Not even bribing him worked. He did, however, like going to the library.

At that time, the public library in Lihue had a couple of computers and Gavin was ecstatic to be able to go and ‘play’ on them. He would also spend hours with science books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. I would find a comfy chair and curl up with my latest historical fiction novel until he was ready to leave. But, truthfully, it was usually me that had to find him and tear him away from the computer.

When we weren’t at the library, we were in the boatyard, with school set up on ‘table rock’ under the ironwood trees and serenaded by the constant cooing of the doves, and of course, the drone of the generator.

After a year of ‘freedom’ from school, Gavin wanted to go public school in Lihue where he was exposed to Hawaiian traditions of leis, grass skirts, hula and playing the ukelele. And also the experience of being one of only five white kids amongst hundreds of Hawaiian, Japanese, Samoan and Filipino kids.

When I ask Gavin now, about his early education, he says he still loves learning but most of all he appreciates all he learned in the yard, with tools, wood, metal, paint, welding, and figuring things out. “Oh yeah,” he says, “I also learned a lot about sailing and boats and the sea.”

Playing in the river mud with his friend, Hari.

Fifth grade Graduation in Lihue.