The Knapps had dreamed of traveling through the ocean full-time for years, but ran into issues when it came to educating their kids. They ran into an issue when Carter, their oldest, made such academic progress that his parents needed an online homeschool program that helps families more. They found that the online homeschool program, Power Homeschool, is flexible enough that they can do school on their own time and helps their family to get the best education.

Letters from a Parent: Meet the Knapps!
Submitted by Jolene Knapp

In 2019, after years of dreaming about full time travel, we sold everything and bought a 1987 Marine Trader Trawler, 47ft with 3 staterooms and 2 bathrooms. Our family of five has spent the past three years cruising all over Florida and the Bahamas.

I’m Jolene. Chris and I have been married 18 years and have three boys, Carter, 13, Chase, 12 and Caleb, 10. We have documented all our travels for the past 3 years on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and are currently near Cape Canaveral on the space coast.

Our lifestyle of constant travel is what caused us to start homeschooling. However, we call it “boatschool”, because it just sounds cooler! We have used a variety of materials and homeschool curriculum, but we also taught the boys real life skills on the water. There is always something to learn living on a boat. For a while, we didn’t have a consistent internet connection or we were unsure what the internet would be like in the Bahamas, so we used physical books. 

Why Did We Start Homeschooling?

The problem we started to run into with Carter, our oldest, is frankly he got too smart for us. I was no longer able to “teach” him certain subjects. Instead, we relied on the material to teach him, but it wasn’t always the most effective.

After talking with another mom who lives on a boat with her kids, she encouraged me to look into Power Homeschool, a flexible online homeschooling program that is helping other families like ours. We started just a few months ago and it has made everything so easy for us. The program for Carter is challenging, yet he can complete it quickly. It is so flexible, because he gets to listen to pre recorded teachers, and that’s what we need for our lifestyle. He is learning from someone other than me, but can still do it on our traveling time schedule. He doesn’t have to be in class every day at the same time, so we still have the flexibility to travel and make passages when the weather is right.

Our “Boat-Schooling” Daily Routine

In the morning, Carter typically wakes up first, checks the cats food and water, pushes the start button on the coffee maker and comes in to tell us good morning. Then he likes to jump right into his school. He grabs the family laptop and heads up top with a beautiful view of the water to log in and start school. He likes to listen on headphones and use the speed up function so he can listen to the teachers faster. He usually completes everything before lunch and after eating he either jumps into some of the special lessons or we go on some family activity or adventure for the day.

He really enjoys Math, Coding, Engineering and Mechanics. He is a pro at rubix cubes and finds math a fun hobby to learn about, including math in magic and the odds of gambling. He reads all the time and just discovered his love of football.

So Many Opportunities

The one thing the boys miss about “typical” school is having friends around. We have met some of the most amazing kids on the water and even have opportunities to reconnect now and then when our travel itineraries line up. However, we have decided to stay in one town for a while so we can join clubs, teams, and youth events at church for this season. Carter is the center for his flag football team, he loves Wednesday nights at church youth group and he’s even started surfing lessons.

A Bright Outlook

He has been homeschooled, sorry, boat schooled for three years now and this is his favorite program we have found. We have already invested in this year’s curriculum for our other two boys, but now they want to use what their big brother is using, so we plan on adding them next year. This flexible online homeschool program has truly helped our family. I’m so glad to have found something that Carter loves and is effective for him while still fitting our lifestyle.

Still A Little Time for Diving 🤿

About Power Homeschool
Power Homeschool is a flexible online homeschool program that helps families who are independently homeschooling their children without teacher support. For more information, visit: www.powerhomeschool.org