Kudos for Gia!

Gia has been looking forward to being in public school for a long time. She remembers what school days are like; frolicking on the playground, eating lunch with her peers  and even spelling tests. Since 2006 we have been combining a bit of home-schooling with a bit of public schooling while we continued to "live the dream" and cruise on our boat. Popping into a town long enough to register into a public school but not long enough to complete a grade; kind of like 6 months public, 6 months home-school. I think it's been the experience of a lifetime but to Gia, it's just life. She sees us leaving her friends at school and missing social engagements although she knows how much she loves to snorkel and hike and meet new friends in other countries.

For the past 3 months, Gia has been attending Coconut Grove Elementary and I have had nothing but glowing reports! She is definitely in her element now, all that practice we had done by ourselves in the comforts of our little sailboat are paying off for her in big ways! On Friday Gia competed in her first Spelling Bee. She gave an incredible effort and displayed confidence as she spelled out; garnish, butterflies, kitchen and twitter. Her first "real" report card came home with all A's & B's. She was given a free movie pass for completing the most Accelerated Reader comprehension tests of her class and I also received an email from the teacher acknowledging her hard work using an online component offered by the school for assignments in all subjects. It has been a great couple of months for Gia as most of her hard work and efforts are being recognized on such a bigger scale. We are so proud of her.

I meet many people that ask if I was afraid of home-schooling or the moving around that comes with our transient sailing lifestyle. I always respond with, "No I think it's a great experience." Gia has proven that she is resilient and can easily go with the flow of our ever changing lifestyle. She is able to pick up where she left off with friends and neighbors as well as the rigors of public school, uniforms and standardized testing. At a Christmas party in the Grove, a friend introduced us to her mother, Dr. Val. Dr. Val was taken by Gia's charms and amazed at her eloquent speech. She expressed a general interest into our boating lifestyle and alternative way of schooling Gia. She told me she had a TV show and her producers would be in touch. Sure, I thought. Well, 3 weeks later we had a producer and photographer out on Felicity interviewing Gia and me. Gia swore her life was changed forever and soon movie producers would be knocking down the door.

Tonight on Channel 7, WSVN will feature our segment on Parent to Parent between 5 and 5:30 pm. Soon after we will post the link and video so we can share it with you. I am so excited and proud of our little girl she has brought so much happiness and light into our lives and she really makes this lifestyle worthwhile. When we see the learning taking place and then applied in real life there is no better reward in parenting!