The Journey
The holiday began with a private flight from southwest England to the French Riviera. Whilst on board the children (aged 11 and 13) and I took advantage of the cloudy skies to do an assignment on the hydrologic cycle and could genera, with added bonuses for accurate cloud formation spotting! We followed this with reading a chapter from our holiday-themed novel. As we’ll be spending a week sailing on a yacht, we’re reading a Horatio Hornblower book. Afterwards, when discussing the chapter, our conversation turned to the history of naval warfare in the Mediterranean. Seeing how excited my students were about this subject I devised an additional lesson for when we’re aboard the yacht covering the scuttling of the French Fleet at Toulon in 1942—a site we’ll be sailing directly past. With the youngest student working towards Independent School Entrance at 13+, and the eldest developing a strong interest in History, our sessions were designed to be both enjoyable, and goal-driven.
The Trip
The first week of the holiday was based on a family estate near the famous city of Avignon. From a historical perspective this was ideal as we studied some of the city’s medieval history, including the reigns of its antipopes. The fact that we got to supplement these lessons with first-hand access to city’s historic centre (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) was an incredible experience. During this time, we followed a pre-set schedule of classes after breakfast and fieldtrips before lunch, with the afternoon set aside for family time. That said, by traveling together we were able to adapt lesson times to fit with their evolving schedule. Though we often enjoyed meals together and afternoon excursions, there was personal time set aside and I had plenty of opportunities both for lesson planning and for exploring Avignon on my own.
Having left the land behind we sailed along the coastline from near Marseilles to Monaco. I’m happy to report that the extra lesson on the Scuttling of the French Fleet at Toulon went down like a treat. It was likewise incredibly exciting to cover other aspects of our holiday aboard our sailing classroom, which included a science lesson on buoyancy (topped with a snorkelling field trip) and a marine biology lesson on the local aquatic life. Sometimes in the evening we’d play card games or charades together, and one evening the children and I adapted and enacted a scene from Horatio Hornblower. Though it didn’t earn us a spot at Cannes (which we sailed past), it was widely praised by all those aboard!
Outside The Classroom
The last day was a particular highlight for me as a professional tutor, which was spent in the Principality of Monaco. As a massive Formula 1 fan the family kindly indulged me in listening to a brief history of the sport, which was followed by a walking tour along some of the street circuit’s most famous sights. As a last assignment the students watched race highlights from the previous Grand Prix and then we wrote and recorded their own scripted race commentary. On the flight back we used editing software to match their commentary to the highlight segments. It was, without a doubt, an enjoyable way to finish the holiday. Indeed, the children thrived in our summer sessions so much that we’ve booked a second holiday together for next year.
Looking back, I greatly enjoyed the integrated learning and educational adventures that travelling with a family provided. Tailoring each session to our unique surroundings – whether it was land, sea, or air – and incorporating aspects of the local history and environment into our lessons made for exciting learning opportunities. It was, without a doubt, the best way to simultaneously learn and travel.
Contact Think Tutors
If you’re thinking about travelling with your children, I’d recommend getting in touch with Think Tutors. We provide world-class education to accompany your family anywhere you want to go.