Wooden Boat School

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

~ Mark Twain


What I look forward to the most in the Summer is to be a student. There is nothing quite like just sitting back and having your only responsibility be TO LEARN.

This year I was fortunate enough to start my vacation with a week long course in Seamanship at the Wooden Boat School, in Maine. The United States is a very beautiful country, I have to say. And that school, in Brooklin, Maine is a very special place. It is situated in the middle of acres of wild Maine land, complete with a lake, gorgeous waterfront, and bears.

Students of all ages and walks of life congregate to either build wooden boats or sail them, and everyone is happy. My teachers, Jane Ahlfeld and Jenny Bennet gave lectures in the morning and then stood back or gently guided us in the craft of sailing, much like Montessori directresses... observing and tailoring lessons to individual skill level and interest.

The school, in general, follows many of the principles that I love about Montessori:

- Hands on education
- Learning at one's own pace
- Excellent guidance, but you have to do the work yourself
- Trust in humans (lots of things are done in the old fashioned, honor system way)


I learned a lot, sailed a lot, made new friends, and loved every minute of it.





"Happiness, knowledge, not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour."

--Walt Whitman