Raising kids on a boat Cruising Corner Forums

"he ended up a straight A student a year ahead of his age group with a knowledge of the rest of the world"

Don't forget to take into account that public schools in the U.S. are horrible, private ones not much better still.  Even a fractionally complete home schooling process could do much better than U.S. and especially California schools.  Thus the concern of parents over how their kids may or may not do in regards to education respective of their peers is considerably overcooked.  With the "Great Recession" still underway there are many who are questioning 4-year college degrees as well especially weighed against the enormous financial cost not to mention the 4 years of life spent in the process, which when viewed as a stereotype, are largely wasted fraternizing rather than learning.  Sailmaking or captaining are a technical skillsets with certification/licensing after apprenticeship, which works out to be far more financially rewarding over the long term if paychecks are invested & compounded. 

I wonder about other aspects of growing up onboard such as immune system development which is based on exposure to other sick kids/adults & fighting off the results.  For example, do cruising kids get chicken pox as landlubber kids do (and are even encouraged or forced into by purposely associating with other known-sick kids)?