Worldschool, homeschool, home education and unschool- these are just some of the terminologies used to describe alternative provision for a child's education. This blog post dives in more deeply to what worldschooling is and why we have chosen to worldschool as a way of educating our children.
What is Worldschooling?
In it's simplest form, the term worldschooling is used to describe a form of education whereby children learn about the world around them through travelling and immersion of culture and languages.
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The word worldschooling acts as a big umbrella and under that umbrella are thousands of families navigating through their worldschooling journey in different ways. Some families choose to join hubs, some choose to enrol their children into schools across the world, some families take charge of their own education curriculum whilst travelling and some prefer to use the term 'unschooling' to describe their education experience. ​
There is no correct way to worldschool. There is no set curriculum to follow and there is no limit to the amount of adventures you can have! Imagine your children exploring new countries, learning new languages, meeting new people and learning about the world around them through hands on experiences. It is easy to see why so many families are choosing this way of life.
How I can start our worldschooling adventure?
Beginning your worldschooling adventure can be a little overwhelming. There are so many questions probably circling around about how to begin, how to financially support it and what country to visit first?! The best thing to do to begin with is have a little trial run. There is no point in selling up your house to only realise that 2 months in, it is not for you. I have known some families to rent our their property or list it on air bnb for a period of time in order to try out this new worldschooling lifestyle. Alternatively, you could begin with short trips away, gradually extending the length of time you travel.
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Remember, you do not need to be travelling the world full-time to worldschool. We currently return to the UK during the summer months in order to work and live life off-grid.
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Financially supporting worldschooling
Where you travel to and how long for will be entirely dependant on your financial situation. Travelling is not cheap, but it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. We are advocates for budget travel and are always thinking about how we can travel on a small budget.
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One thing to consider when beginning your worldschooling journey is how you can make money whilst travelling. From house sitting to remote working, there are many ways that you can make money on the road. Keep an eye out for my list (coming very soon!) of different ways to make money whilst travelling.
Benefits of worldschooling
There are so many wonderful benefits of worldschooling. Since de-registering our children to travel last year, we have visited 10 countries around Europe. We have just returned from the culture rich country of Albania and we are now getting ready to set off on an epic 5 month backpacking adventure around South East Asia, starting in Hanoi, Vietnam. We have done more travelling in the past year than we have in our entire lives with the children!
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Worldschooling has opened up so many learning opportunities for our boys. When worldschooling, your children can experience things that they can never experience inside a classroom. Our boys have stepped into a nuclear bomb shelter when learning about the history of Albania, they have practised their Spanish with locals in Spain and stood on the beach of Dunkirk whilst learning about WW2.
Worldschooling provides an opportunity for children to develop key skills such as communication skills, resilience and problem solving skills, to name a few! Our boys have had to learn to communicate with other children despite a language barrier, learn how to mentally convert currency when spending their money and learn how to cope in situations that may be out of their comfort zones.
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One of the main things we love about worldschooling is the time we get to spend together as a family. Children are small for such a small time and we feel so privileged to be able to spend so much time with them, watching them learn and grow.
Worldschooling Hubs
As I mentioned previously, there are lots of different ways that families choose to 'worldschool' their children. One way is to sign up for worldschooling hubs. Believe it or not, there is a huge worldschooling community out there and lots of different places (hubs) where worldschooling families can meet up and spend time together, learning about the place they are visiting.
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Some hubs require you to sign up and pay and others are free meet ups in places like local parks. The hubs which require a fee tend to be more structured, offering daily programmes with activities planned and delivered by other worldschooling families. One way to find out about these hubs is through worldschooling facebook groups. There are loads of facebook groups out there which provide information about the different hubs available. The groups are also a great way to network with other travelling families. Through these facebook groups we have connected with other families, offering and gaining travel advice.
Top Worldschooling Destinations
There is still a huge slice of the world we are yet to discover. The fact that we are only beginning our worldschooling journey is very exciting because we still have so many adventures and new places to explore. Our favourite places that we have travelled to so far have been:
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Click here to find out why they are our favourite worldschooling destinations.
