Would You Consider World Schooling Your Children? Experiencing Education Through Travel.

School is back in session and the kids are gearing up for another school year. For most kids, it’s time to get back to class and take on another year of learning. Due to covid-19, some students are utilizing distant learning and being taught in the comfort of their home. Covid-19 has forced some parents, like myself, to decide if the traditional classroom is best for their children. But once covid-19 calms down, what about world schooling?

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I had the opportunity to meet Sharon Ward, a fellow blogger and former educator, who decided to take her kids out of traditional school and place them in world schooling. Sharon understands the bigger picture of homeschooling your children and giving them one of a kind experiences. She’s here to share her story and let us in on her journey of teaching her children in world schooling. I know you will enjoy it, so keep reading.

Our Background – My Free Range Family

Before we start, I think it is a good idea to give a bit of context. I’m a
mum of two young girls, a five and nearly eight year old. We are from
New Zealand, but my girls have never lived there. In fact, I could
probably count the number of weeks they have been in New Zealand
on one… maybe two hands.
Fifteen years ago, my husband and I moved abroad to live in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates. I am a teacher, an early childhood educator to
be precise. I have worked in nursery settings initially in New Zealand
then in Dubai. During my time in Dubai I have worked on developing
international curriculum and pedagogy to suit the multicultural and
expatriate country in which we live.
A few years into our life here, we had children of our own. But recently
we have had a strong urge to finish up this Middle Eastern chapter in
our life. So, as a family we plan to travel full-time around the world,
bringing education into our children’s lives through exposure and
experience to new countries and cultures. There is a name for this
actually… it is called World Schooling. Families have been doing it for a
long-time and we plan on taking a leaf from their book and doing the
same.
And so, begins the story of me and My Free Range Family. You know
the chickens… like that… but instead we are the free range human
variety.

World Schooling – Education Through Travel

If we think about school in the traditional sense, it is the same the
world over. Generally speaking, a classroom consists of four walls, one
teacher, 20 children, display boards and learning equipment. And
everyone will be working within a national curriculum.
World schooling breaks down the traditional structures of school and
looks for content and curriculum in immediate surroundings. It’s pretty
exciting when you actually begin to consider what this means in terms
of experience and exposure.
For example, imagine for a minute you have spent the morning with
your child exploring the reefs in Zanzibar, Tanzania. He or she was
really excited to point out a starfish, a clown fish as it sits nestled within
the soft sea anemones. An eel or hermit crab or two.

The experience continues as a group of the local children come to hang
out and show your child their favourite things living on the reef.
Laughter between this new group of friends and your family ensues, as
you creatively find ways to communicate across language barriers.
At the end of the walk, you tally up all the underwater creatures
identified. Your child asks hundreds of questions about what they saw,
so you start to investigate together. You look back through the photos
that you took, you google to find out the name of this starfish that you
seem to have seen a lot of.

World Schooling Experiences

All of this… is the context, it’s what you do next with these experiences
that counts the most with world schooling. It’s how you incorporate
key areas of learning into these curiosities and extend your child’s
knowledge. It’s all about enriching these experiences, either in the
moment through discussion and questioning, or later for example
through a project. There is no doubt that building on a child’s
knowledge in this way, supports a deep love for learning.

I give this example, because this was a day we recently experienced
with our girls on a small family vacation to Zanzibar. But it isn’t difficult
to transfer this scene to any shared family experience, whether it be
during travel or not. As a result, learning becomes dynamic, open-
ended and child-led.
As children get older and their knowledge develops, so does the
learning. Don’t get me wrong, parents aren’t going to be in for an easy
ride. They certainly won’t be sitting back as their child magically learns
all by themselves. There is a lot of mentoring required from the parent,
and quality time needs to be invested ensuring that challenges are
provided. There is always a fine balance that needs to be found…
carefully presenting enough challenge to keep a child curious, but not
so much as to overwhelm them.

The Benefits of World Schooling

A respect of diversity is at the top of my list here. In my opinion, world
schooled children have a deep respect for culture and difference. I
want my kids to learn that life isn’t about fitting into social norms, and
what makes us all different is something to be celebrated.
While I have loved my time living in this cosmopolitan city of Dubai,
elements of this life are superficial, and this is not what I want my
children to grow up thinking is okay. You might say my children have
led somewhat a privileged start to life, and I want them to recognize
that this isn’t healthy for mind and soul. Being grounded through
experiences in ways that travel can provide, will help them learn that
this Dubai life isn’t everyday normal.

I believe that world schooled children are versatile learners and are
able to think outside the box so to speak. Faced with a rapidly changing
world, things like critical thinking skills are going to be a must for the
future. And I think learning in an environment beyond the typical
classroom cultivates these types of skills.
I’m not saying the education system gets this wrong, after all I’m a
teacher. But I do think curriculum is still working on how to teach these
particular skills, they are still figuring out how to get it right. And when
a teacher is facing 20 children in her classroom per day, a child’s
learning is limited to the teacher’s capacity to teach critical thinking
skills on a large group scale.
On top of this, we see teaching tends to be a female dominated sector.
If I get started on the lack of male presence in education settings, I will
be here all day, probably boring you to sleep. So, I won’t go down that
rabbit hole for today!

In a Nutshell!

In our quest for world schooling we will aim to provide our girls with a
holistic perspective of life and learning. We hope to expose them to
opportunities where they will learn about agriculture and horticulture,
history and geography, humanities and environmental studies. An all-
encompassing education, that is hands on! Learning through doing,
while along the way developing life-long meaningful friendships all over
the world! High hopes I know! Wish us luck 😊

Well, Sharon definitely gave us some great points that would make you say hmmm. I have always tried to stay optimistic about certain things because the world is changing so much. Covid-19 has shown me that nothing is guaranteed and what you thought you may never do, may one day become the necessary. So with that being said, world schooling can be added to the list as a possible strong consideration for me. What about you?

To follow more of Sharon’s amazing journey, be sure to check out her blog at www.myfreerangefamily.com and on other social networks.

https://www.instagram.com/myfreerangefamily/

https://www.facebook.com/myfreerangefamily/

https://twitter.com/MyFreeRangeFam

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💕 Donna 💕

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