What in the world is worldschooling?
The Prisma blog defines it as "a type of homeschooling that involves full-time or part-time travel away from the family's home country."
At OpenEd, we embrace a more expansive definition: It's any approach that turns the whole world into a classroom.
You don't need to sail across the Pacific - studying marine biology with wild dolphin pods and using celestial navigation for math lessons - to call yourself a worldschooler.
You can stay closer to home and still reap the benefits of a multicultural education.
Visit your local international market and challenge kids to plan a meal from a country they've never visited. Take a family road trip to see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota (Google it!) and turn it into a lesson on folk art and community pride. Or try geocaching in your neighborhood to combine outdoor adventure with geography and problem-solving skills.
Take the Thygerson family. They found a sweet spot between traditional education and world travel. Using OpenEd, they've blended online learning with real-world experiences.
"Learning is everywhere," says one of the Thygerson children. "It's not in school for 7 hours - it's every day and everywhere that you go."
One day, the Thygersons are exploring Nepal. The next, they're back home, building robots at the Thanksgiving Point Makerspace.
Remember, worldschooling is more of a mindset than a travel itinerary. It's about seeing learning opportunities in everyday experiences. So whether you're planning an epic journey to Mt. Everest or just a trip to the local park, learning opportunities are everywhere.
Just don't blame us if your kids start asking for "educational" ice cream trips.
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)
