The Prepared Parent

• Travelling the world
• Making friends of all ages
• Learning different languages
• Eating a variety of foods
• Spending their days exploring outdoors
• Learning about history at the source
• Developing their global geography skills through direct observation and experience
• Learning maths through currency conversions and budgeting pocket money
• Embarking on their own entrepreneurial endeavours
• Exploring a whole world of art and handicraft skills
• Learning survival skills from tribal elders
• Hiking up mountains and across forests

They’re called worldschoolers, and it’s an alternative way of living for families who have decided to move away from the conventional school systems of their respective countries and have taken a more holistic approach to their children’s education and upbringing.

The children (and parents!) enjoy a rich tapestry of friendships that are built on mutual interests, values, and respect, and an understanding that physical distance does not determine the quality of relationships. They say goodbye and meet up again in distant lands, all with new stories to share. And despite beliefs to the contrary, and their lack of ‘formal’ education, these children are growing up to become highly successful leaders, entrepreneurs, and trade-qualified or university-educated global citizens because they have been allowed to explore all parts of themselves and mould their identity according to their own goals!

It takes particular, privileged, and often difficult lifestyle choices to do this, but that doesn’t mean you need to pick up your whole life as you know it and adopt the ways of the nomads if that’s not for you. You can create a calm, diverse, and natural learning environment for your children right from your family home, and allow them to experience childhood in its fullest form.

Some ways you can go about providing some of the benefits of worldschooling by embracing a nurturing home learning environment could be:

• Get outside and explore nature as a family by hiking, camping, kayaking, riding…the possibilities are endless!
• Provide open-ended toys and activities that can be used in a multitude of ways, that can spark imagination and creativity
• Encourage new groups and activities, not only to learn new skills, but also to meet different types of people
• Be proactive in maintaining your long distance friendships and family relationships, and help your children find ways to do the same
• Learn a new language together using a gamified app (Duolingo is our favourite, but there are a few out there)
• Attend cultural events in your community and use the opportunity to try new foods or learn a new handicraft
• Learn about local history in your town or country by visiting actual historical sites and speaking with guides
• Visit the same natural environment in all seasons and notice the changes in the foliage, weather, water flow, and wildlife behaviour
• Play board games and card games together as a family
• Try your hand a Geocaching – it’s fun!

Creating this type of learning environment for your children has so many benefits, including:

• Enhanced mood through the production of serotonin, dopamine, and all of those wonderfully positive brain chemicals!
• Social skills like empathy, turn-taking, conflict resolution, cultural competence, and more
• Positive communication skills
• Acceptance and inclusivity
• Positive identity formation
• Resilience
• Problem-solving abilities
• Decision-making skills
• Perseverance
• Adaptability
• Risk assessment skills
• Concentration
• Creativity
• Logical and abstract thinking
• And the great thing is…play and exploration can do more for your children’s learning and brain development (and faster!) than structured, classroom-based learning!

We have been conditioned to believe that children can only be ‘successful’ if they go to school and learn in a way their respective governments deem fit. However, the evidence speaks to the contrary and there are hundreds of thousands of children who are not only ‘successful’ by measures of education and career trajectory, but who are empathic, productive, diverse, creative, adventurous, and whole human beings who are thriving in the world.

The trouble with placing all of the responsibility of our children's education on the traditional school system is not that it doesn’t provide an education, because it does; but it’s that we can often then rely solely on this system for their entire learning experience and that is something that can’t fit in a classroom if we want our children to be strong, resilient, adaptable, sociable, empathic, well-rounded little humans. We, as parents, need to be (at a minimum) supplementing our children's academic learning by providing opportunities outside of school. By all means, school can absolutely have its place, but don’t we all want the best for our children, and to be able to give them more than an academic education?

As you can see, these measures are so easy to incorporate, and they are as affordable as you want or need them to be.

Don’t wait for permission to give you children what they need in life. The world is their oyster!

To learn more about the importance of identity and resilience in creating safety around your children, access your Protective Behaviours Toolkit today.

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