Education is changing: Digital nomad families and the rise of alternative schooling

Family life and the way we educate our children is changing. There is undoubtedly a shift towards remote schooling. Two unlikely allies are driving this trend – those whose children have special educational needs*, for whom traditional bricks and mortar schools are just not viable; and digital nomads.

But what about the digital nomads? The term, digital nomad, is now commonplace and has become a bit of a buzz word over the last few years. The phrase was however coined back in the late nineties to describe how tech was allowing people to return to a more nomadic way of life. It’s a wonderful combination of the new and the old.

It’s a way of life that is usually associated with younger generations in the twenties. But many more are now in the 30s and even 40s, with children in tow. They perhaps went down this route in their 20s, loved it and didn’t want a family to stop them doing what they loved. Or perhaps  for those who are a bit older, a change in how we work (more working from home, more freelance work) especially since COVID, has opened up a new way of doing things. But what does this mean for their children and the education they receive?

World schooling: The joy of learning while travelling  

When moving around more frequently – every couple of months or even weeks – going to a physical school just isn’t an option. Home-schooling and world-schooling (educating kids while travelling) is a popular choice.

There are lots of ways of doing this, depending on the child’s interests and capabilities, the parents’ skills and the family’s overall view of education. Yes, there may be more traditional, ‘formal’ learning in the mix – maths worksheets, online lessons and tutor sessions etc.  But with world schooling, the limitless learning opportunities that arise from travelling are celebrated and considered just as valuable.

The belief is that there are more ways to flourish than just learning in a classroom. Snorkelling with tropical fish, trekking through jungles, visiting temples or volcanoes, eating different foods, seeing how different communities live, observing native animals and birds in their natural habitat. The lessons from these experiences, which happen almost every day when you’re a travelling family, are not only endless but are often more likely to stay with the child versus reading about it in a text book.

It’s a much more immersive, hands on, practical way of learning. It’s not for everyone and it’s a long way from classroom based teach, learn, test approach of traditional schooling, but once you embrace this way of doing things, it’s easy to see how beneficial it can be. 

As a family, let’s talk about finances

There is however one area in particular that interests me, which is in line with my belief that financial skills should be on our curriculum. For all of us, finances are important to understand, but If you’re constantly travelling, budgeting and money take on a whole new dimension.

You can’t budget for the year like you might if you live in your home. Here, mortgage payments, utility bills, food shops stay pretty stable month to month and you get a pretty good idea of what your monthly expenditure is. But if you’re moving home and moving between different locations and even countries, your cost of living is going to fluctuate constantly too. You also have to factor in changes in exchange rates  and currencies.

The constant change makes talking about money more natural and open, which can only be a good thing. Us Brits have never been great at talking candidly about money, often to the detriment of our children’s understanding of everyday finances. As a result of the need to discuss finances more regularly and openly while travelling, the children naturally get more exposure and through that a deeper understanding of the role money plays in our day to day life.

A move towards online schools

Another trend is the rise and rise of online schools. This seems very much in line with the digital nomad life – in the same way that tech allowed adults to live and work from anywhere, tech is now also allowing their children to learn from wherever they are too. It is kind of the perfect fit.

The appearance of online schools is not just because of digital nomads (nor is it just down to those for whom school is challenging). There are plenty of families who perhaps want to give their kids a British education or an American one or the IB but there is not a school nearby (or even in their country perhaps) that offers that. Our international communities are relishing the greater educational choices online schools provide.

There are plenty of other benefits too – the costs are usually lower than a private bricks and mortar school. There is greater flexibility so that your children can learn in a way that works for them – perhaps they excel at sport or music and often have commitments, for example. Maybe you move a lot (as a digital nomad or perhaps in the forces) and you want to give your child a consistent education. The one major downside of course is the in person socialising that children often miss out on here.

This is why we are now starting to see schools take a hybrid approach where children learn online and at home a couple of days a week and go into school for the rest of the week. While this may not help those that move around a lot, it can help those with busy schedules outside school or who find school overwhelming.

Education needs to evolve and we need to embrace this change

What does this all mean? Well, from my perspective it shows that how we approach education is changing – even if the movement is still relatively small. It is changing in line with the changes we are seeing in how we, as a society, live and work. But most importantly it shows that there are creative thinkers out there who are pushing for change and making it happen. The way we educate our children doesn’t have to be a one size fits all. It can change and evolve; it can meet the needs of our children and it can  stay relevant in our ever changing world. That gives me hope.

Family life and the way we educate our children is changing. There is undoubtedly a shift towards remote schooling. Two unlikely allies are driving this trend – those whose children have special educational needs, for whom traditional bricks and mortar schools are just not viable; and digital nomads.

[We discussed special educational needs in detail in our recent Education edition of SKQ, please do take a look here if you have not yet read it.]

But what about the digital nomads? The term, digital nomad, is now commonplace and has become a bit of a buzz word over the last few years. The phrase was however coined back in the late nineties to describe how tech was allowing people to return to a more nomadic way of life. It’s a wonderful combination of the new and the old.

It’s a way of life that is usually associated with younger generations in the twenties. But many more are now in the 30s and even 40s, with children in tow. They perhaps went down this route in their 20s, loved it and didn’t want a family to stop them doing what they loved. Or perhaps  for those who are a bit older, a change in how we work (more working from home, more freelance work) especially since COVID, has opened up a new way of doing things. But what does this mean for their children and the education they receive?

World schooling: The joy of learning while travelling  

When moving around more frequently – every couple of months or even weeks – going to a physical school just isn’t an option. Home-schooling and world-schooling (educating kids while travelling) is a popular choice.

There are lots of ways of doing this, depending on the child’s interests and capabilities, the parents’ skills and the family’s overall view of education. Yes, there may be more traditional, ‘formal’ learning in the mix – maths worksheets, online lessons and tutor sessions etc.  But with world schooling, the limitless learning opportunities that arise from travelling are celebrated and considered just as valuable.

The belief is that there are more ways to flourish than just learning in a classroom. Snorkelling with tropical fish, trekking through jungles, visiting temples or volcanoes, eating different foods, seeing how different communities live, observing native animals and birds in their natural habitat. The lessons from these experiences, which happen almost every day when you’re a travelling family, are not only endless but are often more likely to stay with the child versus reading about it in a text book.

It’s a much more immersive, hands on, practical way of learning. It’s not for everyone and it’s a long way from classroom based teach, learn, test approach of traditional schooling, but once you embrace this way of doing things, it’s easy to see how beneficial it can be. 

As a family, let’s talk about finances

There is however one area in particular that interests me, which is in line with my belief that financial skills should be on our curriculum. For all of us, finances are important to understand, but If you’re constantly travelling, budgeting and money take on a whole new dimension.

You can’t budget for the year like you might if you live in your home. Here, mortgage payments, utility bills, food shops stay pretty stable month to month and you get a pretty good idea of what your monthly expenditure is. But if you’re moving home and moving between different locations and even countries, your cost of living is going to fluctuate constantly too. You also have to factor in changes in exchange rates  and currencies.

The constant change makes talking about money more natural and open, which can only be a good thing. Us Brits have never been great at talking candidly about money, often to the detriment of our children’s understanding of everyday finances. As a result of the need to discuss finances more regularly and openly while travelling, the children naturally get more exposure and through that a deeper understanding of the role money plays in our day to day life.

A move towards online schools

Another trend is the rise and rise of online schools. This seems very much in line with the digital nomad life – in the same way that tech allowed adults to live and work from anywhere, tech is now also allowing their children to learn from wherever they are too. It is kind of the perfect fit.

The appearance of online schools is not just because of digital nomads (nor is it just down to those for whom school is challenging). There are plenty of families who perhaps want to give their kids a British education or an American one or the IB but there is not a school nearby (or even in their country perhaps) that offers that. Our international communities are relishing the greater educational choices online schools provide.

There are plenty of other benefits too – the costs are usually lower than a private bricks and mortar school. There is greater flexibility so that your children can learn in a way that works for them – perhaps they excel at sport or music and often have commitments, for example. Maybe you move a lot (as a digital nomad or perhaps in the forces) and you want to give your child a consistent education. The one major downside of course is the in person socialising that children often miss out on here.

This is why we are now starting to see schools take a hybrid approach where children learn online and at home a couple of days a week and go into school for the rest of the week. While this may not help those that move around a lot, it can help those with busy schedules outside school or who find school overwhelming.

Education needs to evolve and we need to embrace this change

What does this all mean? Well, from my perspective it shows that how we approach education is changing – even if the movement is still relatively small. It is changing in line with the changes we are seeing in how we, as a society, live and work. But most importantly it shows that there are creative thinkers out there who are pushing for change and making it happen. The way we educate our children doesn’t have to be a one size fits all. It can change and evolve; it can meet the needs of our children and it can  stay relevant in our ever changing world. That gives me hope.

*We discussed special educational needs in detail in our recent Education edition of SKQ, please do take a look here if you have not yet read it.