How parents are giving their children the edge with worldschooling
Travelling already gives children a head start in life, but there’s a unique approach to learning that can amplify those advantages tenfold.
15 August 2025
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Worldschooling, the practice of leveraging your time abroad as part of your child’s education, has numerous benefits for young people, preparing them for a bright future in tomorrow’s world. And, while it may sound like a demanding option for hardworking parents, there’s actually a practical, low-effort route that eliminates the heavy lifting: high-quality, internationally accessible online education.
The international school lottery
Finding the right school should never feel like a gamble, but that’s often the case for globally mobile families. International schools can vary dramatically across countries, and even within the same city. From one school to another, education quality, opportunities and prospects, and tailored support are never the same. Even if parents can find a school that meets their standards, waiting lists can stretch for months (particularly at schools offering in-demand curriculums), with fees sometimes rivalling top university tuition. The challenge only becomes harder for families who have been relocated to unexpected destinations for work. Being assigned to oversee operations in an emerging market or rural location, for example, often results in a struggle to find a great school.Then, there’s the issue of continuity: how can children keep up with their academic progress or maintain their friendships when they’re moving from place to place? Each new transition can create learning gaps, social disruptions, and overall upheaval. A student who travels often, for example, may go from studying the British curriculum in Hong Kong to a US programme in California to the International Baccalaureate in Geneva, all within less than a decade. Another may be lucky enough to find British curriculum schools in every location but find that subject choices and teaching quality still differ greatly.All the while, despite all the benefits of travelling in their youth, these children are missing out on the learning opportunities, skills, and progress they need for success in today’s global market.
Worldschooling: A strategic advantage
The good news is that international mobility doesn’t have to be an educational obstacle. In fact, many forward-thinking families are turning each relocation into their child’s greatest asset through worldschooling.Worldschooling is an alternative approach to education where families combine travel with learning, creating a rich experience that goes beyond the four walls of a classroom. With worldschooling, children can study marine biology by diving in the Maldives, learn about history by exploring Roman ruins, or practise Mandarin skills at a local Chinese shop. These experiences, which could never be replicated in a traditional school environment, develop everything from cultural fluency to communication - the exact skills that universities and employers around the world are looking for in their future leaders. Rather than just studying global citizenship, students get to live it in person.Worldschooled children also develop remarkable resilience as they learn to navigate new environments with confidence. Creative problem-solving, meanwhile, becomes second nature when children must use their knowledge to plan a route on a new public transport system or negotiate prices at a busy market.What’s great about worldschooling is that parents don’t need to abandon a structured curriculum, forgo academic rigour, or even take on the role of teacher themselves. In the age of online education, busy expat parents can now combine the competitive edge of worldschooling with a world-class core education that goes wherever they go.Read related articles
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- An Introduction to King's InterHigh
How online education takes school anywhere
Today, leading online schools like King’s InterHigh have revolutionised what’s possible for global families. Alongside helping families take worldschooling from dream to reality, online study also offers valuable strengths for students and parents alike.With online learning, children get the benefits of a world-respected curriculum, expert-led instruction, and peer interaction, all without being tied to a single location. At King’s InterHigh, students join live, interactive lessons with highly experienced teachers each school day, collaborating with their classmates on a flexible schedule. Families get a choice of three time zones (UK, Middle East, and Southeast Asia) to suit their location, joining over 12,500 happy King’s InterHigh alumni, many of whom have progressed to top universities like Cambridge and Yale.It’s a level of flexibility that transforms life for families on the move. Instead of dreading a work reassignment to a city with poor school options, parents can embrace theopportunity to explore a new country while their children continue with a familiar curriculum, teachers, and friends. At the same time, learning within King’s InterHigh’s global community (which is home to students from over 120 countries) reinforces all the benefits of a worldschooling approach.
“A fantastic way of learning”
“Before we started travelling, our daughter was in a traditional bricks-and-mortar school, so we were quite accustomed to the 'normal' way of schooling,” says Jules Scholey Smith, one of the globally mobile mums who’s found the perfect balance with online learning.Currently based in Vietnam, she's been travelling the world with her children, Jacob and Erihn, since 2019. “We tried unschooling, worldschooling, and wildschooling,” Jules recalls. “We then found online schooling at King’s InterHigh, which ticked a lot of the boxes: flexibility, live classes, catering to different global time zones, and a solid British curriculum.”Now, her children join online lessons during the afternoons, leaving the mornings free for enriching and educational activities. “One day might include a creative media lesson that has us hunting for random art supplies at the local market, a Spanish class, and then a STEM session where they build a makeshift hovercraft,” says Jules. “There’s always something new and exciting to keep us all on our toes!”While she originally worried that online school might be isolating, she found that her children have been able to avoid the stress of “peer pressure and social drama.” Instead, being part of the King’s InterHigh community has given them the opportunity make new friends and meet fellow online schooling families around the world, “whether it’s a safari in Mexico, a playdate in Portugal, or a Southeast Asia LEGO session over WhatsApp.”In Jules’s view, “online school isn’t just some last-resort option. It’s a fantastic, flexible yet structured way of learning that can work for so many families.”Making worldschooling work
Worldschooling may sound ambitious, but the practical requirements are surprisingly simple for families who are already living abroad. You don’t need an unlimited budget, and you don’t need to hop from country to country. All families need is a reliable internet connection for online learning and the open mind to see learning opportunities in everyday experiences.The best approach is to start with what’s already around you. Living in Singapore? Multicultural hawker centres can become an environment to learn everything from geography to economics. Posted to Germany? Weekend trips to nearby castles bringmedieval history to life in ways textbooks never could. Even mundane, everyday experiences like taking the bus, ordering at a restaurant, or chatting with locals can become rich educational opportunities.Thanks to online schooling, busy working parents don’t have to worry about becoming full-time teachers. Online schools handle the heavy lifting, which means families can fit worldschooling around their own schedule. Those staying long-term in one place can explore their location thoroughly to build a deeper cultural understanding, while students moving frequently can connect and contrast their experiences in different societies. Parents who plan to move back home in the future, meanwhile, can also rest assured that their children won’t have fallen behind in the meantime.Plus, there are financial benefits for budget-conscious families. Where employers don’t cover educational costs, online schools offer the same superior quality with tuition fees that are typically far less than the tens of thousands required at top international schools. As an added bonus, this leaves even more money free to truly enjoy exploring each area to its fullest while worldschooling.Educating the leaders of tomorrow
For families who’ve relocated abroad, worldschooling doesn’t require a dramatic lifestyle change or hours a day to spend on education. The key is recognising the opportunities that can become your child’s secret weapon. With a few hours a week spent on cultural experiences and the backing of a top education online, young people can get the best of both worlds. In turn, that genuinely global pathway will prepare them not just for university, but for leadership in our rapidly changing society.
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