Over recent years, more and more parents are ‘unschooling’ their children and are turning to online schools for the best education at primary / elementary and secondary / high school levels.  Increasingly, even traditional schools are turning to online platforms as a way of keeping everyone connected.  

Hybrid schooling models, where bricks and mortar environments adopt additional provision for cohorts of children who join the class virtually from home, are increasing around the world as schools look for new ways to recruit and retain students.

But what makes an online school different to pandemic remote learning or hybrid education?  Which one is right for your child and why is ‘unschooling’ on the rise? In this post, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of each option, so you can make an informed decision about the future of your child’s education when opting to ‘unschool’ your child.

Whether you’re living abroad, experiencing challenges with mainstream schooling, or you simply want your child to be prepared for their future and to reap the benefits of a modern education, online school can be a fantastic choice when considering ‘unschooling’ your child.  

Online schooling has become popular choices for parents looking for an alternative to remote learning and the online education sector continues to experience a surge of growth.  Parents choosing to unschool and withdraw children from traditional school settings, now have more choses than ever before when opting into new models of education, which are being driven by advancements in digital education.  Unschooling no longer means parents have to be the drivers of home based curriculums or need to feel like they are putting their child’s education and future at risk by opting out of traditional learning environments.  

As the name suggests, online schooling aims at teaching students completely online, as schools are designed for full time online education. In these online school settings, the complete academics of the student is executed via online education with no in person involvement.   The teachers conduct live classes via online applications like Google Meet and the students are also provided with online curriculum resources and learning material.  

Whilst most schools in the world have adopted their practice to enable emergency remote learning to take place, a true online school is vastly different to the emergency remote learning many experienced when their classrooms were brought online.

While remote learning during the pandemic was set up to provide temporary, emergency access to education, online schools are created to give students the best possible learning experience wherever they are. If chosen correctly, so called ‘unschooling’ parents can opt for a model of learning for their child that was designed for online education and delivers an education ready for the future and learning, living, working and thriving in the 21st Century.

The “online schooling” many have received during the pandemic is nothing like life at a purpose-designed online school. In fact, these virtual schools have been a high-quality, flexible, personalised alternative to traditional schooling since long before lockdowns began.

Established at the height of the pandemic in August 2020, Sophia High School is pioneering best practice in online education and providing students from across the globe with an exceptional British education, online.

Offering the British Curriculum from Reception to Year 9, in over 22+ countries, to students from ages 4 to 14, Sophia High School is designed for digital teaching and learning.

But what is it that makes schools like Sophia High School so different to the remote learning many traditional schools have been offering?

Let’s take a look at some of the key ways we bring our students the best possible online learning experience.