Could There Be a Younger Learners Global Classroom?

Over the past few months something has been happening. More and more families have been reaching out to us with the same question: “Do you have anything for children under 10?”

Up until now the answer has been no. The Global Classroom Project was created specifically for learners aged 10 and up. But as the enquiries keep coming Natalie and I have been taking a serious look at whether a younger version of the project could work.

When we first began developing the Global Classroom the seeds were planted in conversations with primary schools who were searching for an alternative form of education for all their learners. For various reasons they couldn’t make it happen, but those conversations stayed with us. Over the past year we have had countless discussions with families and learners about what they wanted in their education: a continued sense of community, real development of knowledge from term to term, the chance to build on learning rather than start fresh each time, and something that genuinely does not exist anywhere else.

Natalie and David

This became the heartbeat of the Global Classroom. It is why we feel what we have created is truly one of a kind. It is not copied or modelled on anyone else’s work, but born out of lived experience and hundreds of conversations. Since starting the project I have spoken with over 150 families. Their input has helped shape what we do. But there has been a recurring theme: parents of younger children, some with older siblings in the right age range, some with only under-10s, who want exactly what we offer but have had to wait until their children are older. Many of these families tell us they have looked at worldschool hubs and found them lacking the structure, depth and purpose they are seeking.

This hits home for us. We have three young children aged four, seven and nine who are not part of the main project. In fact they are one of the reasons we created it in the first place. Between us we have worked in over ten international schools, and not one has matched our vision of what education should be. Our children have never been to school. They have been homeschooled, world schooled and unschooled, and the Global Classroom was in many ways our passion project, designed to fill the gap we saw for older children.

What we did not realise at first was that there is also a huge demand for this kind of learning for younger children. Parents are looking for something with a little more structure without losing flexibility, something with a focus on sustainability and real-world learning, something that helps create people who will contribute meaningfully to the world.

Right now we are in listening mode. We do not want to rush into anything just because there is demand. We already have an informal group running for younger siblings of enrolled families, but we are exploring what a younger version of the Global Classroom could look like if we made it more structured. Our thinking so far is that it would most likely run alongside the main project, in the same locations and at the same times. It would be a light version of what we currently offer, adapted to suit younger ages, and it would retain the heart of our philosophy: meaningful, place-based learning that connects children to the world and to themselves.

This is not about creating something to fill a market gap for the sake of it. This is about making something that works, that we can believe in, and that serves families who feel, like us, that mainstream education is not working.

If you have children under ten and this idea excites you we would love to hear from you. Let us know if you would be interested in a younger learners’ Global Classroom, what you would most want it to offer, and which dates or terms you would want to be part of. The more we hear from families, the clearer our vision will become.