High-end tailored tuition specialists, Tutors International, say that a full-time Tutor can offer immersive outdoor learning experiences as part of their customised homeschooling curriculum.
A Reported Increase in ‘Forest Schools’
OXFORD, UK: 2021 has seen a rise in the number of children attending forest schools. A sustained period of lockdowns and the reliance on digital devices has prompted a departure from indoor, tech-heavy, desk-centred learning. As the popularity of outdoor learning gains momentum, we see a collective desire to learn from nature and prioritise experience-led education.
Mainstream schools offer this kind of outdoor learning in a minimal, novelty way in the form of a day-trip or class outing. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Forest Schools only offer this kind of education. Tutors International propose that a personalised full-time Tutor is the perfect customisable teaching solution. The company is able to offer an approach that integrates outdoor learning experiences as much as it suits the family, the child and their environment.
If a Client wishes to make outdoor immersive experiences the main learning style, Tutors International will source a Tutor who can deliver this in a way that prioritises both academic excellence and personal growth for the student. Similarly, if a family – or families – wanted to found a small-scale forest school as a collective, Tutors International has experience sourcing Tutors to run specialist micro-schools.
Outdoor Learning and Immersive Tutoring
Immersive tutoring with Tutors International goes beyond how people might imagine outdoor learning. Tutors International believes that engaging with surroundings is an important practice to encourage in any student. Learning how to present that new information in imaginative and exciting ways is the mark of the world’s best tutors. A Tutors International Tutor – who is based in the Caribbean – used immersive outdoor learning in a biology lesson by organising an exotic ‘bug exhibition’ with their student. As part of a KS1 lesson on minibeasts, the Tutor helped the child carry out a bug hunt. Once the bugs were collected from various environs in the local area, the child made an exhibition to showcase them. The child presented the exhibition to their family, before releasing all the minibeasts – unharmed – back into their natural habitats.
This commitment to extraordinary, immersive outdoor learning also prevails in Tutors International’s Mentorship Programme.
Tutors International and its specialist division, Sea Tutors, sponsored 18-year-old Dutch student Tobias Zijlstra to take part in the School at Sea (SAS) programme between October 2019 and April 2020. The SAS programme provides students with the opportunity to continue their schooling whilst aboard a sailing ship. The idea was that this immersive learning experience could provide valuable sailing and travelling experience for Tobias alongside his academic studies. School at Sea is a talent development and leadership programme which mirrors Sea Tutors’ values of making the world a classroom and providing academic structure to life at sea.
Therapeutic Tutoring and SEN
One of the key benefits of forest schooling is the reduction in screen time and the resultant positive effects on children’s mental and physical health. When tutors deliver outdoor learning experiences, they are approaching education in a holistic way that has the child’s character, needs and preferences as priorities alongside their academic performance.
The impact of the pandemic will likely cause an increase in the demand for therapeutic tutoring. Anxiety and self-esteem issues are significant barriers to learning, and therapeutic tutoring solutions are one way to address these. Similarly, the four walls of a formal classroom are not always conducive to creating a learning environment that suits children with ADD or ADHD. An immersive outdoor learning experience can better suit students with these attributes (Medical News Today, 2021) and also students with an array of other Special Educational Needs.
Alternative Homeschooling
Homeschooling with a perfectly matched Tutor means it is possible to tailor a child’s education to the family’s exact requirements. Tutors International specialise in personalised full-time home tutoring for the children of UHNW families. They do not source tutors from a stock pool; rather, they conduct a global recruitment process for the perfect Tutor on behalf of each of their Clients. This involves garnering a thorough understanding of the Client’s lifestyle and goals, as well as the child’s strengths, challenges, hobbies and learning style. Once this is understood, a job specification that reflects these individual requirements is written and published. A rigorous application process is carried out and the Account Manager interviews a shortlist. The two best candidates are presented to the Client, who then makes the final decision. This recruitment process ensures that the Tutor placed with each family is the best fit possible.
This method of recruiting tutors allows for a completely personalised education. The Tutor can adapt the curriculum to incorporate outdoor learning. Immersive tuition means that educational experiences can be cultivated to suit each student’s strengths and learning style. This facilitates both strength-based learning and interdisciplinary schooling. These are approaches that encourage a healthy learning culture that advances personal growth and optimises modern employability.
Forest Schools - Anywhere
Tutors International has a global client base. This means they have placed tutors in a broad range of different countries and settings. A full-time private Tutor is able to incorporate their surroundings into the curriculum. Outdoor learning and the centring of natural ecologies are not limited to woodland locations. For example, this learning style can be facilitated on beaches, in mountains or in city parks, to name just a few alternative, non-classroom locations.
Personalised Education with Tutors International
If you are an UHNWI seeking an immersive tutoring solution, the integration of outdoor learning into your child’s education, or advice on the logistics of founding a tutor-led forest micro-school, contact Tutors International:
