Our Approach

 
 

The Forest School Online opens the door to unparalleled educational and personal growth opportunities, fostering a journey of student-centered learning and exploration.

When a learner joins The Forest School Online, they embark on a path toward academic success, personal fulfillment, and, if they choose, the best universities in the United States. We support learners from the moment they are accepted to the time when they enter university or the workforce. At the heart of The Forest School Online experience is an outcomes-based, personalized approach to preparing our learners for matriculation into their top-choice colleges and universities in the United States and the careers of their choice. Our mastery-based curriculum enhances rigorous middle and high school courses with an international student body immersed in an English-rich environment, experiential learning, and study skills necessary for success.

 
 

Design principles:

The following ideals shape every experience at The Forest School Online:

  • Inspiring to all

  • Deeply personalized and learner-driven

  • Enthusiastically diverse and relationship-centered

  • Academically rigorous, relevant, and mastery-based

 

Our promises to your child:

He or she or they will...

  • Begin a journey to find your calling that will change the world.

  • Learn to be curious, become an independent learner, and love lifelong learning.

  • Explore their most precious gifts, along with the dedication it takes to develop them into marketable talents.

  • Understand the importance of strong character.

  • Cherish the arts, wonders of the physical world, & the mystery of life.

  • Treasure economic, political, & religious freedom.

 

Our core beliefs:

  • We believe each child has a gift that can change the world in a profound way.

  • We believe in a closely connected family of lifelong learners.

  • We believe in learning to be, learning to do, learning to learn, and learning to live together.

  • We believe in economic, political, and religious freedom.

 

Our Methods of Learning:

 

SOCRATIC GUIDING

Socratic Discussions and self-paced challenges equip children to be independent lifelong learners.

SELF PACED E-LEARNING

Educational technology targeted so students learn at their own level and speed.

HANDS-ON QUEST-BASED LEARNING

Hands-on Quests for the arts, entrepreneurship, and science prepare children for Apprenticeships and real world challenges.

STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING

A democratic environment of empowered learners who have choice and voice in the learning process.

 
 

What sets us apart:

 

1.  We have Guides not teachers
2.  We have mixed-age Studios not classrooms
3.  We have portfolios + exhibitions not grades
4.  We have contracts not rules
5.  We ask questions not lecture

6.  No homework!
7.  Hands-on + E-learning
8.  Students learn at their own pace
9.  Travel is encouraged
10. Apprenticeships begin in middle school

 
 

the learner experience:

At The Forest School Online, children are trusted and empowered to be responsible for their own learning, and to use their learning to change the world. Our learner-driven community puts children at the center of their learning, allowing them to create and maintain personal goals, relational covenants, and real-world meaningful work.

Learners at The Forest School Online study together in mixed-age Studios, bringing the classic one-room schoolhouse into the digital modern age. Young people from across the world learn to mentor and be mentored by one another. Guides are not lecturers but facilitators of student growth. Learners track their own growth on an online dashboard updated daily which parents can access at any time.