![Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico is offering an educational programme for young guests that makes distance learning convenient](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2020/12/18/246822061_CHRISTIAN-HORAN-PHOTOGRAPHY_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq5t_d9OVgERvI_rgarPU213GTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpg?imwidth=680)
The rise of the 'schoolcation': with education disrupted, holidays have turned into learning opportunities
Expect study buddies, tutors, cabanas on the beach with Wi-Fi and Antarctic explorations.
![Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico is offering an educational programme for young guests that makes distance learning convenient](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2020/12/18/246822061_CHRISTIAN-HORAN-PHOTOGRAPHY_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq5t_d9OVgERvI_rgarPU213GTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpg?imwidth=680)
A spin-off trend from the homeschooling phenomenon forced upon parents and children early on during the pandemic, “schoolcations” – whereby holidays become learning opportunities – are rising in popularity among high-achieving parents.
For example, The Family Coppola Hideaways in locations such as Belize and Guatemala have their own Coppola Curriculum that includes tortilla-making classes, organic gardening and Mayan archaeology. Meanwhile, Montage Hotels & Resorts unveiled its resort-based Montage Academy in September for guests aged six to 17, with elective activities including yoga and wood shop.
In the summer, the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico debuted Knowledge for All Seasons, an educational programme for young guests that “makes distance learning convenient”. There is in-house tech support, “study buddies”, cabanas on the beach with Wi-Fi and “world schooling” classes in kite-making, folkloric ballet and nature walks, among other things.
![La Lancha in Guatemala, one of The Family Coppola Resorts, which offers its own curriculum](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2020/12/18/lalancha-3385_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqZgEkZX3M936N5BQK4Va8RWtT0gK_6EfZT336f62EI5U.jpg?imwidth=350)
For those with an unlimited budget, Cookson Adventures can arrange bespoke family trips to some of the most inaccessible places in the world, creating a rich itinerary of highly engaging and inspiring distractions for even the most tech-addicted youngsters.
Tom Hutton, director of operations for Cookson Adventures, says: “Our clients are often successful business people taking time out to explore with their families, investing in serious conservation projects and teaching their children lessons along the way through travel.”
As well as showing children how to read maps and build shelters on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, for instance, Cookson will bring along specialist adventure guides to work as tutors.
Last year, Hutton says, they took a family to Antarctica. “While the adults were meeting with climate crisis scientists and hiking along the peninsula, the children were going on treasure hunts in a kayak along the penguin-lined coastline and looking for chunks of glacial, thousand-year-old black ice to put in their drinks.”
![Cookson Adventures can arrange bespoke family trips to some of the most inaccessible places in the world such as Antarctica](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2020/12/18/246821974-Cierva-Cove_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqNwJyN5aFH1f8m-UGCq32YHGTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpg?imwidth=350)
In Marbella, Spain, the five-star, family-friendly Puente Romano hotel began offering more formal remote tuition to children provided by a team of teachers well versed in the UK national curriculum as well as the International Baccalaureate.
Nadine Nounou is a mother of three who booked a stay at the resort. She says: “We chose to take our children on a schoolcation as I have noticed that after a long period of inactivity they miss being stimulated mentally as well as physically.
“They enjoyed the structure the hotel provided because it was similar to a school routine. My kids can’t wait to do it all over again.” Those who particularly like their Puente Romano tutor can continue classes back home via Zoom.
Recognising the power of live-stream video, Airbnb has launched a new virtual Field Trips platform designed to “broaden kids’ horizons” with live online leopard safaris in Sri Lanka and astronomy workshops in Norway, among other experiences. So even if Antarctica is not an option for your next family holiday, your children can have a window to the world right in their own home.