With June on the horizon the cool fall days that were once filled with new books, freshly sharpened pencils, and an excitement for a new school year seem a distant memory.
As the days grow longer we start to feel a desperate need for a change of scenery.
The warmer weather calls us out, beckoning us to embrace a more relaxed schedule filled with barbecues, sprinklers, late nights, and sleeping in, but the loudest cry of all is the call to adventure!
For our
family, one of the greatest joys of summer is to go camping together and we are
blessed by the opportunities all around us to do so.
Here are
just a few of the benefits we have found camping as a family.
1) Getting Away
Summer break
for homeschool families is unique in that it is not the only time of year we
are home together, so we do not have to ‘re-acclimate’ to one another, nor do our
kids have the ‘newness’ of home that
those sent away each day experience on break.
Camping allows us to get out of the
house for a change of scenery, learning and growing together in a new way, in a
new place.
We always make sure we go just beyond cell service where there are no screens,
no phones and no to-do-lists; where neither the yard work nor the house
projects are staring at us; a place where there is nothing but time: time to be
in the moment with one another, time to explore, run, climb and play, time to
pick wildflower bouquets and make dirt tea, time to throw rocks and dig in the
dirt.
Camping gets us away from the daily grind and the distractions that try to lure
us into a life of doing rather than being.
2) Breeding Creativity
Many people believe that we need to give our children
everything: the newest toys, planned out activities, and constant
entertainment. They think that it is our job to ensure that our children are
never bored.
We believe one of the greatest things we can do for our kids is to send them
outside with nothing and watch their imaginations, their minds and their
creativity grow.
It is amazing what a child can create when you remove the conventional craft
closets and toy bins and replace them with a forest full natures greatest
‘supplies’ to bring life to their ideas.
Worlds are created from tree falls, feasts prepared from foraged ingredients, creek
games invented and played with fervor. Ideas become realities, inventions and
beautiful creations.
3) Cultivating Flexibility-
“I forgot the ketchup.”
This short sentence uttered at camp has surely sent the family into a tailspin,
complete with ‘how could you’ glares and all.
When there isn’t an endless supply of everything and the store is not down the
road, we must be flexible.
When our boots are wet and our tennis shoes are wetter, we must be flexible.
When we forgot to cover the food and the raccoon ate the last of the ribs, we
must be flexible.
Camping gives us many chances to cultivate flexibility, whether intentional or
not.
4) Providing a Greater Education than Money
Could Buy –
While some of us can sit back and read a book in the sun all day, others can’t
be still for more than 5 minutes; and so begins the incredible education that
happens in the woods as daddy leads them down a road of adventure-filled
learning.
They engineer tree log bridges across
creeks, ponds for the fish they catch, shooting ranges and obstacle courses; they
navigate using maps, compasses, and all that surrounds them to discover where
they have been and where they want to go.
They learn how to build fire, identify tracks, and classify plants.
This is where every school subject is covered in an hour of ‘play.’
5) Hearing the Sounds of the Most Beautiful
Orchestra –
Out there we hear no dings, rings or bleeping reminders; instead, we hear the
sound of the wind blowing, the water flowing, and the birds chirping; composed together with children’s laughter,
fire crackling and trees creaking. There is no greater sound.
6) Giving an Opportunity to Work Together –
When the early morning comes, the
children are sent out to build the first fire of the day, together. They work as a team finding the perfect fire
starter, collecting the chopped wood and blowing the first spark. As the day
goes on, they work together building forts, carrying logs across creeks to
explore the other side and hauling buckets of water to build their ponds; all
things they couldn’t do on their own. They have a vision together, they have
dreams together and they need one another to execute their plans.
7) Having Deep Talks Around the Campfire
–
“Mommy? Who was daddy before he
was daddy?” We are asked around the
campfire.
We are reminded that the deep questions that are asked now, when they are
little, become the deeper talks that will happen later, as they grow.
Something about poking at
embers with a willow stick brings out the most profound conversations.
This is where, so often, the hearts of our children are poured out; around the
campfire.
8) Stopping Time –
When camping, time stands still.
No appointments. No clocking in or out.
The sun wakes you up and the stars lay you down. We eat when hungry and we play until we need
a rest.
The original clock becomes our time keeper once again.
9)
Having an Excuse for Junk Food –
Bedtime s’mores, hot coco each morning,
and real chocolate chip cookies (not the one’s with spinach that mom makes at
home) are some of our great camping traditions that will grow into great
camping memories.
10) Remembering the Greatest Thing –
When we are under the stars, surrounded by nothing but creation, we are
reminded of how vast and great our Creator is; The One who made all of this for
us to enjoy. We see His glory and we praise His name.
So, from one homeschool family to
another: Congratulations! You made it through another school year.
Now it’s time to go on an adventure. Take that same passion for learning and
carry it into this new, warmer, greener season!
Pack up your tent and go!
Just don’t forget the bug spray!
