Camp-Schooling

Yesterday we returned from our annual summer camping trip. For the past two years we've gone away over anniversary weekend which also ties in with the Organic River Festival just a half hour drive away from home. Kind of perfect when travelling with one child who asks "are we there yet" 5mins from leaving home lol. This year we didn't camp at the festival though and stayed about 10mins north out on the coast. We went away with another family and had a great 3 nights away.

Unfortunately there was rain forecasted (and why did I not pack raincoats?) but was an on and off thing so certainly not enough to put a damper on things.

Danielle was keen to chop up veges for our first night's dinner.

At the festival the next day...







The next day had torrential downpours, so we decided to head north to the next city 1/2 hr away. We'd been meaning to get up there some time over summer and check out the science museum.



By the time we got back to our tent for dinner the day had finally cleared up, but there was apparently more to come that night. So after dinner we pretty much packed up our entire tent into the car and just kept the sleeping gear in the tent just in case we needed to do an evacuation during the night. But fortunately, the wind died off about 4am and we woke to a beautiful sunny day.

On the last day we were sitting around chatting with our friends over breakfast and they asked if we continued to homeschool during the school holidays. So I explained a bit about unschooling and pointed out some examples of "learning" that had gone on during our camping trip that was just as valid as their perception of homeschooling where families sit down to do their learning. I shared with them how his chosen moment of learning was just right for him and me trying to teach those same things would not likely have had the same impact on him or perhaps no relevance to him at that time anyway. I also shared that I treated every question as a means of him seeking information (without knowing or even wondering how it will all slot together in the big scheme of things) and I feel those moments are important to take the time to answer for him no matter their inconvenience to me (no different to parents of schooled children, but I definitely view those questions as being a large part of his education).

These were the following things I mentioned...

- Nathan was sitting down in the tent eating his breakfast and then asked me out of the blue "hey mum, does that number say 44?" while pointing to the chilly bin and the label on it saying that it holds 44 litres. This was quite a new thing for him to decode larger numbers. He's been able to count in higher numbers for a while and we sometimes chant numbers by 10's etc, but seeing it in it's written form isn't something he's really come across aside from road signs saying "50" or "70" or "100". So he really must have been thinking how the two numbers fitted together.

- While walking from our carpark at the festival Nathan was telling me that there were 4 boys and 4 girls in our group. I asked how many that made in which he replied 8 (I wouldn't normally do this, but maybe the newbie in me still likes to know I'm "doing something" *roll eyes at myself*) and I then said "that's right, so 2 times 4 is 8 and 4 plus 4 is 8" and left it at that as just me sharing information.

- Nathan and his friend were in their tent drawing pictures and writing messages. Nathan brought me out a picture with a message on it. His 8yo friend had helped him spell out what he wanted to say and he presented it to me.

- He's right into reading signs when out and about now - in particular Fire Exit and Stop and similar common signs wherever we go.

So, it did feel good for me to know that to others I can justify his learning even if I know I don't need to to myself (although I guess this blog is doing just that at times). I even said that I just can see the learning going on and that it gives me a lot of confidence that this style of learning is right for him. Such a tricky conversation to have though without giving the impression that I'm being sanctimonious. I want to just be able to follow the education path of our choice without having others feel that theirs must then be wrong - kind of like all the simple living, non vaccinating, natural healthcare choices we make too...I prefer to just do what we do without drawing attention to ourselves.