Camp Rhythm -> Our Rhythm

One of the first things I wanted to do when I started allowing myself to remember camp and think about how I want to infuse my parenting and homeschooling with a camp-like tone was to remind myself what our weekly schedule was like. 

Each week had it’s own theme, some of the more memorable themes I recall are: water week, circus week, space week, and animal week. The themes were set by the Directors, who also coordinated all-camp activities like field trips which were nested underneath the themes (e.g. going to the zoo for animal week). Then, each Leader was given a blank weekly camp schedule to “lesson plan” and decide what activities, from crafts and baking to games and experiments, they would do throughout the week. Leaders also took turns facilitating three rounds of Rotations on Tuesday mornings; some weeks you’d be in charge of a rotation – an activity any camper could do, related to the theme – and some weeks you’d be responsible for taking two or three of the groups to the different rotation activities. Additionally, Leaders could plan activities unrelated to the theme, like taking a big hike or playing in the hide and seek forest (yes, we had a separate forest area perfect for hide and seek). If a Leader had a Leader-in-Training (LIT) assigned to them for the week, they also needed to plan some time for them to lead an activity. Wednesday mornings we went to the local swimming pool. It was a small town so we walked there and back. Thursdays were for field trips; we’d either walk to the location or take the public bus (which also required walking to-and-from stops). On occasion we wouldn’t do a field trip. For example, during circus week, we’d usually put on our own circus/carnival with fortune tellers and ring tosses and performances of gymnastics or whatever else we could think of. Fridays had their own flavor too. Friday, right before lunch, we hosted our camp talent show, called Redwood Roundup. We invited parents, family, and friends of campers to come check it out. Each group was expected to perform something, a skit, a song, a poem – it was up to them. In theory they were to be theme-related (often they weren’t) and Leaders were supposed to work on them all week (usually that got pushed to Friday morning). Friday afternoons we had something really special; a couple leaders, or a group of LITs, were invited to offer something outside the box, something that showed off their skills or passions or interests. Campers were allowed to choose which activity they wanted to do. Options could range from crocheting to cheerleader, from a jump rope workshop to candle making. I cannot for the life of me remember what we called this activity! I was able to recall everything else. 

There were also breaks built in for Leaders during snack time, free play time, and Director’s choice time. During drop off every morning, except Monday, a big game of our camp version of dodgeball, called Nation Ball, took place but campers could also choose a slower paced activity like coloring or board games. During pick up every day campers had the choice to make art, play board games, do lanyards, or play with things like jump ropes and skip-its (remember those!?). Each morning and afternoon were kicked off with opening and closing circles where we could review camp rules, cover any camp business, and, most importantly, sing camp songs! 

It’s worth noting there were two options for campers: half day or full day. Half day campers were picked up during lunch. We also had half day Leaders and LITs. Half day Leaders helped during the after lunch free play which gave full day Leaders their required lunch break. We could have 100 campers each week; approximately 40 of them were half day campers. We had four half day Leaders and six full day Leaders. The Director role was also broken up into a Morning Director and an Afternoon Director. I was a full day camper, LIT, Leader, and Afternoon Director. When I was a Director, I’d spend my mornings running errands, in the recreation office at city hall taking care of logistics, or on site at camp helping out. 

Mornings and afternoons had different vibes. Mornings were much more structured and theme-focused. Afternoons were looser, more free, and a little wilder.

Phew! I did it. I remembered the camp schedule. Here is my re-creation of what it looked like when we received the blank schedule for each week:

It was a fun activity for me to remember all these details. But more importantly, it helped me put some perspective on my camp activities and how I plan to re-imagine them into my homeschooling practice. I realized two things. First, this consistency and rhythm was critical to how we achieved a sense of belonging for our campers. Both in the ways the days began and ended, and in the regularity of the weeks. They knew what to expect of us, even within the variation and excitement of the different weekly themes. That’s huge. That’s how someone (me) could move through all those roles with such comfort and ease. That’s why we had campers come back year after year, bring their siblings and friends into camp, and why we were so successful at handling 100 kids at a time in a public park surrounded by dense redwood forest. It’s how we built trust, security, confidence, and traditions.

Second, I realized how valuable my involvement in the mornings and afternoons was to my own philosophy on child development, learning, and building relationships within a system schedule like camp or homeschool. I knew I wanted to incorporate themes – or unit learning – into my homeschool approach. But this activity also helped me see how important it would be to allow our mornings to have some of the more structured activities and lessons and the afternoons to be a little looser. Critically, it also emphasized to me how important consistency is if my intention is to build a homeschool culture of belonging, trust, and confidence that puts relationships first. 

With these ideas in mind I created my ideal campschool schedule. My son is still so young but I can know this is my intention for when we get into formal learning, which is only two or three years away and those years will fly. I love having this now because I can start to treat our weeks with this same rhythm and flavor, even if it is in small ways or for smaller amounts of time. I know once I start truly using it when he’s five I might learn it doesn’t work and that’s okay. The activity is still valuable and I truly think, even if it needs some adjusting, the general idea will work for us long term for our education plan for my son. It makes me excited to look at this schedule and think about what it will look like next month, next year, in five years. It helps me wrap my head around what I’ve committed to and take true accountability for it. Doing this also creates space for me to focus on researching the gaps in my own knowledge and skills, instead of wasting energy researching this part of the plan. 

Having this piece of paper on my wall as inspiration of what I’m working toward inspires ideas and infuses my confidence. 

Like camp, I plan to have a theme for each unit – which may last longer than a week and that’s okay. We’ll introduce it or review it on Mondays and then look at it through an interdisciplinary lens. I’ll pick an activity for Monday afternoon related to the theme – just like I did when I was Afternoon Director. Tuesdays we’ll rotate through some discipline-specific lessons related to the theme. Wednesdays we’ll venture out for lessons, or the library, or other learning – maybe even sometimes to go swimming. Thursdays are our Wild+Free meetup days every other week, and on non-Wild+Free weeks we can go on other kinds of field trips. Fridays it will be a chance for him to create and present some of his ideas and conclusions about the theme and then choose how we spend our afternoon. Afternoons will have that looser, more free kind of feeling with days we make food, engage in volunteerism, or take time for reflection and self-care. Just like camp we’ll bookend our days with predictable together time, reading, doing chores, or being outside. My son currently naps but as he drops that I plan to transition him to some time alone for space to use his imagination freely. 

I love this plan. Today I can use it to be more structured in the morning and looser in the afternoon. I can start building our reading rhythm, chore time, and outdoor time as a regular part of our schedule. I can start doing outings on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As I build these consistencies I’ll be building a foundation we can build upon year after year, developmental stage after developmental stage so our transitions are scaffolded as we work toward deeper learning, longer learning sessions, and our formal home-camp-lifeschool (I’m still working to find the nomenclature I can love!). 

I hope it helps to see what a successful schedule for a summer camp, that was a place of learning and outdoors and adventure and friendship and living, but most of all, belonging looked like. I hope it’s also helpful to see how I’ve re-created those ideas for my own homeschool environment, what I’m thinking, and why I’m doing it. I’m so happy to share this journey of recreating camp, what I’m learning, and how it’s making me more confident in my choice to take charge of my son’s education. 

From edited post published originally in Fall 2022 and edited in March 2024 on old website