This morning’s radio headline was a story about suburban parents who had chosen to raise their children using “Free Range Parenting.” They allow their ten and six year old children to walk to the park to play … or to the library to check out books … or to the local convenience store for a “treat.” The stipulation is that the children must always be together.

This “new” parenting style has caused controversy among community members and this morning’s story ended with the police and child protective services at the home.

– Please note that this article is not intended to promote or endorse any parenting style in any way. It is written solely to reminisce … and to endorse the benefits of summers at overnight camp! –

When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, our entire small-town summers were “free-range.”

We woke up with the morning sun, grabbed some breakfast and quickly planned our day.

When exiting the house, a secret neighborhood “call-out” would alert the other kids that we had arrived on the scene. We would all quickly connect to share our stories and plan our daily adventures.

We rode bikes to the pool, played at parks, explored miles of creek banks and railroad tracks and unearthed what we were sure were dinosaur bones. We researched the history of dinosaurs and learned from the elder librarian that we very well “could possibly” have a real dinosaur bone on our hands!! Our curiosity was piqued and our imaginations ran wild!

In the winter months, we explored the same creek beds, skated across the ice, learned about winter nests and spent hours on our bellies on the school tennis courts waiting for the “fish eggs” in the ice to hatch.

Every night when the 6:00 (town) whistle sounded, we scampered home to find the family gathered for supper. If we didn’t come home at the whistle, we didn’t eat. Everyone knew that.

After supper, we’d play outside some more … or play games with the family … or watch a movie on television. If we were out, we promptly returned when the streetlights came on.

It was idyllic, perfect and as “free-range” as you could get.

While our lives and our world may have changed since then, time at overnight camp hasn’t. In fact, at first glance, little has changed at Skyland Camp for Girls since it’s first summer in 1917. I guess we’ve always been a little “free range.”

We wake up to reveille and fresh mountain air.

We gather around the flagpole to plan our day.

The “neighborhood” is 60 other girls between the ages of 6 and 15 … and the familiar call out to start the day is heard by most.

We’re outside from dawn ’til dusk. If it rains, we head indoors or under cover for some board games, letter-writing, theatre, horse grooming or another creative adventure. We play volleyball. We ride horses. We swim. We hone our archery skills. We create new out of old. We play tennis. We perfect theater acts. We sing. We feed curiosity in the library. We wonder. We wander. We laugh. We connect.

The supper bell still rings at 6:00.

The family-style meals are still served not once, but three times each day.

After supper, we play games, we sing songs, we perform, and when the sun goes down, we find the Big Dipper … and then the Little Dipper … and wonder about Orion’s Belt. We count fireflies as we find our way back to our cabins.

Once snuggled in beds on the screened-in sleeping porches, we read a while before dozing off to the sound of the singing crickets and the far off sound of evening taps. We’ll dream of where we’ll pick up tomorrow morning when we meet at the flagpole for more new adventures.

Until then, sweet dreams from Skyland Camp for Girls … where girls are inspired to be curious, creative, confident and connected to each other, and to the world.

– by Kay Anderson, Associate Director at Skyland Camp for Girls. 1/16/2015