What Parents Say About NBTSC
There are also many parents who are willing to be contacted individually by phone or email as references. Let us know if you'd like us to put you in touch with one or more of them.
Our daughter, Becky Jamieson, went to camp starting at age 16 in 2000 and had such a great time that she continued in 2001 and 2002. It's truly been a life-changing experience for her. She's made friends from all over the country that she'll probably keep for the rest of her life.
It's been like a dream-come-true, something better than we even could have imagined. The honesty and openness were combined with freedom and common sense attitudes, as well as active, creative involvement by the campers and junior staff. We've loved all your books, so to think Becky could be part of this wonderful community which you created was very exciting.
At first we thought it would be very difficult to afford but Becky was highly motivated to get a job to earn money for this experience and also you generously helped out with scholarships and work-trade agreements whenever she asked for them. We appreciated that enormously.
Because of camp, Becky changed from being somewhat isolated and lonely to having a whole community of support and love. This helped her grow and mature through the difficult teenage period. We will always be grateful for your incredible sparks of creativity which you've put into action and generously shared with so many camp kids. If anyone has any questions about camp life they should feel free to contact us or Becky.
Sincerely,
Marie Baker
Dave Jamieson
Dodgeville, WI
As the unfortunate events of Sept. 11 keep coming to my attention these days with all the talk of war, I am reminded of what I was doing on that day. My strong, beautiful daughter Brenna was finishing up a week at the "Not Back to School Camp" with Grace and others in Oregon when we first heard the news of the World Trade Center bombings. Not knowing at the time what it meant or what might happen next, we were cautiously terrified, especially knowing our daughter was not at home with us. After talking with Grace that morning and then later with Brenna, we felt so certain she was in good, safe hands. It wasn't until Brenna returned home a few days later that we found out how well Grace and her staff had handled the national emergency and helped the teens to digest, process and come to terms with the uncertainty that lay before all of us. I was and still am so grateful she was at this particular camp with such caring, thoughtful and respecting adults to help her with all of this.
All of that aside, I must also say, now that I am reminded of camp, how much Brenna enjoyed her week there. As a girl who comes from a diehard unschooling family where respect and freedom are the rules, Brenna was enthusiastically thrilled to find that Grace was able to uphold these same important values at camp, despite the lack of parental involvement and the diverse needs of 150 teens from across the country. Her favorite activity was the Power Shuffle and she was very moved and enlightened by it. She loved a number of the workshops, was shocked by a few, and chose not to attend many, feeling completely free to decide as she saw fit. She was so impressed with the lack of coercion from the Grace and the other adult leaders. She LOVED meeting so many teens who were already familiar with unschooling. As a mom, I think it is so important to provide experiences like NBTSC for our teens. It is a rare opportunity to feel the exhilaration of immersing yourself in an environment of like-minded people, at any age.
Barb Lundgren, Texas
Just exactly two years ago my son decided to leave high school and become an unschooler. He was 13 at the time. He drifted a little in those first months, but the day that he announced he was going to become an unschooler, he also announced that he planned to go to camp in the fall - it was his first independent decision, and I am so glad that he made it.
He flew out, by himself, from the Midwest, and as circumstances would have it, the day before he was due to come home was September 11, 2001. As you can imagine, many phone calls were made, but he connected with some other midwestern campers and thanks to the kind assistance of one of the mothers, who drove out to pick them up, the kids had an adventure, rather than a trauma. When my son appeared on our doorstep some days later, he was radiant. He had had, in his words, a life changing experience. He had new friends, was exposed to new ways of doing and thinking, and was challenged by some of the accomplishments of the other campers to start making serious decisions of his own.
The next year (2002) Mike attended both sessions of the Oregon camp, and in addition, as a family we attended the family camping get-together in Colorado earlier in the summer. It was a great opportunity to meet and get to know a variety of other families, and to meet some of Mike´s friends. I don´t know if camp will remain a fixture in Mike´s life for much longer - he has many interests now and is finding his own way in the world - but it gave him a tremendous ¨jump start¨at a time when he needed it.
I am so grateful for the existence of Not Back to School Camp, and hope that it continues to play a key role in the lives of other young people as they are figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives.
--Kris Felbeck, Minneapolis, krisfelbeck@yahoo.com
I'd like to take a moment and tell you how wonderful was our experience with nbtsc. My 13 year old son attended session 3 in West Virginia this year. He is something of a recluse, so this was his first experience being all on his own, away from anyone or anything he knew. I was sure he'd be "fine" (but then, I'm not one to strive for "adequate", especially where my children are concerned), but, of course, had reservations. He's not been exposed to much even in the way of media, as we have tended to err on the side of "conservative" to a certain extent. Anyway, it wasn't life-changing in that he was a different kid when I picked him up, but he certainly gained heaps of confidence in himself and a great deal of open-mindedness he didn't have before. He's much more likely to save his judgments until after he's spent time with someone. I realize part of this is his age, and that's wonderful, but I also think his week at camp sort of lit the fire, if you will. He didn't come home with tons of friends to call or write, but he's better friends with himself and more likely to make friends now than he's ever been.
After camp finished I heard some grumbling and was very worried that I'd done the wrong thing in sending him to camp. But he and I talked about it, and he felt way too much was being made of things and he reiterated that his experience was terrific (aside from the cold and the food, LOL). He has mentioned several times over the last months how nice a person you, Grace, are and also talked about Maya and a few other staffers, all very positively.
--Tori Billings
My daughter returned from camp (Session 3, 2002) having grown at least one year's worth in the one week she spent at camp. Her encounters with other attendees before, during, and after camp have been most positive. She keeps tabs on several of the campers by email and telephone. She has become more independent, tougher (this is a good thing), more challenging (ditto) and thoughtful as well as more confident of choices she has made before and since camp.
I will happily send her back to camp. She would like to attend more than one session and is willing to contribute a share of the cost to make that possible.
--Betsy Goldberg
I inquired about the West Virginia session of NBTSC sometime in June, asking if my son could attend. Last year was his first year of homeschooling and I wanted to give him something special for being homeschooled, instead of him feeling like he was losing opportunities. He was only 12, but after reviewing the available information about the camp through the website and sending an email explaining why I thought he was mature enough to handle it, we sent in our money. He was so excited and nervous, not wanting to reach out to anyone on one hand and wanting to have all of the information possible on the other hand. We packed him up and drove him to camp with another camper from Charlottesville, VA, and talked to him a couple of times during the week. At first he sounded nervous, but the second time I talked to him he had found his rhythm and seemed to be having a great time.
When he returned we noticed immediately that he was acting more mature. I think the activities that he participated in helped him to find himself a little bit, and he said the other campers (and Grace especially) were very warm and loving towards him. I LOVE the hug button idea, he still hugs us all the time and it's wonderful! He seems to have developed a healthy sense of independence from his time away from us, and I think that exposure to older homeschooled kids has made him realize that he isn't an oddity, and even if he were he'd be accepted :-)
I really appreciate the opportunity to send him to this camp and will be absolutely heartbroken if it isn't available to him for the next 5 years!
We have had several discussions (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many) about the boys' camp experience (NBTSC, West Virginia) and are unanimous in our conviction that it was a positive, stimulating, provocative (not sexually), sometimes disturbing (in terms of personal growth and challenges to previously held notions) and just a whole lot of fun (unfamiliar food and cold, wet weather notwithstanding). Here is an extract from an article written by our twins for the Ottawa Area Home Based Learners Newsletter describing their camp experiences:
"This past October, our family dropped us off in West Virginia, USA where we then participated in a week long camp for Unschooled teens (13-18), called the Not Back To School Camp (NBTSC). We talked, danced, laughed, lazed, learned new things, taught others new things, made new friends, slept (a little) and had one of the best weeks of our lives. There was a huge variety of things to do (organized by both staffers and campers) and a diverse range of people participating. Everyone was quite friendly and open minded and the staffers very helpful and
supportive. You have a lot of freedom at camp; almost none of the things organized are mandatory, though some are quite important (like eating). There is a set of simple & sensible rules to keep campers healthy and safe. There is also a daily schedule, but it has many open
spots for spontaneous happenings, and you can pick and choose whichever event piques your interest, or simply take some time off for yourself. You have freedom, but you also have a responsibility to contribute as much you can to the camp experience."
--Brian, Lucie, Marc and Philip, Ottawa, Canada
In 1994 (I think that was the year), as a fairly new homeschooling parent, I went to a homeschoolers' conference near Portland, Oregon. One of the workshops I attended involved two panel discussions--one of homeschooled teens; the other, their mothers--both moderated by Grace Llewellyn. Her rapport with, and respect for, both the teens and their moms really impressed me, as did the teens themselves. At the time, my own three daughters were 4, 6, and 8 years old, but I left the workshop thinking, "That's how I want my kids to be when they are teenagers!"
Sometime later I read Grace's book The Teenage Liberation Handbook. (The latest edition has Josanna Crawford on the cover. She was one of the eloquent teens on the panel at the workshop in Oregon.) My kids still weren't teenagers, but unlike many other parents I knew, I was not dreading those years to come. I had my guidebook! Grace had covered everything about teens and homeschooling, it seemed to me, and it all made so much sense. Of course, like a lot of other parents of unschooled kids, I was already feeling sad to think that no one had written a book like that, offering so many options for learning, when I was an adolescent. Today, all of my daughters have read all or parts of the book, and they dream of standing on the corners of the local junior high and high schools, passing out copies to all the kids.
My oldest daughters became teenagers during the two years we lived in New Zealand. Although we had a great support group there, with lots of teenagers active in it, our girls often said that if we ever moved back to the States, their one big wish was to go to Not Back to School Camp in Oregon.
In December of 2000, we did move back. We came to southeast Idaho where, after more than two years now, we have found no other liberal-thinking, unschooling families with teenagers. But, the girls have gone to NBTSC! In 2001, the oldest two went, and in 2002, all three went (1st session both times).
They would have loved NBTSC even if we lived in a town full of kindred spirits. But since we don't, their time at NBTSC is even more precious. It's the one week of the year when they are surrounded by--embraced by!--other teens and staff who think, feel, and unschool in ways similar to them. Of course, not everyone at NBTSC believes exactly the same thing about everything. The girls don't expect that, nor are they looking for it. But they do go to NBTSC because they feel completely accepted there, just as they are, something they don't often feel in the town where we live.
At NBTSC they have a week to spend however they want to spend it--living, learning, playing in freedom--just the way they unschool. They have opportunities to explore new things (henna workshop); try out something they've wondered about (a fellow camper's violin--the instrument is now one of our daughter's new loves and challenges); get a little crazy (red hair dye!); learn some real camp songs that their parents have neglected to teach them ("Sarasponda"); share their talents (see photo of the two recorder players on the NBTSC website); maintain their ability to do chores so it's not so tough to keep doing them when they return home (long live the Potty Patrol!); think about their pasts (Power Shuffle) and their futures (workshop on jobs overseas); talk about stuff with adults who aren't their parents (kudos to the advisors!); sleep under the stars (well, those who actually do get some sleep after staying up late discussing life, the universe, and everything); and just plain have fun (beach trip and "prom").
For my kids, the only bad thing about NBTSC is that, after a week, it has to end--until next year!
Hats off to Grace, Taber, Maya, and all who make NBTSC possible! We love and appreciate you.
Susan McMinn Seefeldt
writer, former high school teacher
unschooling mom for 10+ years
Idaho Falls, Idaho
"I am in 100% support of you and all that you do for our children! As a mom, woman, reproductive health RN, and lay counselor to teens and young adults, and former teenager, I wholeheartedly support the work you do, and so appreciate all the energy, love and enthusiasm you share with our kids and in effect us." --Melissa Cassara, South Carolina
“[My son] has never experienced such openness, such honesty and such love—and he is renewed. He feels accepted, uplifted, empowered and, above all else, valued! …You are working magic at NBTSC….nurturing wings. I applaud you and thank you.”
“My kids really love NBTSC and all of their new friends. It makes homeschooling a lot less lonely for them when they meet a diverse group of open minded homeschoolers. …Thank you for your part in helping my children achieve strength, confidence, and independence.”
“I have seen so many of the Vancouver kids come back from camp with subtle (or not so subtle) changes in maturity, confidence etc. I can't thank you enough for what you do by giving these kids the chance to be together and spread their wings like this.”
“The camp was fabulous for [my daughter] and the kids were too -- very different from her high school friends, in maturity, drive, self-assuredness, openness and vulnerability.”
“Just a quick note of appreciation from a very pleased parent! …I know [my son] had one of the best weeks of his life and he’s had a lot of excellent weeks in his 17 years… back he comes from camp with a zillion new friends—he promptly hooked us up to email and in the last 3-4 weeks has written well over 100 letters!”
“My son returned from your camp with renewed enthusiasm for life and learning! Thank you so much for having this get-together of, apparently, some of the most gifted and interesting people on earth!”
“[Our daughter] returned to us full of self-assurance, excitement, and positive loving energy. The revelation that there are other teenagers out there with her unschooler ideas was a delightful awakening for her.”
“I should tell you that [my son] had a wonderful time at NBTSC. It’s resulted in some significant changes in how [he] approaches life, and he’s enthusiastic about going back next year.”
