The Morans “unschool” on an abandoned Boy Scout camp, where they live in rural Arkansas. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
Raising homeschooled kids on an abandoned Boy Scout camp means never having clean hands – as they build log cabins, tree stump sundials, and a lifetime of memories of fishing by the creek.
The microbes in dirt are great for kids!
So says Taylor Moran, 33, who graduated to be a public school teacher but opted out of teaching in public schools. She prefers to educate her children at home, ideally outdoors. She believes microbes build our immune systems and help our brains produce serotonin.
Taylor and her husband, Nick, 30, have a wild parenting philosophy that involves immersing their kids in nature.
Her original plans to teach in public schools changed when she saw as a student teacher what that entailed: raising a nation of workers, she says, instead of a nation of thinkers.
“You get slammed with the curriculum that you have to deliver,” Taylor told The Epoch Times. “It’s not only that, but there’s no space for the kids to even breathe or think, and you can’t even step outside for a minute.”
Taylor says she saw “children suffering in the classroom.” They were being “forced to do things they aren’t good at.” She opted out.
Schools don’t have to be that way, she says.
Taylor and her three sons aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty romping and playing outside. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
Their three sons – Hudson, 7, Thom, 4, and Gus, 2 – follow a schooling model prescribed by the Morans. Each child has his own individual project and spends ample time playing outside. Academics – reading, writing, math, and other subjects – take only two hours a day. The kids are self-motivated and do their work when they want to.
Online chess and history classes picked a la carte supplement this outdoor regimen.
The Morans moved onto the abandoned Boy Scout camp plot in rural Arkansas from North Texas in 2023.
The transition was tough but necessary, Taylor says. Now their kids are thriving in their homeschool classes.
Flight From Texas to ‘Unschool’ in Arkansas
When winter storms hit Texas in 2021 and left the Morans freezing in their home near Dallas, they saw it as a sign from God. They planned to move and homeschool on a farm. They jumped in with both feet, haphazardly.
It was a literal gamble when they bought a property in rural Arkansas based on two blurry photos taken from a cell phone.
They knew next to nothing about it except it was a former Boy Scout camp established in 1960 that had been abandoned in 1996 due to poor management. It had a chapel and an old office with original painted signs and logos.
The bones of the buildings were still good, but the interiors were falling apart.
In December 2023, the family moved in. They slept on air mattresses with boards covering holes in the floor where they’d chipped out old linoleum.
Today, the Moran household is looking a lot more like a home, though the kids love playing outdoors and are encouraged to do so. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
Almost a year on, things today have improved a lot. “I think this looks like a house,” Taylor told the newspaper, laughing.
The actual homeschooling for the boys began with planned lessons devised by the parents based on the “unschooling” model, established by John Holt in the 1970s. Personal learning is central; self-motivation is key.
“Kids need to move around,” says Taylor, who encourages them to work on their own projects. “We understand that in modern society, reading and writing and basic math – you will need that, and we give that.”
Students learn faster in a “natural” unschool setting, she says. Over the summer, Hudson zoomed through an entire class because he was in the mood to – he was self-motivated. That’s what unschooling is all about.
“If you are self-motivated to get a project done, that self-motivation – that is something you can develop, that’s a muscle, right?” Taylor said. “So later on, you will be self-motivated to start a business or finish a project or do anything.”
The Moran men cutting wood and building a log cabin on their property, an old Boy Scout camp. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
While Gus loves math and Hudson enjoys the Berenstain Bears books, the Morans also spend ample time outdoors behind their property. There, they discovered a surprise feature on the property: a creek.
In the spring, they go down there and watch for crawfish under the rocks. Thom spotted an antenna sticking out. His brothers lifted the rock and caught the crawfish with a net for their dinner—very practical skills.
Spreading the Wild Homeschooling Word
Taylor, who loves to read, speak, and write, soon began creating videos about their homeschooling journey. On Instagram, she posts pictures of the boys making torches – real ones, like in medieval times – building a log cabin, and climbing trees.
The parents, who obtained degrees to become public school teachers, now promulgate their school philosophies to an audience thousands strong. Unschooling isn’t for everyone, Taylor says, and that’s okay. But it might help kids with developmental delays.
She shared her own experience as a young girl to make the point.
Taylor Moran, her husband, Nick, and their three sons: Hudson, 7, Thom, 4, and Gus, 2. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
The Moran boys tending a fire on an abandoned Boy Scout camp, where they live and homeschool. Courtesy of Taylor Moran
Taylor, who loved English class as an elementary student but wasn’t great at math, recalls how she once snuck a novel under her desk to read. “Because of that,” she said, “the teacher actually had a meeting with my parents and suggested that I get on ADHD medication.”
Many students do excel in public school settings, she admits, yet to expect everyone to learn only one way is “never going to happen.”
With three boys leading the way, Taylor says a fourth is expected soon. If history tells us anything, he’ll be getting his hands dirty in no time at all.
Written by Michael Wing for the Epoch Times ~ October 23, 2024