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  • Home
  • Raising Outdoor Kids
    • Cooking & Crafting

      How to Make Birdseed Ornaments for Wild…

      November 27, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      Beautiful Spring Picture Books for Children

      March 28, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      Playing in Nature Protects Our Children During…

      March 17, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      50+ Spring Nature Activities for Kids of…

      March 3, 2020

      Crafting

      How to Make a Willow Nature Crown…

      July 2, 2019

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      9 Special Ways to Celebrate Summer Solstice…

      June 1, 2019

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      A Beginner’s Guide to Pond Dipping with…

      May 20, 2019

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      How Pokémon Can Get Kids Bird Watching

      April 30, 2019

      Nevada, USA

      Rock Climbing and Hiking Around Las Vegas…

      April 24, 2019

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      Signs of Spring Nature Walk for Kids…

      April 5, 2019

  • Spring Outside 2020
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  • Canadian Adventures
    • All Alberta British Columbia Lower Mainland Northern Interior Okanagan
      British Columbia

      Hiking and Camping with Kids at Kokanee…

      July 30, 2018

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      December 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Family-Friendly Adventures on BC’s Sunshine Coast

      November 8, 2017

      British Columbia

      A National Park Reserve in the South…

      November 3, 2017

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      November 1, 2017

      Okanagan

      Hiking Spion Kop with Kids in Lake…

      October 10, 2017

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      September 28, 2017

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      August 30, 2017

      Alberta

      Rock Climbing with Kids in Jasper National…

      August 8, 2017

      Alberta

      Family Adventures in Jasper National Park: 10…

      July 26, 2017

      Alberta

      Shaw’s Point Resort

      August 6, 2015

      Alberta

      Apiaries in Northern Alberta

      August 5, 2015

      Alberta

      St. Isidore, Alberta

      August 4, 2015

      Alberta

      The Hoodoos

      July 29, 2015

      Alberta

      Royal Tyrrell Museum

      July 28, 2015

      Alberta

      Bow Valley Campground

      July 27, 2015

      British Columbia

      Hiking and Camping with Kids at Kokanee…

      July 30, 2018

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      December 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Family-Friendly Adventures on BC’s Sunshine Coast

      November 8, 2017

      British Columbia

      A National Park Reserve in the South…

      November 3, 2017

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      November 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Hiking Spion Kop with Kids in Lake…

      October 10, 2017

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      September 28, 2017

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      August 30, 2017

      Lower Mainland

      Visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in…

      March 7, 2017

      Lower Mainland

      Outdoor Family Adventures in Metro Vancouver

      August 2, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Biking the Stanley Park Seawall

      July 27, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Exploring Deep Cove and Quarry Rock Trail

      July 25, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Visiting Queen Elizabeth Park

      July 22, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Biking Through Pacific Spirit Regional Park

      July 20, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Exploring Lynn Canyon Park

      July 18, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      1001 Steps to the Beach

      April 19, 2014

      Northern Interior

      Life at Ness Lake

      September 1, 2016

      Northern Interior

      McMillan Creek Regional Park

      October 8, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Ferguson Lake Nature Reserve

      October 6, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Eskers Provincial Park

      October 5, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Autumn in Northern British Columbia

      September 28, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Wildflowers in Northern British Columbia

      June 6, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Visiting Barkerville Historic Town

      June 2, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Travelling North

      June 19, 2013

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      December 1, 2017

      Okanagan

      A National Park Reserve in the South…

      November 3, 2017

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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Backwoods Mama

Family Life

An Open Letter to My Tribe

June 7, 2014


For those of you that are unaware, our Learning Circle, a group that meets twice a week to provide group learning opportunities for home learning families, has made the decision to start a Learning Centre this coming fall. The Learning Centre will be a space for home learning children to gather and be mentored by teachers, parents and other people in the community a couple times a week. Our Learning Circle will still continue. This is my open letter to my tribe about this wave of change we are riding.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the Learning Centre. Who in our community hasn’t? For many of us it’s a big change, and change can carry with it a whole host of emotions: fear, excitement, anxiety, sadness, frustration, anticipation, resistance… [insert your own here]. What makes change even more difficult is that this change is happening to our tribe. We are not only looking at how change impacts ourselves or even our family but also how we will be affecting a group of families each with their own needs, values and visions.

When a tribe moves towards change, visions collide and merge. Some hold on, others push forward. There is angst. It is painful and beautiful. The whole process reminds me of an infant learning to walk. It is a natural part of growth that an infant will desire to walk and one day run but he starts by taking his tentative first steps. There is a lot of falling, crying and persistence. His parents and siblings will act as a guide holding his hand and urging him on and when that little person eventually walks on his own everyone shares in his jubilation.

There is a great deal of diversity in our tribe. We could look at our differences, and there are many, and they could easily divide us, but we wouldn’t be a tribe if we didn’t share some common visions in the first place. When I step back I see a beautiful thread binding us together and that is our desire for community. Our tribe values intimacy, not in the sexual sense but in the sense of togetherness, of being real and open with each other. Relationships are not assets or objects to be discarded at whim, but they are what helps us be more fully alive.

Our tribe also shares in the common vision of caring for the planet. At a time when there is so much destruction of the earth our tribe works to protect and safeguard father Creation. There are families in our community that cultivate the land and give back to the community by providing organic produce. Others have smaller urban farms and raise chicken and plant gardens. Our tribe is connected to the earth. There have been thoughts about an eco-school but I’m not sure if they fully capture everyone’s vision in the tribe, we want more.

Of course we wouldn’t be the same tribe without our children, each one unique, each one a blessing. There is a desire in our community to protect this special time for our children, to allow them to explore, create and imagine in a safe environment. Each family has their own unique reasons for choosing to home learn, but I believe that in our hearts there is wellspring of desire for our children to embrace the true, good and beautiful.

Community, nature, children and learning, these are some of threads that I see weaving us together. So how do we take these threads and weave them into a beautiful tapestry that will guide and inspire us in the years to come? I cannot come up with the answer alone, I need my tribe… because we are awesome.

An Open Letter to My Tribe was last modified: May 31st, 2016 by Josée
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