Camp Vamonos! has been run by me, Megan Baker, out of my home in north-central Austin for 15 years. Aside from being a home-grown local business, CV! is all about empowering children in a world that’s usually too busy to really listen to what they have to say and too in awe of “experts” to give them a say in what they do with their time or how they learn. By reading the work of folks like Peter Gray, John Holt and Carol Black, I learned that children’s play is the most powerful engine of learning in a young person’s life. When you know this and you watch children play, you can virtually see the wheels in their heads turning! Play is joyful for children not just because it’s fun for them but maybe especially because the learning they do while playing is so rich and confidence-building.
Here are some photos of my campers and after-school care kids playing cooperatively, helping younger kids, exploring their city, wondering what it would be like to have horns, and one photo of bagels we made in my kitchen, where we also create cakes, cookies, homemade ravioli, crepes, and loads of holiday treats.
Children have a genius for figuring out how their world works and for making friends out of strangers. At Camp Vamonos! kids are trusted to be sociable and enjoyable company, smart decision makers, and resourceful problem solvers. When you learn to follow rather than direct them, they will show you a very rich way of being in the world!
