In the abandoned Boy Scout camp, raising and homeschooling children at home means never having clean hands—because they are building small cabins, tree stump sundials, and fishing by the creek.
The microbes in the soil are beneficial for kids! Taylor Moran, 33, says so.
After graduating, Taylor Moran became a public school teacher, but later quit teaching in public schools. She prefers educating children at home, preferably outdoors. She believes that microbes can build immune systems and help the brain produce serotonin.
Taylor and her 30-year-old husband, Nick, have a wild parenting philosophy that includes immersing children in nature.
When she saw what this meant as a student teacher, her initial plans to teach in public schools changed: “It’s a country that trains workers, not thinkers,” Taylor told Epoch Times. “Not only that, but there’s no space for the kids to breathe or think; they can’t even go outside.”
Taylor said she saw kids “suffering in classrooms.” They were “forced to do things they’re not good at.” She chose to leave.
Their three sons—7-year-old Hudson, 4-year-old Thom, and 2-year-old Gus—follow the schooling model set by the Morans. Each child has their own individual projects and spends a lot of time playing outdoors. School learning—reading, writing, math, and other subjects—only takes up two hours a day. The kids are ambitious and work hard on what they want to do.
Online chess and history courses are extra options to complement this outdoor program.
In 2023, the Morans moved from North Texas to an abandoned Boy Scout camp in rural Arkansas.
Taylor said the transition was tough but necessary. Now, their children are thriving in their homeschooling curriculum.
When a winter storm hit Texas in 2021, freezing the Morans in their home near Dallas, they took it as a sign from God. They planned to move to a farm and homeschool. They put their all into making this idea a reality.
When they purchased property in rural Arkansas based on two blurry photos taken with a phone, it was a real gamble.
They knew almost nothing about it, only that it was a former Boy Scout camp established in 1960 and abandoned in 1996 due to mismanagement. It had a little church and an old office with original painted signs and logos.
The structures were still intact, but in a dilapidated state inside.
In December 2023, the whole family moved in. They slept on air mattresses with the floor covered in holes left from removing old carpet.
Nearly a year has passed, and the situation has improved greatly. “It feels like a home,” Taylor said with a smile.
The boys’ homeschooling began with a curriculum designed based on the “unschooling” model established by John Holt in the 1970s. Individual learning is at the core, with self-motivation as key.
“Kids need to move around,” Taylor said, encouraging them in their projects. “We understand that in modern society, you need reading, writing, and basic math—you need that, and we provide that.”
She said students learn faster in a “natural” unschooled environment. During the entire summer, Hudson completed a whole course because he felt good—he was ambitious. That’s what unschooling is all about.
“If you complete a project through self-motivation, that self-motivation—that’s something you can develop, that’s a strength, right?” Taylor said, “So in the future, you would have that self-motivation to start a business, finish a project, or do anything.”
While Gus enjoys math and Hudson loves the Little Bear series, the Morans also spend a lot of time engaging in outdoor activities behind their house. They found a surprise on their land: a creek.
In the spring, they go there to observe crayfish under rocks. Thom found an antenna poking out. His brothers lifted rocks, catching crayfish for their dinner—a very practical skill.
Taylor enjoys reading, public speaking, and writing, and she soon began creating videos about their homeschooling journey. On Instagram, she posts photos of the kids making torches (real torches, like in medieval times), building small cabins, and climbing trees.
The couple, who once held degrees and were public school teachers, now spread their educational philosophy to thousands of listeners. Taylor said unschooling is not for everyone, and that’s okay. But it can help kids with developmental delays.
She shared her own experience as a young person to illustrate this point.
Taylor enjoyed English class in elementary school but wasn’t good at math. She recalled hiding a novel under her desk to read. “Because of that,” she said, “the teachers and my parents had a meeting and recommended I take medication for ADD.”
She admits that many students do excel in a public school environment, but expecting everyone to learn in a certain way “will never happen.”
Taylor said they already have three boys and expect a fourth boy soon. Their past experiences tell them he’ll dirty his hands quickly.