What it’s Like Raising Children Off-Grid

We wanted to raise “free-range children”, and learned how much active parenting was required…

By Greg Seaman, Eartheasy.com

When my wife and I decided to move to a remote off-grid location, our biggest concern centered around child rearing. We were young and idealistic, and felt up to the challenges ahead, but we were also new parents of a 3-month old baby. The responsibility of nurturing a young person was now the priority, and we hoped our new home in the woods would be a healthy setting to raise a young family. Far from the busy-ness and distractions of town living, we wanted to live more at the pace of nature and develop our own family culture.

Today our two children are young adults and living on their own, and my wife and I now have answers to the questions which nagged us over 30 years ago. For those of you who may be considering a similar move, here are some thoughts to share on the experience of raising children off-grid.

Is the setting too rough for a child?

Our cabin was rustic to a fault. It was drafty, built with rough lumber, with no indoor bathroom, only minimal plumbing and no electricity. But the setting outside the cabin was beautiful – thickly forested with large trees, and rocky, moss-covered bluffs. The setting provided a natural playground for children, with infinite possibilities for discoveries right outside our doorstep.

The rough home turned out to be ideal for child-raising. Because the floor was unfinished and there was no fine furniture to damage, indoor play was facilitated. This was appreciated during the long winter months when so much family time is spent indoors. The children could horse around indoors to their hearts’ content without the parents doing damage control. Spontaneous projects, wrestling, swinging from the rafters, even tricycle riding were all in the mix in our living area during the long winter evenings.

A small house meant we shared activities. The kids had their own rooms but preferred to play near the fire and in the center of family activity. We parents were involved in the children’s activities by default, and the children were privy to our adult conversations. This seemed to work to everyone’s benefit.

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Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat

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