Autodidactic Radical Gathering of Homeschoolers

SPRING 2012 DETAILS

2012-01-04T10:05:00.010-05:00

Spring 2012 ARGH

Check In: May 6^th, 2012 at 5 pm

Check Out: May 9^th, 2012 at 10 am

Location: Springmaid Mountain, Spruce Pine, NC

Since the choices of accomodations at this new location are varied there are several options for your stay. Springmaid Mountain is fine with allowing us to bring air mattresses to increase the number of people we can put in the cabins but we don’t want them overflowing so much that we risk damaging the property. So please be respectful of their generosity when occupying the cabins. THERE ARE NO PETS ALLOWED IN ANY CABINS. Also, there is no Wi-Fi available on the mountain.

All cabins include satellite flatscreen television, front porch with rocking chairs, cooking utensils, kitchen appliances, microwave, coffee pot, towels and bed linens.

Single Family Cabins - These cabins are small but if you want to try to fit 2 families you can.

Smaller Single Family Cabins, 4 to choose from - $425

Sweet Bay Campground Cabins (2)

Cozy one bedroom cabins, convenient to the campground, pond and hiking trails. Cabins have one queen size bed, living room, wood stove, kitchen and one bath.

Trillium Mountain Efficiencies (2)

Efficiencies have two queen beds, one bathroom and a kitchenette. Convenient to trout ponds and hiking trails. The Efficiencies have a stove, refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, toaster and sink area. It is just a small kitchen with a table with seating for 4 people. One big room with 2 queen beds, a sitting area, and the kitchenette. The bathroom is the only room separate from the rest of the inside of the cabin.

Larger Single Family Cabins, 6 to choose from - $450

River’s Edge Cabins (4)

Newly remodled duplexes with levels rented together or separate. Connecting stairs allow for privacy or togetherness. Convenient to fishing pond and waterfall hiking trails. Cabin includes a living room with wood stove, kitchen, two bedrooms (one with a queen, the other with two twins) and 1 ½ baths. Lower levels have a porch for rocking and relaxing.

Wrangler and Angler Ponside Cabins (2)

Newly remodled cabins are secluded and have a relaxing view of the fishing pond and quiet mountainside. Each cabin has 2 bedrooms, one queen and two twin beds, living room, wood stove, kitchen, a shower and 2 half baths. The Angler Pondside Cabin is handicapped accessible.

Shared Family Cabins – These are much larger cabins and can accommodate several families easily. To make sure that we cover costs and have a nice sized gathering I have set a minimum number of families for each of these cabins. The cost for sharing a cabin is $275 per family. This cost is for whole families, if you are bringing extra guests please add $25 per person added to your family.

Trillium Mountain Suite (1)

The Trillium Suite is adjacent to the Trillium Efficiency cabins and is convenient to the trout ponds and hiking trails. Horse stables are only a five minute walk from the Trillium complex. The Suite has 3 bedrooms, four twin beds and one queen bed, a living room, wood stove, kitchen, two baths and balcony. A minimum of 3 families can rent this cabin.

Saddle Ridge Overlook (1)

This cabin is a beautiful retreat at the top of the property with spectacular views. There are 3 bedrooms, one queen and four twin beds, great room, fireplace, kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer, 2 ½ baths, front and back porches with swing and rockers, and separate gazebo. A minimum of 3 families can rent this cabin.

Timber Oaks Lodge (1)

This rustic, five bedroom cabin is the most centrally located cabin and includes 5 bedrooms, eight twin beds and two queens, a great room, wood stove, kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer and 3 baths. This cabin is quite spacious! A minimum of 5 families can rent this cabin.

The Bunkhouse

A dormitory-style bunk cabin with accomadations suitable for both youth and adult groups. There is a commercial kitchen and a large multipurpose room, 16 rooms (with doors that lock from the inside but no individual keys) with 1 bunkbed in each room (32 beds), fireplace, washer/dryer, and four baths (2 with showers).

This is where we will be holding all of our community activities. Anyone who would like to stay at the bunkhouse will share bathrooms, kitchen and living spaces. The cost to stay is $150 per family or $60 per person. This might be a fun place for teens to stay but the common area IS NOT a specific youth hang out place although everyone will certainly be hanging out there during community activities. While our previous community space had specific hours of use, we have the bunkhouse full time. BUT, there will be community hours for the use of the space to give those who are staying there some quiet time as well. The kitchen space (and the food therein) is to be respected and not for community use. Snacks for community use will be provided by us on a table in the common area, anyone is welcome to add to it at any time.

In the past we have had a hang out cabin for the kids. With the limited number of cabins available at this location, having such a space is not feasible. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that the kids in the hang out cabin tend to have small clusters of kids hanging out with each other and not one large group. If one family of each of these small clusters would like to volunteer their cabin for occasional hanging out that would work nicely. Our cabin has always been an alternate hang out space and we always welcome it and enjoy hosting whoever wants to hang out with us. This won’t change with the new location, so as long as one of us is there feel free to stop by.

Springmaid Mountain Family Campground

The campground offers campsites suitable for tents, pop-ups, campers and RVs. Bathhouse with showers, latrines, and sinks available. Leashed pets are welcome at campsites.

Tent Sites - $100

These are outfitted with a lantern post and fire ring with a grill.

Camper and RV Sites - $150

These have water and electrical connections. A separate dump station is located on the grounds. Camper sites suitable for units up to 36’ in length.

Activities Available for an additional charge: Trail Rides on Horseback and Hay Rides

Hiking is free!

To register for a cabin, bunkhouse space, tent or RV site email me personally at laurabowman.etusc@gmail.com.

2012-01-04T08:27:00.000-05:00

Hello Arghians!!

It has taken some time but I finally have a new location for our gathering. As with moves of all kinds, it comes with some changes, and I hope we can all embrace these changes and see how ARGH evolves from here on out. In the next few days I will lay out the new costs and details. I'm hoping that for most people the cost will be less! There will be several lodging choices with lots of sharing options as well as the option to have a single family cabin, there is also a very cost effective choice of staying in the bunkhouse, which will also be our meeting space as it has a large open area and a commercial kitchen and bathrooms etc. on the bottom floor. This is not like the huge conference center we have come accustomed to at Roan Mountain but I think it will work nicely. There is also a campground area with tent and RV spaces available. I will put all of the details together and put it on the list soon.

The new dates for the Spring Gathering are May 6th-9th, 2012.

The location is Springmaid Mountain in Spruce Pine, NC.

This location will require a deposit so I will be letting you know as soon as I know when the deposit will be due.

This is their website that you can check out to see some of the cabins: http://www.leroysprings.com/default.asp?lsc=288&urlkeyword=cabins

They also have horse riding and hayrides available which they will give us a discount on, but that can be paid for individually and onsite if anyone decides they would like to do this. OR if there is enough interest ahead of time I can go ahead and plan either of these events and put it on the schedule, but again, it will be extra.

I'm pretty excited about the new location and I hope you all will love it too!

Peace in the New Year and all the growth and changes that will come with it for our group and for all of you and your families,

Laura

Fall 2011 ARGH

2011-12-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

Fall 2011 was probably one of the biggest and best ARGHs we've had!! It's always a treat to have Halloween with tons of unschooling families running around from cabin to cabin, the costumes were awesome and the treats delicious!! We went back to our original and more affordable 3 night stay on the mountain and boy did we have a turn out! All the cabins were full of happy unschoolers doing their thing. We had the usual workshops, ARGHpreneur shop, potluck, talent show and dance (best dance we've had so far with the new sound system and even LIGHTS brought in at the last minute by Dennis Wolf) as well as lots of impromptu gatherings and jam sessions. There was pumpkin carving, massage, book swaps, henna, juicing, making costumes for dolls, Minecraft group games and Magic the Gathering and much much more!

Fall 2011 Pix

For the Spring 2012 gathering, we will be meeting at a new location! We're sad to leave behind our beloved Roan Mountain but things change and we evolve and move on.

Spring 2011 ARGH

2011-12-10T11:04:00.002-05:00

For the Spring 2011 gathering we tried something new, we added a Saturday night to the event. This made the costs a bit higher so we had a smaller turn out but we still had an amazing time. There were lots of games of Magic the Gathering, Crafty things for sale at the ARGHpreneur shop, tons of temporary tattoos, Nerf shield making, teens playing in the kiddie corner with toy animals ;), hanging out in cabins, potlucking, workshops of all kinds, a cabin concert, the talent show, and the dance...just to name a few of the wonderful things we do together at ARGH!!

Spring 2011 Pix

Growth and Change

2011-04-18T10:37:00.000-04:00

As we prepare for the Spring 2011 ARGH, I am thinking a lot about past ARGHs and how much the event has grown over the years. This Spring we added an extra day to the event as so many people had been wanting to spend more time there, unfortunately this added to the costs and made it harder for many people to come. We really want ARGH to be affordable, so starting in the Fall we will go back to the original 3-night event.

Probably the biggest news this year is that Ren Allen, the founder of ARGH, stepped down and turned it over to Scotty and I and it is now a part of our Bowman Adventures business. This is her message to everyone:

Growth and change are part of everything and ARGH is no exception! I started this gathering in 2007 inspired by my friend Steve Cooperman and the structure of Bar Camps. It's changed a lot since then, but the spirit of ARGH has remained the same....a gathering of unschoolers and unschool curious where everyone shares their interests and learns freely.

There have been some drastic changes in my life this last year (as most of you already know) and my career and heart are pulling me in many new and exciting directions.

The Bowmans are also experiencing some big and exciting changes, including the growth of their new company "Bowman Adventures". Their lives are taking them further into the unschooling events direction and my life is taking me away from that kind of organizing.

It is a perfect fit, and perfect timing for the Bowmans to take over ARGH as the sole organizers/owners. I am backing out of that role completely but will still be involved/volunteering etc...as much as they need me since ARGH will always be near and dear to my heart. :)

You have all made this a wonderful event and I know that it will continue to be a beautiful gathering of new and old friends. I can't wait to see all the amazing things Laura and Scotty create in this world!!!

See you all in May! :)

Much love,
Ren
radicalunschooling.blogspot.com

Fall 2010 ARGH

2011-04-18T09:17:00.001-04:00

Halloween, get to know ya games, hanging out in rocking chairs, starburst wrapper bracelets, ping pong..ahem, i mean table tennis, new friends, the hangout cabin, tons of workshops and activities, the usual nerf wars, talent show, potluck and dance. That's ARGH!!! Fall 2010 Pix

Spring 2010 ARGH

2011-04-18T09:08:00.003-04:00

This was probably one of my very favorite ARGHs!! Spring 2010 Pix

Fall 2009 ARGH

2011-04-18T09:03:00.005-04:00

It seems I've let my posting on this blog lapse...so to get back in the swing of things here are some Fall 2009 Pix

2009-12-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

Slide show; November 2009

2009-11-13T22:18:00.001-05:00

November 2009

2009-11-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

ARGH MOVIE by Ronda, Musa and Retta

2009-04-03T11:43:00.002-04:00

Turn up the volume!

Our first ARGH!

2009-03-29T10:30:00.002-04:00

Copied from a post I wrote here right when we came home:

In this case, not the pirate sound, but the name for a semi-annual gathering of autodidactic learners in cabins at Roan Mountain, TN. The kids and I went for the first time this weekend. There were no speakers or much of a schedule and it was so relaxed. On the last night, Jesse declared, emphatically, that we need to go to every ARGH from now on. I think that would be swell. To think, I almost let some torrential rain keep me from making the drive. It was Jesse who convinced me that I must persevere. I like when they persuade me to jump outside of my comfort zone.

One of the highlights was having the blogger/author Patti Digh talk and read to us from her book, Life is a Verb - 37 Days - essays about the question of what she would do differently if she knew that she only had 37 days left to live. I bought the book. It is filled with amazing art and provocative,inspiring ideas. She too grew up a red head, in awe of her library and of Pippi Longstocking. For this, and so many more reasons, I was smitten. Here she is with (the also inspiring) Kelli:Mindy and Gail, just two of the many wise, generous unschooling women that I get so much out of seeing: It's also fun to see the ageless men:and non age-segregating kids (especially the teens):There was henna, beading, knitting, pool, table tennis, nerf gun battles, Bananagrams, Yu Gi Oh, football, In a Pickle, Catch Phrase, a pot luck...Here was the setting, as captured by Gillen on the last morning. He was on his way back to our cabin having generously agreed to venture out and retrieve my camera from another cabin - far, far away - where I had left it the night before. Both of my guys were so generously helpful, and so happy to be on this trip that I feel capable of traveling even further with them alone in the future. I will overcome any fear of fatigue. Argh! I am adventurous woman.

Just look at how ~~humiliatingly foolhardy~~ adventurous I can be. Jesse asked me to jump into the talent show with him at the very last second, and I did, attaching us together first like this - and then leading the patient talent show crowd in "chair yoga". (There's no one more encouraging or patient than an unschooling talent show audience).Thank you Laura and Ren for putting it all together.
Actually, in the picture, they are Ren and Laura. Both tall, beautiful, Converse-wearing , artistic, loving mamas, TN-dwelling and goofy, whatever order you put them in, I think that they are meant to create things together.

spring 2009 ARGH

2009-03-24T12:09:00.001-04:00

the spring ARGH was amazing!! we went to roan mountain again and had the best time! there was a lot of reconnecting with friends and making new connections; kids screaming and running to greet each new arrival...and it brought tears to my eyes seeing how happy they are with this group of people that have become the core of our unschooling world of friends. what did we do all weekend? well, there was a lot of simply hanging out really. that's what is so wonderful about these gatherings, no pressure to attend a lot of activities (unless you want to). it's very laid back and relaxed. sometimes i might find myself in a cabin playing bananagrams with several other people (while trying not to fall asleep). or walking from cabin to cabin bringing snacks to hungry kids. or driving to the conference center to check out what activities were going on over there and talking and laughing and um, well, hanging out. like i said, that is really the essence of this gathering, "just" hanging out!! there were tons of nerf wars going on at almost any given time, movie watching in the old restaurant building, ATC making in ren's cabin, henna at the conference center, video games at the hangout cabin, tea parties, game parties, dress up parties, just about anything if someone was willing to host it. there was also a delicious potluck followed by a fantastic talent show...what more could you ask for??

we went away with a happy feeling after saying our goodbyes just knowing that in 8 short months we would be up there again for the fall gathering to do it all over again!!

Lovin' the ARGH

2009-03-24T10:34:00.004-04:00

ARGH!!!!

The Nerf Wars

The teens hanging out...awesomely awesome

Sophie and Livia became friends; Ella and Lexi reconnected

Max and Jesse with their amazing Henna

Broc was the henna hero...who knew?

It's all freehand...pretty impressive!

More henna, more beautiful girls

Friends...

Alec and Alex...I love these guys

We attended our second ARGH gathering and once again it was fabulous. Roan Mountain is beautiful, and the park/cabins are awesome.

As much as we love the natural beauty and setting, we go for the camaraderie and friendship. There is something special about the relaxed nature of ARGH...not a conference, but a little more than just hanging out. There is always something interesting popping up, someones passion shared.

Many people who go, we would not get to see otherwise. But it's also a place to meet up with dear friends who we do get to see more regularly.

My kids are in their element at ARGH. They enjoy not having to explain their lives to friends. They love the freedom this particular setting provides, and the whole group hanging out sort of thing.

We'll be back. Keep it coming..I've already got the next dates in my planner :)

Pigtailed assault teams storm Roan Mountain!

2009-03-23T17:08:00.006-04:00

Okay, more of them had dreds than pigtails and the assault guns were loaded with soft foam projectiles, but there were teams, that's for sure! The theme of the weekend, for the under-12 portion of the community: Nerf Wars
I was intrigued to see that the free form shoot-em-up quickly sorted itself into entire nation-states of children. They had grand names (my favorite being The Carrot Allegiance), cultural identities, alliances, feuds, and complex negotiations that lasted for days. At any given intersection of trails it was possible to find two opposing bands of armed Patriots shouting a conversation that might have sounded like this:

"Throw down your weapons, we have you surrounded! "
"You do not! What team are you, anyway? "
“We are the Huggers and you are invading our territory"
“Well, we are the Princess Sisterhood and we do not recognize the validity of your organization"
"Hah! I got you! You're dead now."
“I am not, I have fifty thousand hit points"
“You can't have that many. You can only have five."
“I can have as many as I want !"
And on and on.
Unschooling children are great negotiators. I've seen that before, but we don't live in an area with a plethora of unschoolers, so its not something I'm used to
That's not to say they were all little angels. There were bossy kids and whiny kids and kids who refused to acknowledge anyone else's rules. There were hurt feelings as teams formed and reformed many times over the weekend. For all that, there was little real fighting. Kids raised without rules, it seems, don't have any more trouble getting along than other kids. If anything, while some of the kids had control issues, none were actively mean. Older kids sometimes stepped in to facilitate disputes - Ray did at one point - and parents of younger children sometimes trailed along at a discrete distance in case anyone slipped in the mud and got hurt.
I confess to having spent the first day and a half fretting. I needn't have. I know my family, after all, but arriving at the ARGH gathering, I was the only family member who actually knew anyone at all (from online). I watched George and the kids lurk around the edges of groups and I fretted: surely I'd made a horrible mistake and they'd all be miserable. Silly me.
As soon as Mo settled in, she was happy to rampage through the campground with one nation-state or another, shooter in hand. Ray lurked and scoped and then all of a sudden was walking around with a group, staying up all night, exchanging email addresses. George took the longest. He didn't have alot in common with the other dads, and the kids weren't little enough to give him comfortable access to the world of moms for the most part. Eventually Mo dragged him off to a dress-up party, though, and got him settled. By evening's end he'd discovered bananagrams (have you played? its sooooo fun!) and the next day he discovered hiking trails. The pix are all from his hikes (new camera, I haven't a clue how to use it yet).
I had a fantastic time, once I stopped fretting. I knit and chatted and chatted and knit and hung out and played bananagrams (gotta get me some). I got to meet some of the wonderful people I know from online and see their kids in person. De (Bigwylma) is warm and personable, Faith has great hair and a wonderful smile, Kelly and Gail never stop talking! Kelli is fun and wonderful and has the most adorable curly headed boy (George was a curly headed boy, once, I'm partial), and Ren's every inch a drag queen (work it Ms thang). There were many more people than that, of course and I'm awash in names and faces (and needlework projects...love that purple scarf and its knitter... whatever your name was).
Unschooling teens are all gorgeous. I know I mentioned Kelli's but I was struck by the absolute beauty of all the teenagers. It took me a couple days to figure out why, and I honestly believe its the unschooling. Without school to weigh them down, they have a lightness of spirit that schooled teens just plain don't. Even the quiet ones had that lightness. Even the ones dressed all in black, the freaks and the bad-asses. They weren't up all night knocking over dumpsters, they were up talking and laughing and... cuddling. Yeah, bad ass teenagers cuddling. I'm still reeling.

ARGH fall 2008

2009-03-22T11:27:00.004-04:00

the second ARGH took place in november 2008 in beautiful roan mountain, tennessee. we stayed 3 days in some really amazing cabins with access to a fantastic conference center where we set up tables for funshops, a day of the dead trade, a potluck, and a talent show to name a few of the activities. there was mostly a lot of relaxed hanging out and staying up late talking and bonding with unschoolers from all over! and it was wonderful!

the very first ARGH...fall 2007

2009-03-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

the first ARGH took place over 2 days in november 2007 in johnson city, tennessee. day 1 was a meet up at a local park building at night for a potluck and game playing. we learned some new games and met some new friends. day 2 took place at a church hall where we had small funshops of ATC making, video gaming, and mini talks. the kids got into the "talks" by locking themselves in a room and writing on their OWN white board and talking about things they wanted to talk about. it was very cool!! we actually had a 3rd day, but it was more of a quiet get together at ren's house for more games and talking and hanging out. we had just moved back to the area and only known the allens (in person) for a few months but we already felt like family. and i can't think of a better way to have gotten back into the swing of things here in east tennessee than this gathering!!