Our Annual Catholic Homeschool Camp & Confirmation

Day 1
Last week saw us once again heading to the beach for a week of fun and faith with our families. It was the eighth year that we have c0-hosted the camp.

We arrived Monday, before lunch. We have the same cabin as last year, we unload and hurry off to catch up with all; greet old friends, meet new ones. For eight years many of these families have been coming, we meet them but once a year so it is always wonderful to see them. We missed some special friends this year too:(

Every afternoon the children have catechetical sessions. This year we once again invited a presenter, C. from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She is with us for two days.
Our younger groups are only small this year. So we combined the 3-6 & the 6-9 yrs, asking C. to focus on the 6-9yrs. They are being presented the story of the Good Shepherd.

Meanwhile Father discusses “How do we know God is really true? What proof do we have?” with the teenagers. I love listening to Father talk, very thought provoking. Father T-M is a Franciscan friar and has been coming every year; we literally couldn’t have camp without him.

When C. finished the younger children’s session she then presented to the 9-12 year olds. One of their presentations was on the books of the Bible. Presentations at camp are not strictly like in a weekly Catechesis atrium, fortunately C. is willing to be flexible to allow the children to be presented various materials, many never will have this opportunity otherwise.

We head off to the beach for a quick swim before tea. Meals are catered by caterers, although next year we will be looking at more cost effective options.

After tea we all attend Mass in the Chapel, followed by the Rosary. Our Camp site is run by the Presbyterian Church and one of the buildings is designated as a Chapel. Father and some of the boys have set up the altar and this is now the hub of our camp.

After Mass the children played Mafia and various other ice-breaker games. Whilst C. presented some lessons to the parents and explained more about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

We head to bed late, we all become night owls at camp. We have so much to do and talk about.

This post and the following four, to come, are dedicated to my friend Jenn who is so keen to know how our camp is run.