It has been almost a year since I wrote the first post on Trailmix.Net. It seems that every day I learn something new about what Trailmix.Net should be and what needs to be done to get it there. I have been thinking lately about the foundation of Trailmix.Net. Specifically, if I had to distill the ideas of Trailmix.Net down to their most simple form, what would those Ideas be?
After a fair amount of reflection on where we have been, and some examination of where we want to go, I would say that all of Trailmix.Net boils down to three simple things:
1) Family Outdoor Recreation:
This is the idea that spending time with children in an outdoor setting is fundamentally important. It provides a healthy alternative, even if it is just temporary, to the fast paced world that we live in.
2) Outdoor Education and E-Learning:
This idea is about helping fellow parents understand how to safely enjoy outdoor recreation and how to teach children about the natural sciences. In 2007 we began to build our portfolio of e-learning seminars and in 2008 we will expand it.
3) Exploration:
Children are naturally curious and it is the responsibility of parents to feed that curiosity to develop lifelong learners. Of the three Trailmix.Net principals, this is my favorite because this is the action step.
So these are the three fundamental ideas. Over the course of the next year I am looking forward to building upon what we have established at Trailmix.Net. This is done not just by adding to the content, but also getting to know those who have expressed interest in this blog, our newsletter, and the products we are building.
As a final note, I am very curious to know what readers of this blog think about these ideas. Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail.