For Brianne and Julius Bailey, raising a young child does not mean filling his days with screens, schedules and structured activities.
Their 3-year-old son spends much of his childhood outdoors, wandering through the woods around the family's home, learning about wild plants, playing intuitively and spending time with family.
The couple has also given viewers a glimpse of that unusual childhood through TikTok, where they share their off-grid lifestyle and their son's barefoot adventures around the homestead. One video attracted attention from viewers fascinated by the family's approach to raising a child close to nature.
(Courtesy of Julius and Brianne Bailey)
But Brianne and Julius told PEOPLE that their lifestyle isn't about escaping modern life.
It's about being intentional about the life they are creating for their son.
“A typical day for our child includes lots of hands-on learning and freedom to experience and grow,” they told PEOPLE.
For the Baileys, however, the story is not simply about living off the grid.
At the center of their choices are faith, family, nature and independence.
The woods have become part of his education
What might look like ordinary childhood play to someone passing by has become an informal education for the Baileys' son.
Hours spent outside can lead to encounters with plants and animals, while everyday experiences around the property naturally introduce him to biology, botany and zoology. Family Bible reading, visits with grandparents, cousins and friends are also part of his routine.
The parents believe this kind of learning gives their son something that cannot always be created by simply sitting in a classroom.
“This enables him to blossom in a more independent way,” they told PEOPLE. “We believe that will set him up for strong independence as an adult.”
That independence appears to be one of the central reasons they have chosen this lifestyle.
They aren't simply trying to give their son a quieter childhood.
They want him to experience the world directly — to touch, observe, question, explore and learn through what is around him.
Their choice isn't a rejection of modern life
An off-grid family can easily be portrayed as having turned its back on modern society.
But the Baileys say that isn't what they are doing.
They told PEOPLE that one of the biggest misunderstandings about their lifestyle is the assumption that they have sacrificed modern comfort or rejected technology altogether. Instead, they say they are intentional about when and how technology fits into their family life.
“We don’t find our lifestyle inconvenient,” they explained.
Their son simply spends more time outdoors and less time absorbed in digital devices. The couple specifically said he isn't “glued to an iPad screen or the constant light of a smartphone.”
For them, that difference is intentional.
They aren't trying to make technology disappear from his life.
They are trying to make sure it doesn't become his entire world.
Faith gives their family life its foundation
Nature and independence are important, but the Baileys' deepest motivation is spiritual.
Their faith influences the way they parent and the kind of example they hope to give their son. They observe the Sabbath, celebrate biblical feast days and emphasize loving their neighbors.
They also make time for family Bible reading, while their son grows up surrounded by grandparents, cousins and friends.
The couple doesn't claim that living off the grid is necessary for a family to be close to God.
Rather, they say they feel called to this particular life.
“Yahuah (God) is the guiding light of our lives and central to all that we do,” they told PEOPLE.
That sentence puts their lifestyle into perspective.
For the Baileys, the homestead isn't simply a place away from the noise of modern life.
It is the setting in which they are trying to practice the values they believe in.
Their days are still full
Life off the grid hasn't eliminated work.
The couple runs a business, works on projects around their property and creates content, all while raising their son.
Yet they have deliberately created space for family.
Every Saturday is reserved as a Sabbath without work or business.
That decision reflects something broader about their parenting philosophy: They want family life to be intentional rather than simply squeezed into whatever time remains after everything else is finished.
They know their son will eventually choose his own path
The Baileys don't claim they can determine who their son will become.
They hope, however, that the curiosity and independence he is developing now will remain with him as he grows older.
And while his future belongs to him, the parents appear quite certain about their own.
They have no plans to abandon the life they have built.
“We have the home and the land and the well,” they told PEOPLE. “Why would we give all that up just to go back to being more reliant on someone else? We are off-grid for keeps.”
For Brianne and Julius, the most important part of raising their son may not be where he lives.
It may be what they hope he learns from the life surrounding him.
To be curious.
To be capable.
To appreciate family.
To spend time in nature.
And, above all, to grow up with faith at the center of his life.
Their son's classroom may be the woods, but the lessons they hope will last a lifetime reach far beyond them.
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