Posts Tagged ‘value of summer camp’

Why Every Child Should Go To Summer Camp

Thursday, December 25th, 2014

Summer camps are undeniably a fun experience. But what makes it so important that families send their children to summer camps each year? Well, there is more to camping than just singing crazy songs or playing games. Camping is known to provide a lot of positive effects that will matter to your child as they grow up, which is a major reason why so many parents commit to sending them to camp each year. Still not convinced?

Here are a few reasons why you should send your children to summer camp:

Builds Self-Reliance

Screen Shot 2014-12-03 at 11.00.23 AMSending your child away to summer camps gives them the opportunity to be more self-reliant and independent. Since you won’t be there to do everything for them, they have to do more for themselves, and learn a lot in the process. However, don’t worry. They won’t be left entirely alone, as highly trained camping staff is present throughout the time they are at the camp.

They Make New Buddies

Your child gets to meet new people who they might become friends with. Summer camp provides an environment that is relaxing and pressure free, encouraging your child to make friends with new people. Who knows the friendship may last for a lifetime? After all, that’s what summer camps do: create friendships.

They Will Try New Things

Screen Shot 2014-12-03 at 10.59.31 AMThere are loads of interesting activities to do in summer camps, such as archery, rock-climbing, swimming and much more. Sending your child to camp would allow them to discover interests and talents even they or you didn’t know they had.

Builds Self-Esteem

Summer camps will make a major difference to the self-esteem of your child, as they are given the chance to find out who they exactly are outside the pre-conceived notions of their family. This makes them less clingy, more confident and higher in self-esteem.

They Will Appreciate Nature

Most of the activities at summer camps are focused on the outdoors, which means your child has more exposure to nature. This makes them kinder to animals and plants, and environmentally aware. Notice how your child will carry on what they learnt from their small expeditions and nature hikes.

It’s Better than a Summer Spent In front Of the TV

A break from cell phones, internet, and TV gives your child more time to engage in the real world. Eventually they realize there are far better things to do than sitting and texting or watching TV all day.

So, as you can see, sending your child to summer camp provides several benefits. If you want the same for your child, don’t forget to sign them up for summer camp.

 

Who Goes to Summer Camp?

Tuesday, April 1st, 2014

A question about the type of children who go to summer camp recently popped up on an internet parenting debate board. The parent in question was considering sending her daughter to a summer camp but was afraid that she would not fit in. Among those offering an opinion, there were a lot of ideas based on stereotypes that seemed mostly derived from what people had seen in the movies rather than firsthand experience. Interestingly, not one of those people participating in the discussion actually sent their children to summer camp. But they knew someone, who knew someone who did. It was like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon summer camp style. But we do know summer camp. It is our lives, not just every summer but throughout the year, and we can describe firsthand the type of children who go to summer camp. Everyone!

It’s true. There really is not a specific type of child that goes to summer camp. Campers who attend the many thousands of summer camps throughout the United States each year come from all walks of life, countries from around the globe, and have about as many different interests as there are types of camps. Here’s the secret. It is not about being the “type” of child that goes to summer camp. It is about finding the summer camp that is right for your child. Camps throughout the United States cater to different interests, budgets, schedules, religious faiths, just about every variable of which one could imagine. Closer to our own home (and hearts), America’s Finest Summer camps fall more into the traditional summer camp category. They are not strictly sports oriented. In fact, they offer plenty of niche activities. But they, as most traditional summer camps, are still considered “sports camps” because there is a lot of physical recreation. Children are encouraged to be active and enjoy the outdoors. Roughly half of each day at a traditional summer camp is focused on sports related activities. It goes without saying that sending a child who is not interested in sports to a seven or eight week camp with an athletic heavy program is probably not a wise choice.

For those ready to cross traditional camps off of your list because you’re sure your child is not the type of child who goes to a traditional style residential summer camp, consider an alternative that is rapidly rising in popularity before you do: choice oriented summer camp programs. Choice oriented camps are sort of a hybrid between a traditional summer camp and special interest camps. In fact, more and more camps are now making their programs more choice oriented because these types of camps have become so popular with campers and their parents over the past several years. Camps that offer choice programs allow campers to decide which activities they do each day. Choice programs vary in the amount of control given to campers. Some offer schedules that are partially determined by the camp with campers having the opportunity to choose a certain amount of their daily activities. Other camps give campers total control, which means that even if the camp is technically considered a traditional sports related summer camp, campers have the opportunity to determine their level of athletic participation. Camps that offer full choice programs tend to draw a slightly more diverse set of campers than traditional sports camps and are typically a good fit for campers who want the traditional summer camp experience but who have special interests on which they’d prefer to focus.

The length of the camp is key in determining whether a camp is a good fit for your child. Children who have never spent any time away from home or who have never attended day camp may find a sleepaway camp that lasts the full summer a bit overwhelming. And who could blame them? Imagine being a child who has spent every day of your life in an urban or suburban setting with mom and dad who suddenly finds yourself sleeping in a bunk or cabin with eight or ten other kids and a couple of college age strangers you just met in the middle of the woods. Yep…a bit of a culture shock, and for children who tend to be a bit skittish, shy, or particular about their daily and/or nightly routines, usually not a good one.  In fact, most full summer camps recommend and even prefer that new campers attend day camp for a summer or two prior to enrolling for a residential program. For those wanting to test the waters with a sleepaway experience, consider trying a session camp with shorter sessions, usually three or four weeks.

All of this is not to say that there aren’t certain attributes that help a child become acclimated to a summer camp environment faster than others. Outgoing, open-minded children who are willing to try just about anything usually get off the bus on their very first arrival day and blend right in as if they’ve been going to summer camp their entire lives. Children who tend to be more reserved may take a bit longer to ease into summer camp life, but the environment of summer camp tends to be one that facilitates acceptance and there are very few types of personalities that don’t eventually hit their stride. Generally, once children meet that special friend or find that favorite activity, self-confidence grows by leaps and bounds and any sort of trepidation they may have had when they arrived is left behind. In that regard, camp can actually be a good experience for those children who could use a little boost in the area of self-confidence.

So, if you’ve been thinking about sending your children to summer camp but haven’t because, like the parent on the parenting debate forum, you aren’t sure whether your child will fit in, remember that it’s really more about finding the right camp for your child’s personality and preferences. Once you find that, chances are that you’ll also find a group of campers with which your child will fit right in!

Yes, You Can

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

“No” is a word that children hear a lot. No talking in the classroom. No running in the hallways. No playing ball in the house. No to anything that gets clothes dirty. No. No. No. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that “yes” is one of the many reasons that children so eagerly anticipate camp each summer. Of course safety is always a factor, and children also have parameters at camp for that reason. However, those parameters extend much further at summer camp than they do at home and school. At summer camp, campers are encouraged to climb walls, zip down ropes, run, get dirty and play ball. Even when they express doubt in themselves, they are encouraged with, “Yes, you can.” There is no pressure to be the best at something or to even be good at it, simply to try it. With such encouragement, many campers venture into previously unexplored territory and discover that they can, in fact, do things they previously thought they couldn’t.

The benefits of such encouragement extend beyond the development of courage to try new things. Children become more open to possibilities. They develop the skills to venture out of their comfort zone and examine situations from different angles. A refined sense of creativity helps them attack tasks that previously seemed difficult or even impossible. They learn to comprehend the importance of trying, particularly when the time and place is right. With such perspective, “no” and “yes” become words less associated with ability and more associated with restraint. If they’re talking in the classroom, they can’t understand what the teacher is saying. School is not an environment that makes running in the hallways safe. Things tend to break when they play ball in the house. The clothes they wear when they’re not at camp are just a little nicer than the ones they tend to wear at camp. In contrast, camp is a safe environment for them to talk, laugh, run, play, climb and get messy in ways that are productive. In short, it’s an environment with less restraint in mind. Once children are able to understand the symbiotic relationship between “yes” and “no,” they are better able to accept “no” for what it actually means: It’s not in your best interest.

Camp Pets

Saturday, March 8th, 2014

Experts unanimously agree that there are benefits to pet ownership for children. In addition to teaching them responsibility, pets also entertain children, keep them active, alleviate stress and teach them about life. For some families, however, busy lifestyles make pet ownership impractical and even unrealistic. Enter another little known benefit of summer camp: summer pets. Many camp nature, exploration, and eco-science programs include an animal or two. Because of allergies, camps tend to shy away from common household pets such as cats and dogs. Rather, animals with naturally reserved demeanors that are easy to handle like reptiles, rabbits, turtles and guinea pigs are preferable when it comes to camp pets. As a result, even campers who have pets at home get the opportunity to handle, care for and observe – to their comfort level – animals they may not frequently encounter. Those campers who do not have pets at home get to experience the joy of pet ownership and all of the benefits of it while those campers who do have pets at home tend to miss them less when their camp has animals. Camp pets sometimes double as mascots and campers come to view them as part of their camp. Best of all, everyone at summer camp, regardless of whether they have pets at home or not, has the opportunity to have a pet for at least a few weeks each year.

Media Break

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

Do you ever find yourself wishing your children would put their phones away for one day? If so, then consider an opportunity for them to put their phones (and all other forms of media) away several weeks. One of the primary goals of summer camp is to encourage children to be active while interacting with each other and the environment. In order to facilitate this, most camps have strict restrictions regarding the use of technology. Neither campers nor staff are permitted to have phones, laptops, television, video games, or anything capable of accessing the web. If you think you can hear your children groaning already, think again. Most campers actually report that they enjoy the media break camp provides.

With conditions such as social media anxiety and Facebook fatigue on the rise, it’s no wonder that campers value a break. Not only is it a nice reminder that there is more to life than Twitter or Instagram, time spent with friends at camp reiterates the value of interpersonal communication. Body language speaks volumes. LOL is never quite the same as the sound of a friends’ laughter, and ROFL never has quite the same effect as actually seeing someone so doubled over with laughter that they’re rolling on the floor. The formers are strictly exchanges. The latters are experiences, and it’s experience that makes memories. Virtually no one ever mentions that time that “so and so” texted “such and such.” But they do recall that time by the Waterfront…or in the bunk or cabin or…in the Dining Hall, etc. for several years after it happens. Those are the types of memories over which campers exchange fond tears on the last night of their last summer at camp and, in many instances, the many post camp reunions to come.

Seeing and hearing real time reactions also keeps children in touch with acceptable behavior when it comes to communication. By seeing firsthand how people respond to them, children are able to gauge when they’ve gone to extremes that may be hurtful to others. Likewise, they are also able to take note of those conversational approaches that receive positive responses from camp friends as well as those that even help them make new friends. In other words, campers don’t miss their social media because it is replaced with time with each other.  Children are less likely to bully each other or express thoughts or ideas they may later regret. In short, people are a much better deterrent to unacceptable behavior than a monitor or phone screen. There is much more immediacy in accountability.

The media break that camp provides helps children put social media into perspective as well. They come to understand that social media is just an interim form of communication rather than the exclusive form. Yes, it’s a fun way to keep in touch with friends, including those camp friends who live far distances and are rarely seen away from camp, but it’s also not the sum total of life. Rather, it’s a fun tool for engaging with others when it’s not possible to see them in person, and its importance should not be overvalued.

Most importantly, what children learn during their media break at camp is that they can live without it. Not only is it possible to live without it, life can be enjoyable while doing so. Chances are, those who have been to summer camp think twice before declaring that they could never live without their phone or other media devices, because they know otherwise. And they also know that sometimes the fun of communication is the creativity with which they must go about it in interpersonal situations.

A College Case for Camp

Thursday, February 20th, 2014

One of the most understated advantages of summer camps is how much they do to help prepare older campers for life after the summer.  Increasingly, sleepaway camps are taking an interest in providing older campers with valuable experiences that will help through the college application process and later in life. Leadership programs, college visits, and community service are just a few of the offerings of summer camps for older campers, and statistics show that there is a college case for them.

There is a rising trend of college admissions foregoing standardized test scores in favor of applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. An article on www.education.com revealed that colleges are realizing that high standardized test scores are not necessarily indicative of good students. Rather, those students who demonstrate well-rounded backgrounds with involvement in a variety of activities, such as summer camp, generally make good students because they learn valuable skills through these activities. Beyond the activities themselves, however, colleges are considering the value of them by examining how applicants engaged in them. In other words, colleges considering activities in lieu of test scores aren’t just placing heavy weight on applicant involvement in activities such as summer camp, they’re placing considerable weight on what applicants did while involved. This creates prime opportunity for summer camps to step up and showcase just how much campers benefit from returning each summer, and many camps are answering the challenge.

Campers attend summer camp for several years—sometimes as many as eight. The summer camp environment is the perfect place for them to engage in fun activities with friends that teach skills that college admissions teams find valuable. Through special activities and opportunities to take charge of younger campers, teenage campers learn to be effective leaders. Some camps also offer extended counselor training programs that provide high school campers with the opportunity to take on staff roles at camp. Often, these types of programs are the first work experience for campers eager to take on leadership roles at the beloved summer home where they grew up.

Beyond counselor training programs, or sometimes in place of them, a handful of camps also offer exclusive, highly customized programs in which campers learn how to communicate effectively and support each other. Such programs teach inclusion and help older campers develop a resistance to falling prey to common teenage stumbling blocks such as gossip, bullying, or negative peer pressure. Camps often work with professional psychologists, counselors, life coaches, and even nutritionists to maximize the benefits of these programs. These professionals are frequently featured guests who engage campers in special activities that demonstrate life lessons in fun and engaging ways.

There is also a trend in camps taking on the task of taking campers on tours of a variety of college campuses. Many camps in the New England area are within proximity to some of the most esteemed institutions of higher learning in the nation, and they arrange formal tours so that their older campers can actually get a glimpse of college life. Moreover, college tours prompt students to begin considering the qualities for which they are looking in a college, such as size, geographic location, and extra-curricular offerings by seeing firsthand how these factors affect the college experience.

Community service programs are also a rising trend in camping, surprisingly, often by camper request. Campers grow up in camp learning to be a member of acommunity. They develop such a respect for that community and everything it has contributed to their lives that they actually want to give back. They see the value in passing on the rites and traditions with which they grew up to others. While some community service programs stay within the camp campuses, others reach well beyond camp and extend into the local or even national community. Camps openly support charities and plan special events dedicated to those causes, which means that campers are learning from an early age the value of community involvement.

Parents wondering if summer camp is still as beneficial to their children as teenagers as when they were younger need only look at college admission trends. Chances are that camp could be that all important deciding application factor and the skills teenage campers bring away from their final few summers at camp may well be much more valuable than you thought.

Siblings at Camp

Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

Chances are, they spend the majority of their time bickering over who gets to be in control of the remote, or, while traveling on your family vacation, you constantly hear the infamous “Mom, he/she won’t stop staring at me!” It’s no secret that siblings can get on each other’s nerves while spending 24/7 living under the same roof, but while at camp something about their attitudes changes.

Siblings take a few minutes out of their day, whether it is at the flagpole during line up or after dinner at free play, just to chat and catch each other up.  At first it’s about new friends, counselors, and which Wayne County teams they have made. As the summer progresses, conversations get a little more personal as they fill each other in on how well they did at their favorite activity or share new jokes and stories they’ve heard.  These interactions between siblings almost always end with a hug until they see each other at the next all camp activity.

Summer camp is a place that siblings transform rivalry into a different kind of relationship. They cheer each other on and proudly exclaim, “That’s my brother/sister!” Camp has a distinct set of memories different from those they share with their parents. At camp, there are traditions and values which children learn to appreciate at a young age. Having a sibling to share traditions and values makes them even more special. The thrill of seeing each other experience camp firsts and pass camp milestones also helps siblings learn to appreciate each other as individuals.

Summer camp is special to each child and being able to give your children that special bond that summer camp gives them is a great feeling for you too.

Finding the iMporTAncE of “Team”

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

When we think of camp, things that come to mind are fun, friendship, tradition, laughing, memories, and many more things. One of the best parts about being at camp is being a part of and learning the benefits of a team environment.

Whether it’s sports or some kind of collaborative project, team environments have become a common way of life and an integral part of growing up. The idea of “teams” translates to camp in more ways than one: it could be basketball, swim, dance, or even the cast of the plays… they are all teams. When you break it down even more, campers and their bunkmates are “teams.” Every camper comes to camp with a common goal to have a memorable summer and make everlasting friendships. With that being said, each camper brings their certain characteristics and personality to make a unique bunk. Working as one to keep the bunk clean, choreographing an awesome dance for MTV night, planning a fun bunk night together, and looking after one another are just a few things are make Starlight’s campers great team members.

Campers easily learn how to work well with others while sharing the basketball on the court or helping a friend learn a new dancemove. During competition, campers are taught to keep the mindset on the group as a whole instead of just themselves. Playing in a game and being in-sync on a team is all about the togetherness. Campers learn to be cheerful for their teammates’ successes in addition to being happy for their own because everyone’s success benefits the team.

Being a part of a team at camp can bring out some of the best characteristics in our campers, things like learning to respect themselves, coaches, and other campers; as well as acknowledging the idea of organization and teamwork easily translates to other things outside of camp. Campers following direction from a trained leader can go hand in hand with their progression in school, work, and life as they grow up. Working with others also allows for campers to excel to another level by pushing themselves, getting better, and thriving to develop their skills to ultimately be the best they can be.

5 Reasons Kids Can’t Stop Talking about Camp

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Raise your hand if this happened to you this year—as it does every year right about now. Just when you thought you’ve finally—FINALLY—heard the last of the camp stories, it arrived. Maybe it was the camp video, the camp newsletter…even an invitation to a camp reunion. Whatever it was, it was about camp, reminding you that we’re halfway to another summer, and now you’re hearing that waterskiing or baseball story for, oh, about the 27th time. And raise your hand if you ever find yourself questioning how a few weeks each summer can have such a profound impact on your children that they’re still talking about it in the dead of winter as if it was just a couple of weeks ago. Not that you mind. You’re very happy that your investment in summer camp has been a good one. But you still wonder. Well, here are a few things to consider.

1.) At summer camp, campers get to spend all day, every day with their friends. Before you argue that they get that at school too,consider this: At summer camp, campers not only spend all day with their friends, they get the opportunity to interact with them. When you think about it, interaction with friends at school is primarily limited to hallway conversations between classes, recess (for younger children), and lunchtime. Sure, they may steal a few exchanges during class at the risk of detention, but for the most part, talking while teachers present lessons (which comprise the bulk of the school day) is generally discouraged. In juxtaposition, summer camp is more like a sleepover that lasts several weeks, and everyday campers get to do something special with their friends. Beat that on the fun-o-meter!

2.) Children can be themselves at camp. Not that there aren’t rules to follow at summer camp, too. But the rules tend to be the kind that promote being at ease. They are considerably more relaxed than those imposed at school, and even those pertaining to appropriate conduct in social situations are somewhat lax in comparison to those they have to follow the other ten months of the year. Most restaurants (or their patrons) probably aren’t too excited when children start singing or cheering in the middle of their meal, for example. Most summer camps encourage it.

3.) Children get to be independent at summer camp. Not that your children don’t love and adore you, but they like doing things on their own too. Children take a lot of pride in accomplishing something they tried for the first time at camp on their own (with the support of their fellow campers, counselors, and a host of other camp staff as well, of course…but in their minds, it was all them, and that’s okay).  It gives them a sense of pride to know that they don’t need Mom and Dad to do everything.

4.) Camp is a youthful environment. Camp is an environment dedicated to youth. Even staff members are young at heart. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but think about the “real”world from a child’s perspective. It’s basically a place where they are constantly put in check by grownups and reminded about all of the things they can’t do until they are grownups. Camp, in contrast, is a place all about pleasing kids and where they are constantly reminded of why it is so sweet to be a kid.

5.) Children observe time differently at summer camp. Really! They do. When the school year begins, so does a countdown that children measure in “months still to go.” It’s a slow moving countdown of which children consistently consider themselves on the backend. There is always still time. When summer camp begins, a countdown also begins. But this countdown is measured in “weeks that have already passed.” Children place themselves on the front end of the camp countdown. In other words, they know that their time at summer camp is limited. From the second they arrive, they set out to make each and every minute count, which increases the intensity of the experience. That’s why those seemingly mundane ‘It’s a camp thing’ or ‘You had to have been there’ stories you hear over and over are so revered by your children. They were actually living so vividly in the moment they experienced them that the moment sticks with them. Not many children share quite the same enthusiasm about, let’s say, their last math exam, for example.

So when the next camp reminder arrives in your mailbox or your inbox and the stories start again, just remember that, for campers, an arrival of anything from camp is like receiving a postcard from Neverland.

Seven Summers

Saturday, November 16th, 2013

Most children step off the bus and get their first glance of summer camp as eager, excited, and slightly nervous seven or eight year olds. It’s their first time away from home and they’re not quite sure what to expect. Few register those first moments as the first of a seven year adventure. It’s just the first summer, after all. Even parents sometimes forget that summer camp isn’t just one summer and, in that regard, is much more than a campus. It is a place where children grow up, and it should be a place where campers are every bit as enthusiastic about stepping off the bus their seventh year as they are their first. It should be a place where they feel an integral part of something larger.

Relationships form early at camp. The friends campers make their first year are often their closest throughout their camp careers. The adrenaline filled first meeting is the beginning of several years in the making. But the accepting environment of camp that encourages children to try new things also facilitates the promise of new friendships each summer. What campers learn as they progress through summers is that at “their camp,” no two summers are quite the same.

There is always the element of the unexpected at camp. Anticipation throughout the winter to return to camp is driven by the mystery of how the next summer will be different than the last. The ability to envision the campus as pretty much the same way they left it (with maybe a few upgrades or improvements) eliminates the element of fear in change for children. The stability of the campus itself makes change something to which campers can look forward. Boating docks, dining halls, athletic fields, climbing walls, and arts and crafts studios become favorite spots as the settings of memories from summer to summer. Although they are the same places they were the summer before, the memories campers associate with them make them slightly different.

That first exploratory summer, young campers are also able to observe and begin to anticipate the various rites that occur as they age. They look forward each summer to special trips and activities that are exclusive to their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh summer. In the end, summer camp isn’t a singular experience. It’s the sum total of many summers and a culmination of friends, activities, traditions, and memories that builds from that first welcome on the first day of camp that first summer.