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Displaying items by tag: Overnight Camp

Wiki says Mindfulness: is a state of being in which greed, hatred and delusion have been overcome, abandoned and are absent from the mind. 
Summer camp is a place where mindfulness is promoted each and every day. When we live with others it is important that we take the self out of our actions and think more about the group and what we need to accomplish. Today, business’s are doing the same.....

Developing Mindful Leaders

 
3:32 PM Friday December 30, 2011 by Polly LaBarre
Organizations invest billions annually on a success curriculum known as "leadership development," which ends up leaving so much on the table. Training and development programs almost universally focus factory-like on inputs and outputs — absorb curriculum, check a box; learn a skill, advance a rung; submit to assessment, fix a problem. Likewise, they leave too many people behind with an elite selection process that fast-tracks "hi-pos" and essentially discards the rest. And they leave most people cold with flavor of the month remedies, off sites, immersions, and excursions — which produce little more than a grim legacy of fat binders gathering dust on shelves.
What if, instead of stuffing people with curricula, models, and competencies, we focused on deepening their sense of purpose, expanding their capability to navigate difficulty and complexity, and enriching their emotional resilience? What if, instead of trying to fix people, we assumed that they were already full of potential and created an environment that promoted their long-term well-being?


In other words, what if cultivating a successful inner life was front and center on the leadership agenda?


That was the question Todd Pierce asked himself in 2006 after years of experimenting with the full menu of trainings, meetings, and competency models in his capacity as CIO of biotechnology giant Genentech. He had just scoured the development reports of some 700 individuals in the IT department and found that "not one of them had an ounce of inspiration. I remember sitting there and saying, 'There's got to be a another way.'"
At the time, Pierce was benefiting personally from work with a personal coach and had recently woken up to the power of the practice of
mindfulness. He called in a kindred soul, Pamela Weiss, a long-time executive coach and meditation teacher, to help design an experiment that would cast out the traditional approach to leadership development to focus instead on helping people grow.
"If you want to transform an organization it's not about changing systems and processes so much as it's about changing the hearts and minds of people," says Weiss. "Mindfulness is one of the all-time most brilliant technologies for helping to alleviate human suffering and for bringing out our extraordinary potential as human beings."
Pierce and Weiss distilled a set of principles that form the basis of what became the "
Personal Excellence Program" (PEP), now heading into its sixth year inside Genentech (Pierce left the company this fall after 11 years to join salesforce.com). Together, these pillars offer up a short course in unleashing human capability, resilience, compassion, and well-being (and they're unpacked in even more detail in Weiss and Pierce's entry).

1. 
Developing people is a process — not an event. "Development is all too often considered a one-time event," says Weiss. She and Pierce designed PEP as a ten-month-long journey that unfolds in three phases, with big group meetings, regular small group sessions, individual coaching, peer coaching, and structured solo practice.
2. 
People don't grow from the neck up. Too much training focuses on the the mind — it's about transferring content. "We talk about the head, the heart, and the body," says Weiss. In fact, they do more than talk about it — they enact it every day at the start of every meeting. The "3-center check in" is the gateway drug to mindfulness. As Weiss describes it: "You close your eyes for a moment and you notice, 'What am I thinking — what's happening in my head center,' then you notice, 'What am I feeling — what's happening in my heart center.' then, 'What am I feeling — what's happening in my body.' It's a way in which people start paying attention and practicing mindfulness without ever practicing meditation."
3. 
Put mindfulness at the center (but don't call it that!). Weiss and her team were careful to keep the language of specific belief systems and religions out of PEP. The program revolves around three phases: reflection on and selection of a specific quality or capacity you want to work on (patience, decisiveness, courage); three months of cultivating the capacity for self-observation; and the hard work of turning insight into deliberate, dedicated, daily practice.
4. 
It's hard to grow alone. "People grow best in community," says Weiss. "People don't grow as well just reading a book, getting an online training, or just taking in information. There's an exponential impact in having people grow and learn together." That's why the PEP "pod" (small 6-8 person group) is the main vehicle throughout the year.
5. 
Everybody deserves to grow. Pierce felt strongly that PEP should be available to people across the board — not just the usual "stars" — and that it should be voluntary. "The program is by application and not declaration," he says.
As PEP heads into its sixth year at Genentech, some 800 people have participated in the program. (Weiss added a graduate curriculum and a student training program to create "PEPtators" as few people want the journey to end.) The impact has been nothing short of transformative for individuals and organization alike. When Pierce took over the IT department in 2002, its employee satisfaction scores were at rock bottom; four years into the program, the department ranked second in the company and is now consistently ranked among the best places to work in IT In the world (even in the wake of Genentech's 2009 merger with Roche Group — always a turbulent and dispiriting experience).
Pierce attributes that to "the emotional intelligence of people and the capacity to change" developed in PEP. But don't take his word for it. The data-obsessed Pierce commissioned a third path impact report on PEP. It came in glowing: 10-20% increase in employee satisfaction, 50% increase in employee collaboration, conflict management, and communication; 12% increase in customer satisfaction; and nearly three times the normal business impact.
"Through PEP we have created a smarter, more agile, and more responsive organization," says Pierce. "The reduction of suffering, the capacity to deal with difficulties, the level of engagement — these things are very powerful and you can't call a meeting to get them or give people stock options and have them. These are skills and qualities you have to cultivate and practice."
So how's this for a new year's resolution for hard-charging leaders: turn every ringing, pinging, tweeting, and blinking thing off — especially your mind — and just breathe.
In America summer camps have been around for over 100 years, Here is some Summer Camp Advice, If you want your child to experience the fun and excitement of going to a sleepaway kids summer camp, you should start your search for the best camp as early as now. Sleepaway Summer Camps...
If you want your child to experience the fun and excitement of going to a sleepaway kids summer camp, you should start your search for the best camp as early as now. Sleepaway Summer Camps are different than day camps because children stay in cabins on the camp grounds for a certain period of time, usually from two to eight weeks, without going home every day. Campers can communicate with their families and friends through letters or phone calls. Visitations are usually allowed at specific times during the kids' stay at the camp. Sleepaway camps are designed to be safe but separate environments; after all, a big part of the purpose and benefit of camp is the encouragement of independence.

Part of the fun of this variety of camp is that kids get to stay in an area all their own and sleep among other kids with adult counselors always present. It makes a young camper feel very grown up and it also brings a chance to learn independence. As a parent, it will be your task to find the camp where your child can stay for right length of time during the summer. You might consider the following tips to keep in mind as you begin to look for the perfect overnight camp. 

There is an excellent free website,
www.summercampadvice.com, that exists solely for the purpose of helpingprospective campers and their parents with choosing the best summer camp by guiding them with the right questions. This site is a great place to start or to expand your search.

Since your child will be staying for a long time at the camp you choose, it is necessary to ensure that the place where they will sleep is comfortable. The cabins, bunks and closets or lockers should be clean and in good repair. The interiors should not be overcrowded and the exteriors should be well-maintained and in good condition.  Bathroom facilities should be clean and accessible. The physical facilities of a camp needn't be new or fancy, and they will not determine the ultimate quality of the experience a camper has, but they can offer hints about the camp directors' overall attitude and attention to detail.

Much more important to the experience a camper is likely to have at camp is the amount of ongoing individual attention he or she is likely to recieve from staff supervisors and mentors. At least one camp counselor should sleep in each cabin. 

The most important factor to consider when searching for a sleep away camp is safety. A good summer camp will offer very thorough information about all matters having to do with camper safety. Here are a few tips to begin with; a complete reference guide for camp safety issues can be found [at|by going to] 
www.summercampadvice.com. ; Ask about how the camp staff would handle emergencies. The camp should have a clinic with its own nurse. If your child needs special attention or has a special set of medical needs, you should discuss this in detail with the camp administrator. You should inform the directors about your child's allergies or other health conditions and make sure that the camp will accomodate your child's particular needs in those areas.
Looking for the best choice among countless summer camps can appear to be an almost endless task. Camp information is everywhere, especially on the world wide web. There are day camps and...

overnight campseverywhere in the world. If you and your child know have discussed what you want in a camp, you can make a successful choice.   

Every imaginable kind of camp can be found in the variety of summer camps. Some are traditional and others are limited to certain areas of interest. If you study camp information carefully you can find the right camp for your child. Discussing ideas with your child can be a useful guide to choosing the kind of camp that will give the most to your child’s life.  If you want to choose an overnight camp the information needs to be considered and followed up on even more carefully.

If you compare camp information about all summer camps in the geographic areas you prefer, especially if you are looking at overnight camps, you will find a wide variation of offered facilities and activities. The web sites of specific summer camps will give you a starting place, but it will be up to you to ask questions and study the camp information with a critical eye.

Asking the right questions about summer camps once you have thecamp information in hand will make the difference for a successful search. Basic questions about license, accreditation, quality, camp history, time in existence, philosophy, personnel and facilities are your starting place. But the key to a great choice will be in the details. Can you contact references from campers and parents who have gone to that camp? How is the food? How are the sleeping facilities forovernight camps? What happens when it’s a rainy day? What are the rules about cell phones and computers? How will the camp personnel handle a medical emergency?

When you are just starting out, preparing the right questions before you study camp information can help you find the right camp from all available summer camps. The way you approach information aboutsummer campscan make all the difference to the eventual experience your child will remember all his or her life.

When selecting a summer camp their can be many variables that attract you and your camper. These might include its location, price, term, or facilities and programs. Thats the easy part to selecting a summer camp. Yet, summer camp is so much more, after all you are sending your most prized asset. Ultimately you will want to learn about the camp's policies and get to know the Camp Directors.

Please review these, prior to calling the Camp Director. It is also a good idea to ask if the camp is American Camp Accredited, this is an independent agency that does onsite inspection of over 300 different items at each camp. Remember, this is only the beginning of your search and be sure to always ask for references.

These professionals and their staff will guide, support, entertain and educate your child while at summer camp. They are really what makes for a successful camp experience. Here are the top 5 important issues to consider in order to make the best possible choice.
 
 
 

1.Camp Director's Experience.

 
The experience of a Summer Camp Director can vary tremendously. Obviously experience in working with children is important. The American Camp Association (ACA) minimum standards for Camp Directors require a bachelor's degree, a minimum 16 weeks of camp administration experience, and the completion of in-service training within the previous 3 years. The ACA even has a course to certify camp directors. Is your certified?
 

2.Camp Philosophy.

 
This is what camp is all about, it is reason for camp. This reflects the Directors personality and desires. What is the camp's purpose? What ideals are emphasized ( persistence, friendship, honesty )and how they are reflected at camp. Often, the importance of competition can vary widely from camp to camp. Some Cams feel that experiencing competition is a natural, while other camps are non-competitive and try to foster a greater sense of cooperation and interdependence.


3.Staff Requirements.

 
The ACA suggests that overnight summer camps vary their camper to counselor ratio depending on the age of the child. So younger children have more supervision than older. A good rule of thumb is that all children have from 3-5 campers for each camp counselor. Ask the Camp Director what they look for in their employees. Staff members must be dependable, enthusiastic, outgoing, knowledgeable and truly caring individuals. How do they find folks with these qualities? Counselors are often looked up to and depended on by campers for physical and emotional support and must be qualified to assume this important responsibility. Here is a hint, ask what % of staff are internationals. These folks do add diversity to camp but often they are at camp not for the kids but are here for themselves to see the USA. The ACA recommends that at least 80% of the counselors and program staff should be 18 years or older and at least 20% of the administrative and program staff possess a bachelor's degree. 


4.Rules & Discipline. 

 
Be sure to ask the camp rules. Some you may feel comfortable with and others you may not. Like can campers call home? How are problems handled? Do these match your belief system? Are comfortable with this? You and your child will be interested in knowing about important rules and how discipline is applied. Penalties should be carried out in a fair and calm manner. Rules and policies should be communicated clearly and openly, and should uniformly apply to all campers.


5.Special Needs.

BWOnce you get to know the Camp Director you will feel comfortable to discuss your child in detail. Directors want to know your child prior to camp and how they can help. This is not just about special needs, any assistance your child will require, like are they scared of the dark. Everything from facilities and medical staff to special foods and medications should be reviewed to your satisfaction.
Summer Camps are not just about sports and playing games. A good
summer camp want to be of your child’s development and offers a critical role in it.

Summer Camp Deductions with the Child Tax Credit


We all know the Joy of sending our child to camp. We save to make those days special for our children.
But are their any Tax advantages to sending your child to camp? Read on.



Summer Camps and Daycare Deductions with the Child Tax Credit

 
Updated for Tax Year: 2012
Reprinted from Turbo Tax
 


 

If you paid a daycare center, babysitter, summer camp, or other care provider to care for a qualifying child under age 13 or a disabled dependent of any age, you may qualify for a tax credit of up to $3,000 for one child or dependent, or up to $6,000 for two or more children or dependents.

The child and dependent care credit provides a tax break for many parents who are responsible for the cost of childcare. Though the credit is geared toward working parents or guardians, taxpayers who were full-time students or who were unemployed for part of the year may also qualify.
If you paid a daycare center, babysitter, summer camp, or other care provider to care for a qualifying child under age 13 or a disabled dependent of any age, you may qualify for a tax credit of up to $3,000 for one child or dependent, or up to $6,000 for two or more children or dependents.


Purpose of the child and dependent care credit


The child and dependent care credit is designed to assist working parents and guardians with some of the expenses involved in raising a child or caring for a disabled dependent. The credit, which varies depending on the taxpayer's earned income, is based on the expenses paid to provide child or dependent care services so that parents can work. It reduces the amount of federal income taxes due, which can in turn increase your refund. This frees up more money for some of the other expenses involved in raising a child.


Qualifications for the child and dependent care credit


You must meet several criteria to qualify for the child and dependent care credit. To qualify, you must meet all of the following:

 
You (and your spouse, if you are married filing jointly) must have earned income for the tax year.
  • You must be the custodial parent or main caretaker of the child or dependent.
  • The child or dependent care service must have been used so that you could work or look for employment.
  • Your filing status must be single, head of household, qualifying widow or widower with a dependent child, or married filing jointly.
  • Your child or dependent must be under 13 or must be disabled and physically or mentally incapable of caring for herself.
  • The childcare provider cannot be your spouse or dependent or the child's parent.

         
         
         
         
         
        • Qualifying expenses for the child and dependent care credit

        You may be aware that daycare fees qualify for the child and dependent care credit, but the IRS actually considers much more than just the cost of daycare for this credit. Qualifying expenses also include childcare provided by a babysitter or licensed dependent care center and the cost of a cook, housekeeper, maid, or cleaning person who provides care for the child or dependent. Day camp or summer camp fees, even for camps centered around a sport or activity, qualify if the camp was selected to provide care while the parent or parents were at work. Additional qualifying expenses include costs related to before- and after-school care for children under 13 and expenses related to a nurse, home care provider, or other care provider for a disabled dependent. Keep in mind that expenses related to schooling, tutoring, or overnight camps are not qualifying expenses.Special circumstancesSince every family is different, the IRS has a series of exceptions to the rules in the qualification process. These exceptions allow a greater number of families to take advantage of the credit.
          • For divorced or separated parents, the custodial parent (the parent with whom the child resides for the most nights out of the year) can claim the credit even if the other parent has the right to claim the child as a dependent due to the divorce or separation agreement.
          • You can take the credit for the care of a disabled adult even if you cannot claim her as a dependent because she has too much gross income or because you or your spouse can be claimed as a dependent by someone else.
          • If your spouse is a disabled adult, the IRS waives the requirement for him to have earned income.
          • If your spouse was a full-time student who attended college for at least five months out of the tax year, the IRS considers her to have earned income for each month that she was a full-time student.
        Winter time is upon us and many families have begun looking for the right priced summer camp. Learn How you can save money by planning ahead
        YIKES, winter is still hear but many summer camps are filling up for the upcoming summer. Summer camp for many working parents holds two main concerns: 1) Finances and 2) Lodgistics. 

        In a recent American Express Spending and Saving Tracker estimate was that average cost per-child summer spending on everything from travel to camp to child care hovered around $600, while affluent families spent $1,000 or more per week. Obviously, scout camps, church camps and even park district camps can cause far less. On the other side are more expensive camps, usually found out east, which can cost nearly $1500 per week (8wks)

        Planning ahead often can help reduce the stress and the cost. Campers that return to camps often find that their camp offers a discount for returning campers. Others may offer an early registration discounts. If you’re able to pay up front, camps might offer an even larger discount. For those in a difficult financial situation many camps will offer “camperships” with various discounts.

        Many private camps are often family-run small businesses, and might also be open to trading services for camp time. This could include, update a website, provide cords of wood for campfires, or resurface a tennis court. It never hurts to ask.

        It is important to stay connected these days because many programs can fill fast. So mark your calendars with registration dates. E-mail all the places you might consider, science museums, theaters and village park districts to be put on their mailing lists, so nothing will pass you by. Often the most economical camps for young children fill up fast, as do the most desirable or those with limited offerings. 

        Summer time does not need to be full, a little down time works as well for parents with flexible schedules and fond summer memories of biking and roaming the neighborhood. Working parents may not be as fortunate to have an open summer but by sending their child to an overnight camp, their child will experience days much like we did 30 years ago, outside and messing around with friends in a safe environment.

        Many parents have made this commitment to their children to be more present, to be more purposeful, to be more intentional. One of the best ways to do this, is our second though committing to the logistics. This day an age we are used to getting what we want when we want it. Maybe we can learn from our parents plan ahead, if you can plan a family vacation, you’ll enjoy it more if everything else is in place to make the rest of your summer run smoothly. Plan now, and chances are you will be happier and more enjoy your summer.

        One last thought all summer camps are not created equal so please do your homework when 
        picking a summer camp.
        School is out and children are looking for something too do, but the furthest thing from their mind is to do school work. Camp provides the ability to bring it all together with fun.
        When school’s out, camp is the Hot place, it is where adventure and fun and take over. Most camp children when at camp feel they are as far as possible from books and learning. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Yet, camp is not like school but is still is a place of learning. 

        Summer Camp also provides kids with opportunities to learn what they’re interested in, which is how kids typically learn best. For many of the campers at choose activities that they are interested in. Some pick a camp that specializes in a particular field of learning, Circus camp to soccer camp. Regardless of the experience opportunities are providing unique experiential learning experiences that often kids don’t necessarily get at school or home,

        Lonnie Lorenz, director of Swift Nature Camp realizes, “At camp, kids get their hands dirty while they’re learning and those skills transfer to real life, as they learn to make decisions, get along with their cabin group and take care of themselves, I believe Swift Nature Camp provides some of the most valuable education that children can benefit from. The lessons are so much more than learning to build a safe campfire or shooting a bow, they are lessons that teach us how to look at life.

        Camp provides the opportunity for children to step out and try new things, to go beyond self-imposed and parental limits. Some times these are huge other times they might be a smaller step. Yet they are all steps forward. When a child is Cautious about trying new things,stepping out is good for a child’s growth and development. After all we will all be challenged to try new things in our life. When a child tries something new and succeeds, it makes it easier to repeat that behavior and thus developed the courage to try new things, overcome obstacles and gain confidence. All this is done in the in the supportive atmosphere of camp. These Camp built skills, like flexibility, curiosity, cognitive thinking and resiliency, transfer immediately to school situations and later in life. 

        When you’re at camp, you’re trying new things with other people who are often doing it for the first time as well, this creates a bond of support and thus learning happens naturally through a safe atmosphere of managed risks, without the distraction and pressure of grades. The benefit is that children don’t even realize they’re learning and that the best type of leaning when it is internalized. 

        Picking the right camp program can help a child develop leadership skills, responsibility and a sense of independence, These are important building blocks for future academic and personal success and that is why camp is a place for learning.

        Learn more: 
        How to Pick a Camp
        Often I speak with parents that ask “why should I send my child to a traditional FUN summer camp rather than all those other EDUCATIONAL programs” I often tell them how SNC is educational and helps children in their own the personal growth and that the life skills that a residential summer camp creates last far after camp. However, Michael Ungar, PhD tells the story far better than I ever could. He really understands that the benefits of summer camp to children and to society. It goes far beyond the fun.

        Camps Help Make Children Resilient

         
        Michael Ungar, PhD
        When Jacob arrived at his city’s day camp for his third season, the camp director was determined to avoid the problems Jacob was experiencing at school. Now eleven years old, Jacob had grown into a heavy child who spoke in a squeaky pre-pubescent voice. He had been tormented by bullies who thought him effeminate. The other boys in his group occasionally did the same, at least until staff intervened. Jacob’s parents weren’t his best allies either. A business woman and a university economics professor, neither seemed to have very much time for their son. Eight weeks at camp, five days a week, was supposed to be an experience that would be good for Jacob. His father insisted it was time away from the kids who teased him at school. A gruff good-bye each morning in the parking lot suggested to Jacob’s camp director that maybe the little boy dragging his lunch bag into the recreation center would have liked a little more time at home and a few more connections with someone who loved him.
        There are many children like Jacob who come to camp with problems that threaten their psychological and social development. Fortunately for most of these vulnerable individuals, a camp experience, whether a wilderness residential experience or an urban day camp, creates the perfect blend of conditions that give children what they need to be more resilient. Jacob may not have wanted to be at camp, but with the right programming, his camp could compensate for what he wasn’t getting at home.


        Why Camps Make Children Resilient


        We’ve lived with a resilience myth since the concept began to become popular in the 1980s. We naively believe that resilient individuals are those who overcome adversity because of special individual qualities. Studies from fields as diverse as child development, cultural anthropology, epigenetics, and neuropsychology are all proving that resilience depends much more on what others do to shape the world around us than our own rugged individualism. When it comes to resilience, nurture trumps nature. Camps, like good schools and loving families, immunize children against adversity by giving them manageable amounts of stress and the supports they need to learn how to cope effectively and in ways that are adaptive rather than maladaptive (e.g., delinquent) over time.
        In fact, a less blaming, more ecological understanding of resilience is showing that resilience happens when our interactions with others make psychological, social, and physical well-being possible. What we call resilience is actually the ability of individuals to navigate their way to the people and experiences they need to do well, which means families, schools, communities, and camps must provide what children need when children ask for help. It’s a complex set of interactions. The better a child succeeds at finding the experiences that bolster his well-being, the better he will be able to cope with life stressors.
         

        Seven Experiences Children Need


        So which experiences, then, are most likely to make children resilient? The best camps do not provide cookie-cutter solutions to what kids need. Instead, great camps understand that the factors that make children resilient are cumulative. One experience contributes to others, expanding a child’s psychosocial resources exponentially. In practice, this means camps need to offer children healthy amounts of some or all of the following seven experiences:
        • New relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than children’s parents. These new relationships teach children social skills to cope with new situations. A cabin full of awkward kids can give them each a chance to play both leader and follower, depending on the activity they’re doing. The adults who kids encounter at camp also offer the chance to learn how to deal with people different than their parents. A counselor that a child doesn’t like needn’t mean a failed camp experience. Instead, it can present an opportunity for the child to learn how to advocate for what she needs and get along in a tough situation. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate with an adult on one’s own to get what one needs.
        • A powerful identity that makes children feel confident in front of others provides children with something genuine to like about themselves. A child may not be the best on the ropes course, the fastest swimmer, or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help a child find something to be proud of that he can do well. The camp experience not only helps the child discover what he can do, it also provides him with an audience that shows appreciation. Identities that fortify a child during times of transition and crisis are those that have been acknowledged by others as positive and powerful.
        • Camps help children feel in control of their lives. Those experiences of self-efficacy travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem solvers in new situations long after their laundry is cleaned and the smell of the campfire forgotten. The goal here is to encourage a child’s sense of internality, their perception that they have some say over their world and that the sources of the problems they encounter are properly attributed to either themselves (when they are to blame) or others (when, in truth, the child is an innocent victim of someone else’s mistake). The child who has some say over daily activities at a camp and learns to fix problems when they happen (cleaning up a mess when a group of campers get too rowdy) is the child who will take home with her a view of the world as manageable the next time she encounters trouble.
        • Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camp is that every child starts without the baggage they carry from home or school. He or she may be a geek or the child with dyslexia. At camp, both find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. Of course, for camps to achieve this, they must actively encourage the engagement of those who are more vulnerable or marginalized. The more inclusive activities are of individual campers’ cultures, and the more activities show, rather than tell, each camper that they have something to contribute, the more children will feel fairly treated. The goal is to strive not only for equality, with every child treated equally, but also to instill a spirit of equity, in which each child receives that which she needs individually to feel valued.
        • At camp, children get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, they experience fresh air, exercise, a balance between routine and unstructured time, and all the good food their bodies need. Not that s’mores don’t have a place at the campfire, but a good camp is also about helping children find healthy lifestyles. Counselors that care enough to look after a child’s physical health, bringing out the child’s best by encouraging manageable amounts of challenge, are also conveying to the child a belief in the child’s physical capacity to cope. That’s important for children’s long-term physical development. We now know that early experiences of exposure to risk, and poor health resulting from too little exercise when young, have long-term consequences for the child’s healthy development.
        • Perhaps best of all, camps offer children a chance to feel like they belong. All those goofy chants and team songs, the sense of common purpose, and the attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted. For children from the most risky environments, it’s this sense of belonging to a prosocial set of peers and the institution of the camp itself that is a buffer against future feelings of isolation. It’s this isolation that contributes to substance abuse and other problem behaviors.
        • Finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. Camps are places where children can think about their values and share with others the everyday practices that make them feel a part of their families, communities, or ethnic group. It might be skit night or a special camp program that reflects the values of the community that sponsors the camp; or maybe it’s just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give young people both cultural roots and the chance to understand children who have cultures very different than their own.

        The Impact of the Seven Experiences on Children


        Research on resilience (see the additional resources below) shows that the impact of each of these seven experiences will, first, be greatest for children who face the greatest number of challenges. This is the principal of differential impact. For example, while all children need a secure attachment with an adult, for a child such as Jacob, the impact of a summer spent with a counselor who engages him and helps him feel special is more important than it might be to a child who already has the attention of a caregiver elsewhere in his life.
        Second, we know from the research that resilience factors are cumulative. One of these seven experiences will benefit a child for certain, but as the child has one experience, other experiences tend to come along, too. For example, a child who can show her talents at camp will likely be one who feels more in control of her life and that she belongs at her camp. She will know that she has something special to contribute, which brings with it a powerful sense of one’s self as someone valued by others.
        It’s for reasons like these that camps can become places for personal development, especially for children who face the most risks. While it is easy to see how camp can offer a child who self-identifies as lesbian or gay or is from a minority racial group a safe (or at least, safer) place to grow up, even children from contexts in which they are privileged can also find at camp opportunities to learn how to cope better with the risk factors that sometimes accompany privilege.
        For example, Veronique was a spoiled fourteen-year-old whose divorced father “dumped” her at camp four weeks of every summer. At least that’s how Veronique described it. The camp was sponsored by a religious group to instill values in the campers while letting them have a summer of good fun. Veronique did whatever she could to belittle others’ beliefs while breaking as many rules as she could get away with, but, curiously, never enough to be sent home. To make matters worse, almost all the campers came from wealthy families, which meant that, often, Veronique’s cabin mates had an upside-down sense of entitlement. Veronique quickly turned them into followers by painting herself as a revolutionary resisting the control of the staff.
        Thankfully, Veronique’s counselor was a calm young woman with a healthy sense of humor. Beneath the haughty attitudes of her campers, she could see children desperate for some positive attention. The older Veronique became, though, the harder it had become to see the softer side of this emotionally neglected little girl, especially when she preferred to model herself on Hollywood brats with too much fame and no responsibility.
        Instead of getting angry with her, Veronique’s counselor offered her opportunities to help with the younger children so that she wouldn’t feel so much like a kid herself. She engaged Veronique in mature conversations about what Veronique believed and why. She let Veronique tease her and the other staff, as long as Veronique did it respectfully. And she made sure Veronique had one-on-one time with her to show Veronique she really mattered. It wasn’t always easy to like the girl, especially as it got closer to the end of her four weeks. It was as if everyone could feel the girl’s anxiety about going home. Her counselor promised to write, but that did little to calm Veronique or help her behave.
         

        Structured Interventions


        It would take a book to fully describe how camp counselors can work effectively with children like Jacob and Veronique. However, interventions that build resilience generally reflect efforts by staff to structure a camp experience so that children can access all seven of the experiences discussed earlier. Those experiences, of course, must be tailored to the developmental stage of the child and the contextual risk the child faces. For example, based on our understanding of resilience, a child’s need for an experience of belonging at camp is going to change depending on the child’s age and level of neglect or attachment elsewhere in his life.
        Younger children tend to feel a greater connection at home and may not need, nor want, as strong a connection to their camp counselor. Ironically, it is the younger teen, preparing to slowly disengage from her family, who may appreciate the inclusive feeling of belonging at camp. Likewise, the neglected child may find his counselor a rare adult he can trust and cling to him with a death grip, while the child who has suffered more severe and prolonged neglect may so lack the skills to join with others, or be so insecure, that counselors are rejected no matter how caring they appear to be.
        It’s this complexity that makes giving children these seven experiences challenging. While camps can’t provide every camper an entirely individual program, bolstering resilience does require some intentional strategies to tailor programming to a child’s needs. It might be just a few hours engaging a shy but artistic child in painting props for the end-of-camp festival, or offering a particularly skilled athlete the chance to do a lake swim that is reserved for only the strongest swimmers. Whatever the plan of intervention, camps offer children the foundation stones for resilience when they match programming to the child’s psychosocial needs.

        Michael Ungar, PhD, is a professor of social work at Dalhousie University and scientific director of the Resilience Research Centre. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and eleven books on the topic of resilience and its application to clinical and community work with children and families with complex needs. His latest work includes a book for parents, We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids, a clinical textbook, Counseling in Challenging Contexts, and a novel, The Social Worker. Visit www.michaelungar.com.
        When we chat with parents for the first time, often a question we get is “Why would I send my child to an overnight camp, we have plenty of local programs.” Yes, this day and age we all can find things to fill our children”s time during the summer. However, overnight summer camp is a much different experience, it is NOT daycare while you are at work. It is a time for personal growth and development all in a child centered atmosphere.
        Read More
        Unlike school, you don’t have to go to summer camp, but despite the costs, more than 5 million children attend summer camp each year. Choosing a camp is a personal decision – making a good match for both you and your child. You must take into account your own family’s lifestyle, as well as your child’s needs and personality. The process of choosing the right overnight camp should begin months before the first day of the summer. To narrow down the choices, some things to consider are:
        General interest or specialty camp?
        Private or nonprofit camp?
        Affiliated with a church/synagogue or secular?
        Full summer program or shorter sections?

        There are also certain standards, such as those that have to do with safety or camper to counselor ratios, which you should not compromise on. However, many other issues are a matter or personal choice. While reading about camps, you should create a checklist of the qualities that you want to find in a camp, prioritizing them so that you can select a program that will meet at least the most important items on your list. 
        You may decide, after much thought, that the quality of a particular program is so outstanding that you are willing to set aside certain criteria. While you might want to send your child to a religiously affiliated camp, you may discover a secular program that is a better match. You may also find that a program that is perfect for one child may be not as good as a fit for another. It is important to select a camp that is compatible with both your own child-rearing philosophy and the needs of your child. You want your child to hear the same messages at home and at camp, and this will avoid confusing your child and facilitate parent-camp communication.

        What can my child learn at sleepaway camp?


        Camp can be just as educational as school, with children learning through experience. Through activities and play, children learn a wide range of skills and develop physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. At camp, children learn by doing, living, and experiencing things for themselves. It’s one thing to watch a program on television, but quite another to experience it in real life.
        At camp, children are given the choice to take risks and try new things. This voluntary nature makes children more open to new experiences, with personal satisfaction as their motivation. Not only are there opportunities to try new things, but camp offers many areas for children to excel in. At a good general interest camp, the non-athlete can shine at arts and crafts, woodworking, or dramatic programs, while the athlete can also find many outlets for their skills. Perhaps most importantly, the two campers learn to live together and become friends despite their varied interests.

        Enhanced Self-Esteem


        Camp offers children many opportunities to become competent. Practicing both new and old skills on a regular basis, it makes sense that there will be improvement. Novices have chances to learn, while those who are more experienced can improve. Learning new skills and improving on old ones builds self-esteem. Children become more independent and self-reliant at camp with their new-found skills.

        Trying New Things


        Sending your child to camp is giving them an opportunity to try something new. No matter how many after-school programs or lessons a child takes, its likely they will never have the opportunity to try all that is offered at summer camp. In a supportive environment, the child can try at something new. The interesting twist to these activities is that, since campers often don’t know anyone else at camp before they go, they are more willing to try activities that their friends at home might not expect them to. The athlete can try out for the camp play, while the artist may dabble in sports. At camp, children can try new things and set their own goals for success.

        Life Skills


        Though years later, your child may not remember capture the flag games or the words to a camp song, the life lessons learned at camp will remain. At camp, a child learns how to take responsibility. The child who has never before made a bed, will learn how to smooth out sheets and blankets and tidy up a cubby. Though counselors will remind and encourage, campers quickly take responsibility for personal hygiene, and for more minor health issues, a camper learns to articulate what hurts and how to get help. All of this personal responsibility further fosters a sense of independence and self-esteem. Camp also improves a child’s social skills by making new friends and learning how to reach out to strangers. At camp, children learn to get along with others, all while living together 24 hours a day, learning about courtesy, compromise, teamwork, and respect.

        Hidden Benefits of Camp


        The benefits of overnight camp are not limited to children, but extend to parents as well. There is relief in knowing that your child is in a safe, exciting environment for the summer. Even if child care isn’t an issue, it’s often hard to find suitable activities for the summer, as well as finding peers for children to interact with. Camp offers entertainment and constant peer company. For parents that have more than one child, camp can give a younger sibling a chance to shine in the older one’s absence. And if you Homeschool camp is a wonderful way to help your child socialize. For families where all the children go to camp, parents have a chance to do things that would not interest the children. When a child makes it clear how excited he or she to go to camp, these parental excursions are guilt free.

        THE RIGHT CAMP MAKES A DIFFERENCE

        It is being lost! Today less and less children are getting to go to summer camp. The wonderful experience of summer camp has been a way of life for generations of American children. Sleeping away from home and making new friends is a time of increased independence and maturity.For others who did not get the opportunity to go to Outdoor Camp they just don't understand the importance.

        In many books and movies summer camp has been the scene. To name a few, "The Parent Trap" and "Indian Summer". Yet, the majority of these movies and books are not realistic. Either they sugar coat the camp experience or they make it just horrible. Summercamp! , the documentary is one of the most realistic true stories about kids at summer camp. Filmed at Swift Nature Camp in Wisconsin, it truely shows how the kids interact and what makes camp so special. During the filming over 300 hours of film was shot to make this charming 90 minute feature. This documentry shows camp like it really is, this is no glossy brochure or promotional DVD, it just shows kids living life with new friends and in new siuations.

        These days parents heavily schedule their children making it more difficult to plan for summer camp. In addition, we parents, have given much more importance to technology than nature. After all the boogie man outside rarely comes in to harm your child. Thus making the world of mature unsafe. It is estimated that most children spend nearly 6 hours a day in front of some sort of screen. 

        Famed author>Richard Louv, of Last Child in the Woods: is alarmed by this untouching of nature. He calls it Nature-deficit disorder and sad situation in child development. He feels there is a link between lack of outdoor play and and increase in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.

        Summer Camp is just one place that can help children learn to appreciate nature as well as teach children independence and friendship. Connection with nature and other children are important in raising a generation that sees the importance in protecting this planet. Most camps today are specialized in sports, acting or math. So, how do we find a traditional camp that encourages good values and a focus for nature.


        Ask yourself these questions before selecting your child's summer Camp:

        • What about technology? All electronics can take away from the true camp experience. Ipods and cell phones allow children to hide in their electronics rather than participate with the cabin. Louv says that tent mates with video games or text messaging can easily distract your child. At first most campers are not so keen on this idea but after a few days at camp they see a reson to take a break.

        • Does the camp have an Outdoor Focus? Louv suggests some camps are trying to be all things to all people. No longer are camps seen as a traditional time in the woods. Historically, summer camps used their natural settings, and encouraged chidren to to play in a outdoor environment. Today this is no longer true, many camps take place on college campuses.

        • Can children play without direction in Nature? Nature-deficit disorder is nearly always due to parents overscheduling kids. Louv suggests this gives kids less time and energy to explore their natural world on their own. Summer camps have figured this out and design structured and nonstructured play. When children play on their own, they have to figure it out and work together, what a wonderful learning experience.

        • Is there Environmental Education? Does camp schedule time where nature can be explored and discovered? These times should be hands on and not like school. Does a theme of the outdoors run within all activities? Are "WOW" moments created that hightlight the wonders of nature? Does the summer camp try to reduce its environmental footprint? Does it compost and recycle?

        • Kids eat 3 times a day. So the food has got to be good. For years children's summer camps have had a poor reputation for their meals. This has changed at many camps. More vegetarians have caused this change. Ask about fried foods? Is there a salad bar with fruits and yogurt? Can the camp cope with your child's food allergy? Still meals must taste good and be kid friendly.

        If any of this sounds like something of interest to your child, try looking at Swift Nature Camp. This is a small coed camp for children 6-15. It has a very strong emphasis not only on developing a desire to learn more about nature but also undrestanding why we need to respect it. This Outdoors Camp engage kids in hands on, fun-filled learning. A child's natural curiosity and self-discovery make this program work... This Tags:   

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        Winter

        25 Baybrook Ln.

        Oak Brook, IL 60523

        Phone: 630-654-8036

        swiftcamp@aol.com

        Camp

        W7471 Ernie Swift Rd.

        Minong, WI 54859

        Phone: 715-466-5666

        swiftcamp@aol.com