fbpx
☰

Displaying items by tag: why summer camp

Subscribe to this RSS feed

Midwest Summer Camps

Over the past few years I have been happy to act as the Vice President of the Midwest Association of Independent Camps (M.A.I.C.).We represent the very best independently owned and operated summer camps in the Midwest. MAIC includes kids' summer camps in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. Our organization educates and inspires camping professionals to be their very best.
MAIC is a group of camp professionals who are dedicated to promoting high quality standards in organized camping, while offering children and their parents the best possible summer camp experience. Members of MAIC have been meeting together and sharing ideas, methods and practices since 1960.
To parents looking for a top quality resident camp or day camp in the Midwest: we are a great place to start your camp search. http://www.campsrus.com/find_camp.htm" style="color: rgb(0, 89, 0);">CampsRus.com is a camp directory that represents over 45 of the very best summer camps in the midwest.
If you are looking for an amazing summer camp job working with children, be sure to choose an MAIC camp and start your search here! 
Remember MAIC camps are family run camps that are concerned for each child’s safety and emotional development. Above all else M.A.I.C. camps = fun, fun, fun, fun!
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>

Over the past few years I have been happy to act as the Vice President of the Midwest Association of Independent Camps (M.A.I.C.).We represent the very best independently owned and operated summer camps in the Midwest. MAIC includes kids' summer camps in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. Our organization educates and inspires camping professionals to be their very best.
MAIC is a group of camp professionals who are dedicated to promoting high quality standards in organized camping, while offering children and their parents the best possible summer camp experience. Members of MAIC have been meeting together and sharing ideas, methods and practices since 1960.
To parents looking for a top quality resident camp or day camp in the Midwest: we are a great place to start your camp search. http://www.campsrus.com/find_camp.htm" style="color: rgb(0, 89, 0);">CampsRus.com is a camp directory that represents over 45 of the very best summer camps in the midwest.
If you are looking for an amazing summer camp job working with children, be sure to choose an MAIC camp and start your search here! 
Remember MAIC camps are family run camps that are concerned for each child’s safety and emotional development. Above all else M.A.I.C. camps = fun, fun, fun, fun!
...
path="/$myEntry['TITLE']">
Read more...

Reason for Summer Camps

Top Reasons for Summer Camp

He was 10 and I knew he was looking for more than a summer of day care and TV shows. So I wondered if SUMMER CAMP was the right place for my son.
My son, currently 15, has attended Swift Nature Camp for four years and we are going to send him back for as long as we can. He loves it. Although, he has ADHD and is very smart, but has trouble at school with attention-seeking ploys.
The counselors and directors at SNC have a great, hands-on approach to leadership, social skills development and confidence-building......read on
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>

Top Reasons for Camp

He was 10 and I knew he was looking for more than a summer of day care and TV shows. So i wondered if SUMMER CAMP was the right place for my son.
My son, currently 15, has attended Swift Nature Camp for four years and we are going to send him back for as long as we can. He loves it. He has ADHD and is very smart, but has trouble at school with attention-seeking ploys.
The counselors and directors at SNC have a great, hands-on approach to leadership, social skills development and confidence-building.
Jeff and Lonnie, along with enthusiastic counselors, provide an excellent atmosphere that encourages positive traits to rise to the surface. My son has developed greater peer understanding and empathy, greater self-confidence and trust, better leadership skills, an understanding of group dynamics and fair process and many other valuable lifelong skills.
At first I felt nervous sending him to a place I had never seen, but it was really worth it! I talked to Jeff and Lonnie over the phone before I signed him up for the Discovery Camp . A special program for the First time at Camp
Their willingness to discuss any question I had and their understanding of my fears made the decision easy. My son took the bus there, but I picked him up at the end, so I got to see first-hand all of the wonderful places he got to explore.
He was so excited about camp that I'm not sure he drew breath on the 8-hour journey home!
The SNC website tells you everything you need to know and I love how the camp is set up. The cabins are by gender and age and do activities together, including laundry (!)
In the afternoons the campers can pick from a variety of typical camp activities (arts & crafts, archery, swimming, etc.).
n top of this, the camp is dedicated to environmental awareness and nature preservation. They have a nature center with microscopes and frogs and tadpoles and lots of hands on activities. There is also a small petting zoo of well-adored animals.
Of course there is plenty of laughter, games, campfires, food, sports, fun, drama, singing, etc. that makes overnight (residential) camp an experience one remembers for their entire life.
As a parent, I appreciate that this isn't a "sports camp" or "math camp" or something ultra specific. Kids at SNC get to be kids and by experiencing all sorts of different activities and a diverse set of campers and counselors, learn more about themselves than at a specialized camp.
My son has learned so much from this camp in the four years he has been attending. We have noticed a HUGE difference in his attitude, manners and abilities. He is more mature, pleasant and competent. We would pay any price for the experiences and social education he has gained from SNC.
We used to joke that you can find math, reading, or science tutors but no tutors in social skills. Well we were wrong! This is exactly what my son needed at exactly the right time in his life.
If you are thinking about away-camp for your child, please consider SNC. Primarily I think of it as a non-competitive, confidence-building camp where kids get to be kids. I know it is the best thing we ever did for our son.
Thanks Jeff, Lonnie and all the fabulous counselors, cooks, nurses, etc. We hope our son will join your camp as a counselor when he is older (it is a new goal of his)!
You can also find more information on how to pick a summer camp at this website FINDING a CAMP
Read more...

Time to End Teenage Bullying

Ellen has a new cause which all in the child profession or with kids must take note. It’s to Stop Bullying. She devastated by the death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi. If you don't know, Tyler was a bright student at Rutgers University whose life was senselessly cut short. He was bullied on the internet and when he could not take it any longer he took his own life..
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>
Something must be done. This month alone, there has been a shocking number of news stories about teens who have been teased and bullied and then committed suicide; like 13-year-old Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California. Asher Brown, 13, of Cypress, Texas and 15-year-old Billy Lucas in Greensberg, Indiana. This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone: teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing.
One life lost in this senseless way is tragic. Four lives lost is a crisis. And these are just the stories we hear about. How many other teens have we lost? How many others are suffering in silence? Being a teenager and figuring out who you are is hard enough without someone attacking you.
My heart is breaking for their families, their friends and for a society that continues to let this happen. These kids needed us. We have an obligation to change this. There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting and we have to make it stop. We can't let intolerance and ignorance take another kid's life.
I want anyone out there who feels different and alone to know that I know how you feel. There is help out there. You can find support in your community. If you need someone to talk to or if you want to get involved, here are some organizations doing great work:
The Trevor Project at 866 4U TREVOR. It's a 24-hour, national help line for gay and questioning teens. You can learn more about The Trevor Project at their website: thetrevorproject.org.
Angels and Doves is a nationwide anti-bullying non profit organization. Their website is AngelsandDoves.com
The National Center for Bullying Prevention is helping to promote awareness and teach effective ways to respond to bullying. You can learn more about them at their website: Pacer.org/bullying
The Matthew Shepard Foundation runs Matthew's Place, an online community and resource center for LGBTQ youth. The website is matthewsplace.com
GLSEN is also a great organization that is working to eradicate bullying and bias in schools. Their website is: glsen.org
STOMP Out Bullying is focused on reducing bullying and cyberbullying. Find out more on their website: stompoutbullying.org
Things will get easier, people's minds will change, and you should be alive to see it.

Read more:http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/09/its_time_to_end_teenage_bullying_0930.php?icid=ellen|ws&ncid=webmail#ixzz118Uvajd5

Read more...

Summer Camp Kids Write Home

When it comes to chatting with the world outside the woods of Camp Netimus, the girls here go a little crazy with their fonts.
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>
— When it comes to chatting with the world outside the woods of Camp Netimus, the girls here go a little crazy with their fonts.
Forget plain old 12-point black Helvetica. Bubbly, heart-dotted letters in shimmery orange or shiny purple reign queen. And banish the image of a simple white screen on which to write. Netimus girls reach for neon green sheets or cards imprinted with cheetah spots and glitter-showered pink flip-flops.
At this 80-year-old traditional residential camp for girls in the Pocono Mountains, and at thousands more around the USA, connecting with Mom and Dad requires licks — of stamps and envelopes — not clicks. The medium for talking to Muddah and Fadduh is a message from the past.
The hand-scribbled, shoebox-worthy letter may seem as anachronistic as archery and A/C-free living, but at sleepaway camp, where directors have largely succeeded in keeping two-way texting and e-mail at bay, it thrives.
The practice of putting colored pencil to notebook paper is "old-fashioned," says Ruby Auman, 11, swinging her legs from her blond wood bunk, where her wall is papered with an ink-printed "of course I'm thinking of you" reply from her mom 2½ hours away in Lewisburg, Pa. "But it's not old-fashioned while you're here."

Camp is not just about fun

One reason for swapping a life of zip files for one of ziplines is to practice face-to-face — and pen-to-pen — communication, says Darlene Calton, a Netimus director (and alumna). "There are so many little life lessons you get at camp that are not necessarily learning how to climb on the ropes course. It's about writing letters home and solving problems by yourself" — instead of texting or calling parents and friends every five minutes to seek advice or to vent.
During a Netimus camper's two- to seven-week stay, directors encourage at least one letter home a week, though more prolific girls might write three a day. Cellphones are considered contraband; if one creeps in, it gets a vacation in the camp office. And computers are as exotic as boys.
Indeed, directors say that one of the benefits of allowing the U.S. Postal Service, as opposed to Google Mail, to act as messenger is that by the time Sally's letter detailing her fight with cabinmate Susie has snaked its way home from the country, the row has been long resolved.
In his research for Camp Camp: Where Fantasy Island Meets Lord of the Flies, a scrapbook of '70s and '80s camp life, author (and onetime Maine camp counselor) Roger Bennett found that through letter writing, "parents could be present and could assuage their concerns, but not so present that they prevented the incredible freedom that camp offered." Thanks to the time-space continuum of snail mail, "they knew what was going on, but could do nothing to prevent it."
"That," he adds, "is a tradition that needs to be preserved."
At the Postal Service, where mail volume has declined dramatically — more that 20% in the past two years — the fact that a generation accustomed to the instant feedback of the Internet is slowing down to pick up a pencil is heartening, says spokesman Mark Saunders. "When you think about summer camp and you think about pitching a tent or living in a cabin, it's just a natural fit. You're exposing children to a means of communication" that's likely foreign to them.
"As technology increases, the call to get back to the basics is more important than ever," says Marla Coleman, former president of the American Camp Association. In a 2007 survey of the nation's 3,000 ACA-accredited camps, three-quarters said e-mail, cellphones and computers were verboten.
"Camp is a place for kids to practice growing up, and when they become adults, they will need to string together more than 140 characters," Coleman says, alluding to Twitter's character limit. With basic letter-writing techniques shoved further down school curricula, "where else are they learning to address an envelope? If camp is this expanded learning environment, letter writing is the touchstone of that learning experience."
As proper salutations and closings become less of a priority in classrooms, "it's superb," says Carol Jago, president of the National Council of Teachers of English, that camps might be the last bastion of the form. "Children need an authentic purpose for writing a letter," Jago says. "If the purpose is to get away from the world a little bit at camp, to get away from video games a little bit, then pick up a pencil and let's do it the long way, let's do it the slow way. I think it would be sad to lose that."

A venerable tradition

The survival of the stamped camp letter, a tradition that dates back to the dawn of camps during the late 19th century, "makes perfect sense" to Leslie Paris, an associate professor of history at the University of British Columbia and the author of Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp. As part of her research, Paris dug up a 1919 mom-directed missive from one Floyd Frost at Camp Riverdale in the Adirondacks: "This is letter-writing period and we all have to write home, so here goes."
"Camps have always been institutions that were at once very modern, reflecting new ideas about the preciousness of childhood on the one hand," Paris says, "and on the other hand, places that privileged a kind of nostalgic look at the American past."
And today, what's more a totem of America's analog past than the letter?
The pile of envelopes in the "Property of USPS"-stamped cardboard box in Netimus' white clapboard office seem as much of a relic as the 1969 "Debby Sharp was here" graffiti scrawled in cabin No. 7. Slid through the office's shin-high metal mail slot, they're creased and lumpy, as though they've been stuffed in a trunk for a while. Addresses are jumbled — the ZIP code, if it's there, heralding the town name, the town wedged on one long line between the street and the state — and they're inscribed, in wobbly script, where the return address goes.
(Ruby keeps a couple sample addressed envelopes taped to her cabin wall as guides. At Camp Kupugani in Leaf River, Ill., each cabin gets a laminated cheat sheet that diagrams correct envelope-addressing form.)
Stamps — dogs and cats and Simpsons characters — are rotated 90 degrees. Last names are missing.
The campers' attempts at engaging in an activity that to them is more novelty than necessity are "so funny," Calton says. " 'Grandma,' that's all it says on the envelope. Or 'Grandma, Rye, N.Y.' It's like, 'OK, who lives in Rye?' "
Inside, the letters are rife with tweenspeak and problematic punctuation, just like in texts, instant messages and e-mails. But how many IMs come attached with pink puffy heart stickers emblazoned "I love U!" in shaky black block print?
Ruby's latest letter asks "if you could have the A/C on when I get home because I'm looking forward to the cold air. Also I'm gonna need some more hair stuff." Hannah Goldman's most recent postcard to her cousins in Wayne, Pa., wonders, "How are you. Great. I miss you. Have a great summer. Please write back."
Hannah, 10, finds the writing process, typically conducted during rest hour in her cabin atop a clipboard or book or against the wall, "sort of peaceful." She has written "like 20" in four weeks. Ruby's cabin B4 friend Sarah O'Connell, who's used to picking up her cellphone to talk to her parents, says picking up a pencil was hard at first.
"I didn't know what to do," says Sarah, 11, who's from Pennington, N.J. "I would write it, 'Dear Mom and Dad,' and then I'd write it all scribbly."
But she has since become a fan. "You feel more connected" to your family, Sarah says. As compared with e-mails — which Netimus, like a lot of camps, allow parents to send but not receive — letters are "more sincere," volunteers 11-year-old Remi Riordan, who's from A4 next door (and Montclair, N.J.). "It feels like it's really for you," vs. "there's a subject line and your name."
Sitting on her lower bunk a few screen doors down, amid tie-dyed laundry bags and Justin Bieber-emblazoned teen magazines, Hallie Cain, 11, of McLean, Va., is diligently working on a birthday card for her mom.
Gabby Birenbaum, the cabin's de facto philosopher on the compulsory epistle, is holding her 10th letter in two weeks, destined for her grandparents in West Bloomfield, Mich.
Does the exercise feel like something her parents did? "Like what my grandparents did," says Gabby, 11, who's from Arlington, Va.
"Camp is an opportunity to unplug and develop authentic relationships," Coleman says. "There really is no substitute for Mom or Dad's handwriting on a letter, the smell of Mom's perfume, the clipping dad has enclosed of a box score. You really can't replace that with technology."
And the thrill of the tangible goes both ways. For 11 months of the year, Amy Levine never ventures to her mailbox in Loveland, Colo., precisely when the postman arrives. But for the four weeks her daughters Lindsey, 11, and Josie, 7, were at Blue Star Camps in Hendersonville, N.C., this summer, she would run out to wait for him.
At the scheduled mail-drop time, "my husband instant-messages me, asking if we got any letters," says Levine, 41, a childhood camper turned Web developer who does let technology creep into her ritual: She quickly scans the girls' letters and e-mails them to her husband at work.
"Once you get that first happy letter, it's OK," Levine says.
By Olivia Barker, USA TODAY
MILFORD, Pa.
Read more...

Looking for a Summer Camp

Informed decision

 

Choose a camp taking into account the requirements and desires of your youngster beyond your own preferences. Include your child in the search process and have an ongoing discussion about the important things that you and your kid want from attending the camp. A child is going to want to do what he or she thinks will be fun, and that really IS important. As a parent do you want your child to enhance particular skills, learn independence in a safe envoronment, or develop self-confidence? Together, take note of his or her special interests and find out if your child has any intellectual, social or physical issues that require consideration. Summer camp populations may be all girls, all boys, brother and sister or co-ed. At co-ed summer camps, boys and girls do participate in many supervised camp activities together. They share use of amenities such as dining halls and swimming and waterfront areas. Brother and sister camps provide structured opportunities for social interaction but most of the time facilities and activities are separate for girls and boys. Private summer camps are more expensive than nonprofit summer camps, but price does not always equate with the quality of a young camper's experience at that camp. It is recommended to anticipate extra expenses involved in choosing and going to summer camp such as extra canoe trip or activity charges and the cost of your visit to the camp. When you contact a camp you are considering, the director should be happy to give you complete information about the true cost of that camp. Keep in mind as you discuss this or other topics that the attitude of a camp's directors and staff will have more bearing on your child's experience than the cost. Typically the duration of a camp can range from one to eight weeks. Consider your child's readiness to be away from home, for days or overnight. Ongoing discussion with your child will be helpful, especially for balancing fear with anticipation and excitement. A first time camper will often face an adjustment and that may be temporarily challenging for some kids. Find out how the camp accommodates and deals with a first time camper's homesickness and the initial adjustment to camp life. A conversation about this area with a camp's director can also show you if the attitude so important to a good experience of camp is going to be there when your child arrives. Your child may want to join a camp with friends. Although it is natural for a youngster to want to go to camp with his or her friends, there are times when there is value in time away from accustomed peer pressures. When it comes to learning independence and developing self confidence there can be an advantage to starting fresh in an unfamiliar environment. Children usually have boundaries and achievement pressures when in school and at home, but at summer camp they are free to try different things with new friends. With the help of knowledgeable staff and counselors in the camp, campers of all ages can safely find out what works best and what doesn't in terms of interpersonal relationships. You can find out more about how to bring these opportunities to your child's life by visiting www.summercampadvice.com.

Read more...

Positives of Summer Camp

Summer Camps Make Kids Resilient

I recently spoke to 300 camp directors about how to make children more resilient to life stress. Summer camps, we discovered, are perfect places to help children optimize their psychosocial development.
After all, summer camps are places where children get the experiences they need to bolster their range of coping strategies. There are the simple challenges of learning how to build a fire, going on a hike, or conquering........
Pasted Graphic 1Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is a Marriage and Family Therapist and the Lead Investigator for the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University. His research on children, adolescents and families includes partners on six continents in more than a dozen countries. He is also the author of ten books including his latest, The Social Worker: A Novel. His non-fiction works for parents include: The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids and Too Safe for their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive.

a high ropes course. There are the much more complex challenges of getting along with a new group of peers, learning how to ask for help from others, or taking manageable amount of risks without a parent following after you.
The best camping experiences offer these opportunities for manageable amounts of risk and responsibility, what I term "the risk takers advantage" (see my book Too Safe for Their Own Good for more examples). The worst camps pander to children as if they are entitled little creatures whose parents are paying big sums of money. Children at camp can't be treated like customers if they are going to get anything out of the experience. They need to be treated like students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.
Camps that pull this off and make kids, especially teens, put away the makeup, stash the iPods, get a little dirty and even a little frustrated while having fun and making new friends, are the kinds of camps that offer children the best of what they need. Looking at those experiences from the vantage point of my research on resilience, I know that camps help our children develop great coping strategies when they provide seven things all children need:
1)    New relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.
2)    A powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your 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 your child find something to be proud of that he can do well.
3)    Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can 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.
4)    Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camps is that every child starts without the baggage they carry from school. They may be a geek or the child with dyslexia. At camp they will both find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying (and if they do, you should withdraw your child immediately).
5)    At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, a balance between routine and unstructured time, and all the good food their bodies need. Not that smores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham cracker treats) don't have a place at the campfire, but a good camp is also about helping children find healthy lifestyles.
6)    Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. All those goofy chants and team songs, the sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.
7)    And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. 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 kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures very different than their own.
That's an impressive list of factors that good camping experiences provide our children. Whether it is a subsidized day camp in a city or a luxurious residential facility up in the mountains, camps can give our kids a spicy combination of experiences that prepare them well for life. Add to that experience the chance for a child's parents to reinforce at home what the child nurtures at camp, and maybe, just maybe, we'll find in our communities and schools amazing kids who show the resilience to make good decisions throughout their lives.
Read more...

Nature Rocks

WASHINGTON, DC -/PRNewswire/

Today four of the nation's leaders and experts in bringing families and nature together, The Nature Conservancy, REI, Children and Nature Network, and ecoAmerica, announced the launch of Nature Rocks – an initiative created to inspire and empower parents across the country to take their families to play, explore and enjoy quality time in nature.

With summer fast approaching, parents are now focused on planning fun, family activities — determining the best activities to keep kids and parents busy and entertained during the summer months. Nature Rocks is an ideal solution to this need, as it has been designed to ensure that all families – regardless of budget, kids' ages or experience – can plan affordable and fun activities in nature that encourage family bonding ......
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>

WASHINGTON, DC -/PRNewswire/

Today four of the nation's leaders and experts in bringing families and nature together, The Nature Conservancy, REI, Children and Nature Network, and ecoAmerica, announced the launch of Nature Rocks – an initiative created to inspire and empower parents across the country to take their families to play, explore and enjoy quality time in nature.

With summer fast approaching, parents are now focused on planning fun, family activities — determining the best activities to keep kids and parents busy and entertained during the summer months. Nature Rocks is an ideal solution to this need, as it has been designed to ensure that all families – regardless of budget, kids' ages or experience – can plan affordable and fun activities in nature that encourage family bonding and nurture happier, healthier and smarter children.

As part of its efforts to empower parents to take their kids outside, Nature Rocks introduces its 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide. Available at Nature Rocks , this free Guide provides parents and caregivers with information and tools to enjoy no- or low-cost summer vacations in nature that are close to home.

"The benefits of nature for children are fundamental. We have seen tremendous growth in the movement to get children back outside, as parents realize these benefits for their children, and themselves, and spread the word," said Richard Louv, co-founder of The Children & Nature Network and author of the best-seller Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. "And, as families look for lower cost vacation options, we hope they will discover that nature offers them a personal stimulus package – the joy and cost-effectiveness of summer getaways in nearby nature – saving money while improving the physical and emotional well-being of their children."

"Nature Rocks really speaks to our passion of getting families to recreate together outside," said Sally Jewell, president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). "By combining efforts with the other organizations behind Nature Rocks, we're able to make a difference and improve the lifestyles of American families by making it easy and fun to get moving and get outdoors."

Whether seeking outdoor activities at local sites such as parks and campsites, or looking for new activities to keep out-of-school kids active in backyards and neighborhoods, the 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide offers information and solutions for all families, including those new to spending time outdoors. Additionally, the Nature Rocks website has more than 100 activity recommendations, as well as user-friendly nature finder and social networking tools to assist families in implementing their own Nature Staycations this summer.

"The Nature Conservancy works around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters, and we are dedicated to supporting conservation work that will not only enrich the natural world, but also better our health and our lives," said M. Sanjayan, Lead Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. "Now, working on the Nature Rocks initiative, we're able to help the next generation better their health and reconnect with nature."

"As a working mom with two young children, I appreciate useful ideas that improve my and my family's lives," said Meighen Speiser, Vice President of Marketing for ecoAmerica. "Like all parents, I want what is best for my kids. We enjoy fun and relaxing quality time together. The Nature Rocks website offers loads of easy-to-use tools, tips and over 100 fun activities like nature art, weekend camping, hiking at a nearby park or an impromptu neighborhood nature scavenger hunt. The added bonus is that these activities are either inexpensive or free."
2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide

The 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide provides parents with a useful tool to plan a range of close-to-home activities, complete with great starter ideas and suggestions for families to use during their summer holiday. The Guide has been developed to be helpful to all families across the country – regardless of where they live, their kids' ages, time available, or familiarity with nature, or if they want to do an activity outside or bring nature indoors. 

For some parents they may wish to augment your local Nature with a Traditional Children's Summer Camp experience. Swift Nature Camp is a wonderful way to have children learn more about nature while getting away from all the societal trappings that young people feel defines who they are. To learn more visit Swift Nature Camp online Nature Summer Camps
Swift Nature Camp is a Minnesota Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. We blend traditional Overnight Summer Camp activities while increasing a child's appreciation for nature and the environment at this Science Summer Camp.

Read more...

Experts say-Get Outside and Play

Anyone can read a book about ecology or see a film about wild animals. But, today's children are missing contact with the outside world. Children learn more rapidly through natural curiosity, experimentation and discovery, rather than a classroom lecture. That's just part of the benefits that nature and the outdoors impart onto kids. And much of this can be done with guided purposeful hands on play.
The Wisconsin No Child Left Inside Coalition is working to develop an Environmental Literacy Plan for Wisconsin that will address the environmental education needs of Wisconsin's
permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>
pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade schools and will pay special attention to creating more opportunities to get kids outside. The Plan will recommend a comprehensive strategy to ensure every child graduates with the environmental skills and knowledge needed to contribute to a sustainable future.
Many parents believe that children need to spend more time outside in nature. They are looking for summer programs to supplement these state goals. Environmental Summer Camps are just one way parent can do this.
Wisconsin has a strong environmental education foundation already established, with active schools, supporting organizations, and abundant opportunities to get outside in rural and urban settings. The Environmental Literacy Plan will build upon these strengths, and suggest priorities for present and future attention. It will lay out the next steps towards fulfilling on our State's commitment to ensure all people in Wisconsin are environmentally literate.
State Superintendent Evers has formally asked the Coalition to develop the Environmental Literacy Plan for Wisconsin. A Steering Committee meets each month to draft the Plan. The Wisconsin No Child Left Inside Coalition Steering Committee is made up of representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, Wisconsin Environmental Education Foundation, Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Environmental Science Teachers Network, Milwaukee Public Schools, the Green Charter School Network, and the US EPA's Environmental Educationand Training Partnership. The broader Coalition is kept updated on progress, provides input and feedback to guide the plan development, and ultimately, willplay a key role in implementing and evaluating Wisconsin's Environmental Literacy Plan.
Wisconsin's Environmental Literacy Plan will be compliant with the pending national No Child Left Inside (NCLI) legislation. The No Child Left Inside Act requires States develop, implement, and evaluate a State Environmental Literacy Plan in order to be eligible to receive funding associated with the Act. Currently, the bill suggests an appropriation of $100 million to support the State Environmental Literacy Plans. You can learn more about the national NCLI Act and its various provisions and requirements here: www.cbf.org/Page.aspx?pid=948.
Much of the information was supplied by "EE IN WISCONSIN", A guide to Wisconsin's environmental education organizations, programs, materials, and professionals. For more information about Wisconsin's NCLI Coalition, contact Jesse Haney (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
If you are looking for Summer Camp for your children, please see SummerCampAdvice.com a FREE reference. Selecting the right summer camp is so important so be sure to do your homework, it will pay off in the end.
Read more...

Because of Camp

What do Emma Roberts, Lisa Loeb, Blair Underwood, Frank Sesno, Ashlan Gorse, and Lisa Raye have in common? They all believe who they are today is, at least partly, because of camp. Many of todays adults have fond memories of Summer Camp and realize it is about so much more than fun. BECAUSE OF CAMP

permalink=”http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog”>

 

Read more...

Reason for Summer Camps

Top Reasons for Summer Camp

He was 10 and I knew he was looking for more than a summer of day care and TV shows. So I wondered if SUMMER CAMP was the right place for my son.
My son, currently 15, has attended Swift Nature Camp for four years and we are going to send him back for as long as we can. He loves it. Although, he has ADHD and is very smart, but has trouble at school with attention-seeking ploys.
The counselors and directors at SNC have a great, hands-on approach to leadership, social skills development and confidence-building......read on http://www.swiftnaturecamp.com/blog
 

Top Reasons for Camp

He was 10 and I knew he was looking for more than a summer of day care and TV shows. So i wondered if SUMMER CAMP was the right place for my son.
My son, currently 15, has attended Swift Nature Camp for four years and we are going to send him back for as long as we can. He loves it. He has ADHD and is very smart, but has trouble at school with attention-seeking ploys.
The counselors and directors at SNC have a great, hands-on approach to leadership, social skills development and confidence-building.
Jeff and Lonnie, along with enthusiastic counselors, provide an excellent atmosphere that encourages positive traits to rise to the surface. My son has developed greater peer understanding and empathy, greater self-confidence and trust, better leadership skills, an understanding of group dynamics and fair process and many other valuable lifelong skills.

At first I felt nervous sending him to a place I had never seen, but it was really worth it! I talked to Jeff and Lonnie over the phone before I signed him up for the Discovery Camp . A special program for the First time at Camp
Their willingness to discuss any question I had and their understanding of my fears made the decision easy. My son took the bus there, but I picked him up at the end, so I got to see first-hand all of the wonderful places he got to explore.
He was so excited about camp that I'm not sure he drew breath on the 8-hour journey home!

The SNC website tells you everything you need to know and I love how the camp is set up. The cabins are by gender and age and do activities together, including laundry (!)
In the afternoons the campers can pick from a variety of typical camp activities (arts & crafts, archery, swimming, etc.).

n top of this, the camp is dedicated to environmental awareness and nature preservation. They have a nature center with microscopes and frogs and tadpoles and lots of hands on activities. There is also a small petting zoo of well-adored animals.
Of course there is plenty of laughter, games, campfires, food, sports, fun, drama, singing, etc. that makes overnight (residential) camp an experience one remembers for their entire life.

As a parent, I appreciate that this isn't a "sports camp" or "math camp" or something ultra specific. Kids at SNC get to be kids and by experiencing all sorts of different activities and a diverse set of campers and counselors, learn more about themselves than at a specialized camp.

My son has learned so much from this camp in the four years he has been attending. We have noticed a HUGE difference in his attitude, manners and abilities. He is more mature, pleasant and competent. We would pay any price for the experiences and social education he has gained from SNC.

We used to joke that you can find math, reading, or science tutors but no tutors in social skills. Well we were wrong! This is exactly what my son needed at exactly the right time in his life.
If you are thinking about away-camp for your child, please consider SNC. Primarily I think of it as a non-competitive, confidence-building camp where kids get to be kids. I know it is the best thing we ever did for our son.
Thanks Jeff, Lonnie and all the fabulous counselors, cooks, nurses, etc. We hope our son will join your camp as a counselor when he is older (it is a new goal of his)!
You can also find more information on how to pick a summer camp at this website FINDING a CAMP
Read more...
Page 5 of 8

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

Swift Nature Camp

Parent Information

Camper Information

Returning Campers

Summer Camp Jobs