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.
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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.
•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.
