To learn more about summer camps and finding the best one for your child.

Given the recent economic turmoil and uncertainty, families have also been understandably more cautious in committing to extensive (one could perhaps substitute expensive) summer experiences ahead of time — affecting traditional reenrollment patterns, in terms of time frames, as well as first-time camper and overall camper numbers for many camps. Unthinkable a few years ago, some “half-season” camps are now reporting being similarly affected! Over the past two years, we have been hearing reports of lower numbers of half-season campers enrolling in exclusively three-and-a-half-week camps, as well as at camps that once only offered full-season sessions but now offer shorter sessions, too. This is a significant change in marketplace behavior — one that perhaps indicates that half-season camp is likely now being considered by the public to be a “longer” or even “ full” camp season. It is becoming clear to many full-season camps that simply offering half-season options is no longer a surefire (current or future) “fallback” solu¬tion for the challenges faced by a shrinking marketplace and potentially declining full-season enrollments.
There are no real surprises here for anyone who has been listening to Fred Miller, president of The Chatham Group, Inc., (who has been writing articles and speaking at ACA national conferences on this topic for years), and others who study trends and market forces influencing the camp industry. That said, one wonders what the hundreds of camps who are still offering longer sessions are doing or saying in the open marketplace, in support or defense of their longer sessions.
Almost every camp professional I have spoken with who works at a longer-session camp seems pretty adamant that their longer sessions are somehow better / more impactful than shorter-session camp offerings. It would, therefore, seem reasonable to assume that many longer-session camps would be shouting these benefits from the rooftops in an attempt to maintain their current and future viability. However, after searching many full- and half-season camps’ Web sites, it becomes clear that those of us who are maintaining longer camp session offerings are not sending a consistent, comprehensive (or even abbreviated) message to the public about what we believe are the specific benefits of longer-session camp experiences.
Having spent multiple hours entering names of dozens of camps I could think of in Google and then accessing multiple pages of each of their Web sites, in an effort to find some mention of the benefits of full-or longer-season camp sessions, I realize there is a staggering dearth of information being presented by camps in support of longer-session camp experiences. In fact, upon closer inspection, it is extremely difficult to find any camps that are actually addressing, in any way, why they are only offering longer camp sessions today! I did finally manage to find a few camps with Web sites that included something about the benefits of their longer camp session(s).

Camp Fernwood — Poland, Maine

Accessed directly from their home page, via a tab with only three drop-down options, is a page entitled, “What makes Fernwood so special?” Included in that page is the section, “Why full summer?” with the following content:
We are often asked the question, “How does Fernwood continue to thrive as a full summer camp?”It takes a long time to do what we do. Camps of many different kinds and lengths of session are overall healthy summer choices for children. However, our experience has shown us that to see the full benefit — experience the depth of relationships, establish the vital sense of connection, and to become a part of something bigger — a longer period of time or immersion is essential. It is in essence the key to our success.In a world that is increasingly hectic and impersonal, Fernwood isn’t. Fernwood is not just any experience. Fernwood is a series of life-changing, reinforcing events that teach girls how to be happy, well adjusted, and confident young women.

Camp Pemigawasett — Wentworth, New Hampshire

Found in the text of a page describing the Camp Pemi activities program: “In most instances they may also pursue a given activity for a number of weeks, allowing for significant growth and progress in that discipline.” And then, under a sort key entitled, “Parent Resources” in the Blog section of their site, the following para¬graph appears, in a posting that addresses a boy’s readiness for a camp experience: “That being said, as with a college year abroad versus a half year abroad, there is no doubt that the full season allows boys — who by the fourth week have fully settled into Pemi and feel comfortable with routines and friendships — to step further out of their comfort zones to try more new things and/or to refine expertise in a given area. It is this combination of confidence and extra time that leads to further development in an almost magical, expo¬nential way. For this reason, we suggest that a family consider a full season, if schedule and finances allow.”

Camp Laurel — Readfield, Maine

Another excellent rationale for full-season camp appears in a blog by Jem Sollinger, director at Camp Laurel, which I discovered by entering the words, “Full Season Camp” in my computer’s search engine. (It can also be found by searching through the blog content on their Web site or some of their additional Web marketing initiatives.)
Even as a targeted and motivated searcher, these were the only three camps I could find with concrete references to the specific benefits of longer sessions. Access to the quoted information varied significantly in terms of ease of discovery.

Validating the Value

From Camp Wawenock’s Web Site: www.campwawenock.com

Why Seven Weeks?

A “full season” at a camp like Wawenock offers many advantages over shorter-stay programs.

Relationships

Settling in to camp takes some time — whether the first or tenth year we attend — and, over the longer (seven-week) camp season, relationships between campers and their peers have time to develop and unfold naturally. At Wawenock, camp begins with more focus on getting to know and bond with cabin mates, and then campers are encouraged to branch out into the broader age group and beyond, as the days unfold. Relationships built and sustained over longer periods tend to be more stable, deeper, and based on the “real” person — rather than their projection of a particular image for a shorter period of time. Relationships are also able to develop at their own pace and to a greater depth within the whole camp community — with campers and staff of all ages getting to know each other well as summer progresses. Relationships built over time tend to stand the test of time best.

Skill Development

Campers are grouped with others who have chosen the same activities, and the same staff members work with these activity groups all summer long. This allows detailed group and individualized planning to be done by staff members who have the time and consistency of contact to help each camper work toward broader programmatic goals, as well as her individual goals in that activity. The same principles apply to cabin living, where a stable group of campers and staff live and laugh (and sometimes cry) together for seven weeks. Social skills and different approaches to group membership and leadership can be identified and encouraged by involved, caring counselors and senior support staff. Seven weeks gives campers the time to relax and settle in, to learn about each other, and even to try out new approaches to building trust and friendship within their cabin groups and units. This unhurried, intentional approach to skill acquisition in all areas of camp life cements learning and promotes confidence among the campers — confidence that spills over into other areas of their lives.

Feeling of Belonging

At Wawenock, everyone is considered “new” every summer — as we all grow, change, and experience new things in our lives between summers. (Those who are spending their first summer at camp are simply referred to as “first timers.”) To avoid cliquishness and to promote broader friendships within the unit age groups, cabin groupings are shuffled each year (so every cabin, by default, also becomes “new” each year.) As summer progresses, campers and staff get to know others outside of their cabin, unit, or existing circle of friends. There is a tradition of welcoming all people to camp, and nowhere is this more evident than when first-time campers and staff join the camp family. The seven-week season allows us to change dining room seating each week, where we mix campers of all ages and interests with different staff members. Each week the campers get to know a different group of campers and staff. An awareness of knowing many people from different places in camp and being greeted by older and younger friends from previous tables in passing permeates the psyche of first timers as the weeks unfold. Traditions and rituals are repeated multiple times over the course of a summer, allowing first familiarity and then “ownership” to develop in first-time campers. After seven weeks, a sense of belonging to the camp family is well established!

Spreading the Word

In the interests of full disclosure, I must now confess that I am passionate about this topic of spreading the word about our longer camp sessions (and also reliant upon it, as we only offer a single, seven-week session). Here then, is some information about what we are trying to do to keep the notion of a full-season camp experience on the radar screen of those who find us . . .
1. What are we doing about it as an organization?
Based on feedback from our camp families, we decided last year to include a section in our re-vamped Web site dedicated solely to the topic of “Why Seven Weeks?” (see above). We do also highlight the “enough time to . . . ” factor — and the benefits we believe stem from the way we approach structuring our pro¬gram in light of this — by organically sprinkling the same message in various places throughout our site and in other promotional materials. We emphasize the fact that we are a seven-week experience and do our best to help prospective campers and their parents understand why we choose to fight to remain this way, despite compelling forces from all sides tempting and pulling us in what some might consider “easier” or more sensible directions.
2. Why did we do this?
Our campers, staff, alumnae, and their families have told us repeatedly that they believe this is fundamental to who we are and to their experiences here. Their feedback was used to help formulate both the paragraph headings and much of the content. Though certainly not perfect, or close to being fully comprehensive by any means, our families have described the page, and similar messages found in other pieces/ places, as being particularly helpful to them in articulating to others (in some cases they used the word “justifying”) their choice to send their daughter to a full-season camp and, for many, to Wawenock in particular. None of this information is propriety, or seems par¬ticularly “earth-shattering” on its own, and I am sure that many camps’ camp¬ers, staff, alumni, and parents would/ could come up with a very similar list of benefits/topics that would become their own rationale for their longer camp session(s).
3. Is it helping?
What has been particularly surprising for us is the amount of positive feedback we have received from prospective camp families about their willingness to now consider a full-season camp experience — after only reading the rationale on our Web site, versus their feelings before. This fact alone validates our decision to include the page on our site, and it is why I encourage all of you who consider yourselves to be offering longer sessions to find ways to articulate and spread the word about the benefits of your particular camp’s longer experience. This way, if we all chime in, those camps that are still thriving and/or surviving as fundamentally longer-session operations can collectively inform the public of the benefits of choosing a full-season or longer-session camp experience, and perhaps maintain a genuinely differentiated profile and position in the marketplace going forward.
Looking to the Future
As we look to the future and decide how to market our camp programs to the camp families who might still consider longer sessions, (in isolation but also in competi¬tion with each other!), I believe we must also take some time to articulate what we believe to be important about the greater length of our own camp experiences. We should all be talking about what can be gained from a single, longer-season camp experience, as well as from successive years of experiences in such programs — versus the benefits of single or multiple shorter-stay programs. If we do not, the driving forces affecting today’s marketplace will continue to endanger the existence of longer-season camps, and we will have to substantially alter our emphasis and offerings, or close our doors forever.
Among the many benefits of the camp experience, long-term residential camp uniquely:

• Gives a longer break from the digital world and a sustained period without reliance on home support systems, fostering greater independence and resiliency in participants.

• Allows time for skill development in both activity and social areas, cementing learning and instilling confidence among campers, which spills over into other areas of their lives.

Summer camp is all about making relationships and connections while many of the other gifts given these days isolate children from each other. instead this year give the gift that will reconnect them.
 
Consider giving your children the gift of CAMP! Camp doesn't need wrapping and its batteries won't wear out. And, unlike this year's hot, new toy, it is a gift your kids will remember well into adulthood ... we promise!
 
And camp will bring them other wonderful gifts, such as confidence, independence and self-discovery. Not to mention the gift of summer friendships.

It's true that we all have our moments in which we just want to chill out in front of a lit-up screen. But summer is an ideal time for your child to take an extended break from all the electronics and become immersed in the real world, in realtime with real experiences and real opportunities for genuine growth. It is the ultimate 24/7 playdate -- and it is the ultimate gift you can give your child.
 
Yes, gift certificates are available please give us an email or call so we can get it to you in time for the Holidays.
 

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Creative License

Here is where I change the pattern of the Hero’s Journey a bit. In the classic version the Hero meets a Mentor that guides him or her to heed the Call to Adventure. So step 4 would be Meeting with the Mentor. Step 5 is Crossing the Threshhold where our Hero commits to the Adventure. In my structure those two steps are reversed as the Mentor in this typical scenario is the camp counselor that helps our Heros and Heroines through the tests of the Journey.
Now back to our story…

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Stage 4 – Crossing the Threshold

Our Hero is now encouraged to answer the Call by parents, other family members, friends and even camp videos. Through this encouragement many children finally decide to commit to the Journey. They are going to camp. This commitment leads to all kinds of feelings and emotions. The camp fee has been paid and our Hero is gathering his/her gear for this Adventure (sleeping bag, toiletries, camera, clothes, etc.) and the feeling of excitement mixes with dread and anxiety. But our Hero must have courage (taking action in the face of fear). They must go forward. And our Hero does. They take the drive to camp and cross the Threshold onto the camp property where there are new sounds and sights. This is an unfamiliar place that is scary. Our Hero is committed though.

Stage 5 – Meeting with the Mentor

Now our Hero meets their Mentor, the camp counselor. The Mentor is confident, wise and protective. The Mentor knows that our Hero must face challenges during this Adventure but is there to help guide them through. The Mentor understands that our Hero will have to stretch him or herself, that they will grow as people through this experience.
While the Mentor may want to shield our Hero from adversity by letting them sit out of the challenges a camper faces (community living, camp competitions, high ropes course, swimming, performing, etc.) they also are wise enough to know that these challenges, these trials, are improtant to the Hero’s Journey.

Stage 6 – Tests, Allies and Enemies

Our Hero will face tests during this Journey. Our Hero may not know it but he/she is on a Journey for Treasure. That Treasure is completion of the Journey. It’s like a treasure chest filled with all the experiences, personal growth, relationships and memories that the Journey brings. But no treasure is worth having if there aren’t obstacles, challenges, tests, adversity.
The good news is that our Hero will not only have a Mentor but also Allies that will help our Hero get through it all. If our Hero goes to the pool for swim instruction their Ally will be the swim instructor. On the archery range it’s the archery instructor. Our Hero also has a cabin or group full of Allies (and possibly a few Enemies, which is also part of the Journey). These peer Allies will be important when it comes to camp competitions, ropes courses and team building, performing skits and evening activities such as camp dances.

Stage 7 – Approach to the Innermost Cave

On the first day of camp our Hero has met their Mentor and Allies, heard about the upcoming tests and challenges and have possibly met some Enemies (bullies, inner fear, bad food). At some point during the Journey our Hero will venture into the Innermost Cave, the darkest place they can imagine, the ultimate test. For many first time campers at resident (sleep-away) camp that Cave is night time where they will face their worst enemy -  homesickness. As night approaches our Hero feels a knot growing in the pit of their stomach. They begin to think about home and mom and the safety of their rooms. Even their little brother, who they fight with constantly, is being missed right now. If our Hero has not created Allies or has created more Enemies than Allies at this point then homesickness will be strong.
For other campers the Innermost Cave can be the fear of heights on a ropes course, the fear of drowning in the pool, the fear of body image when in the community shower, the fear of not making friends, the fear of being made fun of or losing a camp challenge.

Stage 8 – The Ordeal

Our Hero must now deal with their fear.  Hopefully the Mentor has recognized that our Hero is in the Cave facing his or her ultimate camp fear and is able to give our Hero advice on how to deal with it. Allies can also be a big part of getting through the Cave. For example, if our Hero has a fear of heights then his/her Allies will encourage our Hero to persevere as our Mentor gives clear, calm instructions. If our Hero does not face his/her demons then the Treasure may be lost to them. If homesickness leads to the parents taking our Hero home, if our Hero never leaves the gound at the high ropes course, if fear keeps our Hero from entering the water, then the memory of the Journey will be tainted, the sense of accomplishment will be lost, our Hero will not have stretched himself/herself and will have the hole in their soul to prove it. They MUST accomplish the task.

Stage 9 – Reward

Our Hero has conquered the fear, climbed the mountain, seized the sword, vanquished the dragon. They have emerged from their Ordeal. This was their initiation. They should now be recognized as special, a part of the select few that have conquered their fear. Now is the time for celebration. This may be an ending campfire, a group celebration of cheers and whoops, a token or trophy of their accomplishment or even a proud look from a mentor.

Stage 10 – The Road Back

Our Hero has done it – gone through all the experiences camp has to offer (and then some). The Treasure has been earned. Camp is over. Now it is time for our Hero to leave this Special World and return to the Ordinary World. But our Hero is not the same person they used to be. The Journey has strengthened them. Camp is no longer an unknown and scary place. It is a place of wonder filled with friends and Allies – a place where our Hero has learned that he or she can be courageous and do things they didn’t think possible. It is a place that taught them they could be without electronics, a place they found independence, a place they stretched and grew.

Stage 11 – Resurrection

But the story does not end there. Now that our Hero is home they must cope with a new Ordeal – the Oridanary World. The excitement fades as the Special World is out of site. Our Hero wants to return to the place of wonder, but they cannot. They have left a place of acceptance, encouragement, love, peace, challenge and accomplishment only to return to a harsh reality. This seperation anxiety is tough for many Heroes. Their new friends and Allies are missed, as is the Mentor who guided them through so much.
Camp is a place where kids can be someone else, someone better. They can start fresh. When they come home they return to the people that know them and their weaknesses. These people (family and hometown friends) weren’t there to see the strength our Hero used and the accomplishments our Hero made.
This is a time of rebirth, where our Hero sheds the personality of camp and builds a new one suitable for the Ordinary World, taking the lessons they learned on their Journey and fusing that with the best parts of their old selves – like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Stage 12 – Return with The Elixer

Now that our Hero has returned to the Ordinary Life and has ressurected into their new selves they bring back with them the Elixer – stories, pictures, momentos of their Journey, their Adventure, that they can share with others. This may inspire friends to go on journeys of their own. This may be the Call of Adventure for others that hear our Hero’s tales. The Elixer is the final part of our Hero’s Journey. It is the proof that our Hero was there, that he or she vanquished the dragon showing all others what is possible and that it is a Journey worth taking.
Once everyone back home has heard the tales our Hero has brought back – the time is right to plan the next journey.
this article is from http://summercampprogramdirector.com/new-campers-a-heros-journey/

• May 25, 2012, 11:26 a.m. ET

• By JONAH LEHRER

As parents we have to remember that as much as we love our children our goal is to prepare them to leave the home and be a productive part of society. Summer Camp is a basic part of the growth process. Try it this summer.

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.