If your child attends a single sex parochial school throughout the school year, then a co-ed camp might be a welcome change in the summer. Some would say that socializing in this closely supervised atmosphere is a healthy and natural part of growing up. Of course, you would want to make sure that the level of supervision fits your expectations. Some kids and parents might want a break from the sports competition of the school year. A co-ed camp inherently is less competitive in this regard. Some parents think that single-sex camps are unlike the real world and so choose a co-ed camp that more closely mirrors the outside world. Many faith-based camps are co-ed so that children of a same belief system socialize together in the summers.
The Benefits of a Single Sex Camp
Directors of single sex camps speak of the many benefits, not unlike the headmaster of a private, single sex school. There is the break from the social pressures of having boyfriends/girlfriends and dressing to appeal to the other sex. If your child attends a co-ed school, a single sex camp provides a completely different summer atmosphere where they might feel freer to explore passions in the absence of the other sex – like arts for boys or sports for girls. If your son wants to stay up on his game for the summer, an all boys’ camp can provide more opportunities for intra-camp sports competition. They might have sports leagues in-camp because there are so many boys of all skill levels. Lastly, directors – and many teachers and psychologists – will tell you that boys and girls learn differently, so teaching skills to one sex (and not having to differentiate) can be easier and more effective. Many single sex camps still have socials with other area camps. These might be dances or consist only of sailing/archery competitions and lunch, for instance. Still other single sex camps may have all female staff and no socials with boys’ camps. If your son or daughter goes to a single sex camp, please share with us what you see as the benefits!
Tips on Trips and Camps: 41 Years and Still Growing
At a time when most companies are down-sizing, camp advisory service Tips on Trips and Camps, Inc. continues to expand.
Co-owner Eve Eifler just announced that Ellen Blum will join the Tips on Trips and Camps team this year as an advisor in Boston. Eifler said, “Ellen Blum comes to us as a camp lover through and through. She has two camp age children and was a camper herself in Maine for many years. Her enthusiasm is infectious and she cannot wait to help the families of Boston find the highest quality summer programs for their kids.”
Co-owner Carey Rivers of Washington, D.C. says, “In the last two years, we have added 7 new consultants and expanded our reach into Chicago, Dallas, Hartford, Boston, and Barcelona, Spain. We are proud of the service we provide to families all over the United States and abroad.”
Tips on Trips and Camps, Inc. (“Tips”) was started by two moms in Baltimore in 1971 who wanted a better way to research camps and teen programs for their own children. Today, Tips serves families throughout the United States and abroad via the internet and maintains area offices in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City and Westchester County, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southern Florida, Connecticut, St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas, New Jersey, Paris (France) and Barcelona (Spain).
Parents call one of their local Tips consultants or register on the Tips website www.TipsonTripsandCamps.com and get instant, FREE access to hundreds of carefully screened and selected camps and teen programs. Rivers said, “We provide clients with the information they need to make an educated decision on summer programs for their child – from questions for directors, to references to call, to on-site visit reports. We are better than Google!”
With all this success, however, Tips on Trips is a relatively unknown resource to many parents. Eifler agrees, “We are not a big budget operation, but our service is invaluable to the parents who know to use it. Our business is mainly word-of-mouth and we keep our clients happy! Of the hundreds of placements we made to camps and teen programs in 2011, 96% of families rated our matches as EXCELLENT or GOOD. We are happy to bring this excellent client service to Boston!”
Co-ed or Single sex camps: which one is right for your child?
Regionally, camps often have a common set of characteristics. These characteristics can be based upon geographical attractions or the region’s social mores. One of the ways that camp regions differ is around the issue of single sex vs. co-ed camps. The East coast offers more co-ed camps, especially the mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania camps. The Carolina camps are predominantly single sex. The Colorado western camps are co-ed, but split into girls and boys camps (called “brother-sister camps”). Brother–sister camps usually have a gender divide for daily activities and dining rituals, but have socials together at night or on weekends. The Northwoods Region of Minnesota and Wisconsin is home to an abundance of single sex camps and a number of brother-sister camps. What kind of camp did you go to as a child? Will this inform the type of camp you send your own child?
Friendly Advice
Everyone loves their camp and thinks they went to the best camp! Or the camp that their children attend is the best overnight camp. Sooo, choosing a camp should be easy, right? Just ask your best friend or her best friend and they will tell you what camp they chose. Seems easy! Not always.
While the best referral to camp is word of mouth, sometimes you need to take a step back. It is great to hear parents so enthusiastic about their camps, but one size does not fit all.
You need to think about what is important to you and your family. Just because you are friends with someone, it does not mean that you have the same wants/needs in a camp. Nor does it mean that your children are similar.
The best thing to do is to talk to the directors. This will give you a feel for their leadership style. Does it match your parenting style? How about speaking to some current parents, that you may not know? It is just as important to find out about the values and personalities of their children, as well as their opinion of the sleep away camp. At the end of the day, choosing the right camp, should be fun and exciting. You should get the same “this is it” feeling that you get when you make any big decision. Don’t get overwhelmed by everyone’s opinion. Talk to an unbiased professional to get advice on camp. Our only concern in the process is matching up your family with the right “camp family”.
Siblings at Camp – Together or Separate
This is the time of year when parents start thinking about summer camp. If your oldest child has already started going to sleep away camp, then the hard part is over. Right?? Well, not always. How do you handle a situation when the second sibling is ready for sleep away camp? Do you automatically send him/her with their older sibling? For some families, it is a “one for all and all for one” approach. There are many advantages to taking this route. The second child has the comfort of their older sibling. They probably also know some of their siblings friends. Seek out those parents and ask if they also have younger children. My son met the younger brother of one of his brother’s friends and they were able to start camp together and have been inseparable since meeting.
What if their interests are totally different? If your oldest child wants a sports camp and your younger child wants an arts camp, are you doomed? Does family trump individuality? If so, speak to the camp director, many camps can accommodate all your summer camp needs.
Maybe you want your children to have separate experiences. You know your child and your family best. This could be the best thing for both your children.They already have a family connection, but by attending different summer camps they get to enhance their own interests and skills.
Regardless of which route you take, go with your gut. Do your research. Get your advice on camp from a professional to help you find the right choice for the right child.
The Flying Trapeze and other Summer Camp Adventures
Every summer teams of Tips on Trips and Camps advisors go camp visiting. It is an opportunity to see camps in action so that the advice on camps that we share with families is current and relevant to the overnight camp selection process.
By all accounts I am a relatively conservative type A kind of person, and how I found myself at the top of the flying trapeze at one of the camps in Pennsylvania is one of those moments of acting before thinking.
But there I was, 50 feet in the air, terrified and standing on a small plank clinging to the circus camp counselor who was both half my age and half my size, and telling him there must be some other way of getting down rather than swinging from the trapeze and then dropping into the net. My knees were shaking badly and the counselor was encouraging me to release the death grip I had on his arm and just hold the trapeze bar. After much coaxing and ultimately his pushing me off the plank, I was swinging through the air. I was too frightened to really enjoy myself, but felt exhilarated that I had conquered this incredible challenge.
Summer Camp presents kids with challenges at every turn. Be it climbing to the top of the wall at rock climbing camps, hitting a home run at baseball camps, mounting a horse for the first time at horseback riding camps, singing a solo at a performing arts camp, or simply sleeping away from home at traditional sleep away camps. All these experiences can feel as frightening as standing on top of that circus trapeze and all offering the satisfaction of doing something outside a child’s every day experience, and succeeding. Sleep away camps provide an environment where a child can feel secure and challenged at the same time. It is at camp with counselors who have the expertise and skill to create a safe environment that kids are willing to push boundaries and try new things.
I will never forget my trapeze ride. Given the chance I would have tried it a second time and been a little less afraid and a little more able. Camp creates these kinds of memories and opportunities to learn new skills, over and over again.