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Co-ed or Single sex camps: which one is right for your child?

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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?

What Style Camp is Best for Your Child?

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Should parents choose a camp that focuses on teaching hard skills (tennis, dance, gymnastics, and leadership) that will help our children become high achievers? Or should camp be the place for a child to learn independence, self-confidence and a love of nature in a rustic setting unlike home. Short session camps tend to be single focus and teach hard skills. Traditional sleep away camps with longer sessions offer the opportunity to be part of a caring community that offers friendship and teamwork along with diverse outdoor activities. No matter whether you choose a one week specialty camp or a longer session traditional camp, be sure you understand the different experience that is offered. Mary Beth McCauley has a wonderful article in the Christian Science Monitor that really conveys the true benefits of the sleep away camp experience.

“Sure, there are other places where young people can learn the stout virtues of confidence, teamwork, and resilience; of independence and friendship; of love of nature. But few disguise the lessons quite the way summer camp does – as pure fun”……

“Real” camp, its advocates say, may at some time involve the perfection of a plié or a jump shot, but that’s not the point. The point is the change in a child who hunkers down for a week’s worth of rainy nights outdoors, followed by singing for the entire dining hall despite paralyzing stage fright, all the while making his bed unreminded and growing to appreciate bugs, if not bug juice.”

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0616/Summer-camp-Sunset-for-an-American-tradition

Read the full article to understand the differences in specialty camps and traditional camps. Think about how your child can get the most benefit from summer time. I will be happy to chat with you about which type of camp is the best fit for your child.

Packing for Camp—Less is More!!!

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Now that I know where my child is going to camp, the next big decision is, WHAT DO I PACK FOR CAMP?! The good news is–you probably have many things you need already! Take the camp packing list (usually found the web-site or in the welcome packet) and see what you have around the house first before rushing off the buy everything. See if the camp suggests living out of a trunk or packing in duffel bags that they will stow during the session. Remember, you want your child to have fun and not worry about ruining anything, so send older clothes. I used to tell my kids to leave their socks at camp. They get sooo filthy, you would never get them clean again and most likely, they will bring back someone else’s!! Ask the camp how often they offer laundry service. Most likely, you will only need to pack enough clothes for 1-2 weeks. Depending on the climate, your child may want to layer up in the morning and evenings. They will probably shed that sweatshirt very quickly as the day warms up, but it feels awful good in the morning for breakfast or around the campfire at night! Some camps have special dress up days, so you might need a special outfit or a costume for a themed event. Find out if there is a color war and pack handkerchiefs in those colors, so your child is ready. Mostly importantly, label everything! Even with labeling your child will come home with someone elses clothes and your kids clothes will end up somewhere else! After your child comes home from camp, pack away things in the duffle or trunk for next summer! (flash lights, fans, laundry bags, water bottles, old towels,) When next summer rolls around (and it comes quick! ) you will be that much more ahead of the game!

Bottom line is, CAMP is one of the BEST times of your child’s life, make packing easy, fun and part of the experience!!

Camp: noun, \kamp\

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What is your definition of “CAMP?” For adults who grew up going to traditional summer camp, they think of bunks, woods, campfires, songs and, of course, their lasting friendships. For others they really don’t have a set definition of camp. In 2011, camp can still be a full summer living in cabins, s’mores around the fire and swimming in the lake; but it can also be two weeks of dormitory style living with a combination of academic enrichment classes and sports or hobbies. It can be creative or performing arts with a performance for parents at the end. It can be computer programming and design, or a several week wilderness adventure sleeping in tents and exploring different regions of the US or abroad. It can be in Maine, California, Europe, Tanzania or anywhere in between! As families have evolved, so has camping. Camp has become almost a generic name for any appropriate summer program that fits your child’s interests, meets them where they are and stretches them a little further.

Everlasting Memories of Camp

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As a former Camp Director, Athletic Director, Wilderness Trip Leader and Counselor, I have gotten to witness all the reasons why you send your children to sleep away camps , teen programs and wilderness trips. Here are some of my favorite moments .

I have seen your children:

…walk arm in arm with a friend.

…stand on their chair (safely of course) screaming their favorite song or cheer.

…laugh uncontrollably.

…dress up for MTV night.

I have seen your children:

…sneak into the canteen when they thought no one was looking.

…console a friend.

…hit in the winning run.

…cry at the end of color war – win or lose .

I have seen your children:

…climb the climbing wall ONLY because their friends were cheering them on, when they were full of fear and self doubt.

…walk hand in hand with a counselor.

…get up on skis for the first time with a smile and sense of accomplishment.

…,sing and dance ‘til they drop.

…make it to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up to the top..on foot!

I have seen your children:

…covered in clay while they chat with a friend and maneuver the pottery wheel.

…use their minds as they try to solve hatchet hunt clues.

…own up to hurting someone’s feelings and make it right.

…discover that guitar and oil painting are not just for musicians and artists.

I have seen your children:

…learn how to work as a team (that includes cleaning the bunk – don’t let them tell you they can’t sweep, make their bed or fold laundry!)

…LEARN THAT FUN AND SILLINESS HAVE NO AGE LIMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…sing the alma mater with tears in their eyes.

…look straight at lost and found and not recognize their own clothes…..that have their name tag in it!

…after lights out and heard their whispers and giggles.

…try new things, fail and try again.

…open a letter from home, smile and run to share news or a picture with a friend or counselor.

…say good bye, hug and cry with such intensity and passion that time stands still ……. the only comfort being that the best camp is just 364 days away……..

 

Is a Summer Sleepaway Experience Worth the Price?

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As I speak with families, the issue of cost is always part of the conversation, no matter if we are talking about summer camps for kids, unique summer experiences for tweens or travel or study options for teens. Parents spend a lot of time and financial resources investing in their children’s experiences. Travel sports teams, lessons in the arts, and a myriad of other after school and weekend activities. They supervise, volunteer and generally make possible a rich life for kids. So why is an away from home summer experience worth the financial investment? The personal growth that kids gain from sleepaway summer camps or high schoolers learn from summer travel programs occurs when kids have opportunities to make decisions independent of their parents.

Here are 5 important skills a child of any age masters by being away from home in a summer program.

1. Practice sleeping away from the comforts of your own home. For some kids this is the hardest part.

2. Ability to keep track of your own “stuff”. Whether at traditional sleep away camps, enrichment on college campuses, community service programs or the other types of summer activities, lose your socks and it can be a problem.

3. Learning to negotiate through conflict. This might be simply improved patience in taking turns or dealing with the disappointment of not being chosen for a desired activity.

4. Advocating for yourself. So often we hear from camp directors that when kids find themselves in challenging or disappointing situations the first thing they do is call home. Asking for help and speaking up for yourself are lessons that can only be learned away from Mom and Dad’s participation.

5. Trying new things not available at home. Rock climbing camps, water skiing camps, archeology camps, community service with native Americans to name a few of the activities not readily available to most families.

The benefits kids get from these fabulous opportunities are often intangible. Is it worth the investment? Absolutely!

 

The Flying Trapeze and other Summer Camp Adventures

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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.


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