SUMMER CAMPS - WHY WOULD SEND YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER
There are all sorts of Summer Camps on offer locally, everything from the hugely popular GAA Cúl Camps to arts and crafts and much more in between. Most of these camps are for a week, depending on the offering being made by the organisers, the price can vary, but in general these camps are reasonably priced.
Regardless of what the camp is for there are some useful suggestions and tips offered across a range of platforms, in print, magazines and more that should prove useful
One website, childmind.org which is probably aimed more at longer duration camps, but much of their information works across the board. They say all children experience a mixture of excitement and nervousness when summer camp approaches. For most, excitement trumps nerves, but some children develop anxiety serious enough to get in the way of what should be a fun, formative experience.
Summer camps hone many skills useful for future success: resilience, self-reliance, and social adaptability. The camp experience — being away from home among peers — can help kids develop social skills, separate in a healthy way from parents, and cultivate independence. Camp activities can help them build confidence by demonstrating mastery. Children are often ready for sleep-away camp around ages 10 to 12, although preparedness varies depending on age, experience, and temperament.
The key to helping your child get over pre-camp nerves is to acknowledge their feelings and give them tools to help them tame them. Let your child feel a sense of ownership over the experience. Involve them in picking the summer camp; familiarise them with the camp environment and teach them about camp activities so they can formulate expectations.
Help your child get excited about camp: Take them shopping for new gear and focus them on fun things about camp that they can anticipate. Avoid focusing on what makes children anxious. Instead of asking leading questions like, “Are you nervous about horseback riding?” ask open-ended questions like, “How are you feeling about the horses?” Don’t trivialise their concerns or offer glib reassurances. “There’s nothing to worry about!” or “Everyone loves camp!” may discourage your child. Instead, show that you have empathy and acknowledge their concerns.
If the camps are away from home, focus on concrete details in conversations leading up to and during summer camp. Avoid abstract issues like what it it’s like to be away from home in favor of cabin details, meals in the lodge, or campfire rituals.
Reflect on your own formative experiences away from home and share positive aspects of them with your child. Show that you are willing to talk about the new things they’ll be doing, whether it’s eating new food, sleeping in a bunkbed, getting along with cabin-mates, or coexisting with insects. Go through “rehearsals.” A shorter-term sleepover or a night at Grandma’s will make it easier for your child to be away from home. Don’t linger at the bus stop. Keep the goodbyes short, as delaying just causes more mixed feelings.
Try not to communicate your own anxiety; your child can pick up on your feelings even if you don’t verbalize them. What you want to share is your confidence in your child and the summer experience.
The childmind.org website say summer camp is a unique situation where your child engages with a large community of peers and learns how to interact socially in a less-structured environment than school. This is a time for them to actively make decisions for themselves and develop a sense of self-reliance. Though you may be concerned and wish to intervene, your supportiveness will give your child room to take ownership over the experience themselves.
While some of the above probably relates more to long-stay camps where children are away from home for a few weeks or more, locally the camps your children may attend are usually local to you and they are away from home from roughly 10am to 3pm.
For those camps, ideally, having a friend who is also going to the camp go along with your son or daughter on the first day is an idea that makes sense, but, and this is a personal choice for parents or guardians, one of the plus points for camps for many young people is that they get to meet people they don’t go to school with and don’t know, and friendships from camp, can last a lifetime.