Parents key to getting the right fit for campers
KNOWLEDGE OF FACILITIES, DIRECTORS, CAMPER AND EXPECTATIONS IMPORTANT IN MAKING FINAL DECISION
You will play a very important role in the success of your child’s camping experience from the moment you think about camp, to making the camp selection, preparing for camp, the experience itself, and the post-camp incorporation of the experience into your family’s home and social life.
In selecting a camp there are four main factors to be considered. These are:
Knowledge of the camp selected.
The expectations you and your child have for camp. The camper. An awareness that the people who direct the camp are far more important than the equipment, buildings, and facilities advertised.
Camp activities
Most camps offer a combination of the following activities but not necessarily all of them. Consult the individual camp for specific program information:
Archery, Arts & Crafts, Beachcombing, Bible study, Board Sailing, Boating, Campfires, Camp crafts, Canoeing, Challenge Course, Discussions, Drama, Fire building, Fishing, Games, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Music, Nature appreciation, Orienteering, Out-trips, Outdoor cooking, Overnights, Picnics, River Rafting, Rock, Climbing Sailing, Singsongs, Shelter building, Skits, Special events, Sports, Stargazing, Storytelling Survival skills, Swimming, Water skiing, White Water Canoeing.
What camps do
All camps provide opportunities for individuals or groups (children, adults, families) to experience community living in an outdoor setting. This entails getting along with others, accepting responsibility, developing friendships, developing strength of character, and for firsttime campers, adjusting to camp life and being away from home. And camps are fun!
About the camp
There are more good camps today than ever before. But fitting a child to a camp, and vice versa are two different things.
Camp selection is not easy. Your child may need special considerations because of physical or other conditions. A child’s needs might better be met in a special camp than in a general camp. Whatever the need, considerable time and effort should be devoted to the selection of the suitable camp.
One must consider the expectations of the parent and the child regarding the camp experience, special considerations for the child and the features of the particular camp selected.
What parents should expect
Happiness: Camp is a child’s world, created primarily for fun, and shared with leaders who understand the needs of children at their various stages of development.
Social skill: Your child will learn about getting along with others, sharing responsibility for successful group living, learn the full meaning of cooperation, comradeship and lifetime skills.
Healthy lifestyle: Children will practice regular health habits, eat well, and participate in physical activity and wholesome outdoor experiences.
New experiences: New opportunities will be available for exploration and to learn new skills under proper guidance and instruction.
Inspiration: Inspirational values can be derived from the environment and the wholesome quality of the camp community.
Self reliance: The temporary separation of children from parents can teach them to rely upon their own decisions and abilities.
Good citizenship: This can be learned by experience in an environment in which democratic group living is a necessity.
What children should expect
Fun: The joy of doing things with other campers.
New experiences: The opportunity to try out new things that are different, thrilling and adventurous.
Safety: Being accepted by others as an individual. Being able to be oneself.
Affection: Experiencing friendship with fellow campers and adults.
Camp for the child
Your child is as important as the camp you select. Here’s what to look for:
Preparedness: Is your child ready to be away from home? Has he or she had previous stays away?
Personal needs: What are your child’s special needs — security, discipline, group living experience, independence, group awareness — improving old skills and interests, learning new ones?
Physical: Does your child need special consideration because of any physical condition?
Judgment: Can your child’s needs be met best in a general camp, or in a camp especially designed for children with similar needs?
Leadership: Are the leaders mature, competent to guide children, and to supervise assigned activities?
Inspection: Have you visited the camp? Does the camp meet your child’s needs? Consider attending an open house at the camp.
Verification: Have you talked to the parents of children who have attended this camp?
Purposes: What is the camp’s purpose? Does it fit your child’s purposes?
Personality: Are the living groups small enough to give your child a sense of security and belonging — to feel that he or she is an individual, not just lost in the crowd?
Facilities: Do the facilities of the camp make it possible for your child to develop new and desirable skills compatible with his or her potentials?
Standards: Is the camp a member of the B.C. Camping Association? Is it accredited by B.C.C.A., having fully met it’s standards? Does the camp meet Provincial Health and other recommended B.C.C.A. requirements?
The camp directors
In this directory you will find some points noted that will help guide you in analyzing your child’s needs, and the camp that might be the right one .Take these points seriously ,and in so doing, pay special attention to the camp directors.
They, as well as you, are the great intangible in the success of your youngster’s camping experience.
Be sure also that you fully understand the fees quoted. If riding, laundry, transportation and other items are “extras”, and not included in the fee, this should be clearly stated in the camp’s literature. There should be no hidden costs.