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Dec. 20, 2013
There’s an art to choosing camp
Thinking through your child’s interests and your family’s goals can help narrow the field.
MICHELLE DODEK
Camp can be expensive. Sessions at sleep-away camp can run into the thousands of dollars for just a few weeks, more than many would spend on a family vacation. Even the mere idea of sending your kids away for a few weeks at a time can be nerve-wracking – for you and for your children – so getting it right is an imperative. The following is a list of suggestions to help parents feel more confident about the decisions that will shape their child’s summer. With each child’s needs being so different, there are many factors to consider.
Sleep-away camp
• Has your child expressed an interest in going to camp? Beware the attempt to live vicariously through your child at his or her expense. When your child expresses a desire to go to camp, it’s time to look into it. Until then, relive your glory days through stories and photos.
• What is your objective for camp for your child? Is it water sports, connection to Israel, religious/spiritual connection, making new friends outside of school, to spend time with friends from school in a different environment or roughing it? Or is time away from home developing independence enough of a goal? Each camp has a different focus, so decide on the things that are important to you and talk to your child about what he or she wants to get out of the experience.
• Consider whether the camp has the level of supervision, medical staff and proximity to hospital with which you are comfortable for your child’s needs.
• How many weeks can your child manage? If you feel concerned that your child might have trouble with a two- or three-week session as a first experience, find out which camp has orientations or shortened sessions to introduce the camp experience.
• Speak to friends who have older kids and have sent their children to various camps. Discuss what you hear with your child in order to see what appeals to him/her. Also encourage your child to speak to others who have attended the camps under consideration. Children focus on things that are very different than adults in a camp experience.
• Switching allegiance: some people feel that choosing the camp means a lifetime affiliation. A first camp experience may be the charm, but sometimes a child, for whatever reason, has an experience they would rather not repeat. After a bad summer, if the child is still willing to try another new camp, great. A different group of kids and counselors can make a huge difference and, if a child is brave enough to try, parents should try to be flexible enough to offer the opportunity.
• Send your child with a friend. Most kids do better going into a new situation with a friend. This may not apply to your child, but it may be the thing that makes or breaks the time away from home.
• Dr. Wendy Mogel, a Los Angeles-based psychologist who blends Jewish teachings and psychology, recommends sending your child to camp “for the longest stretch you can afford” in order to have your child out in nature for a length of time. This can also be achieved in day-camp situations that are nature based.
Day camp
The sheer variety of day camps closer to home can be daunting. Some of the sleep-away camp tips work here, too.
• What does your child really love to do? At least part of the summer should be devoted to established interests, but you might want to also consider a couple of weeks to try something new. There is so much to experience in life and the summer is nine- or 10-weeks long!
• Balance indoor and outdoor activities. Summer in Vancouver is usually the best time to be outside. Even if your child loves art over sports, look for classes that feature an outdoor experience to take advantage of the lovely weather.
• Don’t even look at activities that are a logistical nightmare for your family. Parents need to be able to manage, too, and, with so many options, use your schedule as a way to narrow the field.
• Use past experiences to shape future ones: don’t torture your child with an activity that you loved as a kid and you know is not his/her style. Asking them to try something once is great, forcing it on them year after year is ridiculous.
• Psychologist Mogel cautions against allowing children to quit an activity or easily avoid something that he or she doesn’t like. It’s important that children learn that they have an obligation to follow through with their commitments. That said, it is important to remember to take your child’s preferences into account when establishing next year’s schedule.
• Some camps fill up as soon as registration opens in February, but many camps will still have openings in July or August, so, if you can keep a flexible schedule, your child may get into a camp you thought was full. Keep your eye on the websites.
• Even day camps can cost a small fortune, even though many of them employ students who need summer jobs and use facilities that are otherwise vacant in the summer. Use logic to keep your budget under control.
Michelle Dodek is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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