Five Questions to Help You Feel Comfortable When Choosing A Camp
You will feel great about the camp you choose if you get excellent answers to Our Kids’ Five Questions to Ask a Camp Director.
Choosing a Camp for your children cam be a nerve-wracking experience: How do I know what’s best for my child? If my neighbour recommends it, does that mean that its a good fit for us? How will my son be treated by his counsellor? Will the staff look after my daughter to make her feel welcome and important?
Our Kids’ Five Questions To Ask A Camp Director:
When will my child not be supervised by an adult? Children often get into trouble when they are bored. If there are large chunks of time when campers will be unsupervised (and, therefore, not being engaged), problems can arise. Specific times to ask about: in the evening when campers have gone to bed, traveling between programs and rest hour.- What do you do on the first day to make my child feel like they have an important place at camp? Those first moments are crucial to a camper’s enjoyment of camp. A great counsellor will begin immediately to play games with the children; he/she will want to help them learn the names of the kids in cabin and make them all feel comfortable. An excellent counsellor will know which campers request to be in a group together and will work to ensure that they mix will with the other children.
- What will you do if my child misbehaves? Discipline is a deeply personal choice and parents really need to be comfortable with the methods that the camp uses. Short time-outs and a discussion with a counsellor are good first steps for camp discipline. A camp that has a Head Counsellor or Section Head who specializes in dealing with child behaviour is a camp that will take good care of your son/daughter.
- How does your camp deal with bullying? Bullying is a common concern for parents. A Camp Director should be able to answer this question in a way that demonstrates that she/he has already considered the problem and has solutions in place. A camp that takes this issue seriously will have a solid teaching component on prevention, recognizing the signs and how to deal with the outcomes of bullying.
- Why does your camp not allow my child to keep his/her cell phone? Most camps do not allow campers to have their cell phones with them at all times. A good Camp Director will be able to explain the policy to your satisfaction. Camp experiences are most successful when their campers are occupied with the camp activities and not concerned with their latest text message or calling their friends from home. Most camps have a policy that will allow parents to call and speak to a staff member to see how their child is doing. A camper who is missing home will often have greater difficulty adjusting to camp if they speak to their parents.
Do you have any other questions you would ask? Please leave us a comment with the questions (or, better yet, the answers) that you used to make your decision.
[...] article, the second in our series (previously) of 5 Questions posts, will focus on the things that you should ask a Camp Director about his/her [...]