Helping families choose private schools and summer camps
I find it fascinating that I struggle to remember where I park my car most days and constantly mix up the kids’ names (yes, sometimes even with the dog’s), yet I can still recall all the lyrics to those Girl Gide campfire songs I learned over 30 years ago. How is this possible?
A camp leader once told my tent-mates and I when I was 10 years old, “If you really want to enjoy the outdoors, you need to learn to see.” As camp counsellors, teachers, and social workers we support youth to see, writes Jim McHardy, director of the Kinark Outdoor Centre in Minden, Ontario.
At the recent Ontario Camps Association Conference I had the privilege of attending the kindred group meeting for the Special Needs Camps. It had been eons since I had last rubbed shoulders with this group, and almost twenty-five years since I first agreed to sit on what was then called the Integration Committee. I was struck by how far our society and particularily organized children’s camping has come in its understanding and openness to providing social-recreation experiences for children, youth and families.
One of the greatest qualities of summer camp is the close-knit community that returns every year to teach, learn, and have fun. Campers take the one or two weeks out of the whole year they spend at camp to build lifelong friendships with their peers, and the familiar faces of staff become role models who leave a lasting impact that extends beyond the summer. Many campers call themselves “Lifers” – people who will always be involved in camp life. Two of Camp Robin Hood’s lifers, and founders, are Larry and Pearl Bell, who will be marking their 50th year at camp this summer.
Do you want to know how to pick the best summer camp for your kids? Watch how the staff treat each other. You can tell a lot about the atmosphere and general attitude of a children’s summer camp by taking a tour and observing a few things. Are you greeted warmly and immediately? Do the [...]
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