Educational Benefits of Summer Camp in China

Should my Child Bring a Friend to Camp

Understand the benefits of going to camp alone

One of the most frequent questions that parents ask me is about bringing a friend to camp.

How to Get Your Child Ready for Summer Camp

Set your child up for success at camp

Sending your child to camp for the first time can be a little intimidating, especially if it is the first time a child is away from home for an extended period of time.  Parents want their children to get the confidence and independence that camp gives them, but they still worry about the first days.

Should I Send My Child to a Christian Summer Camp

Parents often ask about the difference between traditional camps and Christian camps. Parents want to make the right decision about camp and this is an area that they often struggle with. In this blog, I will attempt to describe the difference to help you make this decision.

Ideal Summer Camp Term Length  

Perhaps the most common question parents have about summer camp concerns the length of the sessions. They often ask us, "What's a good length of time for summer camp programs?" Summer camp can be as short as one week or as long as eight weeks. Parents want to provide the best possible experiences for their children, so they wonder what the trade-offs are regarding the different session lengths.

How much should summer camp cost

The cost of a summer camp experience can vary substantially.  Overnight camps can range from around $300 – almost $2,000 per week.  Day camps can charge from $100-$1300 per week.

With variations this large and so many options to choose from, it leads to some obvious questions:

How to Teach Kids Optimism

Positive Attitude and Optimism

Parents often ask us how they can foster positive attitudes in their children.  They understand that attitude is often the difference between surviving and thriving in any situation.

I agree. 

Before I make any suggestions that might help cultivate a positive attitude, allow me to suggest that we use a different term: optimism (as defined by psychologists).  To a psychologist, optimism is not “always seeing the positive”.  Instead, an optimist holds two important beliefs:

• Problems are temporary and
• My actions can mitigate my problems.

By contrast, a pessimist sees problems as systemic and does not believe that her actions can affect her situation.  Clearly, these are not equally useful ways to view the world.  Optimists see opportunities, pessimists see problems.  Optimists have a strong basis for contentment and happiness while pessimists are prone to depression.

I am framing “positive attitude” as optimism for two reasons.  First, it provides a clear definition so that we all know what our goal is.  Often we have goals that are hard to define, like success.  Different people can have very different concept of success.  Is success about impact or income?  It is helpful to have a clear idea of a goal before going after it.

Each fall, my wife and I get the same dreaded email from our parents:

“What do the Grandkids want for Christmas?”

Grandparents want our help finding the perfect holidy gift for the grandkids.  They want to give something that satisfies two criteria:

1. The gift should be something that the kids appreciate and enjoy.  In other words, they want a gift that makes an impact.
2. It should be something that is consistent with our parents’ values.

This week, we are hoping to deliver stories that stress “Tenacity and Purpose”.

We have begun our final week.  We have just 6 more days of moments.   

10 weeks ago, we brought in a speaker during counselor orientation that told us that life is full of "minutes" and "moments".  A minute is 60 seconds.

Nothing happens in a minute.

But everything special happens in moments.  Fears are overcome in moments, Friendships are cherished in moments.  Sunsets are moments.

We have been in the moment business lately.

Last night, we had the first ever Torchlight ceremony in the pool.  It was epic.  The torchlighter came down the slide and the cheers and chants were all augmented with splashing.  The Leadership Team acted as lifeguards so that the counselors could enjoy the festivities as well.  We concluded with a counselor belly-flop competition.  Great fun.

The campers that have been here for 1 or 3 weeks have come together incredibly well.  They act truly like this is a family.  Campers interact across age-ranges and everyone knows everyone. These campers are so quick to share a fun story, hold a counselor's hand or simply help each other.  The conversations are fluid and easy.

This type of community is what we camp directors dream of.

Today, we added to the community.  We have campers from San Antonio who are part of a study designed to prove that summer camp fosters critical character skills. We have a slew of former counselors, Leadership Team members and directors running the program, so I am very confident that the program will prove many of the benefits of camp.

We also added 27 adorable Batter Up campers.  Batter Up is our 6-day introductory program for children finishing Kindergarten and 1st grade.

I truly adore this age group.  5-7 years olds have a certain simplicity about them.  Do not get me wrong, I am not saying they are boring or predictable.  In fact, "predictable" is not even on the menu.

I mean that they approach the world at face value and are truly present each day.  A 6-year old girl is not worrying about whether she has exactly the right outfit on in the way that teens often do.  A 7 year-old boy is not analyzing his status and adopting a persona to fit in as he might in 4-5 years.

Instead, what you see is what you get.  If someone is upset, the cause (my marshmallow fell into the fire) is easy to identify and generally easy to remedy.

They make friends readily and bond happily as a group.

Their imaginations are unfettered and they play unselfconsciously.

In short, Camp Champions is a pretty special place to be today.

Steve Sir