Strategies for Addressing Homesickness

**This is a continuation of our Counselor Skills Series, where we share some of the specific training we do with our counselors to make sure that your children enjoy the benefit of getting to know exceptional role models while at camp. You can find the other articles in this series here: The First 48 Hours, Confidence, and Discipline.

Homesickness can be a very normal part of the camp experience, especially for first time campers. It can feel unsettling to be thrust into a new environment with unfamiliar people, and it probably should. Chris Thurber has found that 95% of campers experience some homesickness, but only a tiny proportion experience unrelenting homesickness.

Overnight Camp Success: The First 48 Hours

**This is a continuation of our Counselor Skills Series, where we share some of the specific training we do with our counselors to make sure that your children enjoy the benefit of getting to know exceptional role models while at camp. You can find the other articles in this series here: Homesickness, Confidence, and Discipline.

Getting Ready for Summer Camp

One of the ways that we ensure a successful term for each of our campers and counselors is a very purposeful approach to the first 48 hours of each camp term. Beginning at 2pm on Opening Day, the first 48 hours contributes heavily to the trajectory that the rest of the term will follow. If a counselor can help a camper feel at home, connected, and engaged during that “try out period”, it is much easier for that camper to feel comfortable, make friends, and enjoy activities for the rest of camp.

Best Overnight Summer Camps Texas Hill Country 2021 Guide

Summer camp is a powerful and transformative youth development experience. Children learn to adjust to new environments, make new friends, take risks away from home, be a part of a community, and take part in something bigger than themselves. Let's not forget that camp is a ton of fun!

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:

Summer Camp Reviews

The best source for camp reviews is the families that attend or have attended summer camp. That means talking to people. Reviews are people relating their experience. They are vouching for the summer camp's reputation, the experience their children have had there, and their relationship with the camp.

How to find a Summer Camp Scholarship

Families often find the price of summer camp shocking when they first start looking at camp. Few families are aware of summer camp scholarship option. You have probably heard of scholarships in the context of college, but summer camp scholarships exist in a very similar fashion. They essentially act as a summer camp tuition grant to offset the costs of camp. Let's dive in a little deeper.

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.

Do Grades Determine Success?

Home

Parents and kids share several concerns when it comes to the future (and particularly, future potential success). Every semester the ritual is the same when grades are reported. Some don't ever have to worry, the report cards are full of A's, and others hide them under the bed. The situation begs the following questions:

How important are grades for determining success? Are grades important in life?

Grades are often touted as the single most important factor when determining college admissions, job applications, and future success. The following is one of the single most asserted facts of life: 

Good grades grant entrance to an elite academic college. Academic success at a top university guarantees a well paying, highly respected job. Well paying jobs grant the necessary outcomes of success, including a big house, exotic vacations, societal status, large bank accounts, and many more luxuries of life.

Examining this assumption will elucidate the issue of "grades determining success".

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