Summer Camp or Free Range Kids?

Jusdbfedfwf

Wed, 2010-03-03 17:36

This summer camp recommends challenging and exciting activities like jumping, football sports, water sports, pool programs and many others for the growth of kids and teens. These programs develop high level of enthusiasm in teenagers to change their interests into their potential. Summer camps recommend highly experiential learning programs for boys and girls. Camps offer the exceptional training and camping programs during the months of summer. Summer camps offer various options like arts, crafts, music, singing, acting, cooking, weight loss, religious learning and technological training for youths to choose according to their needs and demands. Teens summer camps are best for the complete growth of youths.

http://www.teenscamp.net/Teen/Summer-Camps-For-Teens/index.htm

Tue, 2009-09-15 01:41

I was a free range kid, but I did go to camp a few times. Here's what I remember:

-falling through a rotting dock and badly skinning my leg from ankle to thigh, complete with lovely splinters dug right into me.
-being told that if I got out of bed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night I'd be made to clean the bathroom with a toothbrush
-a kid breaking my friend's arm because he was angry
-disgusting food. REALLY disgusting food. And I was never a picky kid.

I hated camp. Hated everything about camp. Just. HATED. Camp.

When I was a teen I worked at a summer camp two summers in a row and LOVED it. Of course there were 14 year olds running the horseback riding, BMXing and archery, and no nurse on staff. So when kids were bucked off, fell off, broke bones, etc we had no first aid training but whatever-I wasn't a parent then and I didn't clue in. Now I look back and wonder what these people were thinking!?!?

As a parent, there is no way I'd send my kid to camp without researching it REALLY, REALLY well. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but my experiences haven't been the best. Fortunately I work for a school district so my holidays are the same time as Jake's and so we have lots of fun stuff we do at home in the summer. We do travel as a family for 1/2 the summer, and then the other 1/2 Jake is free to plan things with his friends. He is like me and has NO desire to go to camp. Plus, since he has some unique needs, I'm not sure a camp would really 'get' it. So Jake is happy at home socializing with his friends in the neighborhood; going for bike rides, climbing trees, having me take them to the beach, an occasional trip to the city, etc. They hit my kitchen and cook something, create things out of scraps, conduct science experiments, you name it.

To me, this is the best part of summer and I wouldn't have it any other way. It works for us.

Tue, 2009-06-09 18:33

We kinda do a bit of both. My 11-year-old does a couple of week-long day camps that are specific to a certain interest or activity that he's involved in. These are spaced out throughout the summer so it breaks up the monotony and gets him out of the house occasionally.

This summer he's doing a strings camp at a local university (he plays violin), a lacrosse camp, and a summer indoor lacrosse league that meets once a week for casual games. That's it, the rest of the time he's left to his own devices though we'll hit the library once/week and plan activities around town a couple of times/month. As far as bored, whiny kids, he knows better! When he says he's bored and there's nothing to do, I can always find something for him to do. Vacuum, fold some laundry, clean a bathroom, mop the kitchen, find the pedi-egg and work on mama's feet...

He's never been to a sleep-away camp though I think he'd love it. It's just not in our budget. We're a one-income family with a disabled child (I also have a 10-year-old who is profoundly autistic) and a stack of medical bills due to incredibly crappy insurance. It was a struggle just to swing the aforementioned activities.

As a kid, we never went to camps with the exception of vacation bible schools. My mother would send us to any VBS that she had a friend sending a kid to. That was her way of getting a break! So while we attended Catholic school all year, we went to at least three non-Catholic bible schools every summer!

Tue, 2009-06-02 06:35

There being six of us, and with my dad being a tax evader who would only work under the counter (which is rarely highly lucrative unless you're a hitman which, unfortunately, he wasn't) and my mom still being in school obtaining her PhD (later working as an assistant professor), there just wasn't enough money to send us all to summer camp, even if my parents had wanted to.

But ultimately, summer camp would have been unnecessary. We grew up in Dutchess County, New York, a very welcoming place for children who loved playing outdoors. I'm only eighteen, but back in those days people didn't worry as much about pedophiles and germs. Kids were let loose to enjoy the summer, and me and my siblings did just that. If my mom or dad came along, it was even better.

My dad worked and lived on a horse farm (still does), and we would spend the weekends there with him. That was nothing short of magical. We could feed and pet the horses (even ride them occasionally), explore the surrounding forests, build forts of out hay bales, make our own toy boats from our dad's old scraps of wood (I learned early on how to handle a hammer) and sail them on a merry little river that wound through the property... The list goes on. We used our imaginations so much back then, a skill I think children are beginning to lose. We also got to spend a lot of quality time with our dad. He worked outdoors a lot, maintaining the farm and planting and harvesting the hay, so we could follow him around and "help out" if we wanted to. There wasn't anything more fun then riding on the tractor with him. He'd even let us ride in the buckets. Looking back, I realize that we must have seemed like a bunch of reckless hillbillies, haha.

We became a lot more independent and responsible as a result of those experiences. Without adults hovering over us and corralling us like cattle into different activities, we learned to take a vote on what games we would play. We also knew to look out for each other. We would never have dreamed of leaving one of us behind in the woods, for example. As long as we were together, we felt safe.

I have been to camp, though. Every now and then when they had enough money, my parents would send someone to camp if they were interested (we rarely were.) I went to a day camp, but I didn't enjoy it very much. I had become accustomed to a certain way of playing, and I missed my siblings. I enjoyed getting to play basketball, but I hated that they forced me to play baseball. Every May my mother would take us all up into the Catskills for a week to attend her church's camp, and I enjoyed that a lot more because we were all together. Unfortunately, we were made to sit through a lot of sermons, but when we were let to run around and play we had some really awesome times.

When I have kids, I doubt I'll send them to summer camp. I'd try to recreate the childhood I had. It's hard when the kids are all very young, but once the oldest is around nine or ten they can look out for the younger ones.

Thu, 2009-05-28 06:04

Ah summer camps.

For us, the year is sort of reversed. You see commercials about parents being ecstatic about their kids going back to school...my mom loved those commercials.

However, we homeschool our child. And though she does outside activities (art, science class, yoga, swim 'n gym, girl scouts) alot of her time during the school year is spent un-structured, because we are eclectic home schoolers. Basically we do some structure, as in, you need to do some of this math, or this reading comp, or write this, do this copywork, read this book, then watch the movie and tell us what's different and why...that sort of thing.

But we also, because Ripley is a very self driven learner, let her be alot of the time. She read and comprehended at the sixth grade level at the age of five, and she learned to read on her own before she turned three. So, she gets alot of, finding things that interest her, and our job is to make more information available to her in those areas.

For the past three years, Ripley has attended day camps during the summer. Because of her spectrum disorder, I waited a bit because Ripley isn't always "present" even when she's physically there. And I chose camps in places and with people she was familiar with.

Because my husband lost his job last year, and I am disabled, I have worked my ass off to procure scholarships for Ripley for the camps she loves. She got TWO scholarships for her science camps, one full and one half, so that's two weeks right there. I also want her to have an outside camp with other children, a little out of her comfort zone. I was able to do that in 2007, and she took really well to it.

So in the summer, my husband and I have between two and four weeks where Ripley is basically on a school schedule. It's very different for her, and it's good for her and us too. EVERYONE knows Ripley at our local science center, since she's been a regular there for the past five years, and she is very comfortable with the YMCA camps. If I thought I could manage the art camps at the center where she does her art classes during the "school year" I'd look harder into those, but for Ripley, the most important is science, first and foremost, and then YMCA camps.

She's fairly free-range most of the year, and most of the summer even. But as a child on the spectrum, structure is also good for her, and it also gives her a taste of what other kids do.

Maybe next year we'll do a sleep-away Girl Scout camp. I did that one year, and loved it, and she does enjoy girl scouts. It all depends on how she takes direction from people who are not us on a longer term basis.

So as with pretty much everything else in our lives, it's a mix. I believe strongly in periods of introspection, boredom, playing without structure, but I also know Ripley gets alot of that that other kids don't.

Plus she has her own computer that she and her father built together. Alot of kids don't have THAT either. Or so many books that she doesn't have enough shelf space for them. (Thrift stores rule for books)

Downtime? Critical. Structure? Also critical. Balance? Always a struggle but we do our best.

Mon, 2009-05-25 12:30

I really don't think anyone has stressed the unhealthy amount of guilt mothers have to suffer. And I'm sorry Amanda, but your self-righteous attitude is the kind that keeps fathers guilt-free and women forever under that glass ceiling. If there is a father present, why can't he assume more of the responsibility/ child rearing/ guilt? Why must women be forced to give up their own interests/ work/ identity? A woman is more than a mother. A woman can also find herself in a dangerous financial situation should her primary source of income/ survival rely on the husband/ partner, and should that husband disappear. I would hate to teach my daughters that up to a certain age they can be anyone they want to be, but then they must give that up when they have children, and rely on someone else for financial support. Whatever choice a mother makes is her choice. A mother may find her happiness and sense of worth come from staying at home. At least that is her choice. For a mother to be made to feel guilty for doing anything else is ridiculous. Yes, Amanda, it is great that your children have you around all the time. But I'd prefer to do some work, keep my identity, and have the father work a bit less and have my children know him too. If I were a single mother, I would not wish to be made to feel guilty for working either. The guilt forced upon working mothers is what stops society from advancing, what stops more equal work and childcare arrangements being made between partners, and what keeps women as underpaid second-class citizens, who are guilt ridden and who create a situation for themselves in which their children barely see their fathers. Surely that is not as balanced or healthy as it should be. Obviously I am mostly referring to relationships where there is actually two parents present, but in the case of single mothers/ fathers, it would be great to have a situation where the working parent does not have to feel guilt-ridden, and in the case of it being a single mother, has the opportunity to earn as much as their male counterparts. Which will never happen as long as these unequal relationships and guilt are forced upon people.

Sun, 2009-05-24 03:29

I too loved camp as a kid. I was never super athletic, but even so, I loved playing in the woods and swimming in the lake, and I still remember certain crafty things I learned to this day (braided friendship bracelets and beaded key rings, anyone?) I got to socialize and play with other kids, and these were all things I couldn't have done sitting around at home (in my situation -- being an only child of a single working mom). So, I think, this is a decision that has to be made by each family individually, based on a combination of parent factors (money, work/time off, etc.) and child factors (temperament, desires, siblings, etc.) and probably others. And no one decision is better or worse than another.

Fri, 2009-05-22 17:28

Camp can be a really positive experience - for the whole family. The American Camp Association has many articles that are articulate this much better than I could - http://www.acacamps.org/ - and require all camps that are members of the association to meet rigorous standards.

I have been a long time counselor (6 years), and the main reason I return to it is because I see how beneficial camp is to children. Every family is different and every child's needs are different, but I view any opportunity to be a camper as positive - be it church camps, specialized camps, or general all-around camps. I think one of the most invaluable things gained from camp is a sense of independence - to choose activities, what to wear, different friends... the list goes on. Most camps have a "camp philosophy" and welcome questions from parents to determine if it is the right fit for your family.

Finally, I was also a camper for 6 years. I know I benefited from being both free-range and a camp kid. There are points for both sides of the argument, but mixing the two together works as well.

Fri, 2009-05-22 12:14

I never went to camp when I was younger. Where I lived in Ca. no one really went to camp. In New York it's a different story though. It seems as if I'm the only one not sending my kids. I'm a SAHM and I love the summertime! I love being off a set schedule and being able to explore new things with my children. Instead of paying thousands I can take that and do other activities. The past few summers we've spent in Cali but this year we're staying home and I will buy memberships for much cheaper than the cost of camps. I will buy a zoo membership which I can use at five or six other zoos. I will buy a childrens museum membership which I can use in other cities. That's wonderful for our weekend get-a-ways. Sometimes I do feel like the bad parent because they might be missing out, but I love being able to capture the memories of summer with them myself. Well I wish everyone a wonderful summer whether you're camping or not!!

Fri, 2009-05-22 11:32

To me, this feels like a false dichotomy. Are the only choices "Keep the kids busy and structured all summer" and "Let them fend for themselves"? When I was little, I usually went to an away camp for 3ish weeks each summer -- it gave me some independence (in the sense of being away from parents), introduced me to other types of structure (like the YMCA's trumpet calls and chores), and was a whole lot of fun along the way. On the other hand, I spend most of the rest of the summer at home, tooling around on bikes with my friends, reading a lot of books, and generally doing whatever. That seems like a good mix. (Of course, it requires a lot of resources in looking after the kids all summer and/or paying for camp, but since we're talking more in the abstract here...)

(p.s.) anybody ever heard the phrase "don't feed the trolls"? ahem.

Fri, 2009-05-22 08:02

May I suggest that that was what we call a "crappy" camp? And that there are actual "good" camps around? And that maybe some of are able to discern between the two?

I'm certainly sorry you had to suffer through that job, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us are mindlessly signing our kids up for whatever's around just so we can get a "nice break."

Did no one here have a good camp experience? I LOVED camp. And I'm the least athletic person around, so it's not like I'm your traditional happy camper.

Fri, 2009-05-22 04:57