|
Lessons for Life
How Summer Camp Give Kids the Tools to be Better People
By Mary Ann Romans
for PARENTS EXPRESS
Among the many reasons for camping, there is a new, very important one: setting a lifetime path toward learning.
"I think people forget that play is how young people learn," says Peg L. Smith, the CEO of the American Camp Association (ACA). "It helps them develop appropriately. Too often, kids don't have the opportunity. Camp is a very experience-oriented learning."
Learning Through Direct Experience
Much of the current research on children and education is, in fact, focusing on the phenomenon that in an age of high-pressure testing, many kids don't get the opportunity for that experience-oriented, hands-on learning. It is this type of learning that many experts now say is critical. According to the report released by Alliance for Childhood, a national nonprofit organization devoted to promoting "policies and practices that support children's healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living," children simply aren't getting enough time for imaginative, hands-on play, and that has a definite impact on how they learn.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agrees. In a new report, the AAP stresses the importance of play for healthy development, saying it is "essential for helping children reach important social, emotional and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient."
The following experts say that camp offers just the sort of play experience that promotes healthy development. "In today's world...the camp experience is especially important, because children learn through experiential education," says Marla Coleman, immediate past president of ACA and owner-director of Camp Echo, a resident camp in Burlingham, N.Y., and Coleman Country Day Camp, a day camp in Merrick, Long Island. "Camp provides them with a community of caring adults who support them and provide opportunities for them to develop self-respect and appreciation for human value."
"Camps provide for a well-rounded child," says Howard Batterman, former national treasurer of the ACA and owner of Sesame/Rockwood Camps in Blue Bell, Pa. and Diamond Ridge Camps in Jamison, Pa. "A child can have academics for nine months and then have terrific socialization and hands-on skill building at camp." According to Batterman, camp can fill in those missing gaps of learning by allowing kids to experience learning in a new way, getting them to develop new interests, and getting them outside. "There is a lot of teaching that goes on at camp. It is a nice partner with straight academics," he says.
Social and Emotional Learning
These experts say that the opportunity to improve socialization skills and build confidence are also important in setting a child on the right path for life.
"Camp provides children the opportunity to practice growing up, because the camp experience allows a child to take healthy risks in a safe and nurturing environment (mental, personal, emotional and physical needs are nurtured)," Coleman says. "Kids learn to navigate on their own, gain a stronger sense of self and others, and become resilient – through first-hand exploration and discovery. "
"Camp is a community; one of the few still available." Smith says. "At camp, a child can make decisions with others, make friends with people who are different but also just like them. As neighborhoods disappear, camp is still that community, still that neighborhood.
"Camp is the best demonstration of moral order," Coleman says. "Kids are a belonging and contributing member of society."
"It helps emotionally," Batterman says about the importance of community. "Working together with other children and counselors, there is no pressure at camp. Kids move as a team, eating together and going to activities together. The bonds of friendship and the emotional confidence last a lifetime." He says it is not uncommon for campers to stay in touch through adulthood. "Camps really give them an opportunity that is so different; just to relax and be a kid."
"Camp is a learning experience where they also are unplugged and released from over-stimulation of world events," Coleman says. "They make new friends, have challenging activities, develop a respect for the natural world, and learn how to build relationships and connect to other people," he says.
"The predictability of camp life is reassuring to children, especially in these uncertain times," says Coleman. "The bonus is: there are no TVs around the lake! Kids get to relax – from world stresses as well as personal stress."
Is camping different today?
"In some ways, camping is very much the same as it was 15 or 25 years ago," says Smith. The child is involved in a variety of outdoor experiences, and the adult/child ratio is unchanged. Still, there are two aspects that have changed.
"Camping today is a year-round experience. There are family camps, day camps, residential camps, trip and travel camps, etc. This is instead of the two-week traditional camp," says Smith.
"Kids also have a chance to select a variety in camping and may go to several camps in one summer or several programs – a series of different experiences – at one camp."
"Kids are different in terms of choice," Batterman says. "Kids today, the remote-control generation, like to change their activities quickly. There is a lot of choice out there, from the traditional camp to a speciality camp. There are definitely more choices than there were 15, 20 years ago," he says.
"For anyone who still is nervous about sending a child to camp, I try to encourage them to take a tour of camps" Batterman says. "There is something for everyone."
Smith says that there is something unhealthy about parents over-scheduling and over-emphasizing academic success and that the fun learning experience camp offers is a positive choice. "We are so involved in building our children's resumes. I think camp is a great way to normalize childhood and offer a wide-range of life experiences."
Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer from Aldan, Pa.
Last Updated: 1/18/2008 4:46:30 PM EST
|
|
|
