10 Ways to Create a Happy & Connected Class
Part of the “magic” of camp is that from the first moment, we focus on building relationships and getting our cabin groups connected. We train our counselors to help kids develop social skills so they can form friendships and feel a bond with their peers. The minute kids arrive at camp (or get on the…
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Play, Hygge, and other Good Ideas: A Review of The Danish Way of Parenting
I was recently talking to a friend who spent a year in Spain, and she shared with me how different it was living there. Each day, she’d see whole families walking (ambling slowly, not hurried) together to pick their kids up from school for their two-hour midday lunch and siesta. Every Saturday, many families met…
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Final Conversations Before College
Today I traveled 2,326 miles to drop off my youngest daughter for her freshman year of college. After a few days helping her get settled and procuring a mattress pad, a desk lamp, and other dorm-room necessities, I’ll get on a plane and return home, leaving her here, 2,326 miles away from me. Perhaps you can…
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Hop on The Energy Bus!
One of our treasured camp traditions is reading to campers each evening at bedtime. We adopted the tradition more than a decade ago, because we realized how calming it is and how much even our oldest campers enjoy it. I also know from my own experience how a love of reading comes from being read to…
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The Power of Positive Words
Well, I don’t know the child that was returned to me on Saturday. It definitely wasn’t the child I dropped off two weeks earlier. The only logical explanation is that your camp is magic. Magic transformed my scared, sad, not always happy boy, into a confident, smiling, laughing young man. -Email from a Camp Parent I have…
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Dear Parent Hitting the Refresh Button (again) to View Camp Photos
Dear Parent Hitting the Refresh Button (again) to View Camp Photos, I know your pain. I’m on your side of the computer this week, waiting for a glimpse of one of my children at his camp. So far, I’ve seen only one blurry, side-view of my son in the far background of a picture of…
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Campsickness: 10 Tips for Easing the Re-entry Home
“I miss camp so much. I just got back today.” -Emma From pictures posted on Instagram in the days following camp (and for the rest of the year), the message is clear. Some kids really miss camp after they get home — a lot. The feeling of missing camp is so intense for some kids…
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Helping Kids through their “Low Point”
During one of our final training sessions with counselors, we ask them to think back to their “low point” as a child or adolescent and remember what, if anything, caring adults did to help them through. It’s a great reminder to counselors to think about the developmental stage of the campers they’ll be working with…
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Connection Before Correction
Because I know our counselors may not retain every bit of information covered in training, there are a few concepts I will continue to focus on and share with them throughout the summer. One of those is the importance of connection before correction. I’m convinced that developing positive, close relationships with children serves as a…
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Celebrating Strengths
What are the qualities you like best about yourself? If you’re like me, I’ll bet you haven’t thought about that question much. You may tend to focus more on the things you don’t like about yourself or the qualities you see in other people that you wish you had. One of my favorite quotes is…
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7 Reasons to Get Outside
Next to unplugging, one of my favorite things to talk about is spending time outside. In fact, I believe the combination of unplugging AND spending time outside may be the answer to many of life’s ills. I know that combination works for me. During the summer, I spend most of my time outdoors. As a…
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Questions for Connection
When the calendar turns to spring, my mind turns full steam into counselor training mode. I can’t help it. After four decades of preparing counselors for their summer working with kids at camp, I can’t help but be über-focused on gathering tools to help prepare them to be engaged with campers, thrive at camp, and…
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