Should I Make my Kid go to Camp?
I get asked this question frequently, so I’ve created a grid to help you make the decision. Just see what box you and your child fall in, the grid will tell you “yes,” or “no,” and your camp decision is made. Simple as that! Okay, it’s really not that simple. For some families, the camp…
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Why Kids Flourish at Camp
Campers often describe camp as their “happy place”” or “the best two weeks” of their year. And, from my own observation, I’ve seen that kids and the counselors who work with them are obviously happy at camp. They smile a lot. They look relaxed. There’s a lot of laughter. So many fun things happen at…
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What’s the Best Age for Camp?
You probably want a number here. If you’re only going to read these first two sentences, then I’ll pick the age of nine. But my real answer is a bit more complex. When to start sending your child to sleep-away camp is a decision that depends on you, your parenting style, and your child’s temperament.…
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Five Reasons Great Parents Send Their Kids to Camp
My shy, quiet nine-year-old went to camp not knowing a soul. Two weeks later, she came home transformed. She blossomed. She made friends, learned a multitude of activities, felt safe, loved, confident, and happy — really, really happy. As hard as it was on me, it was all worth it for her. It was the single…
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Making Friends: Managing Difficult Emotions
Here are a few tough questions: • Has anyone ever accused your child of bullying or being mean to another child? • Have you ever seen your child lash out (physically or verbally) at another child? • Does your child react aggressively when upset by a sibling? • Have you noticed that other kids don’t seem…
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Friends: Finding Gold in a Plastic Era
“Friendship is the gold of childhood.” Michael Thompson’s statement stuck with me long after I attended his session on the social lives of millennial children at a recent American Camp Association conference. I would go even further and say that friendship is not just the gold of childhood, but also of life. And, unfortunately, our…
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10 Reasons I Heart Camp
In honor of “I Heart Camp” Day (February 1), here are 10 reasons why, as a parent, I love camp for my own kids 1. Gets them Outside! Camp gets my kids OUTSIDE, breathing fresh air, watching spectacular sunsets, and getting their sweatshirts full of campfire smoke smell. 2. Makes them Happy! My kids smile…
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4 Parenting Challenges and How Camp Can Help
In today’s digital, fast-moving, ultra-competitive world, raising kids who grow into happy, independent adults has become more challenging for parents. Quality summer camp programs offer an experience that many parents have found to benefit their child’s development of important life skills. Independence, perseverance, and social skills are just a few of the skills that campers learn…
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Making Family Dinner like a Campfire
An activity we do at campfires at camp has been helpful in our family at getting our kids to communicate about both positive and negative events in their lives. For children who don’t normally share their struggles and keep them bottled up, it helps them open up. And for those who don’t naturally focus…
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Focusing on Kindness
This summer’s theme is “Cool 2B Kind.” We’ll focus on being kind to one another and carrying out acts of kindness (referred to as “GACs of kindness”), both big and small, that help form the strong friendships that GAC is all about. From the moment campers arrive, counselors will encourage them to think more about…
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Parking Your Helicopter
“The study, released Feb. 12, found that behaviors associated with helicopter parenting have a negative impact on the college-aged adult’s feelings of autonomy, competency, and their relationship with their parents. Conventional wisdom in the field of psychology suggests that these three characteristics are necessary for healthy emergence into adulthood.” -Andrew Averill, The Christian Science Monitor…
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Grit, Goals, and Growth
Gold Arrow Camp has taught me to be brave and reach my goals. If it wasn’t for GAC, I wouldn’t be nearly as courageous as I am now. Remi Grit Grit has become the new buzz word in education and parenting thanks to Paul Tough’s best-selling book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden…
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