Category: Uncategorized

Keeping Kids Safe at Camp: What Every Parent Needs to Ask/Know

November 9th, 2010

Even when you are right there next to your child to offer comfort, care and treatment, accidents and injuries can be difficult to deal with. So as we prepare our kids to go to summer camp, it is important to ask some questions of the camp and prepare our children well. That way, everyone can rest assured they are having a summer of fun and making memories to last a lifetime in a safe environment.

We’ve discussed many issues parents need to consider when choosing a camp, enrolling their child and sending them on their way on this blog. As families are signing their children up for camp next summer, here is a list of things to ensure are in place as you get your family ready for a summer away:

Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association. This requires camps to follow certain guidelines, including counselor to child ratios and other safety procedures.

Camp requires staff safety training.

Camp has emergency contact information for your child.

Camp has been notified of any medical conditions and/or allergies your child has. Be sure to be specific when you communicate with the staff. Let the camp know the specific name of the condition as well as warning signs and steps to take to help your child. Click here for an ACA article on administering medications at camp.

Camp has provided written health protocols and policies.

Beyond physical safety concerns, ask how the camp deals with homesickness. We’ve talked about that topic on this blog as well and will also be discussing staying connected in another post.

Just as the camp can have multiple safety policies and procedures for kids, it is also important for our young ones to learn how to stay safe independently. So take the time (repeatedly) to ensure that you and your child

Know what’s safe and what isn’t. Review the camp’s handbooks for rules of conduct for campers. Review these with your child before he or she leaves for camp.

Understand which kinds of behavior are acceptable and which aren’t. Breaking the rules can put others in dangerous situations.

Have good hygiene practices. Cover sneezes and coughs with their elbows (not their hands) and wash hands frequently.

Know when to notify a staff member and ask for help. Not every bump and bruise requires medical attention – make sure you and your child knows which is which. We have a health center with several present and a doctor that is on campus or visits daily.

These are all fairly simple ideas to keep families safe and camp is no different. If, as parents, we do our research, read the parent handbooks and camper manuals, ask all the right questions and talk with our children, everyone spends the summer relaxing, being cared for and as safe as possible. For more information, visit the ACA website and read more about this and other camp topics on their parent pages.

Olivia

Thanks for the images cyc4454 and timlewisnm.

If I could go back to camp. . .

November 4th, 2010

If you’re a summer camp alum, and you had some extra wishes lying around, would you use one to go back to camp? If you could go back today, what would you do? We asked and you answered, on Facebook and on Twitter. Here’s some of what your fellow camp alums had to say. We challenged them to finish this sentence:

If I could go back to Camp Laurel South, I would:

…not even know where to start… or what to do with myself!

…stay.

…ask for chicken patties.

…veg out on the docks with my feet in the water and watch the sunset with my favorite LS friends!

…challenge Agawam to a staff basketball game at Rest Hour and Win!

…sit in Sail Chair and soak it all in.

…ask for “chick p” for lunch, but only with chipotle mayo!

…I would probably start screaming CITS CITS CITS!

…never want to leave again!

What would you do if you could go back to camp today? Use the comments section to let us know!

Olivia

Kid Tales — Stories of Camp

October 14th, 2010

Summer Camp is a time of firsts. The first time you try to catch a ball with a lacrosse stick (and realize you can!). The first time you get on on water-skis. The first time you serve an ace in tennis. The first time you get up on stage in front of hundreds of kids your age. The first time you scale the climbing tower…trot with your very own horse…..Now that camp has ended for the summer and everyone is getting ready for the school year, we thought we’d share some tales from camp. What have the kids taken home with them to last the next 9 months, until camp starts again?

Many families are surprised at the sheer amount of first-time experiences their kids have at summer camp. When Justin, a 12 year old who attended camp this year, was asked to list things he did for the first time at camp, he had quite the list. “I learned how to play guitar, archery, and golf,” he said. During our conversation, it also came out that he also learned new baseball skills and got to play tennis. He also experienced the camp evening programs for the first time, which he raved about as being “fun and creative.” Justin’s going to be talking to a lot of people about camp when he goes back to school. And what is he going to tell them? “I made a lot of new friends and tried a lot of new things. I had the best time!”

My own summer camp experiences – way back in the 80s – were largely defined by a feeling of the summer camp community breaking apart at the end of the summer. We would often promise to write letters we never sent or make long distance calls our parents wouldn’t pay for, but when summer was over, camp was tucked firmly behind us for another year.

With today’s technology, however, the summer camp community can stay together all year, even when they return to the home cities, states and countries. Camp Laurel South has an active Facebook community where current campers, families and alumni can connect, share stories and keep up to date with the staff and the current session. In these early days of October, much of the chatter is about how much everyone misses camp and wishes they were back on the lake, riding the horses, singing in the dining hall, etc.

For those who’ve connected to Laurel South through Facebook and other new social networks (Twitter anyone?) the camp experience doesn’t end with teary good-byes in August. So when will we meet again?

Olivia

The Best of the Best

September 24th, 2010

Many returning campers will tell you that the best thing about camp was the people, and they don’t just mean their cabin mates and fellow campers. Campers also develop strong bonds and relationships with their counselors and camp coaches. At Camp Laurel South, the camp director works year-round to find the highest-caliber professional staff, and these dedicated adults devote their summers to your kids and their development.

In addition to many of the staff being former campers themselves, they are also graduate students, teachers, coaches, and even some professional athletes, all of whom want to mentor and teach kids in the amazing environment of summer camp. Being a teacher isn’t enough, nor is being an experienced coach. The camp staff have to connect with camp-age kids and form the bonds that make the weeks at camp so special and productive.

We all know that kids learn better from coaches and teachers they like and respect and will retain the skills and lessons much longer. How many of us can still remember our favorite mentor and something specific they told us all those (many!) years ago?

While camp isn’t school, as we all know, your child’s camp program is specially designed to make the most out of the experiential/informal education nature of a summer in the woods. Many of the coaches at camp have spent five-to-ten years working for the same camp, perfecting their programs and curricula. They know what works in a camp setting (and what doesn’t) and have shaped their programs so your kids get the maximum benefit.

Camp coaches also go above and beyond the normal expectations of parents. Many of the coaches, for example, will communicate with the kids’ coaches back home so the transition and skill-building is seamless. The kids don’t miss a beat.

At Camp Laurel South the coaches are dedicated to developing skills in many areas, including soccer, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, swimming and even equestrian. Shorter season programs allow kids to always try out something new and develop more broadly. Please visit the Camp Laurel South website (www.camplaurelsouth.com) to find out more about our summer leadership team.

Olivia

Life, Unplugged

September 14th, 2010

I don’t know about you, but my kids are constantly plugged into something, whether they are texting their friends (does anyone talk anymore?), bopping along to Lady Gaga’s latest, updating their Facebook status, researching a school project online and creating a multi-media presentation, or playing games on my iPhone while I desperately try to finish a conversation at the vet’s office.

Some days I can win a battle or two (no texting at dinner!) but the war is ongoing. And honestly, I’m not the best example. That iPhone I mentioned is never far from reach, and right now I’m surfing online, listening to my own brand of pop music, answering text messages as they come in and writing this blog.

Don’t you wish there was a place where we could all live life unplugged? We adults may not be so lucky; but for our kids, that place is summer camp.

Knowing that someone out there is cultivating a culture of back-to-basics, low-tech life is an irresistible draw for me as a parent. My husband and I love the outdoors and frequently take our kids on short camping trips, but these offer only a short break from the world of “screen time”. Monday morning comes and before the sleeping bags air out, we’re all rushing to see what awaits us in our email inboxes.

As a mom, I worry about the long-term effects of all of these tech ways of communicating. I’m not alone. Several studies have suggested that kids who spend too much time plugged in lose some skills for interpersonal interaction. Let’s fight back.

At camp, social interaction is done the old fashioned way – face-to-face. Campers and counselors alike leave their cell phones at home and get back to a simpler life, when there is an art to conversation. If you were a camper, think back to your best memories. All of mine involve revolve around interpersonal interactions you just can’t get through an email: telling stories around a camp fire; sharing hushed secrets late into the night; telling the worst jokes you ever heard; huddling together to decide the best capture-the-flag strategy.

Friendship doesn’t need a high-tech interface. Don’t think your kids will get with the program? In a recent Seventeen article, teen girls shared their favorite summer camp memories.  Guess what? Not one involves a cell phone!

Thanks to Pink_Sherbert_Photography and eron_gpsfs for the photos!

Olivia, Guest Blogger

Winding Down….

August 13th, 2010

How fast time passes when you’re having an amazing time! Wednesday evening, we were all captivated by the sensational performance of Grease! It was unbelievable! We can’t wait to watch our campers in Beauty and the Beast tonight!! Yesterday was our final “S” Day of the session and everyone had an awesome day at Funtown. Today and tomorrow are our final program days of the session and we have some incredible culminating activities planned: our 5th Graders day trip…Dance and Gymnastics shows…the Zip Line and Giant Swing at Adventure…the action goes on and on. Soon we’ll have our Final Banquet and Council Fire before Monday’s departure. We look forward to the next few days together…and the beginning of the countdown to Laurel South 2011!

The Beat Goes on….

August 10th, 2010

We have so much going on…it’s hard to believe there’s only a week left of camp!! What an incredible summer it’s been…the weather has been nearly perfect and everywhere we look, from the ballfields to the waterfront, the stables to adventure, the theater to the arts, this has truly been a magical summer! What’s ahead? Our amazing theater performances…intercamp games and tournaments…exciting dance and gymnastics shows…and let’s not forget Funtown!! With one week left, we’re starting to reflect on the wonderful memories we’ve made so far… Still lots to do…and the beat goes on!