Some overnight summer camps have a tightly targeted focus such as religious study, academics, and competitive sports. Camps often focus on specialties including: adventure, art, computer, dance, music, religion, horse riding, sports, theatre, and there are many others. The more artistically minded might think participating in arts and crafts, clowning, drama, photography or dance to be important elements of experiencing a well-rounded camp experience.
Overnight summer camp is also known as a sleepaway camp because campers spend their nights at the camp. Some camps allow both daytime and overnight campers. There are four basic types of camps to choose from for your child or teenager: day programs, sleepaway or overnight summer camp, day programs with trips, and special needs camps. Camps are usually divided by gender - girls only, boys only, or co-ed and again by age group.
Planning early, if possible, can be important. Be diligent in your efforts to visit camps during the peak season to make plans in advance of the next camping year. Beyond the traditional sports like baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, football, and more - there are camps for outdoor enthusiasts that can offer horseback riding, hiking, camping, fishing, and even rappelling. Special needs camps meet the needs of a wide range of children with disabilities; these camps provide an outdoor summer camp experience together with a therapeutic environment.
If you have more than one child, would they benefit from attending the same summer camp together? Make sure to check the camper-counselor ratio to determine the number of campers for each counselor. The reputation of an overnight summer camp can be determined by asking what percentage of the counselors returned from the previous year.
Specialty overnight camps can range from $500 to $1000 a week depending on the program. Get to know the camp director by having them visit you in your home if possible and by phone conversations, email or other correspondence. The best overnight summer sports camps do much more than just improve a camper's golf, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, or wrestling skills - they help each child become a more skillful athlete, a more gracious competitor, a more committed team player, and a more confident person.
Some camps are called adventure camps - having a very specific theme or interest. Many of these programs emphasize skill development and personal growth through the adventures they offer to the camper. College credit courses are very popular at overnight summer camps. They typically offer students the opportunity to explore a pre-college experience; usually, students entering grades 10 through 12 stay in college dormitories and attendance at summer classes run by the college faculty. Visit the camp so you can view campers and counselors in their element, witness activities as they occur, and just obtain an overall feel of the camp, something that cannot be accurately experienced when the camp is closed.
There are many types of sleepaway or overnight summer camps with a focus on education that cater to students with differing ages and academic interests. Try to determine whether the director incorporates a similar philosophy when running the camp as you do in parenting your child or children. And children will get more individual attention and supervision with a lower number of campers per counselor.
Homesickness is a frequent problem among the little campers, but with a caring camp counselor most campers adjust easily. Think about what you and your child hope they will get from going away to camp. If you spend the time needed to research your options in advance, and include your child in all the decisions, he or she will most likely have a memorable experience that provides wonderful opportunities to grow while having a lot of fun and making new friends. And last but not least, if you think there's a possibility you might have to cancel an overnight summer camp reservation, camper's insurance would be a good idea.
Basically, if you can think of any subject of interest, there's probably a camp that specializes in it. There are camps with activities as traditional as model rocketry and riflery, to those nontraditional as aviation, computers, language studies, golf, martial arts or community service. Each summer, more than 10 million children and counselors attend day camps and overnight summer camps across the country.
The variety of camps available today is almost innumerable, meaning there will be some specialized camps that may have availability left even into the summer. Camps often focus on specialties that include: adventure, art, computer, dance, music, religion, horse riding, sports, theatre, and many others. There are overnight summer camps that are co-ed camps, boy's camps, girl's camps or brother-sister camps where boys and girls may have separate venues and activities.
Some camps have a targeted focus like religious study, academics, and competitive sports. There are overnight summer camps with a focus on self-improvement, weight loss and grief counseling. Selecting the right camp that fits into your child or teen's interests, special interests, needs, special needs and abilities will be one of the first steps
The best overnight summer sports camps do much more than just improve a camper's soccer, tennis, lacrosse, or wrestling skills - they help each child become a more skillful athlete, a more gracious competitor, a more committed team player, and a more confident person. Camps should have at least a 40% to 60% return staff ratio, which shows that the camp is seen as a good place to spend a summer. Some camps are often called adventure camps - having a very specific theme or interest; many of these programs emphasize skill development and personal growth through the adventures the offer.
Children or teens could typically explore subjects new to them like marine science, photography, creative writing, community service, drama, magic, scuba diving, video production, comic book design, crime scene forensics, cooking, yoga, rappelling, etc. College credit courses are very popular at overnight summer camps that typically offer students the opportunity to explore a pre-college experience; usually, students entering grades 10 through 12 stay in college dormitories and attend summer classes run by the college faculty. Check the camper-counselor ratio to determine the number of campers for each counselor.
Although camp counselor jobs don't usually pay very well, usually minimum wage or less, counselors receive free room and board; many take the job primarily for the camping experience. Weight loss camps are for children and teens in order to help them learn about how to lose weight and how to keep it off while having a great overnight summer camp experience. Is there a special topic (e.g. religion, sports, educational, performing arts, arts and crafts) that you hope your child will gain ability and experience in?
Camp tuition can be expensive; similar to travel insurance, there are now insurance policies for families sending their children to overnight summer camp to cover last minute cancellations, homesickness, medical emergencies and emergency evacuations. Get to know the camp director from an in-person visit to your home if possible, phone conversations, email or other correspondence. Consider these industry-recommended guidelines - for smaller children ages 7 and 8, there should be one counselor for every six campers; by age 15, there should be one counselor for every 10 campers.
If you think your child may not be ready for a sleepaway or overnight summer camp, choose a local camp in case you end up having to make a late night pickup in the event he or she gets homesick. Overnight summer camp is often the first time that most children spend a long period of time away from home. The camp experience will have a lasting impression on a child or teen, so there are a number of issues that should be seriously considered when choosing an overnight summer camp or sleepaway camp. Typically an overnight summer camp experience will leave a lot of wonderful memories for the child or teen camper.
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