As a child, I went to a variety of camps for 15 summers - and loved every bit of it! My parents both worked and my grandparents were elderly (or had passed on). As an only child, my parents saw summer camp as a unique opportunity for me to socialize with kids from all over the world and experience things (places and activities) that were new. In addition, summer camp allowed me to explore everthing from white water rafting, to being a part of a musical play, to horse back riding and farm animal care. I learned so many things at summer camp - getting along with others, true friends, independence, self-confidence, and there were plenty of opportunities to "hang out" and play. That being said, not every camp does all of these things and not every camp is appropriate for every camper. Parents need to choose a camp wisely by taking in to consideration their child's needs, interests and abilities in addition to areas in which they need more encouragement or development. If camp is viewed as a place to "stash" a kid for the summer, then perhaps there are bigger issues in the household - like whether the parents are taking an active interest in their child and their child's development. Camp is not a parenting short-cut. In fact, my parents say that sending me to camp was one of the hardest things they ever had to do, but benefits made it worth it! If you can offer your child all of the things I got from summer camp, then more power to you! But, lets be honest, not everyone can do that.
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But such traditional camps are hardly the only option. At 14, Sam Student (yes, that's his real name) headed from his home in Marlton, New Jersey, to Huntsville, Alabama, for an $800, weeklong Mission Specialist Session at Space Camp, where he cherished the chance to strap on jet packs that astronauts used and experience gravity like that on the moon. When he was 11, Jorge Ospina, from Irving, Texas, attended a $200, weeklong engineering camp run by the University of Texas, Arlington. He learned, he says, how to "build bridges and design artificial organs," and left more determined than ever to become an engineer.
Many high-school students spend their summers on college campuses, taking classes that give them a glimpse into college life and, in some cases, the chance to earn college credits. Brown University will host 2,500 high-school students this summer, while 84 budding journalists are shelling out $4,550 for room, board, and tuition at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, one of 50 such summer journalism programs, At Harvard, 1,000 students will pay $4,950 to attend a rigorous seven-week session. Psychologist Paul Donahue, author of Parenting Without Fear, who treats many stressed-out children and adolescents, thinks kids deserve a break from academics in the summer, especially these days, when the pressure to get into the best colleges seems to start in preschool. "There's a tendency to push academic camps on parents who feel that might be the best way to give their kids a leg up," he says.
For working parents who may not have the luxury of simply hanging out with their kids in the summer, Golinkoff suggests hiring a creative teenage babysitter, or sending the kids to spend time with their grandparents, an option many parents are taking advantage of this summer. While there's no concrete research on the benefits of "Camp Grandma," Golinkoff says, it's a great opportunity for kids to get to know grandparents they don't have time to connect with during the busy school year.
Grandparents can pay attention to the child in a way a busy parent often cannot. "They're not in a hurry to get home and check e-mail," says Golinkoff, and they give kids a sense of where they came from, along with unconditional love. "Grandparents can give them outdoor time, downtime, and imaginative time, which is what children naturally, innately need," says psychologist Georgia Witkin, author of the book KidStress, and director of the stress-research program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. A survey of more than 600 grandparents by Grandparents.com (where Witkin is a senior editor) found that 81 percent of them plan to spend at least part of the summer with their grandchildren.
Whether it's a trip to Grandma's house, building a tree fort or running through the sprinkler in the backyard, there will be more free play for more kids this summer, and families like the Rosenwalds are fine with that. "The summer will be theirs," says Eva Rosenwald. "Maybe it will be the same unremarkable but sweet thing every day, maybe they'll be swept up with a sudden interest in something new tomorrow and devote hours to it. I'm looking forward to finding out." Call it the spirit of 2009.
© 2009
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