It’s Day Two of our A Camp-A-Day Series, and we have a great sneak peek for you!
As promised, here is our Camp Calendar. It’s a snap-shot of what’s listed in our Activity Guide’s Summer Camp Section! Click the image below to view it full size! Please keep in mind that we do our best to list all of our programs, but not every single camp is itemized individually and sometimes the age ranges in the left hand column represent a combination of all of the camps listed in that row.
We know many of you are already starting to plan your summer, hopefully this helps! See you tomorrow!
Our staff has been working non-stop to get parents our summer 2014 schedule. We are so very close to releasing it, but in the meantime, we thought we would highlight one of our MANY camps each day until registration begins on March 12!
Today, we thought we would start with a few basic housekeeping items.
We will post the Activity Guide online for you to see prior to it actually being mailed. THE FIRST RULE ABOUT THE ONLINE ACTIVITY GUIDE IS, YOU MAY NOT SEND IN A REGISTRATION FORM PRIOR TO IT HITTING THE POST OFFICE.
Did you know we have a Camp Website? We are not up and running yet, but the URL is so easy to remember… ready? It’s RedwoodCityCamps.org. Seriously, don’t go there yet. It’s not up.You will be disappointed.
We have a special early sign-up incentive coming your way this season!We are rewarding our early registrants with a 10% discount on some of your children’s favorite recreation camps, including: Polliwog, Mountaineers, Explorers, Kaboom, Whatchamacallit, Summer Adventures and High-5! You will automatically receive this deduction when you register in person, by mail or by fax, as well as online by entering the code “SUMMER10” after you place each week of these camps into your shopping cart! We chose an early bird deadline of April 15th. We thought for a variety of reasons, it should be easy to remember. *wink*
We will be offering something NEW this year, called “Bridge Care.” Bridge Care is a program that helps to link-up morning and afternoon sessions of select camps in order to create a full day opportunity for kids that want to try a couple of different camps each week. Want to take a Sports camp in the morning and a Tech camp in the afternoon? Maybe your child would like to do a Science Camp first and then take a Lego Camp later. Whatever the combination, we have options. Our staff will pick your child up from their morning camp and then walk them to the Community Activities Building for lunch from 12:00-1:00 pm. After lunch, we will escort them to their afternoon camp. We have specifically flagged a handful of camps that are in a reasonable walking distance to our lunchtime destination. We apologize that we could not accommodate all of our camps this year for this pilot program.
That’s it! Please come back and visit our blog daily, or better yet, subscribe! You can also catch us on Facebook and Twitter. We will be leaking a new tidbit every day. I am hoping to get you the coveted “Camp Calendar” tomorrow… stay tuned!
Camp Organizers have a tough job. They are trying to coordinate camps that can keep children of wide age ranges, backgrounds, maturity levels and attention spans engaged for the day. Coming up with curriculum can be a challenge, and even more so, there’s the daunting task of firming up the appropriate age groups to actually thrive in their camp environment. They have done their best to design parameters for their programs and hope that all is harmonious once camp starts.
Now, fast forward to Springtime. Parents are trying desperately to find interesting and fun camp activities for their kids. There is nothing worse than sitting down and thumbing through your favorite activity guide, only to find the perfect camp (you think) and have your child be just shy of the minimum age requirement.
What happens next? You ask WHY? Why, Why WHY? You feel your child is fully capable of launching a rocket, playing golf or has a real proficiency building (or deconstructing) their sibling’s Ninjago Lego™ sets. You pick up the phone to voice your concerns. Some common parent comments are: My child is very mature for his age, He loves older kids, I need a longer day for them, can’t you just add her in? Yes, we are camp providers, but many of us are also parents. We feel your pain. We hear your words. We understand your needs (is this helping?), but we have guidelines for a reason. Let me add some perspective.
Let’s say you have a 10 year old that is very excited to come to science camp this summer. The chosen week listed is for children ages 5-12. Let ‘s also throw in the variable that registration of the ages will vary. We could have three 12 year olds, ten 9 year olds, a couple of 6 year olds and then someone has requested their 4 1/2 year old join in. From the older child’s perspective, the camp may feel like it is going too slowly, since they are waiting for the youngest child to finish their project. The older child may also be needing assistance but the younger child requires far more attention than the staff ratios can bear. Now the camp is revolving around making sure the little one is having their needs met as opposed to the general group. From our 4 year old’s perspective, it may be hard to build relationships with their peers, have fun during free time, or they may just be intimidated by the sheer size and energy of an older group of children.
Minimum and maximum age requirements are set by our camp providers after years of experience and evaluation of curriculum for their camps. Sometimes overrides are allowed, but many times, those overrides end in the child not staying for the entire session. This could be based on reasons of their own, or by the needs of the camp and the ratios that just won’t support the requirements of someone younger. Now, I bet your next response is. “What about children with different learning styles, energy or focus?” My short answer to you is that by limiting the age range, providers have a smaller sample to work with. It’s camp. It’s not school, but there are still expectations of listening and attentiveness for not only learning, but safety and cohesiveness.
Another reason why some providers won’t bend their requirements is based on maturity and skill level. Children not of the minimum age value may not have the gross motor skills or strength to be able to support the equipment provided for the camp. They may not have the fine motor skills to build or take apart their creation without excessive assistance. They may lack the experience of a classroom setting that makes it very difficult for them to sit for long periods of time.
At the end of the day, camp is supposed to be fun! Kids can learn and grow, make new friends, surround themselves with new experiences, and build memories to last a lifetime *sniff*. Camps are designed with your child in mind. Providers want to create the most predictable atmosphere to best deliver their curriculum as well as to build a positive and supportive peer environment. By selecting age ranges that best allow them to do this, is the easiest way to control the population of their camp and create harmony.
We know every child is different, but we need to hold to some standards in order to ensure a smooth ride. We know there are exceptionally talented kids in our midst as well as athletically gifted children than can outrun, outplay and outlast a child twice their size. We are serving the masses. We need to have some sort of benchmark to organize these activities or we would be holding interviews and auditions for campers to give them preferred placement.
We hope we have shed some light on the camp provider perspective. Before choosing to ask for special allowances, make sure that you take all aspects of your child’s Summer happiness into consideration.
Several months ago or so, I had a meeting with an excited group of Canadians who were looking to launch their new social media website on the Peninsula, geared towards parents. They started in Victoria, British Columbia and then decided that this would be the next great place to spawn their next locale. If you haven’t heard of ChatterBlock yet, check it out! It is looking to become a great resource for Parents in our region to access Activities and Events for Children on the Peninsula. I could spend a ton of time telling you about it, but it’s probably easier for you to just visit and check it out yourself!
They recently asked if they could shine a spotlight on our Department, and in 2.2 seconds I responded with an enthusiastic YES! Thank you ChatterBlock for becoming a new partner of ours. We LOVE the extra promotion and resources you are providing us and our neighboring Communities!
