{"id":33967,"date":"2019-12-20T03:31:57","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T11:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=33967"},"modified":"2019-12-18T13:09:06","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T21:09:06","slug":"tips-for-choosing-right-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/12\/20\/tips-for-choosing-right-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for choosing right camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter your observance level, prioritizing a Jewish camp will boost your kids\u2019 enrichment and ownership in the Jewish community. (photo by Joe Goldberg \/ flickr)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Day camp or sleepaway camp? Single sex or co-ed? Traditionally Jewish or liberal? Shabbat observant? Kosher? STEM or sports camp? The choices are endless. No matter your observance level, prioritizing a Jewish camp will boost your kids\u2019 enrichment and ownership in the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

As a parent, I often feel overwhelmed by the options available. Many say, \u201cYou\u2019re the expert!\u201d when it comes to your own kids. Yet, it can be hard to get inside kids\u2019 brains to know what is right for them \u2013 and summer camp is one of those big decisions. It\u2019s a time for childcare, enrichment and fun. But it must be decided in advance, it\u2019s sometimes expensive and it can feel like a risky guess. Here are some tips to get started.<\/p>\n

What do you need?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you must get kids to camp before work, let\u2019s be honest. Camp serves as childcare. It needs to be something you can pull off each morning. Make a list of what you need to make it through the summer. Early morning or afternoon care, a way to purchase healthy snacks and lunches, or a bus that picks the kids up? These may be essentials for some parents.<\/p>\n

Some need much more. Kosher food? Stricter Sabbath observance? These may limit your choices. If your kid has special needs, your work schedule is unpredictable or you live far from Jewish camping options, things become complicated. Some parents start with geography. For many, it\u2019s unrealistic to try to drive an hour to camp each morning with small kids before getting to work.<\/p>\n

Plan ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

If your list of possible Jewish camping options is short, find out when sign-up opens and get your kids\u2019 names on the list. Sign-up often happens in January or February \u2013 long before we\u2019re ready!<\/p>\n

What do your kids want?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started my research by asking my twins what they liked to do most in the summer. To my surprise, playing outdoors with Mommy and the dogs ranked top on their list. When I prioritized the other \u201cwants,\u201d it became clear that taking swim lessons at a lake (with a half-hour drive on each end) and just getting a chance for free play in the sunshine were key elements of their summer. For that summer, we had only a month of camp and a long but inexpensive \u201cstaycation,\u201d with trips to a lake with a parent. We fit in making challah, doing Jewish art projects and reading PJ Library books, too.<\/p>\n

Other requests might include attending camp with a close friend or trying out a new skill (music, acting, soccer, coding) \u2013 and these could all happen at a Jewish camp.<\/p>\n

Be realistic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe your kids know what they want, but, sometimes, they don\u2019t. That\u2019s OK. A general day camp, with lots of activities and choices every day, may be just the ticket.<\/p>\n

One summer, I was sent to a co-ed sleepaway camp far from home for a month. I didn\u2019t know anyone. The daily activities included a large dose of sports, which I hated. Worse yet, there was an outbreak of head lice. It was awful. By contrast, I also spent two years attending an overnight girls\u2019 camp for two weeks each summer with a friend. I loved the library and the arts and crafts stations and have vague but good memories.<\/p>\n

A kid\u2019s maturity level matters, too. I was an independent oldest sibling, ready for overnight camps at 8, but, at that age, it was clear my twins were not ready to go anywhere overnight. I did ask them though. Did they want to go to sleepaway camp with some of their friends? I got a resounding no. Your kids often know what they\u2019re ready for and what they wouldn\u2019t enjoy. Give them a choice.<\/p>\n

Feel confident in safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

Camp is a lot more flexible than life during the school year. There\u2019s swimming, group sports and many other ways to have fun \u2013 and get hurt. Many camps are staffed by well-meaning teenagers and university students, with only a few adults supervising. Be sure things are safe and the activities are a right fit for your kids. Even one bad interaction with a bully or an unsafe situation could make camp hard for your kid.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a feeling of confidence when you know that the people in charge are knowledgeable and making good decisions that you can trust.<\/p>\n

Ensure communication<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make sure the camp gives parents and campers lots of information from the beginning about what they will be doing each day, what they need to bring and how to have a successful experience. A camp that doesn\u2019t remind you to bring towels or bag lunches may also be disorganized in other ways, too. See if the counselors offer you information when you drop off or pick up your kid so you can know more about what goes on. Tell those in charge that you expect to know about any injuries or tussles during the day.<\/p>\n

Compromise is key<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes, when you\u2019ve gotten through your list of Jewish camps and kids\u2019 desires, you find that the best camp for one kid might not work for the other. Or, the only horseback riding camp is single sex, and the kid\u2019s best friend is not the same gender.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we need to choose out of our comfort zones to make things work. My kids attended a Chabad travel camp for years. It didn\u2019t jive with my egalitarian sensibilities. Some of the theology concerned me. However, they definitely learned about Judaism and had fun. I trusted one of the directors, my kids\u2019 former preschool teacher, completely.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to optimize things as best you can, and then compromise, too. There are a limited number of Jewish camps out there. Your kids have only a few summers to have fun outdoors with friends. Put aside some of the details you can\u2019t change so you can make the most of their fun \u2013 and Jewish \u2013 times in the sun. They may remember their camp experience forever.<\/p>\n

Joanne Seiff <\/strong>has written regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including <\/em>From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner<\/a> or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter your observance level, prioritizing a Jewish camp will boost your kids\u2019 enrichment and ownership in the Jewish community. (photo by Joe Goldberg \/ flickr) Day camp or sleepaway camp? Single sex or co-ed? Traditionally Jewish or liberal? Shabbat observant? Kosher? STEM or sports camp? The choices are endless. No matter your observance level, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5780,3076,218,3430,6153],"class_list":["post-33967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-culture","tag-education","tag-judaism","tag-kids","tag-summer-camp"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}