Advantages and disadvantages
When to send our child to one and when to the other
I stood in the parking lot in front of Vasil Levski Stadium and no, I’m not a football fan. I am part of the team of a wonderful children’s camp. Is early. Only the bus driver, the camp manager (who is always here), and I came to the site. A warm summer morning.
Kids will show up any moment. These are the moments I like a lot. They come with slight anxiety and stand close to their parents, or just the opposite they come and throw themselves to hug familiar teachers and animators, friends from the previous shift or the previous summer. Their eyes are filled with joyful anticipation.
Your picture is familiar by now, right?
I had other mornings. I come to the parking lot, it is raining, the bus driver and the manager are there / she is always there /. Slightly cool and windy, it starts to rain. The children arrive one by one or in groups. However, in a jeep sits a boy, about seven a year.
He doesn’t move, his huge eyes barely holding back the tears, ready to roll at any moment. I look at the driver’s seat, there is no one there. I turn left, right – I don’t see a parent. It is not until three or four minutes later that a stuffy mother arrives who has just been to the camp manager / apparently to hand over pocket money and documents /.
She opens the door and loudly commands the child to come out, because “they will be late to get on the bus and take all the front seats”. I look into the face of the child. It is still scared and I am almost certain that a tear is coming down. He descends and at the slowest possible speed he goes to the cheerful crowd of children, parents, teachers. His unwillingness is like a heavy suitcase he does not want to carry.
At these moments, I think maybe, maybe, “Hi, what’s your name?” Can dispel the despair in those children’s eyes. As I step toward the sad child, I think if it is worth it for the child to experience such an experience, since he will be unhappy and will ring his parents’ phone crying every night. *
No, stop! This is not our Lucky Kidds camp!
Our children come with smiling faces, a joyful heart and a calm confidence that something good will happen.
At present, the diversity of children’s summer camps is quite large. Their advertisements are everywhere, and to decide on someone is a pretty difficult choice. For us, our parents want our child to spend the most unforgettable summer, be in a friendly environment, and be able to do it on their own, whenever possible to learn something or to talk about what has been learned or not – to do sports, but if possible a lot, to get tired and train for health. Or just to be somewhere else and not stand all day in front of the computer, tablet, phone and play online to “be with friends”, virtually. This reality is horrible for us, and although children very often cannot get away from it, a children’s camp is a very good alternative.
Personally, I’ve always been a supporter of children’s camps, not because I work there, don’t get me wrong. The camp is simply a conducive environment for toddlers and teenagers to be challenged outside their comfort zone, to become researchers, researchers, creators. Often parents come to us desperately and when they give us instructions, they say, “Please just don’t it’s on the tablet, let’s play sports, be in nature, learn! ”
I really want to give a guarantee to these parents and explain to them that their children are not “damaged” and there is nothing wrong with being computer gigs, they are a digital generation. However, I prudently leave the arguments for my personal use.
I am a stickler for both: Nature with mainly “P” and technology with mainly “T”. In my opinion, the two could be a great match and bring people to a new level of existence. Just wanting to say that anything in moderation is good for us.
Therefore, when thinking about the choice to recommend to our parents for a regular camp or a language camp, I can only write the following:
“Dear parents, you are making the important decision for your children right now. You are their guide and map. They have no living example but you, despite their continued access to electronic devices. They are read, knowledgeable, thirsty for more knowledge – the information generation. There is no way to stop him in his quest for more and more diverse information. This is the line of progress and anyone outside it is lagging behind.
Off the topic of progress, it’s clear that you want to find the best opportunity, right ?! However, it is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. You, the parents, very often want for the children what you think is good and interesting for them. But attention! Little Mimi or teenager Stefan, maybe, just maybe, they have a completely different view of things.
I strongly recommend that you go through the interest of the child when choosing a camp, and talk with him / her about the topic. It will save you a lot of battles beforehand before they are lost! ”
Only recently did a girlfriend tell me that she feels like a special needs person in the country she is in because she just doesn’t know their language and usually can’t speak to anyone! A very frustrating experience, she said !!
Perhaps your goal is to become a citizen of the world. Because language gives knowledge, values and history, the beliefs of its people. Language is usually the key to a society and its fields of work, knowledge and culture.
Perhaps your purpose is completely different – to distance the child from urban reality, to show him that there are other beautiful and interesting places and activities that are no less fun. Send it back to where it actually belongs – among Nature!
In the first and second cases, the type of children’s camp needs to be tailored!
An ordinary camp can be very attractive with its activities – mountaineering, climbing, skiing, judo, sailing, rafting or surfing / of course in the true sea with real surf /. This is a place for complete relaxation and exclusion from our fast-paced electronic daily routine, away from the fresh air, healthy food and all-day access to oxygen.
Yes, some of us, especially in the big city, are breathing carbon dioxide in quantities, so when children find themselves in clean places they have a huge appetite and go to bed early, healthy and tired. Nothing can be as sweet as the food eaten during a picnic after being roasted on the hearth, even if it is just one potato. The taste of this kind of adventure is like the long-forgotten smell of fire that is luring in the hearth. For many of our children, he is already exotic!
You can choose this type scout or sports camp and I’m sure you won’t regret it.
I personally do not see flaws in such adventure camps. They give the key to a healthy lifestyle discipline, strength and endurance!
I understand the other kind of parents who want their child to study and be the most successful in school! To be able to speak the language (as long as he only wrote and conjugated verbs, and not to be able to speak one word)
A language camp can be a magical combination of both types. It can give the freedom and health that provides the ordinary camp and at the same time bring new knowledge, new interest in the life of a toddler or a teenager.
Language camps like LuckyKids are highly recommended because of the unique combination of an educational and entertaining part of Nature. There is something else that is specific to our camp. It provides an emotionally-valuable education through which children build up their value system, working it out gradually through daily activities during camp life. And our greatest pride – apply it throughout your life further, at school or in a friendly environment!
In summary, when a child attends an ORDINARY camp, they receive:
- Health
- Proper habits for your daily routine
- Friends – temporary or for life
- Sporting skills related to practiced sports during camp
- An unforgettable summer in nature
- Skills for survival in the natural environment and as individuals
- A value system that you practice at camp and then in your life
- Communication skills
- Self-expression skills
- Environmental education
- Discipline and compliance
When a child attends a LANGUAGE camp, they receive:
- Health
- Proper habits for your daily routine
- Friends – temporary or for life
- Sports skills related to practiced sports
- An unforgettable summer in nature
- A value system that practices in the camp and then in your life
- Environmental education
- Discipline and compliance
- Communication skills
- Self-expression skills
- Language skills
- Language skills
- Access to foreign language culture
- Practicing language in a multicultural environment
- Meet with native speakers who are their native speakers
In conclusion, I can say that there is no exact answer for the type of camp the child is attending. Each child is unique as a person and together with their parents, can be directed, supported and realized in their choice!
