There are four basic types of camps to choose from for your child: day programs, sleepaway or overnight summer camp, day programs with trips, and special needs camps. Overnight summer camp is also known as a sleepaway camp when campers spend their nights at the camp; some camps do allow both daytime and overnight campers. The camp you choose for your child will provide a lifetime of good memories and will be truly rewarding.
Many kid campers are enrolled in summer camp by their parents early in the year, thus camps fill up quickly. Each summer, more than 10 million children and counselors attend day camps and overnight summer camps across the country. 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.
Beyond the traditional sports - 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. The more artistically minded might consider arts and crafts, clowning, drama, photography, or dance to be important elements of having a well-rounded camp experience. Basically, if you can think of any subject of interest, there's probably a camp that specializes in it.
Non-profit camps often range from $1200 to $3000 for four weeks and $2500 to $5000 for eight weeks. 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. Weight loss camps are for children and teens in order to help
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them learn about how to lose weight and how to keep it off while having a great overnight summer camp experience.
Camp tuition can be expensive; similar to travel insurance, there are now insurance policies for families sending their children to summer camp to cover last minute cancellations, homesickness, medical emergencies and emergency evacuations. At camp would it benefit your child more if he or she interacted more with the opposite gender? 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.
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. Do you think, if you have more than one child, they would they benefit from attending the same summer camp together? Try to determine whether the director incorporates a similar philosophy to running the camp as you do in parenting your child or children.
Specialty overnight camps can range from $500 to $1000 per week depending on the program. The reputation of a summer camp can also be determined by asking what percentage of counselors returned from the previous year. There are many types of overnight summer camps with a focus on education that cater to students with differing ages and academic interests.
If you find a traditional overnight summer camp or sleepaway camp that's not the right fit, or an expense that isn't possible at this place in time, rest assured that there are other options that can keep your child occupied throughout the summer. Choosing a camp close to home will save a lot of money on airfare and possible hotel or motel overnight stays for a parent, or other transportation costs; this is especially true if your child might get a case of homesickness and want to come home early. Homesickness is a frequent problem, but with a caring camp counselor most campers adjust easily. Take time to consider what you can reasonably afford.
