Preparing Your Teen for Summer Camp
Choosing a summer camp is one thing, but for any parent, preparing to send a child to camp (whether it’s day camp or sleep-away) can be quite another. After all, who will keep track of your child’s belongings? Who will oversee his or her medications if necessary? How will your child manage when he or she is feeling a little homesick or has had a tough day?
These are all perfectly natural concerns, but there are also perfectly good answers for each of them. Just as you spent quality time researching and evaluating the camp options for your, it’s now time to focus on properly preparing your child a rewarding summer camp experience.
For children ages 8 to 17 and young adults 18-21 with LD, ADD and ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and high functioning autism. Talisman is ACA accredited and specializes in creating camps that offer not only adventure, but learning experiences, while providing parents with unique alternatives to ordinary summer camps that cannot focus on their child's special needs.
If your child has special needs (emotional or behavioral difficulties, for example), it only makes sense that your concerns will focus on both your child’s behavior away from home and the camp staff’s ability to provide your child with the emotional support he or she needs to deal with the challenges and adventures a good camp provides (see our article on camps for special needs kids). Luckily, if you’re sending your child to a camp that caters specifically to special needs kids, you’re already a step ahead: not only will the staff be more than prepared to answer your questions; they’ll also know the right questions to ask in order make your child’s experience as successful as possible. What’s more, they’ll be accustomed to handling and administering necessary medications and counseling kids through the occasional (but not insurmountable!) bout of homesickness!
You can ensure that the camp is well-prepared to help your child by providing camp counselors, therapists and other staff members with as much relevant information about your child as possible. In other words, this is not the time to withhold information. Don’t be afraid to share your child’s social, behavioral and emotional background with the necessary staff members: special needs camps will be more than accommodating for children with all kinds of concerns, and you will only be making their job easier (which ultimately helps to ensure a positive experience for your child).
Finally, make sure you provide adequate contact information and invite the staff to make good use of it: knowing you’re available when they need you is another great way to help ensure a rewarding camp experience for both you and your child. (If necessary, providing the relevant contact information for your child’s doctor and/or therapist in case of emergency is also an excellent idea). Again, a good special needs camp will ask you for much of this information, and will be accustomed to making sure parents are appropriately informed of their child’s progress.
As well as communicating closely with the camp on the run-up to your child’s session, make sure that you are also communicating closely with your child. While he/she may appear excited about attending camp, it’s possible that he/she also harbors some concerns about being away from home (if it’s a sleep-away camp), making new friends, or tackling new experiences. One of the most important things you can do to help your child address these concerns is to listen. When your child brings up the topic of going to camp, offer him/her your full attention, acknowledge his/her concerns and take the time to share both your own concerns and your enthusiasm.
SUWS Wilderness Programs have been helping troubled and defiant teens for 25 years! SUWS excels at addressing the underlying cause of negative, unhealthy behaviors. The wilderness environment and experiential learning help students recognize and build upon their own sense of self-worth as they learn the value of helping others.
Be realistic about the emotions he/she might face (fear, anxiety, nervousness, excitement), and involve your child in making a list of the ways he/she can actively deal with emotions (writing letters, seeking out counselors or friends, or involving him/herself in an activity, for example). Asking your child to help you come up with ideas for keeping in touch is another way to engage him/her in positive preparations for camp, especially if the camp does not allow direct contact between parents and kids. (Decide how often he/she will try to write home, for example, and agree to write regular letters to your child at camp in return).
So what’s the bottom line on all this? Communication. As a parent, you are the initial link between your child and the camp. That means it’s your responsibility to provide as much information as possible to the camp administration, and to spend as much time as possible talking with your child about his or her expectations of summer camp. The more ways you can find to engage him or her in constructive, pro-active camp preparations (from thinking about what kinds of camp activities he/she might enjoy to shopping for notepaper and supplies), the more likely it is that your child will enjoy an amazing camp experience.
