Travelling and Photography

September 17, 2010

Is Your Child’s Camp Accredited by the American Camp Assocation?

Filed under: Camping — Tags: , , , , — arkan @ 4:26 pm

Approximately 10,000,000 (ten million) kids attend camp each summer. But but only a small percentage of them attend accredited camps. You wouldn’t send your child to attend an unaccredited school, so why send them to an non-accredited summer camp?

Summer camp accreditation is earned through the American Camp Assocation. By choosing an accredited camp, you can be assured the camp meets or exceeds up to 300 best-practice standards within the camp industry relative to child health and safety, food service, supervision, transportation, risk-management, facilities, staff training, program quality and more.

Does choosing a non-Accredited camp for your child mean the camp isn’t a “good” camp? Hardly. There are many wonderful summer camps that have not earned ACA accreditation.

But if you choose an accredited camp for your child, you’ll be in exclusive company. Only 25% of camps in the United States have earned ACA accreditation.

It’s important to note that accreditation is not the same as a license to operate, and accreditation does not guarantee safety. Each state and/or county may have its own licensing and regulations which all camps must comply with in order to operate. However, according to the American Camp Association, “accreditation is the best evidence for parents that a camp is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for their children.”

How do you know if the camp you’re considering for your kids has achieved ACA accreditation? Just ask the camp director. If they answer “yes,” you know you’re on the right track. If the camp is not accredited, then you should ask the camp director why not. And if you aren’t satisfied with the answer, perhaps it’s time to consider another camp.

By the way, asking the camp director whether his or her camp is accredited is not the only question you should ask. To ensure the most promising camp experience for your child, you should ask the director a series of questions and be satisfied with the answers. Here’s a link to the American Camp Association’s website to help you know which questions to ask: http://www.campparents.org/safetytips.php#questions

There are many wonderful summer camp opportunities available for your child. Whichever and whatever kind you choose, please make sure it’s accredited. It’s your best guarantee of a safe, fun summer!

Eric D. Naftulin is the owner/operator of Aloha Beach Camp, an ACA-accedited aquatic sports summer day camp for kids and teens ages 4 to 15 in Los Angeles, California. Try Aloha Beach Camp and learn to surf, boogie board, wakeboard, jet ski and more.

August 8, 2010

Researching the Right Camp for Your Child

Filed under: Camping — Tags: , , , — arkan @ 4:28 pm

With over 11,000 camps in the United States, it is important to come up with a list of questions to guide you. By doing so, you can narrow the possibilities to a manageable few.

What do I want in a camp?

Single sex or co-ed?

Religious or non-denominational?

Sports-oriented, nature-oriented or a mixture of both?

In driving distance or am I willing to fly?

Do I want lakes or mountains (or will just a river do)?

How many weeks?

Is the camp competitive or nurturing?

Activities required or free choice?

To do this research, it is helpful to:

Talk to other children and parents.

Watch DVDs & talk to your children.

Search the Internet.

Attend a camp fair. The Annual Jewish Camps Fair will be held on Sunday, December 14th, from 10 am – 2 pm, at Solomon Schechter Day School. The broader St. Louis Summer Opportunities Fair will be at Whitfield School on Saturday, January 31st, from 10 am – 3 pm. At both, there will be overnight camps, day camps and teen travel opportunities.

Talk to camp directors.

Talk to a Camp Advisor.

Making Camp Visits (Summer 2009)

Based upon your research, try to narrow your camp options and choose a few programs to go and visit. All camps gladly receive guests, if you schedule an appointment. If you are considering camps in Missouri, you can plan a day or overnight trip to an area and then stop in to see the camp. If you are looking at camps in the Upper Midwest, you could plan a family vacation near to the camps you wish to visit. Most camps are located in beautiful areas near state parks or resort areas, so these visits can be fun for the whole family. You could even plan your family’s vacation at a camp and take advantage of a family weekend. These visits can help your child acclimate to the environment of the camp and make the decision to leave home a lot less scary. And, your first-hand observations of the facilities, the activities or the dining hall routine can help you know if this would be the right place for your child!

Early Bird Discounts (Fall 2009)

Once you have determined which camp suits your child, you can take advantage of early bird discounts. These discounts usually hold the cost of camp down to the previous year’s tuition or take a few hundred dollars off the price of residential camping. And, when your neighbors are stressing out about what their child will be doing in the coming summer, you will be sitting pretty with your child already enrolled!

Summer 2010 – The Best Summer of Your Child’s Life

Since there are programs to fit the needs of any child, I encourage you to explore the range of options available to you. The camp experience is an opportunity that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Happy camping!

Do the Research (January – May 2009)

Jenny Wolkowitz is the Midwest consultant for www.tipsontripsandcamps.com. She is a married mother of 3 children. In her earlier years, she was a day camper, an overnight camper, a counselor, a teen tour participant and a teen tour leader. She studied abroad in college and has traveled extensively throughout the world.

March 21, 2010

Types of Summer Camp

Filed under: Camping — Tags: , , — arkan @ 4:26 pm

One of the most exciting and integral part of our childhood is the summer camps. They are one of the best options to consider incase you want to really have fun with the same group of persons incase you are really intending to enjoy life to the fullest. The kids find this as one of the best options of being outdoors away from home with some of their best friends and a great opportunity to mingle, have fun with the kids of their age and make new friends. But as far as the kids are considered the ultimate right of selecting the best of the summer camps rests with the parents. The parents have to keep in mind the dual goal of making their kids have a jovial time as well as provide an opportunity to the kids to learn some new and innovative things. However this is not a stone crackling decision to be made, there are vast numbers of options available in the market. Some of them are as follows:

Day camps or day and night camps

First it is essential for the parents to understand whether they are intending to move on to a day or an overnight caps. Day camps offer the activities to the kids which are spread throughout the day and in the night the children can get back home. Such camps are referred to as day camps. On the other hand the overnight camps are camps wherein the kids would stay at the camps throughout the day as well as in the night. Such camps are also termed as extended camps which exist for few weeks or a month. It would be preferable to send the kids for the first time on the day camps so that they could be aware of the camp environment and then the second or the third time when the kids go for visiting the summer camps they can go in for overnight summer camps. Hence it is essential that the kids are sent to the overnight camps only once they are aware about the basics of the camp life.

Academic or the scholarly camps

These camps are conducted with the educational focus in mind, they are conducted to teach the children based on different and interesting strategies, it teaches the kids from a different perspective than the usual medium of class room teaching. These camps have proven to be really beneficial to the kids from the curriculum point of view and kids enjoy these camps though they have an educational motive hidden in them.

Adventurous Camps

You would have seen many of the summer camps have adventure camps as their tag line in their advertisements. The adventurous camps offer the kids with an opportunity of mountain trekking, rock climbing but in addition to this they offer the kids to learn certain specific things. These adventure camps are expensive than the other options of summer camps.

Art Camps

These camps are one of the best options to steer the creativity within your children. However they not only offer creative programs but they do have other enjoyment programs for the kids.

Jacksamul is the seo copywriter for Girls summer camps. He has written various articles like summer camps, Children summer camps, Adventure camps, Girls summer camp, Adventure summer camps and more. For more information visit our site www.chooseacamp.com. Contact him through mail at campchoosea@gmail.com

February 9, 2010

Has Your Child Outgrown Traditional Summer Camp? Try An Extreme Sports Camp!

Filed under: Camping — Tags: , , , , , , — arkan @ 4:28 pm

Remember camp when you were a kid? You spent your days horseback riding, petting farm animals and shooting bows and arrows. Your nights were filled with skits, s’mores, and singing songs around the campfire.

You can still find summer programs like these. There will always be a market for the tradtional camp experience. But today’s youth often demands more stimulating camp activities. Extreme sports camps are where it’s at!

Extreme sports camps run the gamut from surfing camps to wakeboarding camps to dirt biking camps and more. Though extreme sports camps are often viewed as “riskier” than traditional camps, the risks or dangers are often more perceived than actual when the camp takes proper precautions.

What are the “proper precautions” needed to keep kids safe at extreme sports camps?

In general, the camp staff requires additional training and expertise in the activities being offered. New, modern, and well-maintained equipment must be utilized. And weather conditions (such as at a surf camp, for example) must be just right; you don’t want your child learning to surf on a 5 foot wave when a 1-foot wave is more than appropriate for a beginner.

Since extreme sports camp activities are typically more challenging than traditional camp activities, your child’s potential for personal growth and development is enormous. It is not unusual for parents to report a dramatic increase in their child’s self-confidence and esteem after participating in an extreme sports camp. Imagine your son or daughter’s sense of pride and achievement after conquering the biggest wave at surf camp!

The thrill and fun of attending an extreme sports camp can’t be beat. But remember, the necessity for proper safety provisions, supervision, equipment, and personnel cannot be overstated. Assuming these important variables are in place, your child could be in for the most amazing camp experience of their life.

Eric Naftulin is the owner/operator of Aloha Beach Camp, an extreme sports, beach and surf camp for kids and teens ages 4 to 15 in Los Angeles, California. Try Aloha Beach Camp and learn to surf, boogie board, wakeboard, jet ski and more.

September 6, 2009

Different Types of Childrenâ??s Summer Camp

Filed under: Camping — Tags: , , , , — arkan @ 7:40 am

When it comes to childrenâ??s summer camp there are two main descriptions of summer camps, but there are several different types. The first one is the day camp, where attendees take part in the camp during day and return home in the afternoon or evening. The other designation is â??sleep away summer campâ? other wise known as overnight camp. Both type of camp could last from a single day or a week time or even more.

Various entities offer children summer camps you can find girls summer camp and boys summer camp separately as well as co-ed summer camp, from schools and churches to sports programs. There are arrowhead camps, dance camps, summer camps for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and even dedicated camps, including those for people with disabilities or particular needs. Summer camps might be firmly for boys or girls, or they might be co-ed but only for children. There are summer camps accessible for adults too, such as performing arts camps, but adults and children are not generally incorporated in the same camp setting.

Aside from sports and scout camps, there are as well spa camps, work out and training camps, weight loss camps and boot camps, in addition to summer camps are designed mainly for hobbies. These comprise everything from art and music to science. You must have no problem selecting a camp, which actually matches your child’s requirements, interests and personality.

The activities accessible at different summer camps comprise all from learning how to skateboard or ride a horse, to getting ready for higher education and performing society service. Your child could skill everything from diving, fishing and archery, to learning about computers or knowing new forms of worship. From dirt bike racing to snorkeling, and from tennis to dancing, there is impressive for every taste.

Summer camps could be a form of holiday, a learning experience, or a bit of both. Some of the maximum benefits summer camps provide is the chance for children to make new friends, learn new skills or just look up upon current ones, and stay busy and active all through the summer months.

Ron Victor is an Expert author for Pali Overnight Adventures. He written many articles like summer adventure camp, Music summer camps, Fashion Design Institute, Secret agent camp california and Water sports camp ca. For more information visit our site. contact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com

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