There is a multi-cultural aspect to summer camp that is a great benefit to campers who attend summer camps in America.
While standardized test scores dictate students’ admission into certain high schools, learning programs, and universities, summer camp is an esteemed diversion. That a student ventured to America and invested in an American tradition so revered as summer camp provides international campers an opportunity to advance English skills and immerse in American culture that is almost un-rivaled. The big picture in those countries in which learning is the gold ticket is to take in “all things English.” To experience summer camp is to give a student an advantage beyond any of his or her classmates. Four hours per week in school could never equate to those of several weeks spent at a summer camp experiencing traditions that are quintessentially American while forming friendships that last a lifetime. English is a language that is as much about experience as linguistics. It’s a complicated mix of culture with as many exceptions to rules as there are rules. The best way to understand English is quite literally to experience it. At camp, children can make friends, participate in activities and become a part of traditions that are more than camp: They live English. For those children seeking to become truly fluent in English and gain an advantage over their fellow students, summer camp is an essential investment.
Tag: benefits of summer camp
Camp Souvenirs
It happens while you’re unpacking. You happen on an oddity or two—or ten—in your child’s bag or maybe shorts pockets.
Crazy little circular chains of rubber bands (dozens of them!) seem to be tucked into every crevice of clothing your child could find; a water bottle filled with what appears to be sand and lake water, or; a pocket full of leaves. These are but a few of the little treasures that made their way home with your camper. You ponder over your child’s spoils from camp for a few minutes and try to figure out what it’s about. Then you finally decide to ask about ‘a Ziploc baggie full of sand?’
‘From the waterfront!’ Your child proudly declares. ‘I wanted something to remember the fun I had there this summer.’ You sit the bag (that you were considering throwing out a few seconds before your child walked into the room) down on the nightstand and make a mental note to pick up a container that will do it a little bit more justice than a Ziploc baggie.
‘And what about what about those rubber band things?’
‘Bracelets’.
‘Ahhhh…Of course.’
The souvenirs that find their way home from camp are always one of your favorite parts of unpacking. It’s become a game for you, trying to guess the chain of events that led to you finding that random piece of burnt wood alongside your child’s socks and putting it together with the years prior to this summer that he and his camp friends spent plotting their rope burn strategy.
‘campfire?’
‘The Burning of the W. I snuck it on my way back to the bunk’
‘Yes!’ You guessed one. You’re starting to get good at this. What you begin to realize is that the random discoveries you’ve been fishing out of your child’s luggage like an archeologist at a dig site aren’t random at all. They’re memories. More importantly, they’re the summer’s best memories in the form of rubber bands, lake-water filled water bottles, sand filled Ziploc baggies, and, yes, even burnt pieces of rope. The candles and ceramic animals are obvious. You like them, too. But it’s these special little surprise finds that tell the more complex story of your child’s summer–the reason you’ve come to like, actually anticipate, unpacking after your child returns home from camp. You’re not exactly sure what you’re going to find or what it will mean, but you can’t wait to find out.
Home (Parentheses)
Parents: By now, your pantries are empty, your laundry rooms are full, and your television remote controls have become affixed to your children’s hands. The campers are home, and they’re riding a camp high. They have a lot to tell you. Get ready to hear a lot of stories about camp (over and over), be let in on a lot of inside jokes that you probably won’t understand because “it’s a camp thing” (laugh anyway), learn everything you could ever want to know and more about new friends (excellent excuse to look at camp photos again with your children), and listen to camp songs and cheers (they’ll likely want to teach them to you too). Sometime around mid-September, you’ll probably start wagering with your spouse about whether your children will stop talking about this summer before next summer starts (not likely).
You’ll try to start conversations about things other than camp (you’re pretty sure you’ve seen an episode or two of Pretty Little Liars), but inevitably the conversation will come back to camp. (Remember the episode when Spencer realized that she’d been to summer camp with Hannah’s stepsister? And speaking of camp…) But just when you’re starting to feel camped out, something will happen this fall that will make you remember why you love hearing about camp. Registration for next summer will open. You’ll remember that this is the point every year when still hearing about this summer even though it’s time to start thinking about next summer transforms into music to your ears, and the lyrics are your children’s way of telling you that they love camp (even though by that time they’ve said they love camp about a million times). You’ll think about everything they’ve shared with you about camp, try (and fail) to count how many times they’ve used the words “Camp Weequahic” since they’ve returned home, and maybe even admire some of their arts & craft handiwork as you pat yourself on the back for deciding to give your children the gift of summer camp (then you’ll check the camp website for the Visiting Day 2014 date).
