Summer camps take planning

Each summer, more than 10 million children and counselors attend day camps and sleep-away camps across the country. Many of these kid campers are enrolled in summer camp by their parents early in the year, thus camps fill up quickly. That is why you should be diligent in your efforts to visit camps during the peak season to make plans in advance of the next camping year.

The variety of camps available today is almost innumerable, meaning there will be some specialized camps that may have availability left even into the summer. 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.

The summer is a key time to visit camps because you can ascertain whether they’ll be the right fit for your child and family while the camp is in full swing. You can view campers and counselors in their element, witness activities as they occur, and just obtain an overall feel of the camp, something that cannot be accurately experienced when camp is closed.

When visiting each camp, you want to ensure your child’s safety and comfort, so try to talk to current campers and their parents, if possible. Evaluate the brochures. Get to know the camp director from in-person visits to your home, phone conversations or correspondence. In doing this, try to determine whether the director incorporates a similar philosophy to running the camp as you do in parenting your children.

Then, check the camper-counselor ratio to determine the number of campers to each counselor. Children get more individualized attention and supervision with a lower number of campers per counselor. 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 percent return staff ratio, which shows that the camp is seen as a good place to spend a summer.

If you find that a traditional camp is not the right fit, or an expense that isn’t possible at this junction in time, rest assured that there are other summer options that can keep your child occupied throughout the season:

? Summer school programs: Some schools offer courses during summer break for students who attend the school or those who are not part of the student body. Other schools may offer a summer recreational program, similar to a camp, that follows a school-day schedule – beginning in the morning, and commencing in late afternoon. For parents who work, this can prove handy.

? Day care: Some day-care centers offer summer programs in addition to standard care. Religious organizations may also sponsor retreat events that will run a few weeks during the summer.