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Happy Campers: How to Find a Good Summer Fit for the Kids
By Beth Cooney
The camp looks perfect. There’s a lake, log cabins, family-style dining, a well-trained staff and lots to do.
But later that summer, after a few tearful phone calls, you might not be so sure.
Choosing camps can sometimes be as complicated as settling on the right college. It involves understanding your child, his temperament and interests, while giving him an opportunity to grow.
Day camps? Overnights? There are so many things to consider.
Paramount over everything else is that the place is safe, comfortable and has some real standards that you can verify. Every parent's first step should be to make sure the camp is licensed or accredited.
After establishing a basic level of quality and safety, ask questions about the counseling staff. Are the counselors all teenagers or are there some grown-ups around? What is the typical day?
What is the camp’s philosophy? How is it structured? How much time do the kids have to themselves? How much is supervised?
The best all-purpose day camps will offer a wealth of activities with a balance of structured and unstructured time. And, there will be a lot of things to do when it rains. Because rain happens.
If your child has a passion for soccer or the creative arts, indulging those interests based on their age. If you are in your early elementary years, a summer of one sport may be too much. You can burn out your kids. A week or two of a special interest camp is great; but try to mix it up with a camp that will give them a chance to experiment with new activities and make new friends
Do not presume because your child has not expressed an interest in something that he won't participate in camp.
Ask things like, "Would you describe the camp as fast-paced or slow-paced? How about the atmosphere? Are there more city kids than suburban kids? What are the camp traditions? Tell me about the demographics of the camp."
Even when parents approach the process with lots of diligence there are kids who struggle, and camp executives say there are some ways to spot those children ahead of time.
Parents of "a child who hates the water" should ask a lot of questions if swimming in a lake or pool is a daily part of the camp experience.
At overnight or day camp, worry about a child who has already had experience being bullied. Bullying is something that does happen, especially when you have kids bunk together. Ask detailed questions about how camps deal with bullying, including how they define it.
Parents considering an overnight camp should let their child give it a try by age 9. If you push it to the preteen years, then you are often sending your children into a situation where they are put in a group of established friends and it can be hard to integrate.
Most children are ready for some kind of day camp experience by first grade. Children should attend for at least a few weeks to get the most out of the experience. Give them a chance to get comfortable and make some new friends.
Need a Nanny?
Here are Some Pointers
By Ed Carmona
Looking for a suitable nanny to look after my children was not an easy task as I had thought it would be. In a household with two parents working full time and two toddlers, a nanny is a necessity. First of all, will be cheaper than a daycare and secondly the kids will feel more at ease in a familiar environment. However, finding the right nanny on my own seems to me a tough job.
In the old days, the obvious route to start was to place an ad in the newspaper. Normally the results are a nightmare. Dozens of phone calls at all times of the day. The answering machine will be jammed with calls, anybody from grandma’s neighbor to the high school kid down the street. In many cases it is so overwhelming you don’t know where to start. If you are to go through a screening process and meeting with all callers, you would need a vacation after this exhausting adventure.
To begin with, you have to figure out what are you looking for in a nanny. You know she will spend many hours everyday with our children, so you need someone affectionate, open minded, gentle but firm, and most importantly, someone who genuinely loves kids. Someone like… Mary Poppins!!! Or maybe just somebody like her… Hey, you know this is almost an impossible task, but at least you have to try, right…?
Second, you have to prepare yourself for the interview: What questions to ask the nanny? What should you look for in a nanny? You may have to consider that she is very nervous during the interview, but how does she handle herself in such a situation? Did she approach the kids during the interview? How did they respond to her? You should also do your homework and prepare some ‘What if…’ questions. These are very important indicators to her ability to handle situations that may occur during an average day with children.…
After the interviews it’s time to make your assessment. Do it as soon as possible after the interviews while your memory is still fresh. Take notes and then review them. Maybe now you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The other way is to call on a nanny agency. That should make things a lot easier to find a nanny. You call the agency, they send a candidate and… voila, you have a nanny - end of story. Well, not quite… You still have to put some work in this matter, before and after the actual hiring.
Start your search on the internet for a reputable agency, preferably one who has been in business for several years. The best way is to ask about their experience. What happens if the nanny doesn’t work out? Are there any guarantees? Then, ask them to provide you with reference of your “perfect.”. Call on their customers and find out if their service is satisfactory.
Tell the agency what you need and they will know what to do. Provide them with a detailed description of so called “Mary Poppins” and let them do the job.
So, that was the easy part. Now, assuming the agency has done the preliminary screening of the candidates, you need to meet only a handful of candidates for a personal interview. After I put somebody else in charge with finding a nanny I can relax and watch another hockey game.
Good luck.