Summer camps

SUMMER CAMPS:

A great learning opportunity but parents need to be little alert

Hurry! Hurry! Summer vacations are around the corner. Children eagerly wait for the summer vacations and even with the thought of summer vacations, they all get so excited. Reason of excitement is the “SUMMER CAMPS” which children can join in the vacations, make many friends and learn skills relax-fully away from school assignments. Summer camps are extremely beneficial for the children as they learn in a fun and free atmosphere. Children gain social skills as they interact with many other children from different social, economical & financial background. Summer camps help children to become confident and independent.

Nowadays the demand of summer camps is so much from the parents and the students that almost every school in the city is hosting a summer camp. Summer camps are generally organised for 15-25 days duration. It depends on the choice the school to decide on the number of days and fee to be charged for summer camp. Apart from schools, specific academies are also organising summer camp by their own. Variety of activities are offered for camp which includes personality development, spoken English, Art, Music, Dance, Robotics, variety of sports, adventure activities etc 

No doubt summer camps are a great way to expose a child to some creative and engaging activities but parents must do a survey before enrolling their child for the summer camp. This will help to give best summer camp as gift to their child.

The following areas to be reviewed by the parents: 

Know the organisers
Parents must find out minute details of the company or the school hosting a summer camp. Parents must find out the answers to questions such as have the school ever hosted camp in past? How many participants were enrolled last year as well as taking part this year? Who all will be the team members or trainers for the activities? What is the popularity and fame of these trainers? Are they competent enough to train children? This will help parents to understand the organisers and trainers profile in depth.  

Camp Activities
It is important to know the activities offered in the camp. Does the camp offer single activity or multiple activities?  What will be the time duration for each activity? Is the time allocated sufficient to learn a specific skill? As it has been observed that sometimes the outcome of an activity offered in summer is almost zero because of the time duration and at the end of the camp parents feel that the camp was not worthy. Hence enquire about the minute details of the activities so that it will be a life-long experience for the child.   

Check safety & security aspect
Parents must be alert of the kind of safety precautions will be taken for specific camp activities. What kind of medical facilities will be available at the camp? Is the campus under CCTV surveillance? How much is the inflow of visitors to the activity zone? Are the parents allowed to accompany children? What are the do’s and dont’s of the camp?  These are the few questions which parents must investigate prior to selecting a summer camp for their child.   

Camp Fee – Pocket check
Check your pocket or budget for giving this opportunity to your child. Parents have to find out the cost or fee of the camp. Can the parents afford the camp fee? What all things are including in the camp fee? Are the transportation, meal, material, medical etc included or excluded the camp fee? Choose the one which is in your budget and suits your pocket. Don’t try to bargain with the organisers, it will really look unethical.   

Communication or updates
Parents must know who will be the overall incharge of the camp, contact no. & further relevant details of the person must be noted. Parents need to be aware of how are the organisers going to update or communicate with them about the day to day update or progress of their child.
Withdrawal Policy

Parents should explore out what is the withdrawal policy of fee. In case the child is unable to attend camp even after the payment of fee, what is policy of refund of camp fee? Within how many days camp fee will be refunded in such case?

To conclude,  summer camps are the brilliant platform which offer immense learning opportunities to gain skills in non-competitive spirit but parents have to be a little careful and attentive while choosing the right summer camp for their child so that the camp becomes a memorable learning experience for the child.