Picture this:  you walk into the living room and your 8-year-old child is grasping an iPad or video game controller or remote control. You cautiously approach and try to suggest some other activities. The debate heats up and your child wins. Not because they are right to want more time with their gadgets but because you want to avoid a full-scale blowout fight.  You sigh and head off to another room to work on one of the hundreds of things that parents must do to keep their house in order, deciding to rage your war against technology on another day…

This scenario occurs often in American households today and children are being stimulated more and more without face-to-face interactions that are a vital part of growing up.

In a study done by The Partnership for 21stCentury Skills, they found that companies are no longer focusing on “the 3 R’s” (reading, writing, and arithmetic), but instead turned to “the 3 C’s”…

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

2. Creativity and Innovation

3. Communication and Collaboration

Companies are looking for graduates with initiative, leadership, flexibility, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity, and accountability.  These skills, together with “the 3 C’s”, comprise what is known as the 21^st Century Skills.

Sadly, many of today’s typical educational programs are aimed at passing standardized written tests and don’t have the time or resources to focus in on the 21^st Century Skills.

In his recent article, “Camp: The Ultimate 21st Century Skills Learning Environment”, author Andy Pritikin gives examples of how summer camps adhere to these skills and how camps continue to layer the “depth of knowledge”.  One of the survey statistics he mentions is that 81% of parents reported seeing an increase in their children’s teamwork skills at home after a term spent at camp.

At Camp Foley we have different words for those same skills – Grow Grit. Investigate Independence.

Think of the advantage your kid would have for a lifetime with a great traditional education in the winter and an extraordinary experience at camp in the summer….