Why Summer Camp?
Why send your kid to summer camp?
A Message From Kate & Dustin, Foley Parents
“They say, ‘camp gives kids a world of good’ and I believe that. The skills and values you pick up at camp stay with you for the rest of your life and change who you are.” — Lauren C. (past camper)
Making the Argument for Summer Camp
Summer camp provides children with many opportunities for growth like setting and attaining goals, being away from home and gaining independence, or living with peers and learning cooperation, respect, and trustworthiness.
Summer camps are an environment specifically suited to provide children with a unique and beneficial experience they won’t find anywhere else. It’s a place that ensures children leave with new life skills, new memories that will last a lifetime, and a new view of themselves.
Here’s What the Experts Say
‘Should I Be Sending My Children to Camp?’
“After conducting hundreds of interviews of campers and former campers for my book, ‘Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow,’ I know that many young people do not really know how strong they are, how competent they are or even who they are until they get away from their parents and test themselves in a new and challenging environment. Many children told me the best thing about camp was, ‘I can really be myself here.'” — Michael Thompson, Ph. D
Ready, Set, Go: How Camp Prepares Children for Lives of Success
“Summer camps are rife with opportunities for young people to take positive risks. And in my experience, they often feel “safer” doing so at camp than at school.” — Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed
Why Camp Counselors Can Out-Parent Parents
“College-age students possess a completely different kind of authority than do parents, and they put it to good use getting children to set tables, make beds, keep track of their clothes, take showers, take turns and, more important, take risks and accept challenges that would melt parents into a puddle of anxious empathy … They also teach character and community, caring and sacrifice. And they do it all in an environment free of electronics: summer camp.”– Michael Thompson, Ph. D
7 Reasons Why Your Middle Schooler Needs Camp
“Our middle schoolers need a supportive environment where they can mess up and it’s ok. They need somewhere they can miss the bulls-eye and no one laughs. Instead, their friends give them pointers on how to do better next time. Camp provides this.” — Anne Archer Yetsko
What Parents Don’t Get About Camp
“‘We have to give our kids credit,’ said Mrs. Hope, who is also a mother of three. ‘We really don’t get how much power our own kids have, whether it’s an innately human thing, or inner strength. Give your kid credit. They have all the stuff they need inside, and camp is a place to draw it out.'” — Talya Minsberg
Immersed in Camp Culture *For International Parents
“Simply from being placed into camp culture, non native English speakers are both consciously and subconsciously discretely bombarded with lessons in social English, something that a classroom environment simply cannot offer.” — Ben Thompson
What the Foley Family Says
“I am so grateful that my kids found Foley. It’s the best summer experience full of fun and growth and friendship … They always return a little different than they left. They communicate a little more, show a little more respect, are a little more appreciative and demonstrate a little more patience.” — Lisa C. (mother of three campers)
“We do all we can as parents to teach our kids about and to model the qualities that will bring them happiness in life, but seeing your counselors, as young adults, modeling those positive qualities and still being ‘way cool’ is one of the best things our kids could absorb.” — Tracy M. (mother of three campers)
“Thanks for providing such a great environment. He came back a little more mature and seems much happier than when he left for camp.” — Barb A. (mother of a camper)