Reasons to choose a camp????

I would definitely go with the camp your child likes and does well at. Why risk an unhappy experience and loss of self-esteem?

Laura,
I try to give my child as many experiences as I can. I concentrate more on what he is gifted in but not exclusively.We have day camps that run from 3 days to a week at our Science Museum and Museum of Art. They offer a variety of camps.If the camp is week long and he isn’t interested it might be too boring,but if it is just 2-3 days he could live with it. Thats just my opinion. Jan

Laura,

My DS is away at sleepaway camp for the first time as we speak!

My husband and I realized that although he will never be an academic star, he has always separated well and could be “cool” for being one of the kids able to go to sleepaway. So that was part of the decision.

THen we looked for a camp that was not too sports oriented, but would instead include sports (which we’d like him to get more comfortable with for social reasons…) as some of the many activities they offer.

We also looked for a camp with a favorable counselor to camper ratio, and one that seemed gentle enough for a child with LD.

So the answer is I think ideally both - a place that plays to their strengths but allows them to safely explore new things. If that doesn’t exist , then I think I’d opt for a camp where he can excel since we already know that school is hard… does that make sense?

Thanks for all the great responses. Since LD kids must spend a lot of time doing things they don’t feel successful at (like school!), it really is important they have opportunities to participate in things they do like and feel successful at.

My 10-year-old son has been going to a Robotics camp he loves (he has good visual spatial skills and has been interested in pipes, gears and all those kinds of “man made” objects all his life). He is in his third week and would like to continue with robotics, but prior to summer I had signed him up for basketball camp. In the past, he has not felt too confident with sports (he avoids them at school). I decided to sign him up for basketball camp because his best friend (a talented athelete) is going, as well as two other kids who live on our block and at least one or two other kids he knows. I had figured that since he would know some of the kids going there he might feel comfortable. Also, a camp wouldn’t be as competitive as being on a team so he might learn some good skills and gain more confidence. He doesn’t hate basketball (except the idea of joining a team. I once signed him up when he was 8 and he refused to go!), he tells me he “sort of likes it.” and he’ll play it with the kids on the block. But he’d never play it at school during lunch or recess. He feels much too intimidated for that!

He particularly enjoys playing it while jumping on the trampoline (we move the basketball hoop so it hangs over the trampoline netting). So I do think there’s some potential for him to get slightly involved with it. I certainly don’t expect to create an athelete, but I’d like to expose him to it…..and yet, he really is enjoying robotics and is interested in continuing the camp so he can learn to design more complex robots.

Probably the best thing is to leave the decision to him and just be glad he is doing something for the summer!

Years ago I went to a traditional summer camp where we ran from canoeing to swimming classes to outdoor skills classes to a short break in handicrafts to another swimming session. It was a great place and I had a wonderful time there. Still was a loner, but had a good time in my own way. And the fitnes effect was wonderful. When I became a counsellor myself I saw that the focus outside of yourself was very therapeutic for a lot of kids.

I was never able to send my daughter to a camp like this unfortunately, as it would have been good for her, combination of financial problems and then the strange ex.
I did send her to summer day camps and classes which taught various things each year, one year computers and woodworking, one year calligraphy, most years swimming too. She got a lot out of all of these, often notably more than a year in school. We always planned and discussed her summer programs together; I found lists of all the classes available around and showed them to her and she told me what she liked.

Ah Laura,
I so relate to your question. I try to be accepting, while still challenging my son to grow and develop new interests. I find I’m much more likely to let my daughter choose her own way, b/c she has so many other strengths to draw on. But I think my son need to develop even some of his less favorite areas of interest – not to be a different person, but to be a person with some options.

If I were you and I thought the basketball camp would be fun and socially successful, I’d probably angle to send him there. Unfortunately, sports ability is an important component for boy’s social life. I’ve taught my son for example not to tell people that he doesn’t play sports - b/c its not true! He just doesn’t identify as a “sports kid” but when people ask ” what do you play” a response of “nothing” stops the conversation dead in its tracks. Instead he now says ” I swim and I play soccer….” I hate that athletics is valued above science ability , for example, but it is. And playing along is an important social skill for a child that really wants friends but isn’t always good at making them.

You can tell this is a topic I’ve been thinking about alot lately!

Victoria, I went to one of those traditional summer camps too and it was a valuable experience. I remember riding the van into the mountains, fishing, and my first time horseback riding (when the horses started running on the trail I was certain I was going to fall off and die!). Neither of my kids have ever gone to a traditional camp.

Karen, I’m not sure if the camp would be socially successful. I think there’s a good chance because he does have some friends going there. Although one thing my son has started doing this last year is he has become much more anxious and worried about new situations. On his first day of Robotics he spent the whole morning saying, “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go” over and over. He was worried the kids would be mean or he wouldn’t make any friends. It was kind of difficult to get him through the door! I think this has happened because he had such a bad school year (there were quite a few really mean kids in his class). He never used to have these anxieties.

Laura — you had vans and horses? Boy, that’s out of our league. We had our own feet and a few canoes and our swimming ability. The one I liked best was a church-run camp, although being Anglicans the religion was low-key. There was a short chapel service onsite in the mornings, but on Sunday we dressed up in white shorts and shirts and hiked to the church in the nearest town — three miles there and three miles back. As I said about fitness … Also shared suffering is good for the social skills department.

its a judgement call as always. I try to springboard off of successful situations (reinforce the positive ) but you certainly don’t want to put him into a situation where he will fail. Sometimes even going with friends can backfire if he’s anxious and doesn’t enjoy it. Good luck with this….