3 Ways to Find the Best Summer Camp for Your Kids

We are barely into the second month of February and parents are already looking for summer camps for their kids. It usually happens that during their search for a camp, they know on some level what they want but are not always successful at expressing it.  Sometimes the sheer number of options here in Middlesex County may seem overwhelming. But there are some easy ways to shorten the list. In this blog you will read about three ways to help you find the safest and most fun summer camp for your kids.

Figure Out What a Day Camp Looks Like

Start out with some research. You may find this part easy if you took part in summer camp activities as a child. But if you did not, try to talk to others who did have a chance. A second way is to visit some camps to see what it is like there. If you cannot visit a camp in-person, check its website and notice how many activities they offer. Eagle’s Landing Day Camp in North Brunswick offers 30+ activities in arts, sports and science to children ages 3-15.

Find Out if a Camp is Licensed

The internet has made this task easier. You can use the American Camp Association’s (ACA) website to confirm a camp’s accreditation details. Most camps in North Brunswick are registered with the ACA, the state of New Jersey, the county of Middlesex or the township of North Brunswick. Registration ensures that a camp adheres to certain standards of safety, health and program activities.

Inquire About the Camp Employees’ Backgrounds

There is no way you are going to send your children to a camp where employees with questionable ethical or moral standards work. So find a place that is open about who works there, what their educational qualifications are and how long they have been working at the camp. Eagle’s Landing Day Camp publishes verifiable background information on its employees on its website.

These three are the most important checks to perform before sending your kid off to a camp. Other things to notice include: timings (the camp’s hours may not be convenient for your and your spouse) and special offerings (which you may need if your child has specific needs).

Spread over 20 acres of shaded area, Eagle’s Landing Day Camp is a licensed camp that is open about its employees, offers transportation and willing to take care of your child with specific needs.

3 Reasons Zika Shouldn’t Stop You From Sending Your Kid to a Summer Camp

Few Americans had heard about Zika until October last year. Life was good. Then the sky fell in a flash. A little-known virus went beserk in Brazil; affecting many pregnant women and deforming hundreds of newborns in that country. Things went downhill so quickly that in a matter of a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of people were affected. The World Health Organization (WHO) took notice, sprang into action and declared the spread of the Zika virus a global health emergency. It was already late.

Some 1.5 million people had been affected in Brazil alone and the virus had spread to 30 countries—including the United States—when the WHO released its statement on Zika. Although many national governments have taken preventive measures to stem the spread of the virus, people remain wary.

The flow of tourists to Brazil has taken a hit, the State Department has advised pregnant women to avoid travel to South America and near home in New Jersey (NJ) many parents are wondering if it will be safe to send their children off to a summer camp in NJ in the middle of this year. Although the  concerns are out of care, I think those worries should not come in the way of your children’s growth.

Summer camps in NJ provide kids with once-in-a-year opportunities where they can meet other children, develop friendships, partake in STEM activities, learn leadership skills and practice being independent. All of this helps your children grow as responsible and successful adults. A virus like Zika—especially when the guidelines to prevent its spread are public—should not scare you into taking away such growth opportunities from your children.

In this blog, I will share with you three reasons that will try to ease some of your parental concerns and convince you to let your little ones join a kids’ summer program this year:

Zika Epidemic May Subsidize by Summer

Right now, everyone is concerned about Zika because there is no vaccine available. However, researchers in many countries are working around the clock to develop a treatment. It is very likely that they will come up with a medication by the time summer camps in NJ kick off.

Even if it does not happen, we will know a lot more about Zika and many new ways to protect your children from it.

Zika Prevention is not Difficult

Mosquitoes spread Zika. A way to guard yourself against the virus is to either kill all the mosquitoes around you or prevent mosquito bites. Both are doable. Removing standing water, wearing long-sleeved shirts, using window and door screens and sleeping under a mosquito bed are some simple ways to protect you and your kids from Zika. Many camps will follow these steps to keep your kids safe.

Zika is not Fatal and not Likely to Become an Epidemic in the U.S.

Fever, rash and pain in the joints are common Zika symptoms. They are mild and visible in only 20 percent of people affected with the virus. The remaining 80 percent do not even sense a thing. To top it, the Centres for Disease Control states in a release that while “we may eventually see Zika cases that originate in the U.S., the virus most likely would not become epidemic.” In another release it says that “Zika is not something most of us in the U.S. should panic about.”

Summary
Do not let a virus spoil your children’s summer. Send them away to a camp where can grow and learn. By June, most summer camps in NJ will have taken preventive measures against Zika and the virus itself may have vanished from public memory and people’s bodies.

Carol Dweck Wants You to Send Your Kids to Summer Camps

Do you think it is important to tell your children they are smart? If your answer is a “yes,” you are in good company. According to a Columbia University survey, 85 percent of American parents think it is important to praise children for their intelligence. Parents do it because they think it builds their self-esteem. They are wrong.

Telling your children all the time that they are geniuses does them more harm than good. It prevents them from taking on difficult assignments; be it a new concept in mathematics or adjusting to a novel sports schedule in the field. It makes them more concerned about being perceived as smart than working hard to improve their skills. And it happens because your children assume that intelligence is innate and fixed. Both of which are false beliefs that inhibit their growth.

When a child—who has been told repeatedly that she is smart—encounters a new, difficult concept that she cannot understand quickly, she usually gives up. She thinks that it is beyond her natural abilities. She also fears that others will think of her as not-so-smart if they see her struggling on a problem. This attitude further deteriorates the situation and her intelligence becomes her biggest liability. It does not have to be.

A Stanford University professor, Carol Dweck, has done extensive research on the right ways to motivate kids. She has shared her research on Ted and in a popular book, Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development. She thinks that the right way to help your kids is to praise them for their effort. So instead of uttering those mawkish phrases like “You’re smart, kid!” parents should say something like “You put in a lot of effort on solving this problem. It’s awesome, kid!” This small change in how you phrase your excitement can do wonders. There is a scientific proof for it.

To test her theories, Dweck did a series of experiments on 400 fifth-graders in New York a few years ago. At first, she gave the children an easy problem. When everyone had solved it, she told some children that they were smart but praised others for their effort.

Those praised for their effort did better on a second problem, which was harder. But those who were told that they were smart looked for a escape when confronted with a more difficult problem. Then, Dweck gave the children a third problem which was as easy as the first time. Those praised for their effort did 30 percent better than first time but those who were told that they were smart showed a performance drop of 20 percent. The writing was on the wall.

Repeatedly telling your children that they are geniuses does not help them at all. A better way is to encourage them to focus on effort, not some innate ability. And a summer camp is a great way to do it.

In most summer camps in NJ there is an emphasis on the process instead of the results. For instance, when your children come to the Eagle’s Landing Day Camp, they are encouraged to play sports in the field, swim in the pools, participate in robotics and science classes , experience the drama school and engage in dozens of arts and crafts programs. All-in-all, there are more than 30 activities your children can participate in. The counselors praise them for their efforts. No one tells them that they are smart without explaining why. And it helps!

When the process of making an effort and getting praised for it happens repeatedly over the course of several weeks, it drives home the belief that your children are responsible for their success, irrespective of their natural abilities. And this is what Dweck wants.

If Dweck’s whole research were to be summed up in one sentence, it would be: “It is important to tell your children that efforts matter, no matter the natural ability.” And there is no place where your children can get a first-hand experience of being masters of their own destinies than a summer camp in NJ. And it is in this sense that the Sanford professor wants you to send your children to a summer camp.