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Choosing a Camp This Summer Starts with Questions By Tracy House Day camps, overnight camps, out-of-town camps. From sports and drama camps, to cooking and engineering camps, there are as many types of camps as there are kids who go to camp and choosing the right one for a child can be one of the most important decisions parents make. Ginger Pauley, executive director of American Camp Association (ACA), said the first thing a parent should consider when choosing a
camp is the age of the child. “If it’s a young child, say 7 years old or 8 years old, and they’ve never been away from home, I would suggest that they first put them at a day camp because that’s an area where the child will be comfortable coming home in the afternoon and wouldn’t have to stay overnight,” Pauley said. “I would never put a child in an overnight camp if they’ve never stayed the night at a friend’s house
or grandma and grandpa’s where they’ve been away from their parents.” Parents, Pauley said, should consider the child’s interests when thinking about a day camp. “If they’ve got an interest in sports, a sports camp would be a better idea for them. If they want the child to be outdoors and get some peer, oneon-one play time, social time, just about any camp will do.” Most of the camps that have been accredited through ACA, said Pauley, are in northern Arizona and have gone the extra mile. They’ve taken every step to assure that the
Preschool
camp is safe. She continued that camps that are not credited by ACA can be very safe. “There are many reasons why they don’t do accreditation; short camp, a play camp, where they can’t afford accreditation,” Pauley said. “It could be a church camp, where they don’t think they need to. Boy Scouts, where they don’t think they need to.” Accredited or not, choosing the right camp starts with gathering information about the camp, which can include the philosophy of the camp, how the staff is trained, what the disciplinary procedures are and ... continues on page 18
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