Summer vacation is right around the corner, and for many Latino students, camp is on the agenda once school goes on break. There are countless camps to choose from, but it’s important to pick one that’s a good fit.
How do you know you have chosen the right summer camp for your kids? There are several questions to ask yourself and your children.
The YMCA of Greater Hartford runs ten camps around Connecticut and serves more than 10,000 campers each summer. The YMCA offers several suggestions on how to make sure your family makes the best decision on choosing a camp. They recommend asking the following questions to evaluate what experience campers might have:
What have their past separation experiences been like?
Where will your child’s friends be spending the summer?
Will your children benefit more from a specialty camp or a traditional summer camp?
What are the safety regulations for the camp?
Taking the time to evaluate and answer these questions will make it easier to decide whether children will do best at day or overnight camps, how they would like to spend their time during the summer and what their independence and responsibility levels are.
The following are important safety issues to consider whether or not the camp holds an ACA accreditation. According to the YMCA, they are:
- How is the waterfront managed to keep children safe? There should be strict lifeguard to child ratios, rescue procedures, and a system to account for campers’ whereabouts regularly. There should also be a system in place to keep non-swimmers or beginning swimmers out of deep waters.
- There should be safe, sanitary bathing and changing facilities readily available to campers—including sinks for regular hand washing.
- Drivers providing transportation for campers should be held to the same high standards of investigation as staff working directly with children.
- If the camp offers specialized activities like archery, boating or ropes, the instructors should be properly certified in their areas of expertise.
