Here is how to choose the best center for the first experiences of holidays without parents.
School’s out. It’s time for holidays: sun, sea, lake, mountains, countryside. Everything is perfect, except that, too often, mum and dad do not have more than two months of vacation to spend with their children. And the social organization in our country provide unsatisfactory answers. So? You can turn to structures that organize activities for the summer and you can offer your children a summer campus, perhaps themed, in the mountains. At the sea or in the hills, in places where the air is different from that of the city and the contact with nature assured.
But how do choose the best?
The first step is to start with the child’s interest. Do you love nature? Do you love a sport in particular?
A stay away from the family is still a little stressful for children so if you can have a high motivation by addressing the child based on a passion, the detachment will be less difficult and less heavy.
Second: get information, read, search on the internet, talk to mothers who have already had experiences. But this is just to collect basic information. After a first screening, it is in fact imperative to call, try to talk to a manager. An educator not with the secretariat but with someone who will then really stay with the children. The thing to totally avoid is going to a center that “occasionally” assembles young children to entertain the children. In this case, the risk of not feeling well is very high: for the organizers. It is a business and they aim for maximum profit with minimum effort. A young and inexperienced boy who takes care of children? It may happen that the boy is loving and your child is happy but it will only be thanks to luck. So no, it’s not an acceptable solution.
We need to find an organization that has been doing its job for years and has dedicated and adequately trained staff.
My dispassionate advice first of all from a mother and then from a person who has been taking care of children’s holidays for years? Make an appointment and go in person to speak and see the facility.
Seeing the structure is essential, on paper everything is beautiful then if you go to see it in detail it happens that the bathrooms are not comfortable. Do you think that a friend of mine, in France, on the Cote d’Azur, happened that the 8-year-old boy was on a campus with shared bathrooms (and so far ok) with showers without hot water (just there was no tap of hot water)? And to his perplexing question about water, the animator replied: “yes the water is only cold but it is summer, a cool shower is very pleasant”.
Another thing to make sure is that the child if under 10, does not sleep alone. But that the bedrooms are at least for two, a companion alleviates the sense of loneliness that in the evening a little assails even the most daring.
If you visit ask to have a look at the canteen or ask for a sample menu.
Let me tell you that how to “equip” the child in terms of clothing, backpack, small personal items to carry, etc.
Check the relationship between young people/animators. The ideal would be to have an assistant for every six children. Therefore, centers that organize children for small groups should be favored.
In most cases, the guests of the summer camps are between 6/8 and 15 years old and activities, programs. And proposals are calibrated according to age groups in order to offer an optimal mix that combines interest, fun, and, why not, even personal growth. “In this way, the holiday becomes an opportunity.
Among the things to take note of, there is the “curriculum” of the center. Thanks to which it is possible to have an evaluation of experiences, mission, organization, staff.
Summer camps are a pleasant moment of vacation for children, who see the playful side, feel the company of their peers. And experience the positive feeling of being part of a group. But, for mum and dad, at least the first time, this coincides with a feeling of detachment that involves the more than reasonable desire (and need). To make sure that the organization that your child is entrusting with has an established profile of competence and professionalism.
In short, here are the 10 steps to follow to choose the camp:
1- Choose the most pleasant and most suitable environmental context for the child (sea, countryside, mountains)
2- Identify a field with a specific theme according to the interests of the child (sport, foreign languages, environmental education)
3- Call the center several times before choosing and booking the center and speak to an educator
4- Request a “curriculum” of the center, which allows evaluating “experience” in the sector
5- Ask for the opportunity to speak with other families who have already “tried” the center’s proposals (basically it is the classic and precious word of mouth)
6- Check that there is an adequate ratio between the number of educators and that of children
7- Request a detailed description/tour of the facility and, if possible, see it in person
8- Attend the presentation day of the center to get to know the project representatives
9- View the program of the camp and the organization of the day
10- Expect clear indications on what will be needed (clothing, equipment, accessories) during the camp.
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