Excerpt from The Summer Camp Handbook: Everything
You Need to Find, Choose and Get Ready for Overnight
Camp and Skip the Homesickness
CHAPTER 1: HOW THIS BOOK WILL HELP
IN THE FOREST BEHIND THE CABINS, the 260 campers around the fire fell suddenly silent. Some
shifted on the wooden benches where generations of campers had gathered before them. Others looked
intently at the flames, whose orange light danced on their young faces. The session was over, and only
the candlelight ceremony remained before the campers would pack their sleeping bags and their
memories and head home. Some would remember the cabin leader who sailed the lake with them on a
perfect summer afternoon. Others would remember the first bull's-eye they hit on the archery range. A
few would recall sitting with their friends watching the sunset deepen from pink to crimson. One by one,
the campers blew out their candles, but no one would ever extinguish the magic of overnight camp.
For more than 140 years, parents have given their children the gift of an overnight camp stay. As with
any meaningful gift, this one takes some thought. The Summer Camp Handbook is what you need to
find the best camp and help your child get the most out of it. You'll learn
What makes overnight camp special
How to know when the time is right for overnight camp
The key differences between traditional, specialty, and special needs camps
How to decide on the best location and length of stay
What kind of activity structure best suits your child
Where to find the most up-to-date information on overnight camps
How to evaluate promotional materials that camps send you
Important questions to ask the camp director
How to find a camp that matches your child's interests and skills
How parents and children can manage homesickness
What issues you should discuss with the camp nurse or doctor
Tips for packing, no matter what kind of camp you choose
How to have smooth opening and closing days of camp
What a care package is and what makes a good one
The best ways parents and children can keep in touch
Strategies kids can use to maximize their fun at camp
WHAT THIS BOOK IS
The Summer Camp Handbook is different from any other camp resource book or World Wide Web page
in four important ways.
(1) The authors are camping professionals who still work at overnight camps. Together, we have more
than 45 years of camping experience. We've both been campers, cabin leaders, instructors, and senior
staff members. We know what works and what doesn't work. We know what kids like and don't like.
(2) The book is based on years of our research on the overnight camp experience. Because we are also
academics, we like to back up what we say with hard data. The wisdom in this book is based on our
findings about what children and parents can do to enhance their camp experience.
(3) We'll give you insider tips on how to select, prepare for, and enjoy overnight camp, but we won't list
every camp in the country. That list changes every year. Instead, we'll share our unique step-by-step
guide to selecting the best camp for you. We'll show you how to evaluate the most up-to-date
information available from camps, the Internet, the library, and even your friends.
(4) The Summer Camp Handbook is a book for families. Anyone in the family is welcome to read any of
the chapters. However, we wrote Parts I-IV especially for parents, because they're the ones who do
most of the searching and paying for camps. In Part V, you'll find a chapter written just for kids, plus a
lot of helpful extras for families. Throughout the book, you'll find many helpful checklists for parents and
a sprinkling of fun text boxes for kids.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THIS BOOK
To get the most out of this book, we recommend that you read it cover-to-cover 6 to 12 months before
the camp season. That may seem like a long time ahead, but if you're starting from square one, you'll
be researching camps, making a selection, scheduling a physical exam, getting emotionally prepared
for the separation, learning how to pack, and finishing dozens of miscellaneous tasks. It's a lot to do,
especially when you consider that most camps fill up their available bunks several months before they
open. Therefore, it's a good idea to start the process now and register early for the camp you eventually
choose.
For those of you pressed for time, this is just the book for you. Although it is a comprehensive and
thorough reference, we've also written the book with your busy lifestyle in mind. You can go to the table
of contents and index, pinpoint the information you need now, and just read that. In addition, most
chapters have summaries of key information.
If you are reading this and camp opens in less than six months, fear not. We have arranged the
chapters chronologically, so you can jump in at any stage of the game. You can read the entire book to
see whether you've forgotten anything, or you can go directly to the chapters that interest you. There is
still time to make wise choices. Your future camper should read the Just for kids chapter as soon as
possible.
If you've already chosen a camp, congratulations! It's not an easy choice, considering all the
possibilities. We recommend skimming Parts I and II of the book to see what else you might learn about
the camp you chose. Then, parents should read Parts III and IV more closely, and kids should read the
Just for kids section. These contain important discussions about the emotional and physical preparation
that helps so much before camp starts. You'll also find tips on packing and preparing for a smooth
opening day.
If your child is already at camp, skim Part III and read Part IV. There, you'll find a lot of information on
helping your child get the most out of camp. We've even included sample letters to help you write
supportive correspondence. You'll also find suggestions for what to include in a care package and how
to prepare for a smooth closing day. You might also read Just for kids at the end, where you'll find
helpful tips to share with your child in your next letter.
MEET THE AUTHORS
Christopher Thurber
I grew up in Maine and started day camp there at age six. I remember on rainy days we'd play with toys
inside, and on sunny days we'd go to the beach. I loved it. A couple years later, I switched to a different
day camp that employed an incompetent crew who failed to intervene when the big kids harassed me.
Suddenly, I hated camp and stopped going.
After a few years in the Cub Scouts, my curiosity about overnight camp grew. There must be some good
camps out there, I thought, but two weeks is a long time to be away from home. Only after considerable
encouragement from one my best friends, did I finally try overnight camp at the age of 12. I fell in love
with camp again. My cabin leader was fantastic, and I met some really nice kids, including my
co-author, Jon. When my parents came to pick me up, the first words out of my mouth were, "Next
summer, I want to come for four weeks!"
At 15, I served as a junior leader, and at 16, a leader-in-training. After my first summer as a full-fledged
cabin leader, I wrote all my college application essays about how much camp meant to me. I knew then
that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working with kids. I spent several years as a cabin leader, and
then served as Division Head and Waterfront Director. With my increased responsibility came more
complex leadership issues and more difficult camper problems. Ultimately, these challenges led me to
change my major at Harvard from government to psychology, and then to pursue my Ph.D. in clinical
child psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
As an academic psychologist, I've spent most of my career researching the causes of, consequences
of, and best ways to deal with homesickness. I've published a dozen articles on the topic and have
collaborated with Jon on several studies of children's favorite places at camp. I've also had the privilege
of sharing my research with hundreds of psychologists and camping professionals across the country.
Like every clinical psychologist, I strive to engender positive changes in people's lives. Camp's influence
on my personal and professional development is immeasurable, so it feels good to give something back
to camp.
Jon Malinowski
I grew up in Vermont and started day camp there when I was about seven. I don't remember much about
the experience except the bus rides to camp, feeling nervous about changing in the pool locker room,
and singing the "Titanic" song ("It was sad when the gray ship went down. Kerplunk. It sunk. Now it's
nothin' but junk!"). I must have enjoyed it though, because I graduated to overnight camp at age nine. I
remember a few things from those first two summers at overnight camp: taking the swim check, getting
sick, and witnessing older cabins raid younger cabins. My parents eventually realized that they could
find someplace better.
The next year, we chose a camp where some of my friends went, and where my Cub Scout den mother
sent her own children. I still remember driving up to my cabin and meeting my first leader, Jim. That
summer is filled with wonderful memories and the pleasant realization that all camps are not the same.
After four years as a camper there, I was asked to join the leadership. I felt privileged to be part of such
a qualified group of people. After a two-year training program, I became a full-fledged cabin leader and
later a senior staff member. Twenty years after my first summer there, I'm still on the staff. I've held
positions as a Senior Staff member, Division Head, and Program Director. This variety has given me a
valuable range of experience with campers, cabin leaders, and administrative staff. I see and experience
camp from many different angles.
During four years as an undergraduate at Georgetown University and four years in graduate school at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, I spent my summers at camp. In graduate school I was working
on a Ph.D. in behavioral geography, so it seemed natural to focus my doctoral dissertation on children's
place preferences at overnight camp. This research made me realize that, even during a short stay at
camp, children can develop strong ties with camp places, and that children use those places to deal
with both the good times and the bad. I now have the honor of teaching geography at the United States
Military Academy, which, ironically, is a lot like a overnight camp, although with a slightly different
purpose. My years at camp have been a life-changing journey. Next to my parents, overnight camp is
the single most positive thing in my life. As my co-author Chris once said, "I've got the best job in the
world: I live on a baseball field."
* * *
As you can see, we have similar backgrounds in camping and academics. It's no wonder that our
friendship has lasted so long. It is sort of funny, though, that it took us so long to think of writing this
book. We've been telling each other for years that parents and kids would enjoy camping more if they
knew more. Now that research has helped us find solutions to some of the most common questions and
problems that parents and kids have concerning selecting, packing, and preparing for overnight camp,
families can be much better prepared. By reading The Summer Camp Handbook, you can greatly
increase the chances that you and your child will choose a camp wisely and then enjoy the whole
experience.
We often think back to a particularly humbling moment during the summer of 1985. We were both proud
first-year cabin leaders. On the way back to our cabins one afternoon, we came across a teary-eyed
boy sitting at the foot of a tall white pine. "Can you help me?" he sobbed, "I'm really homesick." We
assured him that we could help, and took turns offering him comforting advice, but deep down we weren't
as confident as we sounded. Suddenly, we didn't feel so proud. What could we do, really?
Fortunately, we now know what makes young people homesick and what makes them feel better when
it hurts. We also know much more about how kids interact with the environment at camp and what
places and activities make them happy. We don't have all the answers, but everything we do know about
helping children enjoy camp is in this book, for you.
--From The Summer Camp Handbook: Everything You Need to Find, Choose and Get Ready for Overnight Camp and Skip the
Homesickness, by Christopher A. Thurber, Jon C. Malinowski. © March 1, 2000 , Christopher A. Thurber, Jon C. Malinowski used
by permission.
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