Choosing a summer camp should take into consideration a child`s personality, said Clifton Saper, a psychologist who gives seminars locally called ”Summer Survival Guide for Parents of Teenagers.”
”We make a mistake,” said Saper, ”if we assume that all kids have the same needs.”
A child who has poor social skills or a poorly developed ego will do better in a camp that`s very structured, said Saper. These camps usually offer a lot of individual attention and help children to focus on learning a task well. More self-directed or motivated kids who have a lot of confidence can do well in any kind of camp setting, said Saper, but don`t always need much structure and can tolerate much more diversity.
”I would suggest a parent find out what kinds of activities are offered for that child,” he said, explaining that the motivated child might like more different activities than just one intensive one.
”If there`s just basketball or soccer, with no chance for swimming or outings, it might not offer enough diversity,” said Saper.
Plus, he said, find out whether kids will have time to relax and just play.
Parents should also check to see if the emphasis is on skill building rather than competition.
”Any sports camp needs to be focused on skills and having fun rather than focused on competition. Check to see that teams are rotated. Kids shouldn`t get an identity with just one team,” said Saper.
The most important criteria, though, said Gloria Balague, sports psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is that the kids want to go to camp and that they have fun and enjoy it.
