After the interrupted sleeps of infancy, and before the storms of adolescence, nicely sandwiched in the middle is the nightmare of homework. Not the kids’ nightmare. Ours. It’s ours because […]
Read moreAutonomy and Mastery – the Hidden Gifts of Camp
What do kids need, really need, in order to thrive? A smart guy at University of Rochester did a study on just that and he, Richard Ryan, identified three psychological […]
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Super Special Sunday
For our first sleep-in Sunday of the summer we went all out! After a fabulous buffet brunch that got a rave review from critic Joanne Kates, campers had plenty of […]
Read moreA Summer Camp Lesson: Good-bye, and Go Away, Thank You Very Much
Dropping a kid off for camp can test a parent’s resolve. But standing back to let a child develop autonomy is one of the most important things a parent can […]
Read moreNotes from PreCamp 2018
All our staff are here and it’s been a fabulous PreCamp training thus far… One nugget: In a session with our full staff last night (about 165 staff) I asked […]
Read moreAnxiety, the new epidemic
My camp team has been going to the biggest camp directors conference in the world, the American Camp Association Tri-State Conference, for years. 4000 camp directors, four days, about 20 […]
Read moreWords of advice for March break
I have a terrible memory of March break the year my daughter was 15. We – our family of four – are out for dinner in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, […]
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Getting Through to Tough Boys
An excerpt from Arowhon Head Counsellor Jonny Reed’s recent article on #Metoo and teenage boy culture. This perfectly reflects Jonny’s (and Arowhon’s) approach to mentoring young men. Worth a read […]
Read moreCan we protect our kids from sexual assault?
I am a woman, a mother of a daughter, and a leader of young women in my role as a camp director. It is both my job and my passion […]
Read moreParenting Anxious Children
I am forever harping on the virtues of communication, the necessity of teaching your kids to talk out their problems rather than act them out. But there’s one kind of […]
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