Camp Arowhon
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How do Bunk Notes Work?
Ever wondered how Bunk Notes work? Find out from Camp Director Joanne Kates HERE
Continue10 Reasons Why Businesses Should Hire Former Camp Counselors
From the American Camp Association, by Anne Archer Yetsko: When I speak with friends who work in other industries, I always tell them that if you have an applicant who has been a camp counselor and has a positive reference from that camp, they should move to the top of that pile of applications that […]
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Regulating Emotions – a Life Skill our kids need
Regulating emotions is a dry expression used by psychological professionals to describe being able to calm down and not freak out for too long when you’re upset. It’s the difference between a five minute cry over a boo-boo (physical or emotional) and an hour-long drama. Nobody likes the latter. When grownups do it, it’s appalling […]
ContinueSharing Arowhon’s Social Safety Tool Kit With Other Camps
Hi Joanne, I hope you are great. I wanted to share with you that last week while attending a meeting of my colleagues from the other Reform camps, we were asked to share one ‘big idea’ from our camp for a friendly ‘big ideas competition’. I chose to share the Sociogram and the system we […]
ContinueNew research on perils of protective parenting
Do we over-protect our kids – at great cost to them? The Atlantic magazine has a superb new article on how over-protecting our kids actually harms them. The article is HERE
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When Being Called “Incredibly Good” is Bad for Children
A new study shows inflated praise can harm kids with low self-esteem COLUMBUS, Ohio – Parents and other adults heap the highest praise on children who are most likely to be hurt by the compliments, a new study finds. Researchers found that adults seem to naturally give more inflated praise to children with low self-esteem. […]
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What Parents Need Most: Optimism!
Optimism is the prime directive of parenting. The late Gilda Radner said it better: “Motherhood is still the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary – it’s an act of infinite optimism.” It’s kind of like being Torontonian in March. We know the crocuses will bloom. We […]
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Girl Power Grows at Camp
Girls and Leadership, an interview with Rachel Simmons Simmons is author of The Curse of the Good Girl and co-founder of Girls Leadership Institute, recently wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com about the reluctance many girls feel toward leadership roles. She argues that in order to take advantage of the access they now have to […]
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Why tell camp the hard stuff about your child?
As a mother, I always shrunk from telling people what’s challenging or difficult about my children. Even now that they’re young adults, I desperately want everyone to see them as positively as I do. That’s normal for parents. Which can make filling out the camp forms tough. Do you REALLY have to tell camp about […]
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The magic of listening
I had a meeting with this kid the other day. I say kid because he’s 17 and he goes to high school. But out of this kid’s mouth came wisdom that I wish to hear from grownups. We were meeting because I interview all our returning staff every winter, to celebrate their successes and agree […]
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