Camp Arowhon
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How to choose a summer camp
The American Camp Association has great advice on it. See http://www.campparents.org/campvisits
ContinueWhy camp, now more than ever?
The radius of play for young people has shrunk to 500 feet. They are spending 5 1/2 hours a day in front of screens, and their outside time has reduced by 25% over the last 20 years…. None of which matters – unless you believe that children need the outdoors, they need direct interpersonal […]
ContinuePreparing kids for college? Does camp help?
What’s Needed to Prepare Your Child for the Future? The Answer May Surprise You…. from the Huffington Post by Todd Kestin Since Junior’s birth, you’ve been socking away savings from every paycheck to ensure he has money for college. After all, that’s what responsible parents do, right? Making sure he has the education to prepare […]
ContinueKids and Friends: Who Gets to Choose?
I sent my daughter to UTS so she would hang out with smart kids and not do drugs, drink or have sex. I sent my son to Upper Canada College so he would be influenced towards better work habits and the pursuit of excellence. My daughter managed the trifecta (and then some) and my son […]
ContinueWhy We Don’t Sugar Coat
The hardest part of my summer job is supervising the LIT (Leader In Training) Program. The mission of the program: to grow our oldest campers into capable staff members. Arowhon’s mission of social and emotional safety depends entirely on the staff’s ability to make it real, so we hire very selectively. Most of our LIT’s […]
ContinueLetter from a camper mom
Hi Joanne, Somehow I missed opening up one of our recent envelopes from Camp A until last evening…. out tumbled a swimming badge, some awards and an extraordinary letter from Adam Ruzzo. We know that Elliot (Schrider) is very musical and, although he only started playing guitar at the end of January, his progress has […]
ContinueWhy we don’t let campers sneak out at night
I’ve had a few parents calling me in the past week about campers sneaking out of their cabins at night at other camps. Apparently it’s the cool thing to do at some camps. Which makes me sad. I know what kids do when they sneak out to visit the opposite sex in the middle of […]
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Camp Has a Lot to Teach the World
There are many things I do at camp that are unacceptable elsewhere in the world (burping competitions at the dinner table, wearing socks and sandals, shoving cake in people’s faces to name a few), but there are some things I think the rest of the world ought to learn from camp. Last weekend my brother […]
ContinueLetter from a new 2013 Arowhon parent
BTW, one other note for Joanne and all the staff. We rented a cottage in August and each night Adam (AGE 9!!!!) built the camp fire based on what he learned at Camp Arowhon. On top of that, he also went kayaking with me for about an hour a day in separate kayaks and we […]
ContinueExtra Curriculars: Whose Choice?
There was a period, during each of my children’s early adolescence, when I fantasized that they would go to Harvard. This bit of maternal foolishness was a way of expressing two things: Wow! My kids are so smart! I’m so proud of having smart kids. Yes, it does reflect on me (despite my protestations to […]
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