What to look for in a quality summer camp program

Your child is a precious gift, and you cannot afford to dump him/her in any facility you come around offering summer camp programs. It’s your obligation as a parent or a guardian to ensure that your child is in a safe place and safe hands. This information can be got from the physical inquiry at the actual summer camps, or you can give them a call and weigh their facilities.

Compare their offer with your list of what to look for in a quality
summer camp program, if both tally and exhibit a significant amount of similarities; then you can go ahead with the process of booking a slot for your child.

A quality summer program should be well rounded and cover a wide range of areas and activities like educational, fun, spiritualism, recreation, academic, etc.

The following are what to look for in a quality summer camp program.  The staff-child ratio- how many staff are in the facility and how children are assigned to each staff. This will ensure that a child gets maximum benefit from the camping exercise and in case of any problem; the child can be easily attended to.

Sign in and sign out points- are there specific entrance and exit points within the facility?  Are they monitored? How do they identify strangers from the campers?. You should ensure that the facility is well controlled and maximum safety measures put in place.

Performance measurements - every activity you do should have means of evaluation to know whether you are progressing or regressing. It’s no different in summer camps in Albany. A good summer camp facility should have a well-outlined manual of activities expected to be carried out in the course of time. They should also have a means through which you can communicate with your child as well as any staff.

Additionally, a quality summer camp program should have the following qualities. As a parent ensure you look out for them before signing In your child.

1. The activities should be safe, engaging and arouse high interest in kids
2. A quality summer camp program should offer financial aid to those children who are needy. Check what features are considered to qualify.
3. It should be all inclusive and take care of the children with special needs.
4. There should be no health hazards around the institution.
5. The staff should be well trained and fully motivated to work.
6. Despite having scheduled activities for the day, there should be a designated time when a child is allowed to do what interest him/her.
7. Though time should not be the sole determinant factor, Those programs which have been around for a long time portray a higher value regarding service delivery when compared to the recently opened institutions.
8. The food and snacks provided must be healthy by all standards.
9. The program should promote mutual interaction between campers and the staff.
10. The program mission should be to develop a well rounded child with no much emphasis on academic.

The programs should be well balanced with a time for learning and reading; fun and recreation, cultural enrichment, and any other activity which the child might be interested to do in her /his own private time.
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If even after taking in to considerations all the above elements, you are not fully convinced of the program activities, then you can look for recommendations, reviews and comments from the people who attended the previous camp. They might have a better analysis of what to look for in a quality summer camp program than what you have.

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