Run along to the summer camps

Keeping kids gainfully occupied through the summer holidays is a task parents face each year, and the singular way out they find is summer camps — not just to keep the children busy but also to stop themselves from tearing out their hair. “Summer holidays in Dubai are 60 days long. The most stringent discipline and routine at home cannot drum out the boredom that will arise in a child’s mind after the first ten days of the break,” says Sreekala Suresh Kumar, a counsellor at Dubai Modern High School. “[The best summer camp is] one that is safe, where the child enjoys himself; one where the child can look forward to bringing back home some learning beyond the book; one that helps him experience life,” says Axel Rodericks, camp co-ordinator at the same school. “Camps are a win-win situation for parents who work and would otherwise worry or feel guilty about how their children are spending holiday time,” explains Dubai-based parent and educationist Christine Simmonds. While the first consideration for parents, especially those who are working, is safety (apart from cost), the child’s interest should also be factored in when choosing a suitable camp. “Any summer camp has to be enjoyable,” Simmonds says. “No parent wants to pay for a camp where their child won’t enjoy.”At 15, Abbie, Simmonds’s daughter, is also quite clear about her expectations from the camp experience. “It’s a place where I can be creative and express myself without feeling out of place or worried about sharing my ideas.” Stuti Mathur, mother of two and a primary schoolteacher, says: “I am a little wary of sending my children to summer camps, as, compared to regular school, I feel camps may not have a proper safety system in place. Schools have transport departments, trustworthy teachers, etc. Sometimes camps take more children in one group and are unable to handle it.”Most camp organisers have a system in place to allay such doubts. “It is a big responsibility to take charge of someone else’s children, so we make sure parents have the opportunity to declare any issues, for example medical or allergy-related, at the time of booking,” explains Carole Worrall from Active Sports. “The safety of the children is paramount and supervision is a key point for safety. So we work with a child-to-instructor ratio of 15:1, at the most.” Running a successful camp is definitely tough. “Yes, it is challenging, but we always try to keep the camp schedules fresh and exciting. For summer camps in particular, there will be children who only attend for a few days, right up to those who are with us for many weeks,” Worrall says. Every year organisers change and develop programmes, keeping in mind that learning is imperative, but not more than fun, says Chris Wind, managing director, Dubai Holiday Camps. “What we are adding or changing every year is to bring games and rides from our entertainment division, for example bouncy castles, inflatable obstacle course, bungee runners, trampolines, mascots and clowns for the little ones [as young as 2 years old],” he says. Children grow through experience. Positive or negative, these experiences leave a decisive impact on the development of their personalities. To help students educate themselves experientially and make a difference to society, international universities and organisations offer them the opportunity to attend learning camps or charity camps. “A charity camp would be one where you would stay in the locality or close to the locality where the service is rendered,” says Declan Alvaro, Physics teacher and Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) co-ordinator at Dubai International Academy. Alvaro explains that according to experiential learning, the learner must plan, act, observe and reflect. This is what makes the cycle complete. “The focus is not just on the people served but also on the person providing the service. A charity camp is not of such significance as one that is linked to experiential learning. Experiential learning can also take place when no service is rendered. For example, at a camp students might just learn about a particular craft but engage in all four aspects of the experiential cycle.” For the past two summers, 17-year-old Anshuman has been doing “useful” things that will “benefit his college application”. He attended the Oxford Summer School in 2010, worked a month at Disha, a school for mentally and physically challenged children in India last year, helped build a school campus in Mauritius this March and is all set to attend the Stanford Summer Course in July-August. “[Oxford and Stanford] courses are not only educative, but active and interactive as they give us a peek into college life and an opportunity to meet new people, understand their thought processes and broaden our horizons,” said the Dubai-based IB diploma-programme student. “The Mauritius project was part of our CAS programme, where focus is not just on extracurricular activities but on giving the student a chance to face challenges and create an all-rounded personality, which I also learnt at Disha.”from gulfnews.com