Due to the Covid19 pandemic, schools throughout the world have been closed for weeks and many will continue this shutdown for the remainder of the academic year. These school closures give an observation by a past president of Harvard University even more significance. He said that a few weeks spent in a well-organized summer camp may be of more value educationally than a whole year of formal school work.”
At a time when regular school programs around the world have been disrupted, the idea that a summer camp experience can have a profound influence on a child’s education is now more important than ever.
Why do we believe so strongly in the value of summer camp? This is tied to the idea that the lessons learned during challenging, well-supervised activities and sports, plus the interaction of campers, whether it be on the playground, or during hikes, excursions and overnight camping trips, can be of equal importance to the lessons that take place in the classroom. But what are these lessons or character traits that camp can develop?
Today we will discuss one such lesson – resilience.
This is a term much talked-about by parents and educators alike, a concern that todays’ children are too protected and over rewarded for their achievements and are thus not able to handle adversity. Our experience is that today’s kids can be resilient when given the chance. What camp does is provide young people with the opportunity to test themselves and remain optimistic even when things get difficult. An example is that while hiking a camper may feel that he or she can’t take another step, but somehow, with a little help from teachers and friends, manages to reach the summit. The sense of satisfaction when one achieves a goal is wonderful. Our campers learn to persevere and remain optimistic even when the going becomes hard. This is resilience and we see plenty of this trait being developed in LC Campers.
To quote the new Gstaad tourism slogan “Dream Now.Travel Later”. Stay well now and know that we will be ready to greet you at Lovell Camps this summer!
