artha Knowlton remembers the Caledon, Ont., and camp researcher. the summer during the elementary
sun-soaked days by the lake and Fine completed a study of Ontario school years.”
Mstar-filled nights around a crack- camps at the University of Toronto back Learning life skills, connecting with
ling campfire at Camp Tawingo in in 2005 entitled “Contextual Learning nature and character building are all
Huntsville, Ont. within the Residential Outdoor Experi- educational benefits easy to identify
She also remembers being scared of ence.” Through his research, Fine found with for parents who were former
the dark on her canoe trips. Scared she that children who had attended camp saw campers themselves, but it’s a harder
wouldn’t be able to find her way through significant personal and social develop- sell to parents who never attended
the forest when nature called in the mental increases in five key areas: self-es- camp or for whom camp is out of their
middle of the night. Fearful she’d have teem, independence, leadership, social cultural context.
close encounters with wildlife. Even comfort and peer relations. “It depends a lot on cultural groups,”
fearful she would fail at earning her camp says Fine. “Different parents from dif-
badges or pass her camp tests.
“MOST OF MY LIFE-LONG
ferent cultural groups feel differently
“I was always overly concerned with about what their kids should do when
achievement and proving myself, still FRIENDS ARE FROM CAMP they’re not in school. Some families are
am,” she admits.
AND WE HAVE STAYED IN
going to feel that children should work
But canoe trips would end up be- in the family business or just get a job
coming the highlight of Knowlton’s
REGULAR CONTACT
and learn about the realities of making
camp experiences, which began in 1966,
THROUGH THE YEARS.
a living.”
and continued for 15 more years — 10 of Educating parents who don’t have
them as a counsellor, many of those as a
THIS PAST SUMMER, NINE
first-hand knowledge of a residential or
canoe tripper. It was an enriching experi-
OF US WENT ON A CANOE
day camp experience and expect meas-
ence during her youth that has left a
lasting impression.
TRIP TOGETHER. THE
ured outcomes of their children’s activi-
ties can pose a serious hurdle for camps.
“Most of my life-long friends are from PEOPLE THAT I MET AT For Fine, it is a matter of developing
camp and we have stayed in regular con-
CAMP TENDED TO BE
some rationale for “sending our kids to
tact through the years. This past summer, camp instead of sending them to work.”
nine of us went on a canoe trip together,” PEOPLE THAT I COULD The good news is that camps have re-
says Knowlton. “The people that I met at
COUNT ON IN LIFE.”
sponded in kind. While it isn’t exactly a
camp tended to be people that I could paradigm shift, both day camps and resi-
count on in life.” dential camps are now promoting them-
And that’s how most former campers “One of the strongest skills that kids selves as places not only for children to
feel when they begin to reminisce about are going to learn [at camp] is this ability have fun but also to learn.
their bygone days at camp. The memo- to communicate, negotiate, co-operate Take Knowlton as an example. She
ries are vivid, the experiences indelible and work as a team,” he says. “This is re- learned she wanted to be a teacher when
and the relationships forged to last be- ally important and it’s going to be re-em- she was at camp. Today, she is an ele-
yond the fleeting years spent at camp. phasized in school and again in the mentary school principal in Waterloo,
Be it the countless hours spent in the workplace. So that’s one of the most Ont., and says her time at camp helped
arts & crafts studio on a special project to valuable things camps can offer.” shape her thinking as a school adminis-
take home to mom and dad, or winning The American Camps Association trator. It also made her decision to send
the camp-wide air band competition with (ACA) takes Fine’s research one step fur- her three daughters to camp an easy one.
your cabin mates, or the two-week canoe ther reporting that 92 per cent of Besides witnessing her own kids ben-
trip through Algonquin Park, this is the campers said camp helped them feel good efiting from a camp experience, she also
stuff camp is made of. about themselves and 74 per cent said has had the opportunity to join her
What Knowlton knew was that camp camp helped them try new things. school’s grade six students on a three-
was the place to become self-reliant, Although there is no definitive re- day overnight camp trip each fall. A
away from her family in a safe and nur- search relating to whether or not the quarter of the children are ESL stu-
turing environment. It was also the place camp experience translates into greater dents, many of whom have never been
where she would develop a life-long love academic achievement in school, Fine be- to camp. Knowlton says without fail,
and appreciation for the outdoors. What lieves, “the information on academic out- these kids come back elated, energized,
she didn’t know as a child was that her comes is coming.” excited and more bonded to their
experiences at camp were not only a fun However, the ACA cites the work of teachers and fellow students.
way to spend her summers, but were Karl Alexander, the John Dewey pro- “There are many educational experi-
also educational. fessor of sociology at Johns Hopkins ences that aren’t learned from books or
“I think it’s fair to say that educators University who says: “About two-thirds in a school and camp taught me many
going back through the 20
th
century of the ninth-grade academic achieve- lessons for life.” •
[agree] that kids are getting an adjunct to ment gap between disadvantaged young-
their education,” says Dr. Stephen Fine, sters and their more advantaged peers Dorin Greenwood is a freelance writer in
director of The Hollows Camp in can be explained by what happens over Toronto, Ont.
www.canadacampsforparents.com Canada Camps for Parents January 2010 Edition 11
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