News

Messages For An Anxious Camper

April 25, 2023

Read more of Sunshine’s camp-related posts at her website, Sunshine Parenting.

“Children want to be independent, and they realize that they cannot be truly independent until they beat homesickness, even when they have a painful case of it.” – Michael Thompson, PhD., Homesick and Happy

Recently I spoke with a mom whose 11-year-old son is coming to camp in a few days.  He’s nervous.  He had a negative experience at a one-week science camp.  He doesn’t think he can “make it for two weeks” and is worried he’ll be too homesick to make it at camp.   I chatted with the mom and gave her some key messages to communicate to her son.  She asked for them in bullet points in an email, and I thought there are probably others who might benefit from this same list, so I’m sharing this with anyone who has a child suffering from pre-camp anxiety. Before I share my list, let me say that if you are not a camp proponent and don’t plan on sending your child to camp, you should probably not read any further.  I am a huge supporter of camp and recently had a JC (Junior Counselor) tell me that “Camp made her who she is today.”  So, I think that camp is a great thing for building kids’ independence and confidence.  I have also seen many kids work through some pretty painful emotions at camp, so ... Read more

10 Parenting Tips from Camp Counselors

March 1, 2023

However, not every parent has had the benefit of camp counselor training. In fact, most parents have had NO training at all. Perhaps they took a Lamaze class or two, but we all know that having the kid is not the hardest part! I’ve often lamented that all parents should be required to go through some training, at least the same training camp counselors do (a minimum of one week at most camps). Unfortunately, that is not the case, nor is it realistic. So the best we can do for those who were never camp counselors is offer a few tried and true tips from a few outstanding folks who were: 1. Practice catching kids doing the right thing. 2. Check in with each child one-on-one every day. 3. Establish fun daily traditions: share highs & lows at dinner or bedtime, do riddles, read a book out loud, play games together, collect family memories. 4. Sing and dance together ... Read more

Random Acts of Kindness

February 9, 2023

The work to create a kinder world never ends. There is no limit on the amount of goodness we can put into the world, but we need your help! We invite you to join the annual Random Acts of Kindness Day (RAK DAY) celebration on Friday, February 17, 2023 and help #MakeKindnesstheNorm. Random Acts of Kindness Day is Friday, February 17, 2023! Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 12-18, 2023! Click here for more ways to get inspired and for more information about the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation!

National Day of Unplugging

February 3, 2023

We invite all of our friends and family to join Gold Arrow Camp in participating in the National Day of Unplugging from sundown on March 3 to sundown on March 4. This time of being unplugged is a movement to encourage people to get a "24-hour respite from technology." If you have experienced a summer at GAC then you know the importance of unplugging and connecting face-to-face, which is why we don't allow cell phones at camp. The National Day of Unplugging encourages people to use 24 hours free from technology to connect with "ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities." Wow. That sounds an awful lot like camp! We love the idea of unplugging (just for a little bit) at home so that we can reforge the kind of connections there that we forge at camp, where we're totally free from the burden of technology. You can join us in celebrating by pledging to #unplug on social media, sharing this news story, or even planning an unplugged event with your family! You could have an old-fashioned dinner party, spend that Saturday working on puzzles or playing board games. If you need more ideas, check out the NDU 2023 Ideas List and sign up to become a FREE member! If you have plans to unplug, please tag us in those on your social media. We'd love to share your plans (and what you did, after the fact, of course) on our social media!