Kevin Gordon

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5 Secrets for Communicating with Your Teenager

Camp Kupugani-our Midwest overnight summer camp that offers girls-only, boys-only, and blended (intentionally co-ed) programming for children 7-15 years old–empowers our teenage campers to be leaders in our community. We do appreciate that adult-teenager communication can sometimes be challenging, especially for parents of said teens. A recent article from Empowering Parents had some good parent-teenager communication tips. Check out our take below, with the full article here. Communication Tips Start With Understanding, Even When You Don’t Understand Put yourself in your child’s shoes. Don’t use: “I understand, but…” Don’t Get […]

How to Be a Happy & More Effective Parent

At Camp Kupugani, our overnight summer camp near Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, we want our families to be as happy as they can be. Ever heard the phrase, “A happy mom is a happy house”? This phrase also applies to parents in general; if you’re happy, their happy. We found an article from the Washington Post with some great ideas on how to do exactly that. Read our take on the article in the bullet list below and/or read the full article here. Be Happy & Effective Parent from […]

Raise Your Children to be Environmentally-Friendly

At Camp Kupugani, our overnight summer camp near Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, we are aware of the need to be more environmentally-friendly. A recent article from Green Initiatives has some good tips on how to raise your children in an environmentally-friendly way. Read our summary below, with the full article here. Learn while playing. Play games that demonstrate recycling techniques. Participate in activities that are good for the environment. Watch films and share stories. Common Sense Media has great documentaries about our environment. Don’t forget to debrief/ask questions after […]

Help the Battle Electronics Addiction

Camp Kupugani is our Midwest overnight summer camp (near Madison, WI, and Chicago, IL) that is technology-free. We help our campers and staff step away from electronics such as their phones and computers (for at least two weeks) while they are at camp. We value the importance of communicating with others in real-time. A recent article by Simply Snapping has some good tips on how we can help each other unplug from your everyday electronics. Our summary is below, with the full article here. Have a family meeting to create […]

Ways to Help Your Child Be More Honest

Does your child struggle with being honest? At Camp Kupugani, our Midwest overnight summer camp (near Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois), we challenge our campers (and staff) to be honest even when it may be hard. A recent article from Greater Good Magazine gives some useful tips on helping your child become more honest. Read below for our summary of the article and read the entire article here. Praise process, not intelligence. Being smart can be seen as a goal that needs achieving. Not all children are going to get […]

Enhance Your Child’s Chances of Success

Do you want to raise successful kids? At Camp Kupugani, our Midwest overnight summer camp south of Madison, Wisconsin, and west of Chicago, we strive to maximize our campers’ development. A recent article from inc.com discusses how you can help promote healthy habits at home to increase your child’s likelihood of success. Check out our thoughts on the piece below, with the full article here. “There’s no denying that if you coast along and put forth minimal effort in raising your kids, there’s a high likelihood they’ll end up being […]

4 Secrets To Grit When Life Gets Hard

Our Midwest overnight summer camp located near Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois offers girls-only, boys-only and blended (intentionally co-ed) sessions. We embrace and seek out challenges so that we can make the most personal growth. We encourage and support our campers (and staff) to maximize conflict resolution techniques. Our staff is trained in how to provide the camper with age and maturity level based support. A recent article by the folks at Barking up the Wrong Tree has a good take on 4 Secrets to Grit When Life Gets Hard. […]

Being a Kupugani Camper Shouldn’t Be Easy

We Want Our Campers to Cry (at least once)… and We Won’t “Fix” Your Kid at Camp Around this time of year, some reflect on the world around them and how to gift their kiddo(s) the experience of camp. If seeking an avenue by which your child can grow in a challenging environment, our Midwest summer camp could be just the thing! A few important notes about our program: being a Kupugani camper is challenging and hard work… and that’s how we like it. We want our campers to cry… […]

5 Tips on How to Raise Socially Aware Children

Social awareness is one of the focal points at Camp Kupugani, our Midwest overnight residential summer camp with girls-only, boys-only, and blended sessions near Madison, Wisconsin (and also not far from Chicago, Illinois). A recent article put forth some good tips on how to raise socially aware children. See below for some quick takeaways, with the full article here. Socially Aware Tips Address privilege early Speak with your children about differences (don’t pretend to be “color-blind”) Address the challenges that can arise from these differences Make sure that their toys, […]

7 Ways We Can Help Protect Our Earth

At Camp Kupugani, our summer camp with girls-only, boys-only, and blended sessions–located near Chicago and Madison Wisconsin, we’re nestled on 125 acres of nature’s finest, including forest, a river, and a lake. As such, we’re reminded daily of the beauty that nature offers, and the importance of preserving that beauty for current generations and those beyond. We take pride in helping our campers understand and learn what they can do to help protect our earth. In our mission (core value) and programming, we foster respect for Mother Nature, so we […]

5 Ways to Maximize Your Child’s Mental Health

At our Midwest summer camp in northwest Illinois, we know how important mental health is to the growth of our children. A recent article had some good tips on how we can maximize our kiddos’ mental development. See below for our bullets. Acknowledge Your Child’s Feelings …even if they don’t match how you feel. Acknowledging feelings helps your child stay open to speaking to you. Help Your Child Process Her/His Feelings Ask open-ended questions. Provide insight specific to your child. Monitor What Your Child Watches on TV/YouTube Don’t allow technology […]

Nine Powerful & Simple Ways to Reduce Racism

At our Midwest summer camp, our mission is to bring together kids from varied backgrounds, and help them develop tools to deal with difference. Especially given the evolution (devolution?) of our societal interactions of late, it is increasingly important to figure out how to treat each other better. Here are nine powerful and simple ways to reduce racism. Apologies for this blog being heartfelt, yet without attribution to various sources from which notes were culled before writing it. Discover your culture. Consider your interests/beliefs. Where did you grow up? What […]