Kevin Gordon

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100 Great Lessons to Teach Your Daughter

At our girls-only summer camp, we try to facilitate an environment where girls can maximize their growth and development through lessons. Author Lisa-Jo Baker created a fantastic list of things she would like to teach her daughter and shared it online. This list of values, concepts, and fun stuff can help you facilitate your own daughter’s solid foundation for her development as she undertakes her life’s journey. From body image to relationship advice, Baker covers it all in this list of 100 notable lessons. See the whole list at this […]

Help Kids Develop Money Management Habits

At our Illinois summer camp, we focus on intentionally empowering campers during our girls-only and boys-only camp sessions. We help them with the concept of economic literacy both with direct activities that help them learn the concepts, and also with their awareness and management of their limited camp store budgets—their spending money for their time at camp. We recognize, and try to help our campers recognize concepts like waiting to make purchases and choosing wisely whether to spend or save (or donate to worthy causes). I recently checked out a […]

Tips for Maximizing Your Son’s Development

During the boys-only session of our summer camp, we recognize that boys come in all shapes, temperaments, and characters. The more we can encourage them to explore and truly be themselves, the more they develop their unique characters. Blogger Lauren Knight (see her blogs at Crumb Bums shared some good tips regarding maximizing her boys’ development. See the full Washington Post article, entitled “5 Things I Learned About Raising Boys (So Far)” here, with her condensed language below with our headlines. Encourage Physical Activity Encourage it. Let them roughhouse a bit, […]

5 Tips to Connect with Your Tween

At our summer camp programs west of Chicago, we have the great opportunity to have the youth of all ages connect with young adults (and older adults), who have the great ability to have children listen to what they have to say and actually abide by their respectful requests. Wouldn’t it be amazing to connect consistently in your household too? Oh, the seemingly unpredictable “tween”…it can feel daunting trying to figure out what to say and what to do to connect with your pre-adolescent child—going through the rigors of middle […]

How Summer Camp Helped A Camper to Never Say “I Can’t”

At our multicultural summer camp near Chicago, we recognize the power of a good camp experience to transform campers’ lives, and the impact of positive psychology. A recent blog by author Blake Boles reinforces the powerful lessons he learned. As he puts it, “Summer camp taught me that my habit of saying ‘I can’t’ was a cage, and this cage had a key called ‘I could if I.’ To escape the cage, all I had to do was pick up the key and think a little differently.” Other positive lessons he […]

8 Good Tips on How to Be an Intentional Parent

At our multicultural summer camp near Chicago, we strive to be intentionally challenging, intentionally empowering, and intentionally fun. The concept of intentionality appeals to many of our parents, who are also quite intentional in the values and character development they wish for their children. A recent blog post by Jon Helmkamp—who writes a good series called Finding Fatherhood—gives some good tips on ways that parents can be intentional in their parenting. Below are some bullets summarizing his blog entry. 1. Think about how you were raised..about the day in, day […]

Camp as a 21st Century Skills Learning Environment

At our summer camp outside of Chicago, Illinois, we recognize the critical piece that a summer camp experience can play in the development of children and young adults in the 21st century. A recent blog by Andy Pritikin (Owner/Director of Liberty Lake Day Camp in New Jersey and the President of the American Camp Association, New York, and New Jersey) recognizes how a good camp program is critical to developing an important forward-thinking skill set. Pritikin recognizes that child-rearing occurs in multiple ways: what parents teach their children at home, […]

10 Great Ways to Prepare for Camp

Even though winter is fully upon is in the Midwest, we are busy preparing for this summer’s great versions of our girls-only and boys-only camp programs! As we’ve been visiting with potential camp families at camp fairs, a common question is how they should prepare for a first-time camp experience. To help your child maximize a camp experience, here are ten ways to help that happen! Talk with other parents and friends to learn from their camp experience. Ask the camp director to tell you about other camp families in […]

Should we focus on achievement or caring?

At our multicultural summer camp, we try to be intentional to foster an environment encouraging children to be their best selves to and with each other. You’d think that most parents would share that goal right? Unfortunately, a recent study shows otherwise–that children believe their parents are more concerned with the kids’ achievement than whether they cared for others. Richard Weissbourd–a Harvard psychologits with its graduate school of education–and his colleagues have some good recommendations about how to raise kids to become caring, respectful and responsible adults. It’s something that […]

Why Your Child Can Go to Camp for the 1st Time

Parents, especially those of first-time campers, often tell me that their child is looking forward to attending camp, but that they’re comfortable doing so only if they go with a friend. At first blush, this seems like a good idea—what better way than to enjoy a fantastic new camp experience than to do so with a good buddy? However, often what that child might really be saying is that they’re not sure of what to expect from their camp experience, and, like a security blanket, the friend will offer them […]

Why Parents Appreciate Summer Camp

As the new year picks up pace, resolution makers ponder how to come through on the self-promises made. As parents resolving to enhance the experiences of their children and themselves in the coming year, finding a great summer camp program offers many great growth opportunities. In a recent blog article, camp directors Stephanie and Mitch Reiter explore what children develop at summer camp and how families and parents appreciate those developments. Bullets below, with the full article available at this link. 1. A willingness to try new things. When […]

Good Family Dinner Table Conversation Starters

As the new year gets underway, it’s a good time to start new family habits or reinforce good ones that you’re already doing. At our dinner table, it can sometimes help to have some tricks up our sleeve to facilitate easy conversations and bonding with our child. A recent article by Casey Seidenberg has some good additional ideas—some highlighted below—to add to your go-to list! In her words, “Parenting books tell me to develop a tight bond with my children now so it will withstand the teen years and beyond. […]