child empowerment

Empowerment Via Language

I had a prospective parent contact me earlier today, asking about the potential comfort level for her 12 year old daughter. They live in Costa Rica and her daughter speaks only Spanish with rudimentary English abilities. The daughter is excited to get fully immersed in a supportive, English-only environment to maximize her English-speaking. Because our summer camp program has a multicultural, empowerment focus, I felt comfortable relating to the mom that we have had campers of a variety of initial English-language comfort. A cogent example was when we had two […]

Why Mindful Parenting Works

At our multicultural camp program, we focus a lot on intentionality in our program and our interactions. We also have a lot of intentional parents who see our camp as a great extension for the growth and development they seek for their children. Here’s a good piece about mindful parenting, and how mindfulness can help reduce stress in your household or classroom (or camp). Click here for a two-minute video containing an overview of a technique used by social psychologist Christine Carter that she uses to bring more mindful awareness to […]

The Importance of Free Play

I recently attended a regional camp conference where the closing keynote speaker discussed how parents these days feel compelled to keep their children “safe” at home, and inadvertently (or purposefully) limiting their chances to play outside with other children. It reminded me of how fortunate our son is to grow up in our rural camp home, where he can go outside at any time and engage in free play, limited only by the bounds of his imagination or when hunger calls him to come in for a snack, or when […]

Tips So You Can Avoid Having to Nag Your Children

For you intentional parents out there looking to further spur your child’s empowerment even while they’re not at our girls-camp or boys-camp, here’s a good piece from sociologist Christine Carter regarding setting yourself up as a parent to have to nag less! It’s a podcast, so for you visual/reading types, the takeaway is: (1) Setting up habits and routines is a good way to eliminate the need to nag, since children can just fall into the pattern of what’s expected of them at certain times (2) If you do need […]

Friends Positively Influence Self Esteem

Being intentional about empowerment at our girls-only and boys-only multicultural summer camps, we’ve always recognized the importance of connecting with others, and the value of developing community. A recent study underscores the value of having a best friend in whom to confide; feelings of self-worth and morale are directly strengthened by the presence of a best friend. Read up more on how friends help us to negate negativity here.

Should I Be Worried If My Child is Bedwetting?

Bedwetting is a common problem of childhood…more common than people necessarily think. “I call it the hidden problem of childhood,” says Dr. Howard Bennett, a pediatrician and author of Waking Up Dry: A Guide to Help Children Overcome Bedwetting. “Unlike asthma or allergies, it’s just not talked about outside the house.” Indeed, bed-wetting children are far from alone. As they mature, children gain bladder control at night, but at varying ages. After age 5, about 15% of children continue to wet the bed, and by age 10, there are still about […]

Social Media Might Help Shaping Children’s Identity

While we have to be mindful of our children’s online interactions, some recent research shows that social media sites can actually help a child form her/his own identity. This can begin by shaping how your child interacts with others on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. If you can help guide them to have consistent, public, positive social interactions online, this can help boost their self-esteem. At this link, sociologist Christine Carter discusses further thoughts on how important it is to teach children how to act online with […]

Empowerment Via Language

Why Mindful Parenting Works

The Importance of Free Play

Tips So You Can Avoid Having to Nag Your Children

Friends Positively Influence Self Esteem

Should I Be Worried If My Child is Bedwetting?

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