Imagine if Hogwarts had a day camp for aspiring young wizards. That thought wasn’t too far a stretch one afternoon this past summer at Horizons. It was “choice” period at Horizons, the only non-residential camp of The Aloha Foundation. On a broad grassy playing field, Chipmunks to Falcons — campers ranging in age from kindergarten graduates to nearly-out-of-middle-schoolers — were preparing for an important match. They wriggled into green or yellow pinneys and chose carefully among a pile of brightly colored swim noodles. Some of the children taped big letters — B, C, K — to their pinneys. At the ends of the playing field, three tall wooden stakes held hula hoops aloft — yellow, pale green, and, higher than the other two, pink. Together, the stakes and the upended hoops looked like enormous bubble wands — but were actually goals for the quaffle. The lettered pinneys stood for Bludgers, Chasers and Keepers. And the field was set for an all-out, campers against counselors, game of Quidditch. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Childhood’
How wizards spend a hot summer’s day at Horizons Day Camp
Monday, December 12th, 2011Are your children in a “Race To Nowhere” at their school?
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Summer allows plenty of unstructured playtime for children.
In 2009, Vicky Abeles’ 13-year-old middle school daughter, Jamey, began to complain of stomach aches after school. A Bay-area lawyer and mother with three children, Abeles began to question whether the pace set by her children’s school schedules, homework, sports and extracurricular activities was a negative factor in Jamey’s health. Although not a filmmaker, Abeles ambitiously set off with a camera to explore the correlation between the health and happiness of today’s middle and high school students, and the competitive, success-driven curricula of America’s public schools. The result, Race to Nowhere, is a striking examination of America’s current public schools model, a standards-based curriculum promoting future successful members of the American workforce. Specifically, the film critiques the effect on teaching of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which mandates levels of achievement in order for states to be eligible for federal funding. In other words, there is a world of exciting knowledge out there, but teachers are expected to “teach to the test.” (more…)
Vermont Summer Camp Magic – What Makes The Aloha Camps So Special?
Friday, October 8th, 2010
A tree house is the location for magical overnights for girls at Hive.
Autumn in Fairlee, Vermont brings a different mood to the summer camp properties of Aloha, Hive and Lanakila. The long, hot days of July and August have become cool and bright, with frosty mornings and vividly-colored leaves. The hillsides and waterfronts are mostly quiet. The summer of 2010 is now a memory for hundreds of campers, but the summer of 2011 is already a gleam in all of our collective eyes. Although the canvas tents have been carefully folded and stored, the canoes, sailboats and kayaks moved indoors and special summer buildings buttoned up against the forthcoming winter, the magic of a summer at The Aloha Camps is still in the air. More significantly, the magic of summer camp for girls and boys continues in their imaginations as they settle into the rhythm of the school year, with its busy days of classes, athletic practices, music lessons and weekend extracurricular obligations. (more…)
How do The Aloha Camps Allow Girls to be Girls?
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Girls at the Aloha Camps wear a simple uniform, preventing the focus in their summer days from being about fashion.
In June, Peggy Ornstein, known for writing and speaking about issues affecting girls and women, wrote a piece for the New York Times Magazine, about a video that went viral on the internet, showcasing 8- and 9-year-old girls dancing to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” The article, and subsequent blog about the video, raised questions about whether these girls were being empowered by their performance, or whether, they were not only being prematurely exposed to sexualized content in magazines, on TV, and in music videos, but actually being encouraged and congratulated by their parents and other adults for their spot-on portrayal of the original music video. (more…)
How do The Aloha Camps help kids unplug from the 24/7 world of technology?
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Kids thrive at Aloha Camps once they are unplugged from Social Media and Hovering Parents.
I saw a “tween” recently in my therapy practice who I suspected might have some food issues. When I began asking gingerly about her eating habits she whipped out her cell phone to text her mother: “What do I usually eat for breakfast?” After a minute of messaging she turned her attention back to me to report the results of her inquiry.
Now, I’m sure this young girl could have answered my questions without electronically soliciting help from her mom. Yet her reflexive texting habit made stopping to think for herself entirely avoidable – and regrettably so, because stopping to think is often when important insights occur. That’s why I leave a lot of space in therapy sessions for thought and contemplation on the part of the children I see. Unfortunately, stopping to think is a behavior less and less common among teenagers and pre-teens.
We all know the reason: instant Internet communication plays an increasingly dominant role in the lives of ever-younger children. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that adolescents spend 6.5 to 8.5 hours a day consuming online media. Virtual technologies are now entrenched in children’s daily routines. Online chatting, text messaging, social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, and music and video channels such as iTunes and YouTube significantly reduce youngsters’ exposure to direct, interpersonal experiences. (more…)
