It’s summer timer. Summer is synonymous with vacation for school and college students. And vacation time is synonymous with summer camps. There are summer camps galore at this time of the year. Schools, social clubs and now even churches organize summer camps for children of all ages. There are so many camps available that at times parents are at wits end as to which camp they should send their kids to.
A wise decision is what is expected from the parents keeping in mind the likes and the dislikes of their child as well as to nurture any hidden talents that the child may possess. This is a real challenge for the parents as besides the regular studies these summer camps also play an important role in providing the platform for the children to grow not just physically but also grow as good human beings. However many parents for various reasons do not wish their children to join such camps. While some of these camps are held free of cost, other camp organizers could charge anything from a nominal fee to exorbitant fees. It may seem that such summer camps are only meant for the kids of the elite in the society.
Be that as it may, it is important to find out what is being taught at these summer camps before the parents decide on which camp they should send their children. There are various types of summer camps. There is the adventure camp. The activities at such adventure camps include bird-watching, a trip to the wild-life sanctuary, rock-climbing, mountain biking, etc. Of course there are experts in charge of these activities and such adventure camps are available in various parts of the country including Goa.
Obviously there are also specific age groups for these adventure camps. For kids who like water sports there are summer camps which teach canoeing, kayaking, fishing, lake swimming, pool swimming, water aerobics, water polo, etc. In Goa while there are swimming classes held during the summer camps, classes in other water sports are conspicuous by their absence. In Goa there are of course special summer camps wherein many children are taught games like football, tennis, badminton, table-tennis, etc. Just like the body needs exercise to grow, so does the mind. It is said that the idle mind is a devils workshop.
If children are not enrolled at summer camps, they would spend most of the vacation time surfing the net or watching television shows which could in the ultimate analysis prove to be not a good way to spend the holidays. In Goa the usual activities that are carried out at a summer camp include classes in arts and crafts, drawing and painting, dance, pottery, video-production, Yoga, drama-workshop, digital-photography, song-writing, etc, etc. All these activities are organized by experts in the respective fields. But then besides all these activities it would be in the fitness of things to teach at these camps some very basic necessities of life which will go a long way to make them better human beings. What could be included in these summer camps are, good etiquettes, good manners, including good table-manners, road discipline, how to respect the elderly people, how to show love and concern towards others, how to get involved in social activities, etc, etc. All in all a summer camp besides improving the talents of the children, it should also help them become better human beings.
