Camp Day

All of the grade four students at my daughter’s school had the opportunity to spend the day in nature at camp yesterday.  I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a parent volunteer to accompany the group. So there I was on one of two school buses full of fourth graders, for a 45 minute drive out into the great outdoors!  I was actually kind of excited, believe it or not, and as I sat in the middle of that energy it brought back memories of adventures long past that I had been on as a kid.  I wanted to share this experience with you for a number of reasons.  One reason is that I did have quite an enjoyable day out in nature and the weather was beautiful.  I did however come away from my experience a little perplexed as well.  I want to preface this blog by saying that I am in no way meaning to be critical about my daughter’s camp experience but am simply sharing in the hopes that I will better understand my thoughts by writing them down.   I also think I have been ruminating a lot lately on Susan Cain's Ted Talk and the importance of solitude in our day to day lives and in our learning, and the importance of not doing every activity as a group.  Anyhow don’t get me wrong, I went to summer camp as a child and I know that things can get a little R-O-W-D-I-E camp, however, the better part of my daughter’s day camp yesterday was spent doing team building activities that very well could have been done anywhere.  They weren't especially fun, and in fact at certain points during many of the activities kids were upset and didn't want to play anymore.  As with any type of learning, it got messy!   After trying to get involved I was told by the leader that I should stand aside and observe as the activity was one that was meant for the kids to work through together as a team, until they had succeeded in the task which they were expected to accomplish.   I don’t know about other people’s summer camp experiences and of course when I was attending camp I was a kid and not a leader, but I don’t remember there being a big focus on having children work through team building activities.  My memories of camp were those more geared towards enjoying nature, canoeing, horse back riding, and hiking are a few that come to mind.  Anyhow, still haven’t decided how I feel about my daughter’s camp experience and would love to know what you think.