When a camp director proudly displays
the ACA camp accreditation logo, what does this mean
to you, a parent? And what does it mean to your child,
the camper? It means that visitors trained by
the American Camping Association have personally visited
the camp during its operation, asked up to 297 questions
concerning all phases of the camp's operation, and reported
on their findings to other camping professionals.
Standards
are divided into two categories. The first category
includes 14 prerequisite standards ... those to which
all camps must say "yes." An additional
283 standards are used in the process of determining
accreditation.
Accreditation,
however, is more than meeting the criteria established
by the ACA Standards program. It is a commitment
by a camp operator to allow the camp to be examined
by peers other professionals in the camping profession
to assure that the camp meets the quality camping practices
listed as standards.
Accreditation
is not automatic, nor is it taken lightly by operators.
Only an estimated 25% of the camps in the U.S. are accredited
by the ACA. Other camps may not choose to seek
accreditation, or their efforts achieving accreditation
may not always be successful.
The
standards fall into five major categories: site, healthcare,
program, personnel, and administration. In addition
there are standards for specific program activity areas
such as aquatics, horseback riding, tripping, etc.
If
you were to choose to send your child to a non -accredited
camp, you would be faced with the task of asking many
questions about the quality of a program, safety, staffing,
and health. But in an accredited camp, trained
Standards Visitors have done that very thing for you.
Accreditation
assures the parent that the director has invited outsiders
to examine the camp using a nationally validated standards
tool. Pioneers in camp standards were more concerned
that standards be viewed as a continuing education process
rather than as conformity to a strict book of rules/procedures.
Consequently, each time a standards visitation takes
place, the director, by preparing for the visit, has
to reexamine the camp carefully and also rest it against
new professional developments.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DAY CAMP
The
appeal of the day camp is that the child is able to
experience many of the programs and activities traditional
to organized camping while still returning hoe each
evening. Day camps offer a well rounded program
that may be unobtainable through baby-sitters, day care
programs, or recreation centers.
Some
of our 4 million children will go to camp this summer.
For many it will mean returning to the sights, sounds,
and friends they left a year ago; their parents look
to this experience as an investment in the intellectual
and emotional growth of their child. Others will
have this experience for the first time; All will be
a new and challenging adventure.
CONTACTING THE CAMP DIRECTLY
The
importance of contacting a camp directly is that you
can develop a personal sense of what a camp is like
through interaction with the camp director or camp representatives.
You will probably correspond or talk on the telephone
with the director, who will discuss the program in relation
to your child's needs.
Through
interviews with the directors, you will begin to receive
a cleaner indication of the director's philosophy about
organized camping, children, and what the director delivers
the camp experience will accomplish for your child.
We have listed here some of the question you may want
to ask a director.
-
What is the director's background?
-
How long has he/she directed this
day camp?
-
What is the director's camping
philosophy?
-
How does the director specifically
implement it?
-
What does the director look for
in the staff?
-
What is the ratio of campers to
counselors?
-
What is the age of the counselor?
-
What arrangements does the camp
make for medical care and emergencies?
-
Does the counselor live near the campers? How many campers
does the counselor supervise?
