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?
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