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Community Corner

Summer: Learning Outside the Classroom

Summer months provide kids with an informal education

As a child, I spent my summer at camps. First was a local day camp, followed by sleep-away, and in high school teen-tours. I always thought the summer was about having fun, relaxing and no homework. But this summer—as I watch my six-year-old son vastly benefit from his summer experiences—I now understand it is about so much more.

Pitch by Pitch Baseball Camp

On Monday, June 27, three days after my oldest child, TJ, completed his kindergarten year, I dropped him off at Congers Park for baseball camp. I was nervous. My son and his best friend, Sam, with whom we had planned these weeks, were the youngest by far—in fact, the other kids were towering over these two little ones like skyscrapers.

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That day when I returned to pick TJ up, Sam’s mother and I approached the head of the camp like two nervous hens, pecking: “You have to watch our boys, they are the littlest. Did you make sure someone took them to the potty? When they go in the pool, will someone be with them while they are changing?”

And it continued until a father walked up to save the camp director and said, “Moms, relax, your boys are fine!” And they were.

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After two weeks at camp, I was impressed by what our boys had learned; not only had they become better baseball players, better athletes, more agile, more adept, more skilled, but also they had learned some valuable life lessons. They walked with amazing confidence, could socialize with older campers, treated others as they wanted to be treated and—most importantly—stopped picking on each other as they were known to do. I watched Sam lend TJ his bat, or TJ encourage Sam when he got called "out."

The directors of the camp had leadership skills and sportsmanship I'd like TJ to emulate. They guided their campers through the day with ease and laughter. There was no bullying from the older campers to the others; they were all teammates supporting and encouraging each other.

LantiYates Music Camp

As you can tell, TJ is an athlete. Although I work in theater, and TJ has enjoyed a few of my productions, he prefers the Mets, Yankees and the Giants. I had trepidations about sending him to an arts camp, and figured we’d start with two weeks and see how he did. 

Well, it was fantastic: at the end of week one he was performing like a star. He played a short ditty on the piano, recited a line of Shakespeare, pantomimed “The Three Bears,” and belted a song from both Grease and The Sound of Music. I was blown away—my little athlete was also a thespian? 

In the matter of one week, he had the same confidence onstage that he embodies on the field—and the same smile. He learned that homeruns and standing ovations make one feel similarly proud. And I was proud. As one who has been inflicted with stage fright, I watched with amazement as he performed without inhibitions.

World Class Soccer Camp by OMM

These final two camp weeks, TJ is back to sports. As he entered the soccer complex and realized this was the first camp he was attending that he didn’t know someone, the nerves began to take over. He huddled close to my knee before the director called the kids in to take their seats, meet the counselors and find their teammates. As they called his name, he was off quickly, again that huge smile across his face; he was in his element and he was ready to go.

Making friends comes easily to TJ, who announced when he got home that he had two new ones at soccer camp: "Jerry" and "I forget the other one's name." I imagine for kids who make friends less quickly, camp is a great place to hone those skills, as it teaches you to get along with kids you might not know otherwise.

As I stare at my desk—and the unopened envelope from his first grade teacher with summer assignments—I have a pang of guilt for not making him do his homework. But, I also sit tall in knowing these fine skills my son has developed this summer will long remain.

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