Let Me Do and I Understand
Confucius Comes to Summer Camp in 2012
Tell me and I forget
Show me and I remember
Let me do and I understand
- Confucius
Words uttered in roughly 500 BC, and held in the hearts of many teachers ever since. Unfortunately, many institutions working with children seem to have forgotten them. You may be surprised to know that I count myself in those ranks from time to time.
Summer Camp has the potential to be so valuable to a child because it’s one place where adults seem to be able to restrain themselves from standing around lecturing to kids. Times when a camp counselor does get up and talk are often immediately followed by campers actually being able to experience what was being demonstrated or talked about.
When I teach archery classes, for example, common sense requires I demonstrate bow safety, and give a brief tutorial on how to use a bow and arrow safely. Thankfully, I am aware that campers will learn archery much more effectively if I physically have a bow and arrow in my hands, so I at least skip the “Tell me and I forget” phase. I also get that they will learn better by practicing than by hearing me drone on and on, so immediately following safety instructions, they get the opportunity to shoot.
The first time I instructed a group of campers, however, I was frustrated to see that many of them were holding the bow in the wrong hand, or upside down, or making mistakes in any number of ways that I know I covered in my instruction. I tersely went from child to child and corrected various mistakes, and then turned them loose. I’d think, “What happened to Show me and I remember? “ But I was being very silly – they WERE remembering, just not at the pace that I, someone who had shot a bow and arrow a hundred times, expected them to.
Last summer, I observed and instructed perhaps 15 archery groups, and kept track of just 1 thing: was there improvement from round 1 to round 2? In every single case, I observed, Yes: more arrows hit the target than did not.
Let me do and I understand
Now this probably seems obvious. It stands to reason that children will improve at things over time. I think it’s a credit to instructors of physical activity that we at least understand no amount of class work on basketball will make up for practicing basketball. Shouldn’t we apply this common knowledge about practicing hobbies, and apply it to more important things, like learning about God, or being a good person?
Tell me and I forget
One of my long standing frustrations with those who try to guide children along their faith journeys is the use of the “tell me and I forget” model. In Sunday School, as a child, I was told all manner of stories. I may have remembered some of the content of those stories, but most of the messages, and the point behind those stories, I forgot completely. I treated Sunday School as a class without homework or tests that gave me information I was indifferent to, and learned about as much as one can expect under those circumstances.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:9.
Sadly, like many people, when I found myself leading a Bible Study as a camp counselor, I slipped right back into the model that once bored me. I ignore the message from Philippians to let campers practice what I was preaching. Instead, I’d empathize with the children, figuring that they were bored, and I’d rush through things. When I became a camp director, I had what I considered an epiphany:
Show me and I remember
I decided I needed to work with my counselors to create a community where children could observe us acting in all of these Christian ways. “If they see US doing it, they will know how important it is,” I thought. And to some degree, I was right. Children did notice, and many of them even emulated what they saw. I believe that Show me and I remember can turn into Let me do and I understand if the adults are wise enough to give children the freedom to try and act on what they remember. But I’m coming to believe that it isn’t enough. That’s why, this summer, our faith curriculum will try and enact:
Let me do and I understand
We’ll be incorporating hands on, challenging, group building activities that directly relate to the faith theme of the day. Every day, during Bible Study time. Summer Campers will be exposed to the messages of the gospel while also being encouraged to see what it means to live out those messages directly afterward. My camp counselors and I will continue modeling loving Christian behavior as passionately as possible, while also giving children the opportunity to engage in an intentional activity to help them understand what it means to live as a Christian in this world. Our goal as a Christian summer camp is so much more than giving a one hour spiel about God each day – it’s to show children what it would be like to live in a Christian community, encourage them to be the ones who actively create that community here, and give them the practice they need in creating such communities so they can do it anywhere.
Vanderkamp Center is a Christian Summer Camp and Retreat Center less than an hour from many major cities in Central New York, including Syracuse, Rome, and Utica. Contact us today for more information!
