The Vanderkamp Method
So you’ve come to find out why exactly Vanderkamp is a different summer camp experience than other places. If you want the most recent articles on the Vanderkamp method, read below. If you want to see the full collection of our articles and the order that we recommend you read them, head over to the what makes us special page and have a look. Enjoy, comment, debate! We believe the Bible calls us to radically re-envision the way children are treated – do you?
Preventing and Coping with Bullying at a Christian Summer Camp
Why we don’t bully our bullies When I was in sixth grade, I was bullied pretty consistently by one specific person. I walked around the hallway each day for several months fearing that he would corner me and attempt to intimidate me. He never hit me or physically attacked me in any way, but the threats were so consistent that it ate away at my ability to reason. He threatened that if I ever told anyone, I’d be in serious trouble. So I didn’t. Eventually it stopped, but the remnants of that bullying still lives on in me today. When I...
read moreDoes Summer Camp Prepare Kids for the “Real World?”
Prepare for the Real world, or prepare to change it? Recently, an excellent article was published at Psychology Today which summed up nicely what a lot of parents want for their kids from summer camp. The article posits that Summer Camps make Kids Resilient. As you can probably suspect, we at Vanderkamp agree kids who come to summer camp here will leave more resilient than when they came. We agree that camp makes kids more confident, that it helps them form a new identity, that it helps them learn all sorts of skills that are essential for a...
read moreLet 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...
read moreBuilding Character Confidence – Kids can be as Good as they Think they are.
Building Character Confidence at Summer Camp “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me: Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein One of the things I remember hearing frequently as a child was, “You can be anything you want to be when you grow up.” I remember deeply considering whether I’d rather play for the Mets when I grew up, or be Superman. I really believed I...
read moreThe Statistical Reason Summer Camp is the Perfect Christmas Present
For parents, Christmas can be a time of joy and simultaneously a time of stress. Will I get my children what they want? Can I afford what my children want? This brief essay should give you a little insight into how you can give your kids a gift that lasts a lifetime – with statistical evidence to provide some peace of mind! If you’re reading this article, you probably have heard many stories about how camp can transform the life of a child. Just bring up summer camp at a Christmas party and watch how folks come out of the woodwork with...
read moreBeing Their Friend First – a Radical Approach to Summer Camp
One of the most common pieces of advice I’ve heard regarding an appropriate adult-child relationship is, “Whatever you do, don’t be their friend.” In school it’s: “You have to be extremely strict at first, and then you can ease up. They need to know who’s boss.” At home, it’s: “Remember – you’re the parent, not a friend! Act like it!” But doesn’t being a friend mean totally different things in different circumstances? We can agree that it’s probably a bad idea to befriend a teenager by acting how teenagers are...
read moreSummer Camp 2012 Information is Here!!!!!!!
Since summer camp ended last year, you’ve been holding your breath wondering when our offerings for 2012 will be available, haven’t you? We know you too well Head over to our summer camp page and check out our offerings for 2012 – REGISTRATION IS LIVE! Just in time for Christmas! If you’re dying to see your summer camp friends before then, nothing would be easier than heading over to the Winter Reunion page and getting registered! If you’re on this website, you know that nothing compares to the Christian...
read moreDon’t Let Old (or Young!) Dogs Think They Can’t Learn New Tricks!
Imagine someone approached you on the street and said, “Listen to these facts – your abilities and tastes will never change. You will never improve or get worse at anything. You will have precisely the same hobbies today as you will 50 years from now.” You would think they were insane, right? I know I would get indignant. I might respond with a stern, “You don’t know me!” And I’d walk away, sure I was right. I think about the language adults use with children, and I wonder if we aren’t just those insane strangers,...
read moreFighting for the Freedom of Children
Galatians 5:13 – You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The development of babies is so incredibly fascinating because adults have such little ability to communicate with them. We can express happiness or frustration. We can be attentive or neglectful. That’s pretty much it. We can’t communicate our specific desires (much as we might try), and attempts at reasoning with a baby are hopeless. Given society’s attitude...
read more“Embracing the Truth as it Comes to be Known”
As we stand in the face of all of the monstrous problems that face our country, from failing educational systems to foreign wars, a floundering economy to political cronyism, many people are calling for change. Change becomes very difficult, however, when people, governments, and companies have to look inwardly at their predispositions and past actions and critically reassess whether what they have doing has been right or wrong. Encountering new and fundamentally different ideas can be a terribly difficult and life-changing experience. I...
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