Orientations

40 Developmental Assets

They are positive experiences, opportunities, and personal qualities that all children and adolescents from many cultural backgrounds need to be responsible, successful, and caring. Learn what they are and how camp can help to foster some of them.

Self-esteem

Learn what self-esteem is and is not. Common misconceptions are also addressed. If you haven’t seen the very short 20/20 piece on self-esteem, watch it here!

Wish, Wonder, and Surprise

Creators of any ilk entreat Wish, open to Wonder, and are readily tickled by Surprise. Learn what they are, how they are experienced in normal life by children and adults, how children experience them at camp, what is different about Wish, Wonder, and Surprise at camp, and how to enrich daily family life with Wish, Wonder, and Surprise.

Videos for Enlightenment

These videos shed light on areas of American culture that many people are not fully aware of. It is important to understand the culture, the sea we’re swimming in, in order to effect and direct it.

Character insight

What works and what doesn’t in raising people of character? Find out some best practices here. And, numerous ways to make those concepts concrete and real.

Wall of Cool

Cool kills. Stops a person from living. From following their heart and their passions in a given moment. In teens, and even younger, (and counselors and other adults too!) this destructive impulse caused by Cool is frequently presented as a “Wall of Cool.”

Competition

A one-page philosophy on competition. Competition has its place, and its misplace, and its healthy, and unhealthy, orientation. A 15-page version is available on request.

Sleep!

Learn how much sleep is enough, what happens with a little and lots less sleep, pharmaceutical orientations toward sleep, mystical orientations, and sleep articles and tidbits that will make you the life of the party as you regale people with your knowledge!

Helicopter parenting

Webster definition: a parent who is overly involved in the life of his or her child. Yup, a Wikipedia page on it too. Find here six articles that explore this concept for good and for ill. And, no, such parents are not “bad” or “wrong.”

Nature and children

Duh, right? You know being in nature is valuable for children, and adults. Some pieces you likely didn’t know about the benefits, prevalence, and urban living are found here from numerous sources. Fun quotes too.