Gaining resilience (and other life lessons). How our campers leave Yavneh.
Yesterday we said goodbye to our first session campers. Tuesday night was full of tears and laughter as some of our campers said their final l’hitraot (farewell). You’ve heard a lot about the tangibles that your children have been receiving so I thought we’d spend some time talking about a few of the things that you might not see right away when your child gets home.
I am pretty confident that almost every camper has become more independent than when you dropped them off. Keeping organized is a huge task for many children, tweens and teens. When at home, some bedrooms look more like a well-picked over tag sale. Communal living dictates that we must be more organized. Madrichim (counselors) cannot possibly offer individual attention for each camper; instead, their job is to give guidance. Our expectation is that your child will slowly learn what it means to be semi-self-sufficient. Your children come back with a better sense of themselves, especially when no one is there watching them every step of the way.
Even more important than building independence is the resiliency that our campers build by learning to take risks (safely), meet new people and try new things that might not at home. Your children have experimented with new foods, tried a new activity that challenged them, they may have conquered a fear or befriended someone totally unexpected.
We sometimes take for granted these two qualities when we think of the benefits of camp. I hope that your children will share many more life lessons that they have taken away this summer.
Thank you for sending your children to Yavneh this summer! Until next Kayitz ‘19.
