We finished our week at camp. The kids cried when it was over and asked me if we could go back next week. Ummmmm… No:)
It really was a great experience for them, though. Being outdoors ticks and all learning life skills has many benefits.
We had one interesting experience in archery. The camp had brought in a second archery instructor to help with numbers yesterday. The instructor was a female Girl Scout leader. Our other instructor was male. We quickly learned upon meeting her that our experience with her lesson was going to be quite different from our previous lessons. She was cold to the children, quite abrasive, really. I told my co-parent I was a little afraid of her myself. I thought she might whack my fingers with a stick or something. Then, she spoke ill of our other instructor (note that he was not present) highlighting that he may have forgotten to teach us a skill even though they had been trained by the same instructor. It was almost like she was compensating for something trying to make herself look better than the other guy. Not cool in my book. The kids felt her negative vibe right away and did not seem to enjoy her archery class as much as their previous ones.
I wondered to myself why some adults act and speak with such a negative tone when it’s not necessary. The delivery as a teacher is so important. Kids are intelligent beings. They can sense that tone right away and will shut down if pressed too hard. It made me think of the movie, “Mary Poppins”. She was able to teach and discipline the children without the derogatory comments and was still able have a good relationship with them. Yes, Mary Poppins is a great role model.
Regardless. Camp was great fun, but I’m thankful I’m off next week!
Ivy League Homeschooling 