COCA Summer Arts Camps Set the Stage for Fun and Learning

It’s time to decide whether to send your kids to sleepaway camp, but how do you know that's the right thing to do? How can you tell whether your kids are ready for their first extended stay away from home? Here are 7 important signs that experts say should inform your decision.

Being able to focus on yourself, your partner, and other people in your life who mean a lot to you is no small matter. As parents, we’re used to being responsible providers and caregivers. However, there’s so much more to a person: we’re also partners and friends. These are important parts of our identities that we need to cultivate. Sending your kids to summer camp may bring out your more playful side that you haven’t shown for a while.

It’s normal for parents to want to protect their children from failure. It’s also normal to want them to achieve, win, and do their best. But here’s the truth: We don’t learn anything new without making mistakes. I’ll say it again. Making mistakes is a crucial step in learning. If we’re fearful of making mistakes, learning comes to a screeching halt.

For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, summer camp arts and crafts projects were limited to beaded keychains, and for the lucky few, maybe a macrame plant holder. Never could we have imagined designing a couture fashion line, producing stop-motion films, or building our own robots. But for kids attending COCA Summer Arts Camps, these incredible hands-on activities are just a few of the hundreds of full- and half-day camp options waiting to be discovered. Starting in May, COCA opens its doors to a diverse range of programming that gives campers the freedom to let their inner artists, writers, and performers run wild.

Focused listening is one of the most important skills your child will ever learn. Children with strong listening skills do better in school, sports, relationships and, eventually, in their careers. But many children lack this important skill and parents are rightly concerned. First, listening is much more than just hearing.