Summer Camp

        Have you been wondering whether or not you should send your kids to camp to spend part of their summer? Although it costs money, it can be good for children and provide them a lifetime of memories. You will learn reasons summer camps are an educational learning experience.

        First: There is archery. While attending camp at Cedars in Lebanon, Missouri, I played this sport. I learned how to attach an arrow to a bow and shoot it. I must say I did not do well.

        Second: There is an opportunity to learn how to ride a horse. I learned how to saddle one and then command it. To get it to go, you have to kick its sides with your calves and say, "Go!" To get it to stop, you have to pull the reins and say, "Whoa!"

        Third: Kids might learn to pick a number to do something. I had to pick a number between one and twenty in order to ride one of the horses. I won by choosing "four".

        Fourth: Your little ones might learn how fast horses are. Before I rode a horse for the first time, I read in a dictionary that it is very fast. Once my horse took off, I said, "The dictionary was right!"

        Fifth: The boys and girls sleep in separate cabins that have bunk beds. You work things out with your fellow campers in regard to who gets to sleep on the top bunk and who gets the bottom one.

        Sixth: Everyone has to turn in and rise at a designated time. For us, the lights went out by eleven at night and we had to rise at seven in the morning.

        Seventh: The value of cleanliness is taught. Those who maintained the cleanest cabin earned sodas and treats to eat at the end of the camping period.

        Eighth: Obeying the staff is mandatory. Failing to do so can lead to dire consequences. I was once denied my privilege to have the normal afternoon snacks because I disobeyed a counselor's orders to eat food I did not like for lunch.

        Ninth: The children cook outside. I learned how to roast marshmallows and hamburgers over a campfire.

        Tenth: Following a routine is taught. We mostly did activities on a schedule.

        You have learned why summer camps are an educational learning experience. Consider sending your sons and daughters there for a special time!