How many of us do not remember this thrill when you realize that next month you will be left to your own devices? What is it - a vacation, a pioneer camp, songs by the fire, a cold river and new friends? Special lucky ones went to Artek for the summer - a whole month by the sea without parents it seemed like a fairy tale. The rest were content with a suburban camp, but even there time flew by, and friendship was for centuries.
Hello from the Soviet Union
In the Soviet Union, nothing should have distracted adults from building a beautiful socialist future in the country, even their children, and therefore the whole system was built in such a way that parents had the opportunity to work. In the day nursery it was possible to give the child as early as 3 months, and at six most of the future citizens of the socialist state spent most of the day there.
At three years old, the day nursery was replaced by a full-day kindergarten - with breakfast, lunch and dinner. And those whose parents were forced to work the night shift were often left completely for five days.
After the kindergarten, the children went to school and became first October, and then pioneers. At this time, the question of summer employment was acute, because unlike the kindergarten, the school had three months of summer vacation.
It was then that in the Soviet Union all kinds of children's health camps began to gain popularity and were actively being built.
The first was the legendary Artek, which was originally conceived as a platform for the recovery of children with respiratory problems, and after that it turned into a business card of the USSR pioneer camp system.
Excursion into the past
The idea of summer holidays for children was not an invention of the Soviet Union. The first semblance of a children's camp was created in 1876 in Switzerland. The pastor of one of the churches organized a place in the Alps for the rest and spiritual development of the little one. There, the children read the Bible, were engaged in hardening and physical development with them.
Following the example of Switzerland, such institutions began to actively develop in other countries. What is a camp for children in those years? What did he look like? Initially, the camps were of a tent type, as they were primarily intended to cultivate fortitude and strength.
But the system of children's camps developed quite rapidly, and after several decades, peculiar sanatoriums became especially popular for children with health problems - mainly for those who suffered from tuberculosis.
Foreign Experience
In 1907, a scout movement began in England. His ideological inspirer - Colonel Baden Powell believed that the young British lacked stamina, courage and fortitude. He organized the first British camp for boys on the shores of Lake Brownsey. He also invented a special distinguishing feature of scouts - a blue neckerchief.
Boys studied orienteering, the basics of survival and camping. They were told a lot about military exploits and military service.
In 1910, its own Boy Scout organization was created and began to actively grow in the United States, Chicago. What is a scout camp? If initially in England they were created for training and physical training of boys, then in America the Scout movement quickly gained a female face - a Girl Scout.
On the shore of lakes and rivers in the middle of forests, American and English girls and boys learned to navigate, swim, make friends, be independent and answer for themselves and their actions, were tempered physically and mentally.
Children's camp today
What is a camp today? What forms of establishments exist, and where is it better to send your child for the holidays?
Over more than a century of history, children's health facilities have not changed much. Of course, the ideological component has gone, but the main task - the development of independence, responsibility, training - remain the key tasks to this day.
A standard camp shift lasts 21 days. Large barracks, as a rule, are a thing of the past. They were replaced by modern buildings with rooms for 4-5 people, a shower and a toilet.
The daily routine remained the same - an early rise, exercise, breakfast, cleaning the area and classes. Here, the choice is wide enough - this is modeling, and various sports: badminton, tennis, soccer, volleyball, pioneer ball, swimming. In thematic flows, emphasis can be placed on certain classes, such as language learning, strength training or theater activities.
After classes, children have lunch and there comes a quiet hour - time for rest. After - afternoon tea, free time, preparation for an evening event, dinner, inter-squad concert, disco, a second dinner and hang up.
The time of all day activities can vary from camp to camp and from stream to stream. Despite the apparent severity and regimen of the children's health camp, the reviews and memories of the children and parents from the rest, as a rule, are only positive.
If you do not take into account the classic options, starting from the world famous Artek and ending with small health and recreation facilities that can be found in any area, today there are several forms of placing children on vacation. Let us dwell on some of them.
School camp
The Soviet Union has long been a thing of the past, but the problem of arranging a student for the holidays has remained unresolved - parents still cannot take a vacation after each academic quarter, and not everyone has a grandmother and a nanny. Then the day camp at the educational institution comes to the rescue. It exists in almost every city, and if not the child’s own school, then the neighbor will probably organize this form of childcare.
What is a day camp? Unlike the usual option, children do not stay here for the night. They come daily to standard time (it can vary from 7 to 9 hours), have breakfast in the company of friends or classmates, do thematic crafts, walk a lot in the yard. Often school camps go to museums or city tours, arrange subbotniks.
After the guys return to the school, where they dine, study in theatrical studios or other circles organized at the school. The only minus of the daytime camp is the lack of daytime sleep, but most of the children already refused such a rest by school age.
Linguistic camp
Foreign languages in the modern world have long been not a luxury, but a necessity. Therefore, educational camps aimed at learning languages and immersion in the language environment are rapidly gaining popularity.
If financial opportunities allow parents, the best option is to send your child to an autumn camp in Malta or in London. In just a week of vacation, the child will bring up speaking and writing skills to an incredible level, as well as have a great rest and change of scenery.
If the monetary side of the issue does not allow this type of vacation, you can find a more budget option. Almost all language lyceums have special vacation programs for both older and younger students.
