A Parent’s Guide to Choosing Right Camp

Selecting a summer camp used to be a relatively simple procedure for parents. Most facilities offered the same predictable menu of archery, swimming and silly campfire songs. Today parents and children looking for the perfect fit must sift through dazzling brochures and slick videos of dozens of camps. Do the youngsters want a day camp or a sleep-over camp? Computer classes or horseback riding? Water sports or drama?

Parents who are interested in sending their children to camps--which range from local day camps to exotic High Sierra sleep-over sites--would do well to start studying their pamphlets and tapes and attending open houses. April is the traditional sign-up month, and popular camps fill up fast.

Here are guidelines for picking a summer camp:

COSTS--A family’s financial situation will probably be the most important factor in selecting a site. Day camps begin at about $65 a week, whereas two weeks in the High Sierra can run as high as $1,300. For working parents with young children who have 11 weeks of school vacation, day camps run by such organizations as the YMCA and Los Angeles city parks and recreation provide full-time programs, often with extended hours from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the lowest prices.

But don’t expect luxurious environments. Such day camps use public facilities as much as possible, and schedules are filled with trips to parks, beaches, Olvera Street and Chinatown.

More expensive day camps (which can run up to $300 a week) frequently offer a higher counselor-to-child ratio and a more ambitious schedule of activities, according to their catalogues.

Many camps charge for optional activities in addition to the basic weekly fee. These options may be such things as an extra hour of horseback riding in the late afternoon, computer classes and a trip to Disneyland (which one local camp prices at $100).

What makes camp so expensive? “Insurance, staff and bus leasing,” said Joyce Hurst, one of the directors of Meadow Oaks Day Camp in Calabasas.

STAFFING--Parents should ask about counselor-to-camper ratios. Camps accredited by the American Camping Assn., for example, must maintain a ratio of 1 to 10 or less. (The ACA also requires that counselors sleep in the cabin with their charges at sleep-away camps and that counselors be high school graduates.) In addition, parents may want to ask what percentage of the counselors--and campers--have spent previous seasons at the camp.

Another consideration is the number of children at the camp. Some youngsters would do better in a smaller camp than in a larger facility with a lower counselor-to-camper ratio.

ACTIVITIES--Although some facilities cater to special interests--computers, swimming, theater, for example--most camps offer a variety of activities.

The most expensive camps frequently have spacious grounds, swimming pools, stables and horses, tennis courts and programs that include gymnastics, physical challenge courses, go-carts and dramatics.

But camps run by community organizations are rarely as well-equipped. The key questions to ask at community-oriented day camps involve scheduling. Where will your child spend most of the day? Is there a lot of busing from place to place? Who drives the bus? How many different sites will a child visit in a typical day?

LENGTH OF STAY--Sleep-over camps typically schedule two-week sessions throughout the summer. Many day camps allow parents to sign up for two, three, four or five days a week, but camp directors recommend five days.

“The most common is three days,” said Saul Rowen, director of Cali-Camp in Topanga. “But we would recommend five days a week for a month or five weeks rather than three days a week for eight weeks. It’s more beneficial to the camper. Especially when it comes to learning skills, like horseback riding and water skiing, it helps to have that daily repetition.”

READINESS--Preschoolers who are attending nursery school should be able to segue into day camp with little difficulty, Rowen said, because they are already familiar with a schedule that changes activities every 45 minutes to an hour and have learned to interact with peers.

Camp officials and counselors say children are ready for sleep-away camp at varying ages. But a more important question may be: Are the parents ready?

“I can tell on a tour,” said Lynn Lyneis, summer camp director at Cottontail Ranch in Malibu. “The parents will think up negatives. They say, ‘Look how far it is to the bathroom!’ instead of ‘Doesn’t this look like fun?’ We have a lot of protective parents around here.”

“I wanted to be within driving distance,” said Margaret Denney, whose 10-year-old daughter Amy has been going to Cottontail Ranch for three years. “Just in case something happened, I’d be able to get there. Of course, nothing has, but it gave me peace of mind.”

“Parents know if it’s the right camp for them when they visit,” says Cali-Camp’s Rowen. Most local camps with permanent grounds hold open houses on spring weekends.

Although many day camps welcome parents’ visits, they can be the undoing of a stay at a sleep-away camp. Parents are urged not to call the camp and speak with their children--or risk setting off an avalanche of homesickness. Campers are encouraged to write home regularly but not to make phone calls.

“If a child is trying to adapt to a camping situation, it defeats what we’re trying to do to make them more independent. It’s better to work through the homesickness than to give into it,” Lyneis said.

Though parents are concerned about safety, the campers are worried about making friends and having to take a shower with other people. “I found an 8-year-old showering at midnight,” Lyneis said. “Half the kids wind up showering in their bathing suits.”

Both Cottontail Ranch and Cali-Camp report that more than half of their campers don’t know anyone else when they arrive. Counselors suggest that parents assure their children that they won’t be the only ones without a buddy from home.

“The key to camping is to be able to change,” Lyneis said. Change schedules, change patterns, change friends.

The following is a sampling of day and sleep-away camps. Sleep-away camps close to the San Fernando Valley area:

Cottontail Ranch, Malibu, (818) 880-4552. Ages 6 to 15, co-ed. General-interest activities.

Lazy J Ranch Camp, Malibu, (213) 457-5572. Ages 5 to 15, co-ed. Includes caring for horses and farm animals.

Catalina Island Camps, Howlands Landing, (213) 306-9309. Ages 8 to 14, boys and girls in separate camps. Emphasis on water activities.

Camp Round Meadow, San Bernardino Mountains (818) 763-5126. Grades 4 to 10, co-ed. Mountain camp leased by local YMCAs. General-interest activities.

Sleep-away camps farther from home:

Gold Arrow Camp, Huntington Lake, Sierra National Forest (213) 749-3031. Ages 4 to 14, co-ed. General-interest activities with emphasis on water sports.

Jameson Ranch Camp, Glennville, Sequoia National Forest, (805) 536-8888. Ages 6 to 13, co-ed. General-interest activities.

Day Camps:

Cali-Camp, Topanga, (213) 455-1305. Ages 3 to 13, co-ed. General-interest activities with optional computer camp and extra horseback riding.

Meadow Oaks Camp, Calabasas, (818) 346-9153. Ages 4 to 15. General-interest activities plus music, computer and sports camps.

Phoenix Ranch Day Camp, Chatsworth, (818) 882-6626. Ages 4 to 12. General-interest activities in a ranch setting.

Specialized day camps:

Susan Holden Stables, Lake View Terrace, (818) 897-4889. Ages 6 to 12, attracts mostly girls. English riding skills, plus horse care.

Joe Torre Baseball Camp, Tarzana, (818) 344-9702. Ages 7 to 16, mostly boys. Major League guest instructors.

Valley Cardinals Baseball Camp, Encino, (818) 995-7836. Ages 6 to 15, mostly boys.

Paradise Musical Theatre Workshop, Encino, (818) 986-1624. Ages 7 to 15, co-ed. Two-week workshops, learning and performing a musical (“Paradise Katz,” “Fame,” “Valley Grease” and “Our Own Chorus Line”).

Cal State Northridge, (818) 865-3333 Grades 1 to 6, co-ed. Academic and semi-academic studies. Youngsters pick four subjects and attend in a classroom setting. Subjects include math, reading and creative writing, bridge construction, photography and puppetry.