Academic Summer Camp Promotes Strong Family Bonds

School, homework, sports, music, friends, work, internet; these are just a few of the many distractions that come between parents and their kids these days. In the midst of all the chaos, many parents are left to wonder, “How and when can I strengthen my relationship with my teen?”

SuperCamp, the academic summer camp for kids and teens, offers a program for parents called Parent Weekend, which is designed to help parents develop better communication skills in order to form stronger relationships with their kids. During this 3-day program, parents also learn ways in which they can support their kids after SuperCamp, which is an integral part of their after-program success.

At Parent Weekend, one of the things that parents learn specifically is how to initiate a conversation with their teen. When a parent asks their teen, “How was your day?” and the teen volunteers the simple one word answer; “good,” or “Did you learn anything exciting today?” to be met with a simple, “no,” parents learn to use eliciting questions such as “What do you know?” or  “Tell me more,” to draw their teen into conversation.

Parents also learn one of the significant life skills that kids discover at SuperCamp - that everything is on purpose. By listening more and talking less, parents can find out what is really going on in their child’s life. By listening attentively to understand, they will gain a greater knowledge of what is going on, and they will likely find out more than their child planned on sharing. By setting aside time with their teens, parents can create a family transparency which will encourage teens to communicate more openly and voluntarily about their lives.

A great way to put this into motion is for parents to set aside personal time that can be either formal or informal. Parents learn that one of the best places to have a meaningful conversation with their teen is simply in the car, while on the way to a destination. This environment is a great place for conversation that prevents outside distractions from interrupting such as phone calls or television.

By creating a safe, open environment for conversation, parents can create a “home court advantage” of safety and security that will support a stronger relationship with their teens.

Parent Weekend will be held this summer at Brown University Aug 13 - 15, Colorado College July 16 - 18 and Stanford University July 3 - 5. More information on SuperCamp and Parent Weekend is available by calling 800-285-3276 or by visiting http://www.supercamp.com/.