Based on a 2015 study by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the following can build the foundations of resilience in children: creating supportive adult-child relationships, building a sense of self-efficacy and perceived control, providing opportunities to strengthen adaptive skills and self-regulatory capacities, and mobilizing sources of faith, hope and cultural traditions.
Here’s how the Wawenock staff, program and camp family help girls become more resilient adults:
Creating supportive adult-child relationships
Campers form multiple supportive adult-child relationships with Wawenock staff, in the cabins, units, activities and even at the dining room tables! These bonds and networks of support extend beyond the ‘walls’ of camp and through the tests of time, often to mentor/friendships which last a lifetime!
Building a sense of self-efficacy and perceived control
Campers make their own activity selections at the beginning of the camp season. This camper choice, combined with the consistency of instruction and longevity in our program, allows staff to help girls gain skills and become proficient in numerous activities – leading girls to truly believe in their own ability to succeed, aka self-efficacy!
Providing opportunities to strengthen adaptive skills and self-regulatory capacities
Living independently from home, girls are guided by supportive staff to learn the skills necessary to effectively and independently take care of themselves and to interact with other people in effective ways.
Mobilizing sources of faith, hope, and cultural traditions
Camp gives girls the time and space to reflect on what’s important to them. They embrace and feel the significance of perpetuating the 100+ years of tradition, and the community created by the Wawenock camp family gives them an understanding of the joy which comes from giving of themselves to others and, as the song goes, becoming “a part of something larger than you.”