With our 7X - 8X generation, the concept of " Summer Camp" is not associated with extra classes, does not come with fancy backpacks, hoes, or detailed schedules with dense soft skills like current summer programs.
Our summer is simple, rustic and profound - those are the days of returning to our hometown to live with our grandparents, where childhood memories are nurtured by the scent of straw, the roar of chickens at noon and the river flowing slowly through the small village.
The urban children were eager all year round to be "sue back to their hometown" by their parents every summer vacation. Without air conditioning, without internet, landline phones are still a luxury, but we still feel like we have a whole world to explore. From early morning, before the grandparents could wake up, the roar of chickens, dogs, and birds awakened the children in the city who were getting used to the rhythm of rural life. After a few days of being confused and slow, the young people quickly joined the game as if they were "cationing camping for a long time" in the real nature.
Every day is an experiential journey, in the morning he goes to the fields, learning how to weed rice, chase birds, and fertilizers; at noon he sleeps on a cool bamboo carry, is played by a fan and told a fairy tale; in the afternoon he goes swimming in the river, swimming, digging for mussel, catching fish, at night he chews oil for mosquito bites and gathers under the oil lights to hear the sound of vultures and frog singing. Games at that time did not need wifi, did not need phones: letting the kites on the dykes, playing archery, shooting bicycles, playing in official boxes, blindfolded to catch goats... Sick sweat, scratched limbs, clothes with glitter but a smile is radiant.
We used to sit on the hill for hours to graze buffaloes, breathing in the wind and crowing and singing children's songs, or lying on the back of buffaloes dreaming of the future world. It is also there that children learn to hold rice and harvest for the first time, knowing what it is like to "reap the harvest", to " cause the drought", to " cause the heavy rain" - everyday lessons that city books cannot teach. Some felt bitten by bees when climbing a mango tree for the first time, some cried for the first time when they accidentally broke the sugarcane they planted, but all "greased a little" after each time like that!
They were our first setters guide. They do not teach skills through textbooks, but teach with all their heart. She teaches how to cut water spinach without breaking the hand, how to cook field crab soup to make the water sweet. He teaches how to recognize the rain, only the stars in the sky, teaches how to tie the kite rope to make it high. Simple things, but we never forget.
At that time, in the summer, there were no "military campes", no "bilingual summer camps", but still trained us to be independent, to share, to love work, to sympathize with the elderly, the farmers, and especially to appreciate the most simple things. No one evaluates us through the soft skills scoreboard, but we realize maturity through the eyes of caring, handling the food trays by hand, knowing how to look after children, knowing how to apologize when making mistakes.
Also in those summers, family love was nurtured silently. ho hang, apart all year, but in the summer, they gather together like never apart. The nights of sitting in the wind on the yard, telling ghosts, talking about the future, sharing each baked potato, each young guava... are memories that only those who have experienced them understand.
As time passed, the children of many years became parents. Many of us are struggling to find our children an "ideal summer", browsing through hundreds of summer fields online, considering the schedule, price, content, quality of meals... But perhaps, the most beautiful summer camp in our memories is still the summer by the pond, rice fields, and the hand of the gourd of our ancestors.
Now, many urban children do not know to distinguish rice and corn, do not know whether the buffalo has a horn or not, have never bathed in the river or slept in the house without air conditioning. Therefore, every summer, many parents are looking for ways to "take their children back to their hometown" - not to leave a legacy, but to give back a part of their childhood that they have had and loved. That is also a way to organize a summer camp - a summer camp of memories, of roots, of cohesion between generations.
The old summer does not return, but the memories are still there. For us, those who have passed the age of forty, summer camp is not a brand, not a service. The summer camp is when the aroma of rice reminds me of a time of sunshine and wind, when the cry "am!" thick for a period of childhood. And that is the reason, no matter how many places we go in the future, we - the children of that day - now the adults - always remember our hometown with sparkling eyes and the saying: "Here, that year, so happy!".
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Now, when I have become a father, every summer, I don't dare to "release" my children back to my hometown. Times have also changed a lot, my hometown has also become a city, with no more fields, no buffaloes and cows. Everyone is busy with the modern rhythm of life.
Like other fathers and mothers, every summer I ask myself: What to do to make my child have a summer without wasting it?; How to make my child play, grow up, learn something new without holding the phone all day?.
And that was also the time when the phrase "summer camp" began to appear more often in family conversations. I believe that if chosen correctly, summer camp is not just a vacation. It is a door - where children can step out of their comfort zone, enter a journey of developing intelligence, physical fitness and personality.
I still remember the story of the boy Tuan Anh - 12 years old, in Hanoi. Her mother - Ms. Huong - is a caring and protective person, having refused many summer programs because she was afraid that "children are too young, where to go is a concern". But after being introduced by friends, she registered her child to participate in a 7-day summer camp for life skills training in Ba Vi.
When he returned, Tuan Anh was no longer a lazy guy lining up the blankets in the morning, not knowing how to wash dishes or talk at a loss. I told them about the survival sessions in the forest, trying to fast for 4 hours to learn how to share the song, the group talks that made me dare to speak for the first time.
I feel like Im seeing myself again, in a better version - independent, polite and full of emotions - Ms. Huong emotionally shared.
Many parents still think that studying must be in class, must have a plan, must have a plan. But in reality, many studies have proven that practical experiences are the ideal learning environment for intellectual development in young children, especially between the ages of 10 and 15. With open space, children are stimulated the ability to observe, think criticizing, and solve situations - something that textbooks cannot bring.
Many parents are afraid when their children go to summer camp because they are worried about... "too much sunshine", "too much hardship", "our children are very weak". But it is the programs that are designed scientifically and conveniently that are an opportunity for children to exercise comprehensively, away from a passive lifestyle with phones and air conditioners.
At a summer camp that I had the opportunity to experience last June, more than 100 children were divided into teams to run around, swim, climb artificial mountains, and do agricultural activities. Many students who were obese and shy before have changed dramatically in just 10 days.
A female lecturer - also a former track and field athlete - shared: "We do not aim to force children to do martial arts, but to help their children do sports for fun. Physical health is not only health, but the ability to control the body, the endurance to adapt to the challenges in life later on".
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However, summer camp cannot maximize its value without an important factor: The right companionship of the family.
I once met a father at the station when he took his child to a military summer camp. While he said goodbye to his friends in tears, he kept saying: "After 3 days of going, it was like going to the battlefield. No need to study or walk". Although the words were joking, the boy's eyes were down. Parents' skepticism and hesitation are sometimes the biggest barrier that makes them not dare to explore the world.
On the contrary, Ms. Thao - a parent with two sons who used to attend a summer camp in Da Lat - said that before each trip, she always held a small family meeting: "What do you want me to learn from you? What do you expect? If it rains and is windy, how will you get over it?". After each day, she texted to encourage and ask about it, not checking or forcing it. "I need to feel trusted and not supervised" - Ms. Thao said.
Accompanying is not the embankment next to it. Accompanying is trust - empowerment - creating a solid psychological foundation for children to learn how to grow up.
The summer camp is not a " childcare order" when parents are busy. That is a living - learning - experience environment that needs to be carefully considered. Parents need to know the organizing unit with a clear legal status, a teaching staff with expertise, and a program suitable for their children's age and needs. In particular, it is necessary to have a dialogue with children before registering, not to impose.
Many families have the mentality of "let me go when I see my friends go", or follow programs with sparkling images but superficial content. This leads to the following consequences: Children are hurt, parents are disappointed, and trust is lost.
Summer camp is truly a place where children can cry - laugh - learn - grow up in the indirect arms of their parents and the guidance of teachers. That is where children learn how to tie their own shoelaces, share the raincoats with new friends, and master their emotions in the face of an unexpected challenge.
In more than 20 years as a journalist, I have written about hundreds of students who have been honored and dozens of major educational programs, but perhaps the most touching stories come from small summer camp, where children are away from home for the first time and... understand for the first time what a "headquarters" is.
If your childhood is a book, let the summers be filled with real experiences. And if the family is the cradle, let it hold the child out to the world in the most solid way.
Because children only have one summer of their childhood. And summer camp - if chosen correctly - will be a place to light up a journey to adulthood, a place to nurture the souls of children.
Our summer is simple, rustic and profound - those are the days of returning to our hometown to live with our grandparents, where childhood memories are nurtured by the scent of straw, the roar of chickens at noon and the river flowing slowly through the small village. The urban children were eager all year round to be "sue back to their hometown" by their parents every summer vacation. Without air conditioning, without internet, landline phones are still a luxury, but we still feel like we have a whole world to explore. From early morning, before the grandparents could wake up, the roar of chickens, dogs, and birds awakened the children in the city who were getting used to the rhythm of rural life. After a few days of being confused and slow, the young people quickly joined the game as if they were "cationing camping for a long time" in the real nature.
