Liberty Lake Day Camp gives all children an opportunity to succeed and welcomes campers with special needs who can benefit from a total inclusion experience. We have had great success with children with a wide range of developmental disabilities including Autism, ADHD, Downs Syndrome, and physical disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, sight/hearing impaired and eating disorders/allergies.  Our goal is for these campers to succeed in our extraordinary and supportive world amongst typical campers- just as they will when they become adults.

Liberty Lake Day Camp is not a Special Needs Camp, but functions under the belief that all children should benefit from the Camp experience.  Campers with Special Needs are placed in groups according to age and gender along with their typical peers.  Groups are supervised by an adult Group Leader and 1 or 2 high school aged counselors.  Many of our campers with special needs require additional one-on-one assistance. We refer to these additional helpers as Advocates. Camp families can secure advocates in the following ways:

■ Some school districts provide advocates if it is part of the student’s summer plan.

■ Some campers qualify with DDD who refer them to an agency that provides advocates (i.e. The Bridges Program at Advancing Opportunities).

■ We can help identify staff who we believe will make great advocates.  Parents would pay the salary of the advocate.

■ Some parents have hired their own advocates.  Often times they have found people who already work with their child during the year and are very familiar with their needs.

Resources For Special Needs Success

■ Our year-round Special Needs Coordinator, Ellyn Kellerman, oversees all program logistics and communicates with parents on an ongoing basis.

■ Specific staff training about working with special needs campers.

■ An "Elective Based Program" that allows campers (with parental assistance) to choose the electives that they are interested in and are able to participate. 

■ A welcoming and accepting culture in which typical children are accustomed, empathetic and appreciative of having a wide variety of children in their group; including diverse cultures, races, religions, and special needs.  We consistently hear from our Camp families how much they appreciate this aspect of Liberty Lake.

Funding Options

Liberty Lake Day Camp is approved through the NJ Department of Health and Human Services for their “Real Life Choices (RLC) Program.” This program provides some funding for DDD and DDS qualified children to attend Camp.  To see if your child qualifies for services from DDD or DDS, please contact the Department of Disability Services at (888) 285-3036.  Liberty Lake also partners with many school districts, county, military and religious organizations who make funding available for families.

CALL TO SCHEDULE A TOUR TODAY ~ 609.499.7820

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Virtual Tours in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania

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• Your child will be part of a warm and nurturing environment, led by teachers and child care professionals.

• Your child will be CHOOSING most of their schedule, thus ensuring their own fun and happiness each day.

Leaders-in-Training (Entering 9th Grade):

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By Andy Pritikin, Director/Owner of Liberty Lake Day Camp,  as published in Curious Parents, The Princeton Packet, Messenger Press, and Register News (2007).

While child obesity has been the national kid-concern of choice for the past few years, recent research on the lack of adult “friendships” and the sad trend towards social isolation has given youth development experts serious cause for concern. Childhood is when we learn the skills of making and keeping friends, and our net result, adulthood, is not showing dividends. The data and its conclusions come from two renowned, identical studies- done 20 years apart.

American adults are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago. From 1985 to 2004, the number of people saying they have no one with whom they discuss important matters nearly tripled. 23% of Americans now report they have no confidants, family or non-family. Another 20 percent say they have just one confidant. That’s 43% of Americans who have either no close friends or just one, a percentage that has doubled in the past 20 years, and half do not have any confidants who aren’t family. The average size of Americans’ social networks decreased by a third between ‘85 and ‘04, from 3 to 2, basically meaning the loss of one close friend. We have gone from a quarter of the American population feeling isolated to almost half of the adult population. Think about that for a second. Almost half the people you know have at most one person they feel they can talk to about what is most important to them.  20-30 year olds may have hundreds of friends on MySpace or Facebook and e-mail/text 25 people a day, but most of these communications are not with “close friends” that they would confide in. They also are most likely not neighbors, people “from town”, or co-members of local/voluntary organizations- these are the types of relationships that have decreased the most amongst middle and upper-middle class suburban adults.

What are parents doing at home to help the next generation of adults? Generally, not enough. Increased responsibilities, working more to make ends meet, and long commutes leave many parents too exhausted or busy to seek social or family connections. Families eat together less, and watch TV more. Parents check their Email more and talk to/play with their kids less. Typical neighbors have cordial “waving” relationships, with no true connections or close friendships. Automatic garage doors open up, cars sneak in, and the door closes behind. Kids spend summer days in central air, insulated from the outside- but generally, nobody is playing outside in the streets or yards anyway. Besides the occasional “playdate”, kids swim in their own backyard pools, play video games, watch TV, Instant message/text message, and other relatively solitary activities.

Kids come home from school with hours of homework, then have music lessons, karate, gymnastics, sports practice or games- where is the time to hang out with friends or even family? As we’re seeing, society is making it more challenging for our kids to become the kind of well-adjusted adults we strive for them to be. Camp can be a summertime oasis, providing a safe environment for children to relax and play without the pressures they have during the school year. Camp creates a temporary community each summer in which Campers are programmed to participate in all kinds of activities with all kinds of kids, with a staff of positive role models monitoring the “friendship making” process. Good Camps teach children important life skills, including communication and social skills like the art of making and keeping friends. These skills will help them in childhood, adulthood, the workplace and beyond. Contact the American Camp Association to find an accredited Camp near you!

Other Published Articles By Andy Pritkin-

The Lasting Positive Impact of Summer Camp

Our Kids Need Camp!

Why Camp?

Let The Children Play!

How to Choose a Summer Camp

Economic Spotlight on Childcare 

Interview with Andy Pritikin from "SNJ Business People"

CALL TO SCHEDULE A TOUR TODAY ~ 609.499.7820

By Andy Pritikin, Director/Owner of Liberty Lake Day Camp, as published in The Tri-Town News, Moorestown Sun, Haddonfield Sun, The Princeton Packet, Messenger Press, Register News and others (2006).

We love our kids. We give them everything we can, determined to give them a better life than the one we had. Our homes are places of love and support, as well as state-of-the-art media centers with big screen TVs, high speed internet, vast libraries of entertainment, and more toys than a child could ever need. But for over 10 million children every Summer, the best thing that their parents do for them is to actually get them OUT of the house, away from their cushy suburban lives of luxury with their parents watching their every move, and into some real-life excitement at Summer Camp! While this liberating freedom may seem daunting (mostly to parents), the facts show that today’s children truly need Camp.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The saying goes: "IQ is what gets you through school, EQ is what gets you through life". Watching the recent fight between pro basketball players and sports fans was a sad display of how easily adults with low EQ can be emotionally hijacked to the point of violence. Studies show that EQ (empathy, managing emotions, handling relationships, self-motivation, self-awareness,) is three times more the predictor of success than IQ. Leadership (self-confidence, team skills, social awareness) accounts for 90% emotional intelligence. The various group settings and activities of camp provide a virtual classroom for this kind of social development, teaching children and young adults the important skills of making friends and maintaining relationships.

EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION & ENRICHMENT

While more and more advanced countries have gone to a model of year-round education, many American families continue to keep their children at home all Summer, allowing their minds and bodies to go on a two-month hiatus. Today’s Camps offer a wonderful mix of experiential education: Athletics, Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Boating, Fishing, Hiking, Science, Nature and more. While some stay-at-home Moms take on the challenge of entertaining their children themselves, “Camp Mom” rarely can compare programmatically or socially to a real Camp experience. Camp is a magical place for doing things that you could never do at home- Rock Climbing, Horseback Riding, Rocketry, Gymnastics, Ceramics, Theater Productions, to go along with Camp “standards” like Color War, Campouts, Jello Wrestling, Water Slides, and Simon Sez with 300 kids!

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Remember back before the days of “playdates” when we used to play outside all day- in streets, parks and neighbor’s backyards without a care? Today, even in the safest suburban developments, most parents can’t feel comfortable unless their children are within total view. Technological advances coupled with media-enhanced fears for safety have influenced us in raising the most out-of-shape, sedentary generation of children ever. The Federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that 16 percent of people ages 6 to 19 are obese, compared with 4.4 percent 40 years ago. A Department of Education study declared 40% of California middle school children unfit and 25% overweight. Today’s parents are busy, don't have time to cook, and many stop at fast food restaurants several times each week.  According to the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, by the time our kids are adults, obesity will most likely become this nation's No. 1 killer, and will surpass tobacco use as the leading cause of preventable death. Yikes!

Currently, New Jersey schools are mandated (but not enforced) to give all students 150 minutes of health, physical education and safety per week- and it rarely happens. My daughter’s “blue ribbon” elementary school gives children phys. ed. for two weeks every two months- on rotation with music, art and computers- and only 10 minutes per day of recess after lunch. After school there is homework, plus countless obligations which leave little time for the physical activity necessary for a healthy child. The programs and inherent set up of Camp require the kind of outdoor physical activity that children used to get on a regular basis.

MEDIA-FREE!

Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleep. In addition, TV has dramatically decreased the amount of time that families spend talking with each other. 40% of American families watch TV while eating dinner, and on average, American parents spend only 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children, compared to the three to four hours daily that many children spend in front of a TV or computer screen.

And what are our kids watching? The war in Iraq, violent cartoons, and Disney Channel shows which focus on teenage dating? Who are their role models? Eminem, Paris Hilton and 50-Cent? Good Camps and good Camp directors create controlled, ideal communities with an alternative, more traditional vision of what it means to grow up. A camp can control its value system, maintaining a magical environment that can inspire children to imagine anything is possible, and that their potential is limitless!

                 RESEARCH CONFIRMS

Philliber Research Associates, a nationally reknown firm specializing in the evaluation of youth development, health, and education programs recently completed a three-year study which confirms that Camps build skills necessary to prepare children to become successful adults. Parents, campers, and camp staff independently reported growth in areas such as self-confidence, independence, making friends, exploring and learning new activities, and spirituality. Camp provides growth experiences for youth that benefit them through adulthood.

Campers Say

• Camp helped me make new friends. (96%)
• Camp helped me to get to know kids who are different from me. (93%)
• The people at camp helped me feel good about myself. (92%)
• At camp, I did things I was afraid to do at first. (74%)
  

 Parents Say

• My child gained self-confidence at camp. (70%)
• My child continues to participate in some of the new activities he or she learned at camp. (63%)
• My child remains in contact with friends made at camp. (69%)

For those who went to Camp as a child, these statistics come as no surprise. For generations, Camps have been creating experiences and memories that most of us can’t provide at home or in our neighborhoods. Camp is a step back in time, giving our children the opportunity to be happy, healthy kids in a warm, safe community of friends and role models. We all want the best for our children, and now more than ever, our kids need the Camp experience!

Other Published Articles By Andy Pritkin-

The Lasting Positive Impact of Summer Camp

Friendships: Get Them While You Can At Camp! 

Why Camp? 

Let The Children Play!

How to Choose a Summer Camp 

Economic Spotlight on Childcare 

Interview with Andy Pritikin from "SNJ Business People"

CALL TO SCHEDULE A TOUR TODAY ~ 609.499.7820