Have you decided to become ... a camp leader? Working as a counselor will be an unforgettable experience for you. If you follow these tips and treat your work with genuine love, you will instantly become the favorite counselor of all children!

Steps

Find out what this job is. She is not so simple. If you can stay positive during hard times and give your children the best best summer in their lives, then read on. If not, then you should consider looking for another job. It's fun but hard work. This cannot be learned in a week! You must be responsible and able to handle any situation.

Get ready. Be prepared for what each new day brings you. If you are ready yourself, you can prepare the children. Then they will be less anxious while waiting. Preparing yourself and campers will help you overcome any difficulties.

Pay attention to preparation. Many camps offer training during which you will be introduced to the operation of the camp and given instructions on what to do in an emergency. DO NOT get distracted while exercising! After all, you never know if these skills will be useful to you. When little Jimmy gets sick right on the playground, you won't think to yourself, "You should have listened to the lecture, not looked at that squirrel."

Make friends with other counselors. It is not necessary to become best friends but at the very least you need to get along with everyone. If the camp leaders are arguing, even out of earshot of the children, they will still notice. Most likely, you will have to work in a team with the rest of the counselors, and if you make friends, everything will go smoothly. After all, you don’t want to spend the whole summer in the company of a counselor with whom you have not established a relationship.

Remember your camp day schedule and ALWAYS carry it with you. You need to know what's coming next and when the next change will be. If vacationers ask what is planned on the schedule, and you do not have it, then they will think that you are incompetent and will no longer respect you.

Find out the names of the children. For example, if you call Jane Brittany or vice versa, you will lose their respect, and they will be offended that you did not consider it necessary to know their names. Play "names" with the children if that helps you.

Study the personality traits of children. You will love some of them, but not some (to yourself, of course). The most important thing is to know what they are doing. You must know who needs an eye and an eye, and who obeys the first time. You must anticipate their actions and how they will behave towards each other. Try to spend at least ten minutes each day with each child. If they feel like the center of attention, they will love you more, which will help you understand them better.

Have group sessions several times a week to help them get along with each other, this will help the children feel like part of a team. Ask them questions, have discussions and play games that will help the little ones get to know each other, and NEVER have games or activities that can turn them against each other (only after a few days). This can lead to resentment.

Have meetings at the end of the day. It is important to know what children think about each other and the day. Before hanging up, seat them in a circle and do the following:

Use breaks wisely. Remember that this is ONLY your time, so do what you think is right - this will help cheer you up and give you strength for the next shift.

1. Try to have a good time. It may seem like a lot of work, but you are changing lives. It's great to see how the shy girl who sat in the corner at the beginning of the shift begins to communicate with other guys or see what they all learned. The result will depend on your dedication. If you HAVE A GOOD TIME, then the children will follow your example! Be a positive role model, cheer yourself up.

   • Be prepared for the fact that your squad will not have a very well-mannered child. He will be smart, get up late and, most likely, swear at you. You must be able to maintain discipline and make sure that his bad mood does not affect the rest of the vacationers.
   • Be a friend to the kids, but don't let them get away with it. Treat those who get on your nerves the same way you treat your pets. In general, you shouldn't have pets!
   • Give the children bandanas and glow sticks. They will help you feel that they are one team. This will help them get closer.
   • Immediately stop the formation of "gangs". And they will definitely appear. Make sure everyone will communicate with each other. Try to seat them at dinner mixed up or separate them in twos and let their partners be those with whom they usually do not communicate. But don't overdo it. Not everyone will become best friends, understand that; just make sure everyone gets along.
   • Smile and be patient. You will be tired, hungry and sometimes you will smell suspiciously. If you grumble and complain, vacationers will do the same. If the children fall into despondency, then there is nothing to fix, and they will be sad. Camp leaders are the best actors in the world. The counselor we should all look up to has slept for four hours, got a poison ivy burn, hasn't worn clean clothes for a week, and still jumps out of bed in the morning and starts singing camp songs.
   • If you let your kids do harmless pranks, they will love you even more, and you won't have a problem if they are harmless.
   • Learn all camp songs. You'll look ridiculous if you don't get in time.

   Warnings

   • You are a role model, so act accordingly. Children, especially toddlers, will repeat everything after you. Think about how you want them to behave and act accordingly. Remain professional not only in front of children, but also in their environment.
   • Don't think it's just a camp change. Now all the responsibility lies with you, the time for entertainment is over. If you just decided to prolong your childhood, this job is not for you.
   • It is better to PREVENT something than to CORRECT the result. Try to anticipate what will happen and act according to the plan.
     • NEVER be alone with your child: leave the door OPEN and make sure you have witnesses, especially if the child is of the opposite sex, otherwise he/she may tell the parents that you did something and you will get into trouble. Also be careful with physical contact, even if you just want to be friendly. Children are taught to yell "don't touch me here" or they will tell everyone. Children can be very sweet, but you must keep your distance to save your job and reputation.
   • Don't be lazy! Communicate with children. Don't limit yourself to advice on what and how they should do... do it together! (Play in board games, swim, play football, etc.) It will be fun! Imagine that this is just a workout for which you are also paid! ;)

For the first time, try to gather as much information about him as possible. How are the buildings, the dining room, the medical room, administration offices, counselors' rooms and other strategically important points; daily routine, official and unofficial traditions, the number of units and the approximate age of the children in them - all this will facilitate your future work. Finding out all this is not so difficult - camp sites, official pages on social networks for you. Also, some camps organize preliminary gatherings, where you can "live" get acquainted with the future place of work and residence.

"Calm, only calm!" These words should become your main motto for this shift. This applies not only to communication with children, but also with the camp administration, partner (second), parents of children ... By the way, about parents. In some with parents, all issues are decided by educators, which means we do not forget to clarify this point.

And now, the camp is selected, all the necessary information is collected. What's next? And then you need to decide on the desired age of the children. How to decide which detachment to sign up for as counselors? What is the best age? There is no single answer to this question, since each age has its own characteristics, its own difficulties and bonuses. Here you will be helped by books on developmental psychology, as well as a great many thematic sites.

Required clothing and documents Depending on the camp, both of these sets may differ, and sometimes significantly, but still there is the same. From the documents - this is an extract on available vaccinations. From clothes - a hat, pants (sports or jeans), light shoes, t-shirts and a couple of warm clothes. After all, even in the hottest countries there are days, we also do not forget about night bonfires with a detachment and, of course, planning meetings, which often take place after lights out.

So, the preparation is over. Or not? If possible, it is worth studying the grid plan for the upcoming shift even before the start of the shift itself. So you can think about each of the events, plan your work. If your imagination and creativity are very tight, prepare in advance one or two options for numbers for each of the performances. And then it remains only to refine these options together with the children and rehearse properly. You can also think over in advance the name of the detachment, the motto, the detachment corner. It is highly likely that you will see the grid plan for the first time only in the camp, at the beginning of the shift. In this case, do not despair, but try to find out about the events traditionally held in the camp. And then proceed according to the above scheme.

A few words about the detachment corner. This is exactly what you should worry about in advance. Think over a rough sketch, design, arrangement of elements. Some preparations can be made at home and brought with you to the camp. It can be all kinds of for decoration, as well as various "birthday sheets", "mood screens" and so on. In each camp, the leaders are given stationery: paints, brushes, colored paper, scissors - but they are always sorely lacking. So, it is worth taking care of it "on the shore". It is also worth taking care of the design of a common detachment room (corridor, veranda), because bare walls are so boring!

And now you are in the camp. Documents and clothes are in order, the office is stocked, the detachment corner is beautifully decorated, the name and motto of the detachment are learned by the children, they are ready for events. What's next? And then everything is simple. We look after the children, listen to their problems, help, organize all kinds of games in any free minute. By the way, you should also take care of games with children in advance. As well as about music and costumes for numbers. And most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help! Other leaders, y, administration - all members of the friendly camp team!

One day before arrival

Today you arrived at the camp. If this is your first shift, then tune in to the fact that this day will be very busy.

The minimum you need to do

To get a job;

Find out as much as possible about the camp (after all, tomorrow you will be conducting a tour for your squad);

Specify the location of the first-aid post, canteen, security guard, etc.;

Get information about which squad you will work with (age of children);

Get to know your partner (partner);

Find out in which building you will live, get bed linen and sports equipment;

Clean up around the hull with your partner;

Finally, on general meeting counselors to carefully listen to the safety briefing and put your signature in the journal, which clearly states that you are responsible for the life and health of the children who will come to your squad tomorrow. All this will take you most of the day.

It's time to turn on the second wind, because now you have to do everything so that the boys and girls that you will meet tomorrow in the detachment feel the desire to stay in the camp. And the first thing they will pay attention to is how you prepared for their arrival.

What is needed for this

Decorate the room in which your squad will live (facade of the building, hall, corridors);

Hang posters with the inscriptions “We were waiting for you!”, “Oh, how great that you have come!”, “Welcome home!

Your second mom and dad”, “The funniest boys and girls live here!”;

Bright funny pictures, funny faces, air balloons, New Year's tinsel, etc.

In general, everything that can cause the guys good mood, must be prepared and brought by you to the camp.

I hope you did not forget to take everything from home that is useful for working as a counselor: methodological developments, scripts, collections of poems and songs, CDs for musical accompaniment events, a flashlight, candles, a ruler, Whatman sheets, colored pencils, paper, pens, needles, threads, scissors, paper clips, buttons, adhesive tape, glue, whistle, mosquito repellent, paints, fancy dresses, tape recorder, packing of A4 sheets.

To be a leader, you have to think like a leader...

Everyone wants to be creative people. It is right. In our gray everyday life, it is difficult to find something unusual, non-standard. In the work of a counselor, creativity is also needed.

Let's take the job of a counselor in a children's camp. A counselor is a person who follows the children in the camp, helps them in competitions and so on. Here in competitions, counselors need creativity in order to come up with an interesting and unusual number, naturally in order to win. The counselor who comes up with a boring and long overdue script will never win the competition. From this we can understand that everywhere, creativity is needed.

If you think that you are not a creative person, a person who can see unusual things in ordinary things, you ask yourself the question “How to become a creative person”?

For starters, if you have children in the detachment (you do not only take care of yourself?). Children need to develop out-of-the-box thinking. In many cases, out-of-the-box thinking is present in children, so they can sometimes ask ridiculous (for us) questions. But as you grow older, this quality is lost. Let the child in your squad draw what he wants, invent, compose music. The child should do not only what you told him or so given in the competition, not at all. Let the children come up with everything themselves.

So what about an adult? Perhaps the main source of creativity is communication (with people, of course). You can exchange different information, thoughts, ideas, and maybe after a conversation you will come up with a brilliant idea that will make your dreams come true in the future. Go to the cinema, theaters, museums more often before the camp shift, develop yourself spiritually. Read books, travel. Find out what's new in the world, develop a sense of humor and, finally, fantasize! Artists often take sabbaticals to fill their heads. interesting ideas don't be afraid of change.

You don't have to follow all the rules, in general life by the rules is very boring, but you should definitely try these exercises (do you still want to think creatively?).

1. Sherlock Holmes. Observe any stranger. Try to guess who this person works for? Does he have a family? How old is he? What are his habits? What character? This will only benefit you.
2. Associations. You can use some chains. Let's make a small chain as an example. Fishing rod - summer fishing - friends - fun - birthday. So we have already made a small, but still a chain.
3. The words. Take any few words that are unrelated to each other. For example, "shorts - cottage - pan" and try to knit them. You can even write a short story about these words and how they are related to each other.

Good luck in your new endeavors!

How to become a counselor, what pitfalls will be pursued when becoming this difficult profession .. or not so much. We will consider all this in the article and I will try to answer who the real counselor is and how to become one.

On the this moment, May 2017 - going to the camp as a teacher (and this is how the law qualifies him) is not difficult. It is enough to go through the school of counselors, get a certificate and that's it.

You are ready to go to the camp if there are no problems with health and the law. And here, of course, you can complete the article. But nooo.

This is very short and easy to write - to go through some kind of school of counselors, which lasts at most six months 2-3 times a week, a medical examination - running around takes a day to hospitals and a certificate of good conduct. Already it can be ordered through public services in 2 mouse clicks.
But, as I wrote above, not everything is so easy and simple. We, as in Sergei Lukyanenko's book "Draft", fall out of the real world and fall into another. The world of fairy tales, fabulous creatures, magic and magic. And getting into this mysterious country called "camp" and staying there is not so easy.
To organize this fairy tale, you need to become a magician. To create an atmosphere of comfort, an atmosphere of calm, you need an emotional mood in the camp - gotta be a magician. Become someone else, not who you are. Change the other way, do what you never did.
In my five years of working in camps of all types, I have seen people change. Alas, not at all the best sides.
Many counselors (first-years) came to the camp, frankly, to hang out. Completely unaware that working with children completely refutes the so-called. “Hanging out” and this.. hmm .. “Hanging out”, inattention and slaughtering children can turn them into an article for negligence. Or even worse.
Less often I saw a desire to assert itself at the expense of children and other teachers. This usually manifests itself in those who work only second, and the crown sometimes sparkles so that the crowned himself goes blind in his actions and acts to the detriment of others.

Various reasons move people to become counselors. It can really be a desire to assert yourself and not feel lonely. It can really be an interest in children, a manifestation of maternal and paternal ambitions. Maybe just pedagogical practice from the pedagogical college and the institute.

To become a leader - you need to understand - why do you need to be a leader? For what purpose?

You can answer it and all doors are open to you. On the territory of the Russian Federation, many courses of leader skills are open. They are called RSHV (Republican School of Counselors) or SHVM (School of Leadership Skills) Classes from free to three hundred rubles for courses.
There are also sites dedicated to counselors and discussing their activities.

It is even rarer when you can go to the camp without any skills and education. Alas, I have seen this as well. Alas, the result of such activity was quite deplorable and did not end in anything good for anyone.

The opposite result is when they understand that they will be counselors. They will be teachers standing on the detachment for 21 days (already 18 in some regions, for example, Udmurtia) and they will have a very high responsibility for the life and health of 50 children. And the understanding that the counselor is not just a person who entertains children, organizes cool events for them, lights, meetings, sometimes arranges a dressing in the hall for their jambs, but can also support! Whatever they do, whatever they do. Always come to the rescue and listen.

I hope to beginner counselors who want to become counselors. Real counselors - they will think and become amazing teachers. I know it. I believe in it.